Promoting Good Vibes Between Students

I'll admit it: I love my class this year. We have our issues as a group (we've had to ban Pokemon cards as they caused too much fighting), but overall, I have a group of sweet, funny, interesting little ones to spend each day with. To make it even better, they like each other! They enjoy each other's company, and though they all have good friends, I love seeing how they mix themselves up with groups and partners. 

Back in October we celebrated Anti Bullying Month in many ways, but one was reward based. Students from every grade earned "Gotcha" tickets when they were spotted doing something exceptionally kind. These tickets could be turned in at the end of the week for tickets to our annual Halloween Festival. The students were thrilled that their kind deeds were being rewarded and started going out of their way to help one another. But that wasn't the best part: The started "tattling" on each other. No, I don't mean the way all of us dread, but they started coming to me to share when someone was extra kind to them. Though the ticket system has ended, the culture of noticing kindness has remained. Here are a few ways we continue to promote good vibes between students in our room:

The Graffiti Wall

Underneath the writing center table is a coveted work space for my students, but we made it an even more highly used space when we covered the back wall with chart paper. Students use this space to record the great things their classmates have done. I modeled the first when my students were extra helpful when I lost my voice (teacher nightmare), and sometimes let students know to check when I notice that someone wrote something new about them.  I love reading the sweet notes they write to each other, which range from helping to pick up new supplies, being a good partner, or someone who reached out to play with a new friend. The best part is how happy they are to be noticed for something good by their peers- seeing their happy faces brings me so much joy!

Super Secret Student

I wrote about choosing a Super Secret Student in another post, but want to share how we use this to promote good vibes. Last year, I would announce the SSS at the end of the day, and we would applaud for their great work. This year, we guess. We spend the last few minutes of the day holding a Closing Meeting, and a big part of this is trying to guess who the Secret Student was. There are rules- they have to tell why they think the person they're guessing, and it can't be a reason like, "You looked at them in line." 

The conversation tends to go something like this: "I think it was Martina because she helped me carry my books to Italian class when they were too heavy," "Well I think it was Neev because when we were partners he was kind to me even when I had the wrong answer, and helped me figure out why," "I think it was Tiara because she asked me to play with her at recess when I couldn't find my friends," "It was probably Riccardo because he was so quiet in the hall." 

Yes, it gets repetitive every day. They notice the same bunch of things. However, when one person says something great about another, they tend to reciprocate by sharing why they think the other person was actually the SSS, as well as another guess. When someone finally guesses the Secret Student, I'll say something like, "Hmmm... can anyone else think of a reason they might be it?" At this point, they know that they are talking about the real Secret Student, and everyone wants to chime in about how they knew it all along. Though the SSS feels great about themselves, everyone gets a little compliment throughout the week, and feels special that someone noticed how great they'd been. If you're wondering, NO, they don't only guess their best friends. Somehow the fact that it could be anyone makes them think about their classmates outside their closest buddies. 

Birthday Compliments and Appreciations

On birthdays, we try to make the day as special as possible in our classroom. This includes the birthday boy or girl choosing the morning meeting greeting and activity, and getting to choose a few languages for us to sing to them in (we are trying to learn the other languages of our classmates so they get to also pick between English, Italian, Korean, Spanish, French, Danish, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and Persian). 

The best part for me is "Compliments and Appreciations." We sit in our circle, and they get to call on classmates who have their hand up to give them a compliment or appreciation. A compliment is praise or admiration for something we like about the person- we talk about how these aren't physical ("You're so pretty, or, "I like your clothes"), but need to go deeper. Appreciations are when they recognize the great things about someone, or the things that they've done. Compliments come naturally, but appreciations can take time. Help them to see the distinction with daily interactions, such as, "I want to compliment all of your hard work! I really appreciate how you took the time to read each question carefully before answering," or, "Wow! You were really kind during snack time. I'm sure Bianca appreciated how you shared with her."

So, that's how we promote the good vibes in our room. It doesn't take much time out of the day, and helps the room to run smoothly. When students trust each other and feel good about themselves, they're willing to take risks and try things they might not otherwise.

This one breaks my heart. It is from one of my Korean students (brand new to English
last Spring), whose mother passed away suddenly last year. Luna "adopted" her for the
Thanksgiving lunch our school invites families to when Bella's family couldn't make it.
It gives them an outlet to share their appreciations, and let their classmates know
that nothing goes unnoticed. 

My Super Secret Sanity Saver

I wanted to share a new classroom management that have absolutely saved my sanity these past few weeks! They force me to focus more on the positive behavior I see throughout the day, and give me a way to calmly redirect the class. I'm so pleased with how my students have reacted and embraced our new procedures, and thrilled with how easy they are to add into our day.

Super Secret Student!

Last year I made a few bottle cap math games, and my students went nuts collecting bottle caps every day... as a result, I have approximately a million stocked up. Every student in class has a number that they use to label their papers, count off, etc., and I wrote each of their numbers on a bottle cap. Then I beautified a coffee can, which I also have a plethora of, to store the caps in. The Super Secret Student can sits on my desk, and I make a big show of pulling out one cap each morning, contemplating the number written on the cap, and then putting it in my pocket for the day. At the end of the day, if that student had a wonderful day, I give them a cute little certificate to take home. If not, I just share that today our secret student didn't have the best day, and that hopefully tomorrow will be better. Either way, the student's cap goes back into the can at the end of the day- that means they have the same chance of being the SSS the next day as every other student! 

I'm going to be honest here, I am a little sneaky about it. The first two days, I purposely picked out students who have consistently fabulous behavior and needed a little attention- we talked as a class about the great things that they did throughout the day to deserve a Super Secret Student Certificate. They felt good about themselves, positive behavior was reinforced, and we ended the day on a positive note. We also had a day when the SSS did NOT receive a certificate. The next day, they were all on their best behavior! I also 

Here's my favorite example of how it's worked so far: We are in the midst of rehearsals for our Winter Concert, and I have an incredibly chatty class. The day our SSS didn't get celebrated was because the whole class was beyond crazy and chatty on the stage, poking each other, turning around... Ugh. It wasn't only our class, but still... Anyways, the next day not a single one of them talked or messed around on stage- even when another student tried to talk to my most chatty kiddo, he stayed perfectly perfect and ready to sing. I was blown away! Needless to say, we celebrated when we returned to the classroom.

You can pick up a free copy of the award certificate by clicking here!

Light vs. Dark

"Miss Streisel, can I share today?" For me, every day starts with at least three small voices asking that same question, and my answer is typically, "Of course, about what?" But when the response on November 16th was, "I want to share about Paris," I momentarily froze. 

While it was weighing heavy on my mind, I didn't expect to be confronted with the idea of discussing terrorism with my 8-9 year old students so early in the morning the Monday after the attacks in Paris. I was still confused myself (and still am), so being the authority on how to address this with children was intimidating. I wasn't sure who knew what, or how to comfort them when it is clearly a terrifying and awful subject. However, they knew about it so our 20 minute Morning Meeting routine was focused on world events.

I'm not sure if this would be fitting in every classroom, but in mine it was. 

We began with just the question, "Raise your hand if you know what happened in Paris this weekend," and every one of their hands went up. To be honest, I had mixed feelings: relieved that I didn't have to be the one to tell them, saddened that they are aware of the darkness we face in our world at such a young age. The next question was on how they were feeling. Sadness, worry, fear, sympathy, anger... They couldn't understand why someone would want to hurt others so badly. They were worried because their dad's were supposed to travel to Paris for business that weekend, or their Thanksgiving break was meant to be spent there. They were worried that Milan would be next. One of my girls is half French, and she shared that her father's family lives in Paris, and then her eyes filled with tears and she didn't want to share more (we have since talked, and her family is fine). 

Finally, the question I worried about most came up: why did the terrorists attack?

 I wasn't sure myself, and didn't want to go down that path. One of my Italian girls, the one who had asked to share in the first place, blurted out, "I know! It's because in our religion, we have a lot of freedom, and in theirs they don't, so they are mad at us for being so free." A boy, who had been very quiet (which is VERY strange for him) burst out, "NO! That's not what it is! They have NO religion! They have no religion at all! They wouldn't do this if they had any religion, so they are NOT religious people!!!" He was clearly incredibly passionate and visibly upset. This was from one of my three Muslim students (I have three boys, one from Iran who was completely new to English this year, one from Libya, and one from Saudi Arabia- this one was a sweet, energetic 8-year old Saudi boy). The students all nodded solemnly at his words, agreeing silently that no matter their beliefs, they knew that these people could not be associated with a religion that people we know and love also follow. They were a separate entity. 

At a separate point, my boy from Libya nervously asked me if it was the Muslims who did it, clearly worried if his religion was "wrong." The fact that such a sweet boy, who loves soccer, Pokemon, and playing UNO with his best friends from Russia, Japan, Bulgaria, and Italy should even have that concern is heartbreaking.

Since then, my students and the rest of our community have tried to figure out what to do with ourselves. 

They want to express what they know, and the pain that they have. They want to reach out but don't really know how to do it. After recess, one of my girls (the one whose family is in Paris) told me that she felt a little better because all of her friends and her (who follow different religions)  had spent recess praying in a circle for peace. At certain points throughout the day, students have "Quiet Time" or "Daily 5" time, and they have choices during those periods on what activities that want to do- our classroom is covered in posters and poems about peace, love, and Paris because that is how they want to spend that time, and my one girl has done her best to teach her classmates to say, "We love you, Paris" in French. They desperately need to do something with their feelings and confusion, and they're doing their best to put it into words, pictures, and actions.

The novel we're reading as a class fits in perfectly, and it's solely because these children are looking for an explanation. 

We're reading the "Tale of Despereaux," the story of a little mouse who loves music, reading, and a princess, which are very un-mouse things to love, a rat who wants to find light, though rats are meant only for darkness, and a girl who has never once been asked in her entire life what she wants, but dreams of becoming a princess. As a class we have latched onto the idea of light vs. dark; when the world touches us with darkness, we must reach out with light. We've also been very moved by the downfall of Chiaroscuro (the rat), who has no idea that rats aren't meant for the light or that rats  are awful creatures, until he hears the tone of the princess's voice when she calls him a rat and begins to see himself as a terrible thing. Any explanation, any rationalization we can find for actions that have no rationale is comforting, as it gives them something to understand when it is completely un-understandable.

The students at my school are so lucky that they are constantly faced with those who are different from them. 

I was slightly annoyed earlier this year when I recieved my class list, because I have a heavily Italian group of students- 11 out of 18. But that's a very privileged annoyance, and speaks to who our school is- a big draw of our school is that it's a very international community. But even with 11 out of 18 being from the same country, these kids are friends with people from all over the world. Their best friends speak another language at home than they do, eat food that's totally different, have traditions that are unlike their own. Last year, the 'cool' thing for my Italian boys was to eat kimchi, a Korean dish that they'd tried at one of their friends houses, and that they'd beg their moms or nannies to make. My boy from Iran has become very popular in class because though he knows only a teeny bit of English now, the kids have realized that he is hilarious and sweet, and they love him and work to communicate despite the language barrier. Being different is the norm, and is valued. If you can grow up not only tolerating differences, but with a curiosity and appreciation for them, a desire to know about them, I can only imagine what this looks like in adulthood and when moving forward in changing the world.

Anyways, I'm going to end with a note I found on one of my girl's desks the other day. Try and read all of those tiny bits, because it's a letter to the Earth and is beyond beautiful.

I originally posted this on my personal blog. 

Responsive Classroom

I love teaching because I love learning, and as a teacher there are endless opportunities to learn, grow, change, and try new things. This past weekend, I attended the ECIS (European Council of International Schools) conference in Barcelona and loved every second of it. I left feeling energized and excited to look deeply at the work I'm doing and how I can best educate my fabulous kiddos. 

Before the conference itself began, I participated in a full day Responsive Classroom pre-conference with Kerry O'Grady. Responsive Classroom is an approach to education that focuses on the importance of building both academic and social-emotional skills. These ideas are embedded in all that we do each and every day and cannot be separated- for example, rather than "Respect Week," respect is worked in throughout the entire day; what does respect look like on the playground? In the cafeteria? During reading groups? We also can't assume that students have an innate understanding of the social and emotional skills that they need to be successful academically and socially, including cooperation, self-control, empathy, responsibility, and assertiveness. They need to be taught and practiced explicitly, modeled throughout the day in various scenarios, and constantly reinforced. 

I absolutely loved everything that was presented. One of my biggest takeaways from the day was the importance of modeling. As Kerry taught us about the guiding principles of RC, led us through the research on the benefits, and guided us through activities and strategies for developing a positive community, engaging academics, and effective classroom management, she truly practiced what she preached. While it was a long day, the other participants and I were fully engaged and absorbed the entire time. Towards the end we discussed interactive learning structures, and as it turns out, she had used three or four of them throughout the day to keep us moving, talking, and involved with the material. She used the interactive modeling strategy when introducing different ideas, and taught us new energizers to break up the day and get us on our feet when energy lagged. We even started the day with an adult morning meeting, which broke the ice and helped everyone feel like we were in it together. It was a wonderful day, and I learned just as much (if not more) from her teaching methods as I did from the content she presented. 

I also came away feeling an intense pride in my school. I knew that my school is a wonderful place, and I knew before that our students are wonderful people. However, I came away feeling very proud of the learning environment  as a whole; a great amount of attention is given to social-emotional learning, developing relationships, and instilling values. I take these things for granted, perhaps because this is my first school, and I assume that it's just the norm. But as I talked with teachers from other schools, I realized that it is not always the case. While there are of course social problems (my class has a large clique this year- more on this another time, and 4th grade soccer will forever have its troubles), we don't have much of a bullying issue, and the students genuinely care about each other, their school, and their world. We even have a block for Morning Meeting built into our daily schedules, meaning that I have 20 minutes at the beginning of every day where I'm only expected to cultivate a sense of community. Because so much is in place already, I feel that I can push it even farther with academic choice and trying interactive learning structures that are new to me. I'm so excited! 

A coworker and I found that we were questioning our own practices and considering how we could further incorporate the principles and strategies of Responsive Classroom into our time in the classroom. I love using writing as a reflection tool and have been seriously missing writing/slacking on blogging, so am planning to delve into some of the ideas presented during the conference in a few posts over the next few weeks.

Crafting, Cooking, and Writing

Hello all! This is my last Monday Made It in the USA for a while :( I go back to Italy on Wednesday! I'm definitely feeling a mix of excitement and sadness to be heading back to a place I love, but leaving the people I love. This week, I did a little crafting, a little writing, and cooked a tasty (maybe...) Greek meal for my family!

I don't know if you've read it yet, but if you haven't you should! "What Do You Do With An Idea," by Kobi Yamada, is one of my new favorite children's books! It's so beautiful, and I can't wait to share it with my class! The book tells the journey of a child who has an idea (embodied as a cute little egg), and though he tries to ignore it, the idea follows him all around. He's nervous to share it with others, but nurtures and cares for his idea. Eventually, his idea colors his world, spreads its wings, and takes off. He discovers what you do with an idea, but I'm not going to tell you because the last line of the book brought me to tears and I want you to have the same experience :)

Anyway, I was so excited when I bought it that I read it aloud to my mom as we drove home. I couldn't decide when to share it with my class! First day? As an introduction to Writer's Workshop? When talking about being brave with our ideas when sharing them with the class? Before starting Genius Hour? If we do our Invention Convention this year, as an introduction to that? I decided I'll use it all throughout! My mom and I came up with a thousand fabulous ideas just discussing the book, and here is my favorite: 

Isn't it darling!?!? They still need to be jazzed up a little. I think I'm going to mount them on bottle caps and maybe do some green scrapbook paper along the bottom to be grass. I might change the crown size and add a little sparkle too :) The plan is that for the day or so before reading the book for the first time, one of these little guys is going to be sitting out on my desk. Whenever a kid asks what they are (because you know they will), I'll respond with something like, "Oh, just a little idea, I'll tell you about it later," or, "Just an idea I have..." After reading the book, the "Ideas" will end up being desk buddies for the day for kids who have a fabulous, out-of-the-box idea, who bravely share their plans and ideas, or who make amazing connections. For example, during our Processes that Shape the Earth unit last year, my student from Indonesia, as we're discussing plate tectonics, says, "Ohhhh, we probably get a lot of tsunamis in Indonesia because we're part on the Indo-Australia plate, but also on the Eurasia plate." DING DING DING!!!! I was so excited by his fabulous thinking, and that would have been hugely deserving of a Idea desk buddy for the day. I think that they're going to be tough to earn, but everyone will have ideas that are deserving :)

I've jumped aboard the Washi Tape bandwagon and can't be stopped. 

Oh my gosh, I'm obsessed. I bought tons for my two new Erin Condren planners (yayyyy! They arrived!!), but have used it on all sorts of things. I'm planning an herb garden for my brand new apartment, so I made little chalkboard tags with wash tape posts to label each plant, and I've been decorating my binder clips... yes, I'm that obsessed.

Can't wait to set up my garden!

I'm on a journey to Domestic Goddess-hood, and part of it is attempting to become a fabulous chef. 

Right now, pretty much all I can make is pasta salad, but I took a cooking class in Greece and learned to make a few things. The other night I tried them out on my family! Greek salad, tomato fritters with tzitziki, turkey feta burgers, and stuffed grape leaves... I'm pretty proud of myself!! You can read more and find recipes if you want on my other blog :) (The picture is actually from the first time I tried making these- I didn't take any cooking pictures! Oops!)

Finally, my fourth Made It, which is more of a "wrote it" than a "made it." 

I love writing, and keeping my personal blog, Adventure in the Great Wide Somewhere (I love Disney) is very therapeutic for me. I love looking back at where I've been, and adding to/crossing off my bucket list! My only real complaint about life in Italy is that I feel dumb a lot; I can't be as independent as I'd like, and I don't know how to take care of things the way I would here. So when my internet went out last Thanksgiving, and my landlady said she didn't want to renew it since I'd be moving out in July (!!!), I just accepted it (angrily) and went without. It was hard not being able to skype my family from my apartment, but I also got very behind on blogging. Anyways, I've been trying to update this week and have a few new posts if you're interested (so far, A Series of Firsts in Cervinia, and Switching from Mozzarella to Feta)!!

Monday Made It: Welcome to the SEO

Eeeeee! I'm so excited about my Monday Made It this week, even if it's mostly an idea!

Last year I found the website PowToon and fell in love with the amazing presentations you can create. They are such a creative way to deliver content! Anyways, one of their templates was especially appealing to me, and I thought would be for fourth graders too, but I couldn't figure out how to use it. I have now, though!

I used the Mission template to create a short video that I'll introduce my students to in the first few weeks of school. It welcomes them to the "SEO" (Secret Education Organization) and explains that they're looking for a class to add to their mission team, who is in search of an important code/password. Each mission requires team work, but will ONLY be delivered when the class is exceptionally well behaved. The first mission will probably be a getting-to-know-you exercise. Maybe an application or a letter convincing the SEO to accept our class as part of their team?

I haven't officially decided on the code yet, but the plan is that for each mission students complete, they'll earn a letter. I have three ideas for what the code will be:

1. The first location to a scavenger hunt (Under the Slide) 
2. The name of a reward of some sort (Snack Outside Today)
3. Genius Hour (we'll start when they finish)

Missions will be anything I do in class, just introduced ahead of time in a fun way. They can be simple or a little more involved:

1. Determine the theme of [given picture book]; the third letter in the theme is the third letter in the code
2. Create an argument for and against using solar energy (give a letter after with a note from the SEO thanking students for their advice)
3. Find all factors of 42. The fourth factor's associated letter is the first letter in our code.
4. Reach the 6th level of Code.org. Count the number of steps you need to take. The associated letter is the 6th letter of the code.

I guess all of my ideas so far are associated letter ideas... I'll have to keep coming up with new ones :) I'm so unbelievably excited about this!!! It's just something silly, but I hope it adds a little more excitement to our days and encourages a positive work environment. I think it could work in well with STEM challenges, too!

Monday Made It! Student Planner and Monster Math

I am OBSESSED with planners. I love decorating and doodling in mine, and keep a colorful set of markers handy wherever I go for the purpose of color coding. My first year of teaching, I rewarded myself with a Erin Condren planner, and now as I begin my third year, I've ordered my third and am impatiently waiting for it to arrive (seriously, I've been tracking it for days-- it's currently in Indiana). This year I also ordered the Life Planner and can't wait to have another lovely planner to organize!

That said, I would love to pass on my need for organization to my students, but couldn't find exactly what I wanted. Usually, I give homework on Mondays and collect the following Monday. My students are so busy with after-school activities, family obligations, and travel that it made sense to let them organize their own time. However, many lacked the forethought to spread their work over the week (no matter how many times I stressed the importance of it!) and would come in on Monday with an empty packet and a, "My grandma came over on Sunday and I didn't have time!" excuse. Grrrr!!!

I think I'll use the alien cover this year!

I got the idea to make my own planner from a post by The Ladybug Teacher Files. She posted about using a comb-binding machine to keep her spelling journals, and I fell in love with the sleek look of the spiral comb (I can't stand the traditional comb-bindings! They drive me nuts!), and thought that would be a perfect way to make a planner for each student. After a few days at the computer, I created a printable planner that I think will work well for my students (it's on TPT with all four covers included). 

At the beginning of the planner, I have a few resources my students constantly need: login information (we use Kidblog, Code.org, a class website, and I'm thinking about Biblionasium this year too), a multiplication chart, and a page to record our class rules. Next come monthly calendars. We do a few big projects and usually our team prints out a calendar to keep track of important dates, but now it'll be handy with our other important dates (learning celebrations, concerts, book club dates, due dates, etc.). I think before I make copies I'll write in our school dates. I was also thinking this could be a great get-to-know-you activity if each had to ask each classmate their birthday and record it in their planner. I have a teammate who uses individual calendars with Calendar Math- her students record the day's pattern in their own calendar, and I may do the same! I am obsessed with inspirational quotes, so I put a children's literature quote on each month, too.

I love the quotes and hope my students will too!

Last but certainly not least are the weekly planning pages. These are very tailored to what I've seen my students struggle with. First, recording the date; each day of the week is pre-dated. There is a box for activities, and I'm planning to teach my students to fill this in on Sunday or Monday with their families. There is a big box for homework, but I didn't include subject dividers. My thought there is that I can use the box any way I'd like then. I can assign an exit-ticket style math problem to go along with a flipped classroom video (more to come on my idea for that later!!), a reading response, etc. and have students record directly in the box. I could display the week's homework on the board and have students individually fill out when they'll complete each assignment if I still want homework due on Monday's. I think it'll give me and my students more flexibility!

This is my organizational style- hopefully it works for them too!

I use The 40 Book Challenge in my class, and students are supposed to keep their charts in their portfolios, but a few lost theirs when they brought them home (that's why they stay at school, sillies!). In the planner I included a little box for them to record what they read, how many pages, and how many minutes. I've also included a spot for spelling words. I think if they need to record them themselves rather than me handing out a spelling list, it'll hold me more accountable for meeting with each spelling group to do a word sort on Mondays.

Anyways, I wish my Monday Made-Its were more crafty, but anything I make has to come back with me in a suitcase, so I make plans for my Made-Its, and hopefully can stay organized enough to put them together when I go back to Italy. I can't wait to see how they turn out!!

I also made a monster version of my Math Workshop Rotation Board in primary colors. My previous board was cute little love bugs in pink, purple, turquoise, and green. I'm considering changing my classroom color scheme this year, but we shall see :) This too is on TPT!