Revisiting My Daily Five Classroom

I was reading through my post from over a year ago and realized that I was supposed to post an update on the changes that I made this school year.

The work board returned with a few little changes....

I DID get my pockets made from poly folders.   A LOT of work.  I'll NEVER do that again! My students really wanted to decorate them and made many messes trying to write on them in marker. Yuck!  So my search for plastic library pockets ends here. This year I will return to the manilla pockets and let the kids decorate them.

The kids used the sticks a lot at the beginning of the year but this was such a self guided group, that they really didnt need to be told what to do by the end of the year.  So the system evolved into a check system that the kids spearheaded.  Instead of getting the sticks everyday when they worked on a job, they started getting sticks when the job was finished and then there was another visual for what had been completed.  It's nice when things work out!

The most exciting change in my classroom was with our Grand Central Station board.  I had a board that was really in a bad spot.  It was situated over the only useful plugs in my room so the computers and the listening center always get placed there.  So this board had always been just a place to stick stuff.

This year, I divided the board into subjects and posted examples of the work that students were to turn in during the week for each subject.  We also started posting the learning objectives for each job.



The white baskets below the board are for turning in work done in spirals.  The colorful bins to the left are for turning in papers.  Each job on the board has a number (bright post-it notes) which tells students which basket to put it when it is done.  I can easily pick up a stack and tell who has finished.  USUALLY there are examples of what jobs should basically look like pinned to the board.  I also pin zip-loc bags with papers that they will need (increasing their independence-- also it solves the problem of saving papers for absent/tardy students-- makes sub planning a lot easier too!)

Below the baskets are the unfinished work tubs. Each student has his/her own "Work Tub" labeled with their picture and name (great place to look when spelling a friend's name). During our Monday Morning Meeting, we discuss any major projects for the week. I usually make an example and pin it to the board.  Materials for the week are passed out or pinned to the board.  Students put all materials they will need to finish work in these tubs at the beginning of the week. We take care of absent friends too (No excuses). They also have a red "Must Do Folder" in their Work Tubs.  This folder allows me to have students correct papers, revisit a skill or work on lower/higher leveled work.  The kids are trained early to check this folder first (at the beginning of the year, it is the ONLY thing in the tub).  The work in this folder gets turned in inside the folder and goes to it's designated basket.

As they finish, they put work in the baskets above,  By the end of the week, the tubs SHOULD be empty.

This past school year, we had VERY FEW friends failing because of missing work.  If I was looking for a paper from a little one, I could just point to the board and say "Where is your Job Number 3?"  By the end of the year, they were looking at the board before asking me what they should be doing.  It was great!

This year, I plan to work on making this board more attractive.  With 22  six year olds traveling there several times a day, things can get a bit messy.  I want to work on sprucing up this side of the room.