Book Study - Chapter 12 - Building Character and Trust

 1.  Rewriting to make the statements positive:

• We are going to have a great day today, Jason!
• Noah and Beth, thank you for your attention.  Everyone else, let's give Jane our full attention please.
• Let's make sure we are staying on task and being quiet.
• Jasmine, sit up straight please.

2.  I want students to stay on task and pay attention.  Here are Precise Praise scripts for those traits:

• "Kayley, you are doing a great job!  Keep it up!"
• "Thank you for waiting for instructions."
• "This group is doing a fabulous job of problem solving together!"
• "Thank you for your full attention.  First, I want you to..."
• "Great job Haden!  I think you are ready to move on to Step 3.

3.  When students are supposed to be working quietly but are talking about everything but the lesson.  "This is not like Ms. Tumlin's class to be so loud and off-task.  I need you to quiet down and get to work please."

When students are running in the Media Center.  "I need you to walk please.  We don't run in the Media Center".

During Covid right now, students can only choose their books from the tables.  I am always catching students picking from the shelves.  "Friends, we have to choose our books from the tables only, not the shelves.  If you need help locating something specific, please ask me for help."

4.  Fun and Games: There are so many ways to turn lessons into fun and games in the Media Center.  I can do an orientation scavenger hunt, or turn assessments into Kahoots or Quizizz games.

Us (and Them): One of the best things about being in the Media Center is that I get to interact with all students in the school.  I try to greet them all by name.  I try to get to know them, especially the types of books they like, etc.  I will make conversation and ask them how they liked their book, tell them about new books they might be interested in, etc.

Humor: We have done funny bulletin boards in the Media Center to promote reading.  We have also occasionally did funny jokes on the morning news show.  I also like to joke around with the kids as they are checking out.

Suspense and Surprise: We have done trivia questions on the morning news show.  We have had students participate in adding stickers to a mosaic poster and they have enjoyed guessing what the final outcome will be.  We also have wrapped books and had students check them out.  We are elementary so we called it, Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover.  

Week 13

 This week the kids all have extra energy.  You can tell they are all excited about Spring Break next week!  Everyone is very chatty and a bit restless.  Teacher too--haha!

This week we are encouraging everyone to get books that will last them through the break.  We sent out late notices last week to encourage students to return books that were overdue so they could get new ones this week.

At the end of March each year, I weed our old magazines.  I went through our stacks this week and weeded out the 2018 and 2019 magazines we had.  First, I scanned each barcode to delete the records out of Destiny.  Then I cut off each barcode from the back cover of the magazine.  We reuse our magazine barcodes for other magazines each year to save a bit of money.  After I removed all of the barcodes, I offered the magazines to teachers who wanted them for projects in their classrooms.  The National Geographic Kids magazines were taken less than 5 minutes after I sent out the email!

Above: Stack of old magazines that need to be removed from the catalog

Above: Scanning the barcode to delete the magazine record in Destiny

Above: Cutting off the old barcodes

Above: Stack of barcodes we will reuse for future magazines

Book Study - Chapter 11 - High Behavioral Expectations

1. For student slouched in their chair, I would motion with two fingers up indicating that they should sit up.  I would do the same for a student with their head down on their desk with their eyes up.  For a student with their head down and eyes hidden, I would gently tap them on the shoulder and then indicate with my two fingers they should sit up.  For both a student gesturing distracting to another student or a student looking under their desk, I would use my hand to up in a "Stop" motion to indicate they need to get back on task.
2. Sit up please.  (positive group) I need two more students sitting up. (anonymous correction).   
   Respect those around you please (positive group). I need one more student to respect those around them. (anonymous correction)
   Track me please. (positive group) I need one more set of eyes. (anonymous correction)
3. Students are quietly working--give them a Titan Token as positive nonverbal reinforcement.
   Student has the correct answer--nod
   Student is on task--smile
   Students are tracking me with their eyes--give a thumbs up
4. Write this in your notes.  Study it tonight.
   Tyson, sit up and put your feet on the floor please.  Put your eyes on me.
   Avery, eyes on me please.  Put your pencil down.
   Dontae, eye on my please.
   Titan Up class.

Book Study - Chapter 10 - Systems and Routines

Covid Book Checkout Routine:
1. 1) Put library books in the return book bin.  2) Stay in your social distanced line until it is your turn (of three students at a time) to browse the checkout tables.  3) Touch only the book you want to checkout.  If you touch a book and decide you do not want it, put it in the return book bin so it can be quarantined.  4) Bring the book to the checkout desk.  5) Line up socially distanced while waiting on the rest of your classmates.  Read your new books silently.  

2.  

3.  Students often ask to go to the restroom or for a pencil during lessons.  Students can raise their hand with two fingers to ask for permission to go to the restroom.  Students who need a pencil can raise their hand with one finger raised.

Book Study - Chapter 9 - Building Ratio Through Discussion

1. Some of the successes are that students can turn and talk to a partner to have a deeper conversation.  Their partner might point something out they did not think of.  A challenge is that in a group of students, it is hard to monitor the conversations and make sure they are all staying on task.  A way to minimize challenges might be to tell students after the turn and talk I will be calling on several of them to share with the whole class.
2. I want students to be engaged in the topic at hand and I want them to transition back to the whole group lesson quickly.  I would cue with, "Now with your partner, discuss..."  To pull them back, I would say, "Titan Up", which is something we say universally at our school to get everyone's attention.
3. If I were still working with the research websites from the previous week, I would have students turn and talk to tell their partner which website they think is going to have the most accurate information and why.  Turn and talk in this example would increase participation ratio.  I will extend the students thinking after turn and talk by having a group discussion.

Book Study - Chapter 8 - Building Ratio Through Writing

1.  When teaching a lesson to third graders about research on explorers, I will ask them to write down one thing that they know about one of the explorers.  Complete sentences are not required and I will not be collecting the work.  I basically want them to "fact check" themselves while they are completing their research.
2. The objective of this lesson is for students to learn how to evaluate sources for research.  The scaffolding would be giving the students prompted questions about the websites they are using for research, "Which one's graphics/visuals makes it look more trustworthy?"  This activity is more of a think ratio because students have to evaluate the websites and the "facts" to see which website is credible.  The All About Explorers website is not trustworthy because it says Christopher Columbus set sail 9 years before he was born.  
3. After giving students a few minutes to write, I will show call one of the student's work.  For example, I would showcase a student who noted that the website said John Cabot was born in 1405 but sailed in 1947. I would then ask students to tell me what they learned on the Enchanted Learning website about John Cabot.  Students would review their work and explain which website is correct and why.

Week 12

This week has been a regular week filled with shelving and checking out books to students.  Every morning (and after every class comes to check out), I restock the tables where students are allowed to choose books from.  

These are the tables with picture books, beginning chapter books, and lower level non-fiction.

These are the tables graphic novels, chapter books, and non-fiction.

I really hope next year we are able to allow students to choose their own books from the shelves again!  I think having to choose from tables takes away from the experience of being able to find a book that students really want.  Due to covid though, this is what our county is requiring us to do.

Monday afternoon, most of our students participated in an online Flipgrid Virtual Field Trip with Dav Pilkey, the author of Captain Underpants, Dog Man, and Cat Kid.  The topic was "Create Comics with Dav Pilkey".  I have to admit I was a little disappointed in the session even though it was free.  When you signed in, it allowed teachers to post questions from students.  However, the session was prerecorded so none of the questions were ever addressed.  The students were a little disappointed as well.  They are obsessed with the Dog Man series and although it was interactive and fun, it felt rushed.

Above is a screenshot from the session with Dav Pilkey.

Thursday afternoon I was able to attend the Georgia Children's Book Awards and Conference of Children's Literature which was held via Zoom.  This week's author was Jennifer Nielsen.  She is the author of one of my favorite books, A Night Divided.  The session with her was amazing!  Jennifer has such a passion for researching her books and writing historical fiction.  The main discussion was about her book Resistance, which was a winner of the Georgia Book Awards.  She showed a slideshow presentation of historical documents and pictures of the real people who inspired her story.  Below are a couple of screenshots from the Zoom session.

I have had Resistance on hold through our public library for a while now.  After hearing Jennifer Nielsen talk about it, I can't wait for it to become available so I can read it and recommend it to students!