Well it’s official: on Friday we had the best day we’ve had all school year. After a rough day on Thursday, I had an honest discussion with both classes about transitions. Now that we’re in fourth grade, there are a lot of transitions. Students need to transition between classrooms and activities several times a day. It’s in those times, when there’s not as much structure, that kids...let’s just say...let loose. Unfortunately that makes it really hard to get settled back down and get back on track and ready to learn. I really don’t like raising my voice, and yet I can’t sit and wait for too long for the noise level to go down and commotion to subside. Well I presented my concerns and frustration to the kids, as I feel like they’re old enough to recognize that we’re a team and that we can problem solve together. Something must’ve clicked because Friday couldn’t have gone better. Transitions were smooth and calm, and not only that, but I received the best report I’ve gotten all year from the music teacher Ms. Ward when I picked up Mrs. O’Keefe’s homeroom from music. We reflected on how good it feels when we do get positive feedback and how proud I was of them. 

Another time Mrs. O’Keefe’s homeroom made me proud was in the afternoon on Friday. I took a course this past summer at Lesley University with a professor named Helen Sisk. The course was one of the best courses I’ve ever taken and Helen's expertise and enthusiasm for teaching inspired me. I think she could tell, because upon completion of the course, she expressed that she would love to work together this year. This partnership is an incredible opportunity for me, but trust me, it’s the kids who are especially going to benefit. She came in on Friday to introduce herself to the class and to talk to a few kids about choices in writing. She plans on using some of the information she gathered to teach a workshop at Lesley on writing instruction. I met with her after the kids left at the end of the day, and she voiced how impressed she was with the students' excitement for writing and learning. She also said that when she spoke with the whole class for a few minutes when she first got there (check out the picture below), she was blown away by how welcoming, eager, and respectful all of the kids were. The plan is for Helen to come in at least once a month, and I could not be more thrilled!

This week during our fiction unit we began our focus on character traits. Kids tend to have a hard time differentiating between physical traits, character traits, and character feelings, so on one of the days, we did a sorting challenge in small groups. After a brief discussion on physical traits versus character traits, we moved on to the bigger hurdle: traits versus feelings. In our challenge, the first step was to take an envelope full of describing words and categorize each word as a trait or feeling. Every group of 3-4 students got a different pile of words, and some of the words were pretty darn tough. So each group was given a Chromebook with access to a pre-downloaded Learners Dictionary app to look up words that were unfamiliar to all group members. Oftentimes kids tend to deviate to general traits like nice, mean, and brave. Incorporating more challenging words, like innovative, distractible, and courteous, forces the kids to explore new character trait vocabulary. After the kids sorted their words into traits and feelings, they put the feeling words to the side. The next step was to categorize the trait words based on similarities they noticed as a team. I didn’t tell them how many categories to have, I didn’t tell them what categories to have-- they had to decide that together. Many groups sorted the words into positive traits, negative traits, and neutral traits. Other groups came up with more specific categories. Regardless of the groupings, I really enjoyed seeing them discuss the meanings of the words and collaborate to sort them. Getting to know characters in fiction is something we will continue to explore over the next few weeks of this reading unit. This was just the beginning!

Our Bucket Fillers this week were Leila and Petra. Leila was one of the students who shared a writing with Helen. When I chatted with Helen after the kids left, she told me how much fun it was to listen to Leila talk about her writing in such an excited and animated way. She really enjoyed her time with Leila, which isn’t very surprising considering how likable Leila is! And then there’s Petra. On one of the homework assignments this week, students were asked to write about a friend, family member, or someone they admire using character traits and evidence to support those traits. Well Petra knew I had a rough day the day before and chose me. She included a detailed paragraph for each trait, resulting in one of the nicest gifts I’ve ever received. I love thoughtfulness, and Petra's thoughtfulness was the perfect way to kick off an overall wonderful day in room 210.