I'm using Everyday Math as my curriculum in this new district, but I'm also using what I'm learning from this book...

Its helping me to push myself and my students to not just talk more in math, but to talk with purpose and really listen to one another.... some photos of our recent "action"

Fluency practice with ipads

Today my second graders and I spent some time practicing reading fluency. I spent quite a bit of time in my mini lesson helping them understand that even teachers have different opinions about fluency and how it should be assessed and practiced. From there we talked about what our classroom definition would be and why it was important. I shared with them a fluency checklist/rubric that is kid friendly and illustrated. I don't have an electronic copy, but you might be able to see some of it if you zoom in to the photos below. 

Then, during Reader's Workshop I met with them in groups of 8 ( I have a 1:3 ratio for ipads in my classroom) and we talked more. In  these small groups I trained them on how to use the camera app to record a video of themselves reading a page from one of their just right books. Then I sent them off, with an ipad, fluency checklist and their book. 

 Just after they recorded, they were instructed to listen to the recording once for each area of fluency and evaluate themselves. They listened to the recording 5 times total. Once they knew what they needed to improve on, they were to re-read the same page and re-record it. Both short videos were sent to me.

 They truly enjoyed the work and had deeper insights than I expected. The immediate feedback and adjustments were anchored in self reflection which brought such value to the learning. I look forward to doing this every other week with them.

Standards-based portfolios = life saver!

As a result of my commitment to standards-based instruction and formative assessment, I went ahead and decided to use google docs to organize evidence of my students mastery of the standards. I started by making a folder for each of them, as pictured below....

In each of their folders I made a folder for each content area, just for my own sanity and organization for when I'm retrieving the documents and images later...

While my students are working throughout the day, after I've graded important papers or as I'm listening to them read, I use the google docs app on my ipad to quickly snap pictures and upload to the individual folders by selecting the "use camera" option from the upload drop-down menu. It might seem a little clunky but I'm getting really fast at it :)

Then within the folders I have evidence of learning within that content area, as pictured below....

Which I later link to another document organized by learning target, like this...

The reason I have this secondary document is because I can more easily see who has mastered the standard and who has not...easier differentiation and grouping when I'm planning intervention and extension. 

As a side note, I want to mention that some of the "I can" statements were provided for me and some of them I designed on my own because my district hasn't gotten to that content area in their learning target development. Everything is work in progress but these folders are setting me up for more success than I could have imagined :)

Pre-assessment in math

One of the things I never felt I did a good job of in  the past was gathering pre-assessment data from my students, particularly in the beginning of the year. I was determined to change that this time around. So here are  few of the things I did....

Number collection pages, sometimes known as number collections boxes. Basically I just asked them to represent the number I wrote on the middle of their page (each child got a different number) We talked briefly about different ways (coins, pictures, equations, etc) and then I sent them off, encouraging creativity. It was a great peek into their number sense and flexible thinking. I saw full calendars drawn with numbers circles, ten sticks, clocks, coins, hands, squares, tallies, number words, and lots of others. 

 The other thing we did was math tool exploration stations. I watched and took notes as they worked , giving very little feedback, just asking questions to find out more about their thinking. They explored with ways to sort and connect dominoes, pattern block creations, counting cubes and flash cards and lastly shape stencils. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised at their work and creations, and felt as though I got some great insights about what they were capable of in terms of number sense, subitizing, addition, subtractions and shape identification. 

Starting out with expectations

So we made it! The first four days are done and I am so pleasantly surprised at how well it went! Transitioning back to the classroom from my year of coaching was a physical challenge and my mindset is still slowly shifting, especially concerning parent relations :) but I'm getting used to balancing it all again. That being said, my students are wonderful, truly a joy. Notice I didn't say perfect, because they are not, but they have already brought so much joy me and they seem to truly be enjoying themselves... in fact, one cried getting on the bus to GO HOME at the end of the day today, she didn't want to leave our classroom :)          

Anyway, I wanted to share a bit of our work so far, mostly on starting routines. I've always enjoyed the process of creating classroom expectations and this year was no different. We started by writing down individual ideas on post-its. Everyone did at least two post-its, but some students made more. 

                                                                                    

We grouped the post-its by similarities, mostly with the students noticing the commonalities. After that we created synthesis statements together. They really only needed my help in the first one, then lots of turn and talk and a few versions later.....we ended up with these :) Good job Second Graders!