Revisions

A Day in My Classroom…

It is 9:00 am, sixteen students walk down the main hallway of Milton Terrace North Elementary School for a typical Tuesday. Tuesday, students will come in and greet me with a smile, a joke, and a smile or laugh. While students file in the classroom with their books and clothes for PE, a vocabulary review worksheet will greet them at their desk. Jacob will be one of the first students there, and the first student to complete the morning work. Kara will be the last to arrive due to getting lost in the shelves of the library books next door. After her arrival in the classroom, attendance is submitted and then the homework check! This is dreaded by very few in my class, most students enjoy receiving their “Terrific Ticket” for a job well done rather than writing their name in the “Study Club” notebook. By the end of the homework check, most students are reading their chapter books and are waiting for me to say, “Please put you materials away and line up for PE.” Sixteen wide smiles are marching toward the water fountain to stand in a single file line. While walking silently to the gym, students have to endure what seems to be relentless nagging from the PE teachers, resulting in a great deal of laughter. One of the students says, “I love coming to gym!” One of the coaches replies, “The gym is a place!! This is Physical Education!” My favorite student quote was in April. Coach asked one of my students, “Where are your clothes for gym?” Clayton replies, “Daylight savings time.” and walks into the gym. Both coaches were speechless for the first time. While Coach G. and Coach Immel do their thing with students, I have planning time!

I’m not exactly sure what happens to my planning time, it seems to go by so fast, that it is time to go back to the gym to pick my students up. After returning to the classroom, Schallehn is begging me for a free write so she can write break her classroom free writing record of three pages (front and back) in 15 minutes. Today, we’ll learn about the different types of narratives and start writing a personal narrative. Narratives are fun, interesting, and students can construct a lengthy piece. Students notice Mr. Rabideau’s class walking by with their lunches, politely remind me that it’s close to 11:10 and time for lunch. I am glad the students realize this because as soon as students are in the cafeteria, Mr. Rabideau and I go to Pizza Works for a couple slices of the best pizza I’ve ever tasted.

When arriving back to pick students up from the cafeteria, the usual culprits are heard from a distance. These students take one look at me, head goes down, they quietly walk to line up and head back to the classroom. When arriving back, students wait to hear, “15 anywhere” or “15 at your desk” for independent reading. Students prefer the latter choice, but it depends on what I am feeling like. After 15 minutes, it’s noon and time for math.

At this time, most students look very eager to learn something new, while a couple grunt and groan. They should not be grunting and groaning about the schedule because it’s been a very easy morning, I’ve come to the conclusion they are not fans of math class. Geometry has been a big hit in my class. Students get to use templates for tracing, snap cubes for building, blocks for tessellations, rubber bands and geoboards. This math lesson with all of these centers is a favorite of the students.

We certainly do not want the fun to stop here, so when the clock strikes 1:00 pm, we turn into reading fanatics at “Wrigley Field”, the reading area in our classroom. Reading lessons always start out as whole group lessons where we read literature pieces. During and after reading, the “fans” at Wrigley Field respond to the text in writing, or verbally. After we finish our whole group lesson, we break up into small groups. Here, students will edit writing with peers, and complete a second copy at the writing center. Students will review vocabulary, spelling, and grammar for the week at the homework center, and then visit the teacher at the fluency center. When this ends, it’s time to get dirty in science.

Caring for our little science friends is next on the day’s routine. Frogs, fiddler crabs, and millipedes need to be fed and cleaned. Surprisingly, most of the girls in class are eager to get their hands dirty. The boys are ready with the hand lenses to observe behaviors in their homemade habitats. Students are going to observe body parts essential to our little friends’ survival. Using our digital microscope, we can get a close look at all of the organisms we’re studying. I get asked questions that I cannot answer such as, “Mr. B., why do the crabs have so many legs?” Nicolas wants to know, “Why do the boy crabs look cooler than the girls?” The most common question asked at the end of the unit is, “Can I take one home for a pet?!" Students will be able to take and print pictures, and then read about habitats and how different animals survive. After about 45 minutes, we take the time to clean up and get ready for Fun Club/Study Club. Fun Club is where the students get to go to recess with the other three fourth grade classes. Study Club is with me today, and students that need time to think about decisions or more time to do their homework will stop in and visit. The visitors do not seem happy when they arrive, only when it is time for their departure. It is a very good system because it works for everyone who is doing the right thing at all times. As the clock passes 3:05, Gabby, Jacob, and Leanne pack up and head to the cafeteria to get signed out. Leanne always wishes me a good evening. The rest of the students begin filing in the classroom to pack up. They patiently wait for the dismissal announcement and the day has come to an end. As I leave the parking lot, Jacob is always outside in his front yard playing, giving me a friendly wave goodbye. I’ll beep the horn and see him first thing in the morning and this will happen all over again!