I am going to give this week a 3.  Spring Fever has definitely hit and add to the fact that all my kiddos where together for the first time since before winter break it was a WEEK!  Very challenging to put it mildly. This challenge was felt all over the building even with veteran teachers. I am implementing a reward system for next week whereas each student gets 5 tickets and they must have 10 tickets by the end of the week (which is Thursday for us) in order to go to the prize box. I did this before the winter break and it really worked very well. Friday was a very productive day for me. I was able to get lesson plans completed and my room in order before the students return on Monday. I had a very fun Zoom meeting with my students Friday morning. We can not introduce new content and so I spend the first part of the time reviewing what we learned during the week. In math, the students learned about coins. After our review, I showed my students old coins from my son's coin collection. Some of them date back to the mid 1800s. I also showed them old paper money dating to the early 1900s and compared both to todays money. We also looked at money (coins and paper) from foreign countries and compared those to US money. Then we took a virtual tour of a US Mint to see how coins are made. They really enjoyed both the seeing the money and the tour. A couple of my kiddos even went and got their parents to see. I love when they get excited about learning.

I gave several informal assessments this week in all subjects. These are just quick check ins to determine if they are understanding the concepts. In reading,  the standard we started working on is comparing and contrasting characters within stories. This will continue into next week with a formal assessment next Thursday. I did give a formal assessment in math on coins. The students did a pretty good job with this assessment even though they have very little contact with coins in today's world. 

As I look forward to next week, I feel as though I am prepared both in terms of the lessons that I plan to teach and to deal with the "excitement" that my students are feeling being all together. I've got this! is my mantra. I plan to really enjoy the last 6 weeks with  my first class.

Standard 1a: Teachers lead in their classrooms. I have used this weeks informal and formal assessments to determine which students need more help and which students need more challenge. In math this week, a couple of my students showed a real understanding of coins and who to add them together to make other amounts. For example they understand that 2 dimes and a nickel make a quarter. They also understand that 4 dimes make 40 cents.  I am planning to introduce to them more higher level thinking problems for next week.

Standard 2a: Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults. This week back with all my students has lead me to make sure that I am providing an environment that is both positive and nurturing with my students. They were so excited to see each other that I think they forgot how to act in the classroom. I conveyed how I expected them to behave without raising my voice (this took all my strength). I stopped often during small group time and independent work time to remind them of our classroom expectations.  

Stand 3a: Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. I continue to plan lessons that align with NC standards. I strive to make connections with the standards that I teach and the real world. In both math and social studies this week, I made those connections. Since we learned about coins in math and economics in social studies, I related both to everyday interactions with both. How we earn money in order to purchase what we need and also save for what we want. 

Standard 4b: Teachers plan instruction that is appropriate for their students. I use assessments to determine what my students are struggling with and which students need more of a challenge. This week as I saw the majority of my students struggling with the value of coins and how to put coins together to make another (5 pennies = 1 nickel), I stopped and restarted the lesson in a different way. Basically I took a step back and regrouped. 

Standard 5a: Teachers analyze student learning. Outside of reviewing assessments, I also talk with my other teachers in my grade level to insure that what I am planning and teaching insures student growth. They have given me great insight on how I can make my students understand the standards we are working on. For example, the act of comparing and contrasting. I first started with two students in the class and we compare/contrasted them before we started with characters in a book.