Raptor Reports & Reading Rewards

 As a teacher, I quite enjoy PBL: Project-Based Learning. It requires more work, more study, and extra effort on my part (because I steer from curriculum for it, and create my own lessons), but I feel that the students benefit so much from it, and they remember what they learned more vividly, and that the extra time and effort I commit to it are worth it as a result. 

I like to teach expository writing in units, and usually do one unit a quarter because they take so much more time than narrative or opinion writing. I break down the expository, or information, writing into topics, such as: person (biographies), place (for example states or National Parks--which is what we did in the fall), and thing (for example: events, inventions, or animals). I currently teach the same grade levels I did last year (3rd and 4th), and I'm hoping if I teach the same grade levels for enough years, that all my extra work that goes into each PBL (such as creating informational outline templates, purchasing books on the topics, downloading or creating supplemental lessons that support the teaching of the topic, etc.) will pay off and I can just start rotating through the expository subjects I've previously taught. Last year, for the animal reports, I decided to have the students study bears and wild cats ("Lions, and Tigers, and Bears, oh my!"). Although I had all new students this year, I didn't want to repeat last year's studies--I wanted to broaden my own mind and learn something new! One of my students loved the Peregrine Falcon, and talked about it so much that I decided to have the students research raptors for their animal report this year. 

I don't know much about raptors (also known as "birds of prey"), so I researched them for months leading up to the expository unit. I read online about them, ordered books to share with the class, and decided how to narrow down the large list of raptors that exist in the world to a smaller category that the students would learn more about. I chose diurnal (awake during the day) birds of prey that live in Idaho, which only included 17 species. I thought that was perfect, because I only had 14 students, plus I do a report myself (to model the process), which would fit within that number: each student would be able to learn about a specific raptor, but they would all have something in common with each other's.

I found a great PDF pamphlet available online on the Idaho Fish and Game website that would serve as the foundation for the students' research, and I created an informational outline for them to use to gather the necessary information before they could write their animal reports. For any information the online document didn't provide, they could find in the books I'd ordered for the class. Once their reports were written and typed (which they did themselves!), we started working on creating a presentation board with all the information they gathered.  It was a 3-week project that included cross-curricular learning: we also read fictional chapter books about birds, and the students used mathematical skills to measure how long each bird's wingspan was and made a model to represent their bird's weight. For social studies, they mapped where their bird lives. In art, they colored images of their bird with similar likeness and painted outlines of feathers with actual feathers. We did a lot with science: watched videos of how each of the birds move and where they live, classified the raptors into familial groups to know whose were related, and learned about what and how they eat and extended this knowledge by doing a science lab experiment about bird beak adaptations. A lady from the Fish and Game joined us one morning and brought feathers and skulls and furthered the student's learning, and they were so excited by her knowledge of raptors and she, in turn, was impressed by how much they already knew, too! She said she's never presented to a class before who knew more than ours did! We presented our reports at the all-school Science Fair at the beginning of April, and students measured their bird's wingspan with that the of the people they presented to, which went over really well. I was so proud of them! The students enjoyed learning and were so excited to share their newfound knowledge with others! I'm so pleased with how the expository unit went; when I invest so much into a project, it delights me to know it when it all works out like I hope and envision. 

Bird Beak Adaptation Lab

Bird Beak Adaptation Lab

Painting with feathers

Creating birds with wikki stix

Wikki Stix Raptors

Wikki Stix Birds of Prey creations

The presenter from the Idaho Fish & Game brought hands-on items.

She did a demonstration how an owl's feathers are so much quieter
than an eagles feathers, and students got to feel them all.

Each student made a presentation board of their raptor.

Presenting at the Science Fair

Presenting at the Science Fair

Another passion of mine is directing Dr. Seuss week which is at the beginning of March; the National Read Across America Day honors Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2. I love encouraging students to read and giving them motivations to excite them about reading. I was so happy to bring my passion of Dr. Seuss week with the students in Leadore, after directing such events at Terreton Elementary for the past 3 years. I chose a theme I've used in the past (but never with the Leadore students) called "A Great Day for UP" (based on the book by Dr. Seuss). Although I've used this theme before, I added so much to what I'd done before, and worked on the concept since January leading up to the event. The whole elementary joined in the week's festivities. I chose dress-up days every day based on the theme and other Dr. Seuss books: "Heads UP" (crazy hat/hair day to promote the book Cat in the Hat), "When I Grow UP" (dress like future job to promote the book Maybe You Should Fly a Jet), "Don't Want to Get UP" (dress in pajamas to honor the book I Am NOT Going to Get Up Today), and "Dress UP in Green" (Wear green for St. Patrick's Day to honor the book Green Eggs and Ham). 

I also issued reading challenges to all the students at a kick-off assembly, where I introduced the week's theme to all the students and showed them a video of the book "A Great Day for Up" being read aloud so they would all be familiarized with it. I gave them an individual challenge and a group challenge: The individual challenge was if they were to read 4 books and write 4 mini book reports within the 4 schooldays that week, they would earn 4 prizes. They were to read 2 Dr. Seuss books, 1 nonfiction book about an animal that goes UP (birds, butterflies, giraffes, dinosaurs, etc.), and 1 nonfiction book about a thing that goes UP (airplanes, kites, clouds, hot air balloons, balls, etc). I created the pamphlet of book reports, based on what I made last year's Dr. Seuss week, and every student got one. I also put together boxes for each elementary classroom full of Dr. Seuss books and leveled nonfiction books in the two nonfiction UP Categories. I wanted to make sure every student had access to books to fulfill the requirements, so I worked in advance by checking out books from the Leadore School Library, the Leadore Community Library, the Salmon Public Library, and my own personal class library and then divided them between all the classes. If a student read the books and filled out the book reports, they were awarded with Dr. Seuss/UP prizes, such as 7UP, a fruit roll-UP, a Dr. Seuss bookmark, and a Dr. Seuss medal. 

The group challenge was for any student who read a certain number of books overall that week, any book of their choosing (6 for Kindergarten, 8 for 1st/2nd graders, 10 for 3rd/4th graders, 12 for 5th/6th graders); they needed to fill out the differentiated reading log with an UP arrow on the backside, and when it was complete, their arrow would go on the hall wall (making a large UP arrow), and the student would be invited to come to an entire elementary UP party. We held the party a few weeks later in the school gym, after ISIP and ISAT testing ended. At the party, we did all things UP: there were 5 stations that students rotated between in groups of 8-10. There was a stilts station, paper airplane making and distance flying competition, balloon game, and beach ball volleyball with partners holding towels. It was a fun party with prizes! Overall, the week went very well, and the students were excited to read and get prizes for their efforts.  

I dressed like a teacher for the
"When I Grow UP" day.

Heads UP crazy hat/hair day

I ordered a new shirt for this year's
Dr. Seuss week. I liked it because it
had an UP arrow & a Dr. Seuss quote.

I Dressed UP in Green for St. Patrick's Day!

Older Students reading Dr. Seuss books to Kindergarteners.

1st, 2nd, 3rd, & 4th graders had a readathon
in the multipurpose room on pajama day.

The students could check in with me every afternoon at a 
certain time, and if they successfully completed the individual
reading challenge pamphlet, they got to pick their 4 prizes.

This was the UP arrow wall at the end of the week.
Every small arrow indicates a student who earned
an invitation to the group UP party!

Balloon game at the UP party

Beach Volleyball at the UP party

Making and throwing paper airplanes at the UP party

Even the Superintendent tried out the stilts
at this station of the UP party!

Moving Classrooms

Moving my classroom a year ago from one room to another in the same building was a challenge, but this year...well, it was a far larger process than I anticipated, and ten times more challenging than I'd previously gone through. Because I'd been at West Jefferson for four years, I'd built up a lot of personal items to use in my elementary classrooms for three different grade levels.

Or 4 years, in my case!

First: I packed it all up last spring, and Josh & Kanyon loaded it into the cargo trailer to move it home after school ended. Then, I unloaded it all and stored it in one of our garage bays all summer. Then, in August, the boys helped me load it all BACK into the cargo trailer, and unloaded it yet AGAIN into my classroom. Then, I had the monumental task of unloading it all from the boxes and combining it with the things that were left in the classroom from the previous teacher, and finding new homes for it all. It was a process I hope not to repeat again anytime soon.  

My new classroom in Leadore has different dimensions than my previous classrooms at West J. It's longer, more narrow, and has one wall covered with tall, single-pane windows. My previous classrooms at West J were square with only two small windows on one wall, and there was much more wall space to work with. In addition, Leadore put built-in cabinets and shelves along one wall this summer, which was fabulous, but they didn't get installed until RIGHT before school started. I had to visualize the space before I could figure out where I wanted to put everything. But I couldn't figure out where to put everything UNTIL the cabinets were put in, so after we unloaded everything (after I FINALLY got my new classroom keys that I'd attempted for two months to get from the administration), I waited until the built-ins were installed before I even started the process of unpacking the boxes and finding homes for everything. 

The classroom BEFORE the cabinets were installed. The carpets
were also ripped out this summer, and the flooring is now polished
concrete (as seen here). Also, the heater and sink were ripped out &
replaced--but they weren't fixed until after school started.

The other side of the classroom BEFORE I brought my stuff.

I told the boys that all I wanted for my birthday was for them to help me pack my classroom stuff into the trailer, and unload it all into my classroom, so on Sunday, August 15, that's what we spent our afternoon doing. Josh drove us down to Leadore after it was all loaded into the cargo trailer & truck bed, and after they helped me unload it all, which took less than an hour, we stopped at Sharkey Hot Springs for a soak on the way home, as a way to relax after that all un-fun work! The classroom felt a lot more full after that, and a lot more overwhelming, too!

Because my classroom had been the most empty to start with,
the construction crew had all their tools and supplies to install
all 3 classrooms' worth of built-ins in my classroom, which was
a challenge to maneuver around. However, my cupboards were
also the first ones installed--so that was nice! The left side of the
room is their stuff, the right side of the room has mine. 

My first full day working in my classroom was Monday, August 16. I started with my unboxing all my classroom library of  books. I'd already sorted my books into 3 categories when I worked at West J, and that's how they were boxed up at the end of the year, too: 1. chapter books sorted by the author's last name, 2. picture books sorted by reading level, and 3. nonfiction books sorted by topic. I decided to add an additional label to each of my books to differentiate between books from my own personal collection and books that belong to Leadore School that came with the classroom. When I taught 3rd/4th grade at Terreton Elementary last year, there was no previous classroom library that I had to combine with, so I didn't have to worry about it. I decided to add colored electrical tape to the binding of all the fiction books for different grade levels, so it's easy to notice and choose books that are in line with each student's reading level. Terreton Library did that to their books, and I found it super helpful, so I wanted to implement it in my classroom library, too. I chose red tape for K-1 reading level, yellow for 2nd grade, green for 3rd grade, blue for 4th grade, and white for 5th grade & up reading level. In addition to that, any book that belonged to Leadore School, I wrote an "L" on that tape strip on the binding, so when I leave, it'll be easier to sort out what books stay at the school and what books will move on with me. I removed each of my books from the boxes, (which I'd previously labeled with the reading level on the inside cover), put the coordinating colored strip of tape on their binding, and set them on a shelf. I was able to empty all of my own previous books and put on my personal bookshelves all on that first day, which was at least 7 boxes' worth!

Progress by end of Day 1

Five days later, I went back to work in the classroom on Saturday, August 21. On my 2nd full day of work, I sorted all the books that came with the classroom, and labeled all the chapter books. A lot of the books that were older than a 4th grade level, I put in a box to give to the 5th/6th grade teacher to add to their collection, and several that were for younger children, I put in a box to give to the 1st/2nd grade teacher. I quickly realized that I would have to re-do my system on my personal shelves, because of the amount of books. I placed all my non-fiction and small reading group book sets on some of the built-in shelves to free up more space on my short personal shelves. When I filled those up, I realized I'd still need to purchase another shelving unit with 9 cubes. It was therapeutic work for me, working solely on books for the first two days. I really, REALLY thrive on organization, so it seemed like the best place to start: on a part of the room that was the easiest to organize since I'd already had a system in place from my previous classrooms. 

Progress by end of Day 2. 

After spending two full days in my room, I was able to see how much room my bookshelves took, and I could start visualizing the space for how I wanted the layout of the classroom to be. I kept imagining my future space: where I wanted to place my desk and the small group tables, and how I wanted to layout the wall space. I was able to start visualizing the classroom layout, so the next week, which was the County Fair week (the last full week of August and the last full week before school started), I went to work every single day, and worked for at least 8 hours straight each day to get my body in the habit of driving and working each day, and also to get my room ready before my students arrived.  

Progress at the end of Day 3: I finished the sorting & labeling
of all the books in the classroom. The white box was filled with
books that couldn't fit on the shelves, and I had to wait at this
point for a new shelf before I could finish that portion of the room,
so I moved onto other parts of the room after that. 

Progress at the end of Day 3: I started sorting math & reading
items onto shelves in the back of the room. I moved large 
furniture items around the room: my desk, filing cabinets, & kiva.

The construction crew moved their equipment out of the room
on this day, so I had more open space to work with after that,
but my area of the room was still full of stuff that needed to be sorted.

The next day, I tackled that massive pile that was still sitting from when the boys unloaded the trailer. I sorted and organized every item as I went, because I didn't want to be needlessly moving one stack from there to somewhere else just to have to move it again as I went along. I finally reached the desks that were stacked in the front of the room, and I sorted through EVERYTHING that was in piles on the desks. By the end of the day, I was able to start moving the desks around the room, and it started to actually feel like a classroom!

Progress at the end of Day 4

The next day, since I had most of the furniture moved around, and it felt semi-functional, I worked on organizing all the stuff that was in the desk drawers and file cabinets. I organized files and papers, and threw a bunch of out-of-date stuff away. The desk was such a disorganized mess, and it took me a while. I also re-organized my personal files in my filing cabinet, too; I'd been wanting to do that since before I left West Jefferson, but I ran out of time. The drawers are all now more efficiently organized, and it has been so much easier to find things that I need/want. I also organized all my crafting supplies and the crafting stuff that was left in the room, and decided where to place them in the cupboards/drawers inside the built-ins on the back wall. 

Progress by the end of Day 5: I organized the office area; my desk
and filing cabinets, and sorted all the arts & crafts supplies.

Progress at the end of Day 5.

The next day was the funnest one for me: my friend Jen joined me! She helped me set-up my classroom one day last summer, too, and it was so fun having her company! Last year, she helped sort and place the books on shelves. This year, she helped me put up all the wall decor. The walls are much taller than the ones in West J, so I was very grateful for her help! I brought two ladders from home, and all the supplies I thought I needed, and we tackled hanging up my hot air balloon decorations, my abc cursive strip, and my math wall posters. It was looking SO good by the end of the day! Adding the decor totally changed up the space, and made it start feeling more homely, and less sterile.

Progress by the end of Day 6: We put heavy duty velcro on the 
back of my hot air balloon signs, and hung them on the carpeted
wall. We also hung up a cloud blanket and a variety of balloons
in the back corner along the highest wall. 

Day 6: We added math posters to the east wall, and hung up
my bulletin board with cloud paper and sky trim.

Day 6: We added panels to two of the windows (to hang future
reading/writing posters onto), and hung up my back-to-school
banners over the windows. We also hung up a few more hot
air balloons from the ceiling on the west side of the room.

Day 6: We hung up the calendar, the 100 chart, and the abc
cursive banner on the front wall of the room. 

On Friday of my marathon week, I worked on organizing all the math, reading, science, and social studies content shelves of my built-in unit. I hung up and created a schedule for my classroom systems (job chart, star student, listed birthdays, etc.). I sorted student supplies and the rest of my office supplies, and finally found all the components to plug in my teacher laptop. It had been a marathon week, but I was feeling so much more ready for school to start after the week was done!

Progress at end of Day 7: first 3 cupboards on the left are craft
and bulletin board supplies, next two units of open shelves are
math manipulatives, curtain is covering science supplies, next
2 cupboards are science & social studies, next two units of open
shelves are reading games & nonfiction books, and the last curtain
is covering shelves full of small reading group book sets.

The math shelves are organized by topic

The reading shelves are organized by instructional
supplies, reading games, and puzzles. The non-fiction
books are sorted into labeled tubs based on the topic.

Day 7: I finished organizing my office supplies into the desk
drawers and onto the shelves by my desk. 

Day 7: I got my new 9-cube bookshelf to finish putting all the chapter
books on, and finished putting together the kiva/reading area.

Monday, August 30 was a teacher work day. After our meetings, I made lesson plans, sharpened pencils, and got the final touches ready for the following day. 

Day 8: front facing the back

Day 8: back facing the front

My first day of teaching at Leadore School was Tuesday, August 31. I didn't feel quite ready, but I never do; I knew I was ready enough! Although there was still things I needed to do to get my room ready, I continued to work on it in my "spare time" for the next 6 weeks or so until I had everything like how I wanted. I started out the year with 14 students: 10 fourth graders and 4 third graders, with 6 boys and 8 girls. They are a sweet class, and I've truly enjoyed teaching them and spending my days with them. They are excited to learn, are kind to each other, and are respectful to me. They seem to thrive with our classroom systems, and I've enjoyed getting to know them individually and watch them grow. I love being a teacher! 

Many, many people have asked me how Leadore measures up to West J. Here's the honest truth, now that I've worked in Leadore for many months and am half-way through the school year:

1. I like that Leadore has 4-day school weeks (West J still has 5, but Salmon has 4 and I like being on the same schedule as my kids).

2. I like that I get to come home every night and see my family every single day (I had a rental at West J and only came home on the weekends and usually once mid-week).

3. I like that I carpool with another teacher and talk about school on the drive so I don't have to unload as much after a frustrating day when I get home after school (at West J, I lived alone with Kanyon and rarely talked to him about my school day).

4. I miss my friends at West J (I don't really have any in Leadore).

5. I miss the organized structure of the school district at West J (I don't have a prep period every day, and it was a fight at the beginning of the school year to even get a prep, which is ridiculous!).

6. I miss having a Master Agreement between the teachers and the administration/school board. There have been so many uncommunicated expectations of me that I've learned about throughout the school year which has been frustrating, and there have been many times this year that I felt like my basic needs weren't being met (collaboration time, prep period, dedicated lunch, time to use the bathroom).

7. I miss having a 'dedicated elementary' principal to go to. In Leadore, the principal is in charge of every grade K-12, and is also a part-time secondary teacher, and the Superintendent is also a part-time secondary teacher. I feel that the elementary school is often ignored as a result of both administration being secondary level teachers (at West J, there was a separate secondary principal, and the Superintendent was very visible at the elementary). 

8. I miss the communication at West J. They have a very organized district, with someone in charge of  social media relations, school board members were very present at school functions at all levels, and we had short faculty meetings bi-monthly, so I always felt like I knew what was going on and so did the school board and administration. However, faculty meetings at Leadore have been very sparse, the focus of the meetings is mostly on secondary level content, and I've never seen the school board members in the building during school hours. In addition, emails from administration are very sporadic, and I never know what's going on until sometimes the week that something is happening, which has been frustrating to keep changing my class schedule and lesson plans around.  

9. I miss having a PTO. The PTO had fundraisers in West J, and were instrumental in providing prizes and books and school supplies that were needed and requested by teachers. Leadore doesn't have a PTO. I've spent personal money on reading prizes for the entire elementary, student of the month shirts for students, and food for reading goal parties for the entire elementary. I really miss working with parents of students that are just as passionate about helping students succeed as I am. 

10. I miss having teacher/student supplies being furnished. Only a few students out of my 14 brought their own supplies this year, which was shocking--I hadn't really prepared for that. My entire supply that I've built up for years with my own funds was depleted in one day. I miss having a large supply of colored construction paper and a laminator and a die-cut machine in the faculty room to make posters with. I miss having magnetic dry erase boards in my classroom, and a built-in DVD player on my teacher laptop. 

But did I mention that I LOVE being able to come home every night and be home on the weekends? Also, I truly love my students this year. They are fantastic kids, and I've really enjoyed working with them. But in case you couldn't tell...I miss West J tremendously. I'm not sure I fit in at Leadore; I wanted to so badly at the beginning of the school year, but the longer I'm there, I'm realizing that it might not ever happen.