That's NOT Fair!

How many times do you hear that whined at you in a day/week/month?  Oh my goodness, I could do with out the phrase, "That's not fair" in my classroom!  Today, we talked all about fairness ~ no, it's not on the approved standards list; but, I find some of our most valuable lessons can't be found in the state curriculum guides.

The conversation started with math ~ yep, some students need extra support than others.  Some need to draw their math out; while others can simply do the math in their head.  I wanted to ensure students knew their job was to do what they needed to do to be successful for themselves!  It doesn't matter what Susie Q needed to do, all that mattered was what they needed to have their own success.  That lead to this great quote:

I love this because I'm always talking to the kids about doing what they need to do to be successful ~ and this plays right up to that concept, using our word "successful" because that's what we want for our children.
Then we were reading from the read aloud.  In case you haven't heard, we are reading The House in the Big Woods.  It's part of the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  We got to a chapter today that began showing Laura's jealousy towards her big sister Mary.  And of course there was the famous phrase, "that's not fair" in the book.  (I just love when the ideas running through my head all coincide with each other and pop up in reading, math, writing, etc. . .)

Now we were talking about siblings and the "fairness" between them and I was reminded of a great illustration I've seen from time to time!  Parents, feel free to pull this up anytime your kids are bickering about fairness ~ it's a keeper for sure!  This image really shows the idea of fairness and led to a pretty good class conversation.

As I pointed out, the first picture shows fairness because they all got 1 box and so that's fair.  Boy, were your kids quick to tell me how wrong I was!  They were able to explain the idea was to see the game and so the 2nd picture showed fairness so they could ALL see the game. 

I'll be saving this picture to remind them that sometimes someone getting something you don't is still fair!

Have You Heard?

I'm sure by now you may have heard the news; but, in case you haven't. . . .

Our class is the happy owner of 4 new iPads!  For a couple of years now I've been dreaming of adding to our class technology resources and have been dreaming of the day I could bring some iPads to the classroom.  Well, with YOUR help and support during Calico and the Home Trunk Show fundraiser, you helped make this happen!

Our Calico money earned was $656!  The Home Trunk Show money raised was $246 ~ that was with the bonus of being the highest earning class!  I think my shopping put us over the top on the Home Truck Show ~ Mrs. Price had a good Christmas this year, but part of the money was going for a great cause :)

On top of all the fundraising, I applied for a few grants and one came through with $425!  Adding all that together, I was able to get the class 4 new iPads ~ we are so excited!

When will the kids get to use them?
I am currently waiting for screen protectors and cases to come in.  Yes, I could have gone to the store and bought screen protectors; but, I found a much better deal on www.nomorerack.com and when spending classroom money, every cent counts!  So, we are waiting for the delivery!  Once the screen protectors and cases come in, I will get them set up with the FEW apps I'm going to begin each iPad with!

What will the kids do with them?
Basic apps being used will be STAR Reading and Accelerated Reading where students can quiz on their books.  I love the app version of the book quizzes so much better than the computer version ~ plus, imagine being able to test 7 kids at a time!

Students will also have logic games to play such as Sudoko and Montezuma Puzzle.  Both work on problem solving strategies and Montezuma Puzzle brings in the geometry skills students need to develop.

Another game we will enjoy playing is Words With Friends.  Students will be actively playing against each other.  Through word building skills, they will become much better spellers and increase their vocabulary.

Mr. Fritz is creating blanket e-mail addresses for the iPads so students will be able to e-mail me work they do using the iPad.  They will be practicing their reading fluency by recording themselves reading and then e-mailing me their best reading sample.  Students will also be documenting learning by taking pictures and creating a brief description for the picture and e-mailing me their final product.

There are many more uses and my hope is to have your children prepared to use today's technology as learning tools; not just game systems!  My mind is working hard and now that I have 1 iPad for every group of 5 students to share; my next goal is to have an iPad for every 2 students to share!  I have written a couple more grant proposals and await hearing back.  I have requested assistance from the Parent Booster Club and hope to know if they will help support this dream later this month.

Please keep in mind, technology cannot replace the paper/pencil learning we all did as students; however, without changing some of our teaching to meet the needs of today's learners, I would be doing them all a big disservice.  I thank all of you who helped make this happen this year through Calico donations, purchases and other fundraiser events!  I hope soon you'll be hearing from your kids about the exciting things they are doing with the iPads as I know they are all just as excited as I am!

Minds are Working!

Students amaze me at this time of year!  The beginning portion of the year they are all about putting the "right" answer down and filling in what I tell them to put where ~ it drives me crazy!  I work on them for months to just try their own answers and thoughts so we can see where they are and where we need to take them from there.  This is the time of year they begin doing that more and more and they take chances without fear of being "wrong!"

As the students are working on reading response journals right now, Brooklyn wants to know if she can still respond on a book even though she hasn't finished reading it.  Of course she can!  As I begin to explain to her why, she cuts me off and says, "Because I can respond on just a chapter right?"  SHE'S GOT IT!  Of course she can respond on just a chapter of a book, or even just a paragraph.  There are many ways to respond and you don't have to be finished with a book to have some sort of response to it.  I love that she could reason her own question out.

And then there's Joey questioning the reading response poster wondering why a section is listed the way it is.  Truth be told, I don't know and he's right, it doesn't make sense!  The fact that he analyzed the chart and realized it was a little wonky is great critical thinking on his part!

I love seeing this in students and it reminds me of something I heard yesterday while listening to the tv. Kids today need to learn to "fail" because we learn from our failures.  When our kids don't know how to handle "failure" then they don't learn from it.  Too often we want our kids think they can do anything the first time around, which makes them more worried about trying new things.  I love getting the chance to make these kids get out of their comfort zones and try new things ~ I love it more when they aren't "successful" the first time because I get to show them that it's okay and let's think on what we can do differently on our next attempt.  It teaches them you won't be perfect at everything; but as long as you try, it's not a failure.  The only failures in life are the things we passed on trying because we were too scared.

Look Who's Back!

Welcome back Kaden!  After being out sick for some time, Kaden was able to join us back in class this morning.  Kids were very excited to see him on the playground before school started and entering the classroom this morning ~ but I'm sure none were more excited than Kaden and his parents!

Being the great and kind teacher I am ~ yes, that's sarcasm again ~ I of course started the day out with a very challenging and frustrating activity for all!  Today is St. Patrick's Day and we have loads of activities surrounding the theme of the day!  After starting out with some "easier" work, it was time to bring out the challenging work.  Of course, the above pictures shows Kaden was just thrilled to be in class working again; but, not sure we can say the same for Daisy in the picture below. . .

Daisy's face seems to ask, "Why Mr. Price, Why?"

And then there's this picture of Brooklyn and Brayden.  Brooklyn is excited to have found a word while Brayden seems to be holding in his scream of frustration. . .

Ahh, the joys of teaching ~ you know it's all just to torture these little innocent children as I sit back and give my evil laugh, muh ha ha!

The activity they are struggling over?  Building words out of the letters c, e, v, r, o, l

Made My Week!

I know this blog should be about the current class and all the learning we do; but, I have to share what happened with a former student this past week.  I mean, after all, it's not like these kids ever stop being my students, even after they leave 2nd grade they will always be one of "mine" from here on out!

This week I was reminded of how it really is the little things you don't even realize you do that makes the largest impact on the students I teach.  I had just finished getting a haircut when I received a text message from a parent from a previous year.  She said her son was having a hard time finding a good book or series to read and it was making him not want to read again.  This mom had asked his current teacher for some help in selecting level appropriate books her son may enjoy.  The boy then told her mom that, "Mr. Price picks good books, can you ask him?"

I LOVE THAT!  It's an amazing feeling that what he remembers from me is the entertainment he received from the books I read aloud or pointed him to read.  It really is the little things that make the difference!  But, now I have a responsibility to live up to and hope I can direct him in the right direction ~ I have 3 for him to check out and hope at least 1 does the trick or my credibility may be ruined :)

2nd Trimester Awards Assembly

I am very proud of everyone's work this last trimester!  For the first time in a couple of years, I can say each and every student earned an award of some kind this trimester ~ that's incredible!  I am also very amazed at the fact that none of our current students received a single tag in class during the 2nd trimester.  That's an amazing accomplishment in itself!

My goal for the final trimester is to have every student reach their AR goal with the correct accuracy and have every student earn a citizenship award!  How amazing would it be if the entire class got to go on the final Wildcat trip together?

The AR goals are reachable if students read in their levels and quiz weekly in the computer lab.  Remember, students get their new books from the school library on Fridays and they have all week to read as we go to the computer lab on Thursdays.  Students should be able to quiz on a minimum of 5 books a week at that rate!

Great work in the 2nd trimester and I'm expecting even better in this final term of 2nd grade!

Promise to Get Better

At yesterday's staff meeting another teacher told me I had a parent complimenting me on Facebook for using a blog and how much they liked seeing what was going on but wish I'd update more often.  That made my day!!!!  Of course, it also made me feel so guilty for not updating it more often!  I know the parent posting completely understands time issues; but, really, the main reason I haven't updated more often is I never know if anyone is reading or if it is for my own amusement.  So, knowing I have at least 1 parent following our blog will motivate me to make a better effort at updating more often!