My Daily 5 Classroom

Our classroom is certainly a busy place to be.  Usually parents and sometimes other teachers will ask how I organize it all.  Actually our system is always evolving and growing.

Grand Central Station -  

The CHOICE BOARD

This magnetic board is the center of our day in both Math/Science block and E/LA.  Students place their pockets under the task card of their choice station for the round.  I ring a timer after 20-25 minutes to signal the end of the round.  Student take their "pass" from a cup in their station and put it in their pocket.  They put the pockets on the main classroom board while we do our check-in or mini-lesson.  

 This choice board system really allows me to know at a glance what students have completed. 

Mostly, I allow the students to make their own choices except for the "Work with the Teacher" group.  There are limits for how many students can be in each station at a time and the kids really keep each other honest about this.

THE CHOICE BOARD

The weekly assignments are listed on the work board.  The work board has the same task cards as the choice board and the cups.  Students can refer to the work board for the "must do" jobs for each station. The weekly spelling words are also listed here.

THE PASSES

 There are colored sticks for each of the stations.  Each child has a stick labeled with the name of the station and their name on the other side.  This way,  if  I go to the writing station and pull the passes, I can tell who still needs to visit that area.  It also helps me to keep track of my little friends who rush to Listening and avoid Writing or Spelling.

Each workstation has a cup labeled with the same task card as the work board and the choice board.
When student complete a task they collect their pass and place it in their pocket










Putting the kids names on the sticks has made a huge difference.  I took a lot of time doing this but we don't have the issue of missing passes or friends not putting them where they belong.

MATH/SCIENCE

The same system easily transfers over to our math and science stations too.  The kids really love having the freedom to choose what they are doing.




NEXT YEAR

Next year, I think I will tweak my system a bit

• I think I will use the computer to do the kids names and station labels on the passes.
• I am also going to redo the task cards so that they are all typed and look exactly the same.
• I am going to try to find a better container to hold the passes at the stations.
• Right now, my Math and E/LA station passes have some of the same colors.  Next year, I am going to work to get these all in different colors (10 colors!). 
• I bought the library pockets this year on amazon.  I am making it my mission to find something more sturdy.  These tear up pretty easily.  I figured I would laminate them, but they still ripped.

Playground Politics

Spring has sprung and the fabulous Firsties have their parents in a tailspin! In the last week alone received THREE emails from parents concerned about something that was said or done on the playground.  So here is my two cents....

I like to use the term "Playground Politics" to describe what happens for 20 minutes each day in our little classroom family.  At 1:40 I line everyone up and march them in an orderly line to the great outdoors. Once the doors fly open the TRUE personalities emerge!

Immediately it becomes lobby time at the capitol.  The organizers instantly pull together the candidates that they want to play the game of the moment.  The bystanders are sometimes pulled in and occasionally a brave bystander steps up and joins in without an invitation.  When this occurs, it causes a bit of confusion from the organizers and the candidates  but he quickly gains freshman candidate status.  This kid, mind you, is closely watched by the organizers and the incumbent candidates for his suitability for future candidacy. This is an important moment for him. He can open the door for other bystanders or banish them all to sitting in the sandbox.

Across the playground, the supporters, guided by another organizer (often not as strong as the others or possibly disgruntled by the choice of game), are planning their attack.  This group pretends not to care what the larger group is doing but all the while they are watching.  When opportunity presents itself, they charge in.  Usually this occurs by planting themselves right in the middle of the larger group's area and challenging them outright.  Battle lines are drawn and the negotiators shine through.  Here is also where you may see deserters and the reporters seize their opportunity to report all the delicious details.

Along the perimeter of this political mayhem, you will find the bystanders who did not join in, the free spirits who never join in, the deserters who joined but left when things got hot and the teachers, trying not to get involved.

I am often asked by parents  why I don't know who their child plays with at recess.  That answer is very simple to me but hard for parents to understand. My answer is simply that I try to avoid playground politics.

Playground politics are very important for a child's normal development.  These are the social interactions that they MUST have for themselves.  Here is where the little bystander learns that he does have a voice to advocate for himself and his friends.  Here is where the former deserter learns to help his friends stop an argument and thus becoming a negotiator.  The danger in playground politics is not in allowing the children to govern themselves; the danger is when adults become involved.

In order to become problem solvers and to be able to face their world with confidence, children MUST be allowed opportunities to actually solve their own problems and face the consequences, they must learn what it feels like to be left out of a game so that they develop compassion for others in the same position, they need to learn how to get angry with a friend and how to make up. This is a natural order that children must go through to develop these skills and to be successful in society.  They cant learn these life lessons from a book and mom or dad- no matter how loving- cant teach them.

The only instance where it is appropriate for the adults to step in (besides injuries or physical fighting) is to address the terrorists.  These little friends make it their mission to disrupt the normal flow of things. They are the friends who use bullying tactics, they threaten physical violence and use inappropriate language.  Where it is usually appropriate to allow the system to handle the terrorists, many times the adults must step in and take him/her out.

Adult interference is dangerous in this delicate political process because we can unintentionally send the children the message that they are not capable of solving their own problems. By stepping in to solve the normal lobbying on the playground, we can send a devastating blow to the entire system.  No matter what their intention, how many books they have read or the number of degrees behind their names, adults have no place in the order of the playground.