Array City

Time to Select Books

• The students were testing in the computer lab for a few hours, so my teacher allowed me to leave the room for a while. First, I tutored a girl who was not taking the test. We used the Brantton metod to create spelling flash cards. I had her read the cards to me a few times and place the cards in alphabetical order. Then, she read Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus to me. We read the cards one more time. When a pull out group entered the room, I returned her to the testing room to play educational games on the class iPad. My teacher allowed me to take some time for myself, so I decided to check her classroom library for any resources for my next units. I wish that my iPad had wifi and that the class had a Good Reads account, because I would have scanned in the books to help me plan future lessons. While I looked through the books, I also reorganized the classroom library. The children do not always put the books back into the bin that they got them from and I know that that kind of bothers my teacher. I am excited because I found some good read aloud books for my persuasive writing unit. I also checked in any late work. 

Lunch

• My class had lunch during the fifth grade time. It was interesting to see how they felt about fifth graders. Most of the students were intimidated by fifth graders, but a few of the students had friends from that grade. Because the fifth grade does not usually use the back of the lunchroom, I had to eat lunch with my students. I knew that two girls had already eaten lunch with the fourth graders due to testing accommodations and that they were with another teacher, so I sat at their table. I was pleasantly surprised when some of the boys sat at the girls table because they wanted to sit with me. It was a nice lunch time. They boys even asked me how college is going. I told them that it is going well, but I am nervous about my mock interviews on Thursday. 

Array City

• It took hours to prepare this project and the students finished it very quickly. They were very excited about this project and were actively engaged. I had to keep telling them to be quieter. When I noticed that four students were still working and everyone else was finished, I called everyone who was finished to the carpet to talk about their buildings. I tried to relate the project to our anchor chart from yesterday to make it more meaningful for the students. Every student showed their building and told what their factor pair and product were. 

Joshua Bell

• While my teacher was introducing the famous Hoosier project to the students, one of the boys looked at me excitedly and said, "Look Miss Lynch! Joshua Bell is on here!" I was so proud of him for remembering who Joshua Bell is. A few weeks ago, I played a Joshua Bell video while the students worked on their homework. I explained that Joshua Bell is from Indiana and that he is my favorite violinist. He grew up in Bloomington and took private violin lessons at IU as a child. I saw him perform twice during the Dr. Gingold tribute concert while I studied at IU. This boy should also enjoy the sixth lesson of this unit in the textbook because it also lists Joshua Bell. 

Regardless of Culture, Girls still Play with their Hair

• I was surprised when some of the girls said that our girl from the Middle East was playing with her hair in the restroom. She wears a hijab, so I figured that she wouldn't be so concerned with her hair. The girl told me that her mother had braided her hair this morning, but she wanted it to be in a bun so she fixed her hair. I like how open this student is about discussing how her hair relates to her culture. This semester has been a nice learning experience for me. 

Making a Tough Decision

• It took a few hours, but we worked out a plan to help for the rest of the school year.