My Very First Haiku Deck

I absolutely loved using Haiku Deck. I actually appreciate that it forces me to be short and sweet so that I don’t end up putting too much on my slides. The pictures are also wonderful and there are so many to choose from. I am presenting this tomorrow to my Ed.Issues class, so hopefully all goes well. Please enjoy.

Letting them Lead

So we are well underway with the student led Crew meetings and I could not be more proud! The students have really took the lead and I’ve just sat back and enjoyed the ride. If I’m being truly honest I had significant doubts about how this would all turn out, and I was making excuses before any were even needed…”Oh it’s our first time…etc.” Shame on me! The students could not have done a more fantastic job and we still have another week left! I just wanted to share some of the awesome things they have planned and executed with little to no help from yours truly! Sorry for the photo overload!

Tony kicked his meeting off with learning targets and a fun greeting where they had to greet each other silently…that was such an awesomely creative greeting I’m totally stealing it for when I have to take over Crew meetings again! He then had the students work in groups to create a collage about what makes them happy. He named his activity “The Happiness Collage” which just made my heart smile. The students absolutely LOVED being able to create collages and then share with their classmates what made them happy. We hung them up in the room as a constant reminder of happiness.

More photos: There are so many awesome things I could share…I will try to refrain from posting ALL THE PHOTOS! 🙂

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When Shantell led Crew she asked the students to form groups when she called a number and then form an object with the people in the group. For example: “4: Washing Machine” then 4 people had to form a group and create a washing machine. I honestly can’t remember what any of these configurations were supposed to be…but look how much fun they’re having! Note: The student wearing the black jacket in the middle picture is a brand new student…look how comfortable he is already! The power of Crew!!

I know I’ve said it, but I am so incredibly proud of these guys…they totally stepped up to the plate and make Crew something that I’m sure they’ll never forget. Each one of them had a hand in planning and creating a powerful experience for their classmates.

I only talked about the “fun” stuff they planned, but they also were responsible for a reading of some sort that led to discussions linking to our learning target and our character strength for the month. I assumed I would mostly have to take over during this part of each lesson, but I was once again pleasantly surprised. The discussions and questions and insights coming out of their hearts and minds was amazing.

I wonder how much we could all learn if we took a step back every once in a while and truly listened to our students…putting the power in their hands has taught me so much as an educator. I know that I have tapped into something great here, and I can’t wait to see where else they can take us!

Telling a Digital Story

So this post is not about Crew, but I am just so proud and excited for my students that I had to share. We worked on creating our own digital stories this week using the Ipad app Little Bird Tales. We’ve been studying the rainforest, and more specifically scientist Meg Lowman and all of her research. We’re currently reading a book about her called The Most Beautiful Roof in the World by Kathryn Lasky.

The learning target for this lesson was focused on fluency and required the students to write their own “mini scripts” and then perform their script for their classmates.

Instead of a traditional performance of the readers theater I decided to employ one of the digital story telling tools I’ve been learning about. Little Bird Tales was very user friendly and produced awesome results. I also noticed that many of their fluency “issues” were resolved when they realized they would be recording their voices and creating a digital story to share with the world. They were using more emotion in their voices and making sure to slow down!

I’m still unsure of the best way to record voices on the Ipad…I wonder if there is a microphone of some sort I could use, but overall I was so impressed with their work and so proud of them!

As soon as I figure out how to post the stories here I will share!

This Little Piggy

One of my next steps for establishing a truly strong Crew is to begin incorporating other school subjects through the activities that we complete during our meetings. A colleague introduced me to this fun math game called Snake. My students love playing this game, but it tends to be a bit time consuming and we often don’t have much extra time to spare during our math lessons to play. I began thinking about a way we could play Snake during Crew, but I knew I would have to shorten it and probably change the rules a little.

After a few internet searches I found a few different dice game that were similar to Snake…and PIG was born:

– Have students partner up and give each team of two a die. If you roll anything except a “1” you can add that score or take a chance and roll again. You can keep rolling and add that number to your score until you roll a “1”. If you roll a “1”, you lose all the amount you scored on that turn. It is the player’s option to quit at any time and take the score up to that point. The first player to 100 wins. 

Students Playing PIG

Although this game is simple addition it requires a lot of quick thinking and mental math abilities. However, the major take away the students had was the risk taking aspect of this game. If you took a risk you may walk away a winner, but you may also end up losing all of your points. We were able to have a grand discussion about when and why risks are important and when they may be not worth taking.

Try PIG…I’m sure you’ll have a blast!

Save Sam!

I found this most adorable cooperative learning activity through a Pinterest search on the website biologycorner.com. My kids absolutely loved it!

My friend Sam (gummy worm) was floating along in his boat (styrofoam bowl) when all of a sudden a big wave came and capsized his boat. Unfortunately Sam cannot swim! He was stranded on top of his upside down boat while his life preserver (gummy lifesaver) was stuck underneath. 

The students’ task was to get Sam into his life preserver using only a few paperclips. They couldn’t touch Sam, his boat, or his life preserver with their bare hands.

Teamwork at its best!! 

He Made it!

This activity was so engaging and fun and I highly recommend it!

We had a discussion about teamwork and how much more difficult the task would have been without each other. (I tried it alone and I couldn’t get it!)

Head & Hands

The rules are simple…
1. You cannot catch the ball
2. The ball cannot touch the ground or any other surface
3. You can only use your head or hands to keep the ball in the air

This is an example of a teamwork activity that I incorporated into Crew this week…for the first round I simply gave them the ball and told them to keep it in the air. For the second round I asked them to talk to each other and come up with a plan. The video depicts the third round of the game where you can see they had come up with strategies to keep the ball in the air longer. Some groups were counting, others were saying the name of the person they wanted to pass the ball to, etc.
I wanted to showcase this activity to prove that the game or activity that students participate in doesn’t have to be elaborate or super time consuming, this simple activity proved to be a wonderful catalyst for our discussion about working together as a strong crew. We were able to take the simple concepts they engaged in to keep the ball in the air and discuss how we could apply those same ideas to our work together in the classroom.
The goal of this activity was to reinforce the idea of teamwork and sportsmanship. Students quickly realized they could keep the ball in the air longer if they simply spent a few minutes talking to one another and coming up with a plan of action. I was also super impressed with their attitudes of encouragement towards one another, I didn’t hear anyone complaining that a teammate had dropped the ball and I know this positive and encouraging behavior is a direct result of the 30 minutes of Crew we have each morning. They truly are fostering a sense of teamwork and beginning to understand the importance of helping one another.

Please excuse the unprofessionalism of the video, it is my first Imovie! 🙂

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Day in the Life…of a Crew Meeting

With all of the snow days we are not as far along as I had hoped in the process of students taking over crew meetings. However, I am impressed with their enthusiasm and excitement for the task! We have spent the past week working on teambuilding activities during crew to truly develop a strong relationship of collaboration among the groups as they take on the task of planning and implementing of a week of crew meetings. Since many of you probably aren’t aware of what an actual crew meeting consists of I wanted to sort of walk you through our daily routine. And share some examples of what we’re doing in my classroom. This is in no way a strict schedule, the times are merely there to give you an idea, but I am no good at keeping to timelines so they really don’t help me much. 🙂

8:00-8:05: Morning Greeting- May be a simple handshake or could be more interesting, but the ultimate goal is to make everyone feel welcome.

8:05-8:10: Reading related to weekly theme or particular aspect we may need to work on as a class (determination, friendship, etc.) It literally can be anything, but I like to use quotes- I cut up a few and hand them out to different students to read aloud during the meeting. Afterward we spend a few minutes discussing them. 

I get a lot of our quotes from 365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Brown’s Book of Precepts by R.J. Palacio.

8:10-8:20: Activity- Again, this can be anything, but I try to make sure it relates back to our weekly topic…if at all possible I relate it to the context of our literature or math lessons, but this isn’t always possible. (Think: human knot, hide the bacon, etc.) However, the activity could also be students reflecting in their journals, creating a quick art project, building something out of toothpicks. It doesn’t always mean a game, although those are obviously popular.

8:20-8:30: Debrief & Reflection- during this time we make sure to debrief the readings and the activity we did that day to connect it back to the main goal for that week. We talk about ways we can ensure we continue these patterns of success throughout the day and how the quote, activity, etc. may apply to our classroom experience that day.

At the end of every crew meeting we gather around in a huddle and do some sort of short cheer to keep our spirits high and ready to dive into the work of the day.

So, there it is, the “schedule” of our mornings. We hold crew meetings every single day, no matter if school was delayed or if we just don’t feel like it. I have found that even if our day starts out a little hectic or stressful the routine and atmosphere that crew provides allows students to relax and settle in for the day. It is definitely our way of beginning with our best foot forward!

We are Crew, Not Passengers

This year my school has begun the process of becoming an Expeditionary Learning School. One of the most important aspects of an Expeditionary Learning School is that all classrooms hold daily Crew Meetings in the mornings to build relationships, set the tone for the day, and to help students get to know one another on a deeper level. I’ve seen meetings like these called “Morning Meetings” or “Classroom Congress”, honestly I don’t know much about either of those, but Crew is a structured 30 minutes that takes place first thing in the morning. The elements of Crew are: Greeting, Reading, Activity, Discussion & Debrief.

Crew has quickly become my favorite part of the school day. I love the way that Crew sets the tone for the day and allows time for all students to feel included and heard. It has truly built a strong relationship among my students and they have grown to understand what it means to truly be a crew, not just a passenger.

During the second half of the school year I have decided to begin turning the responsibilities of Crew over to my students. They are 5th graders and I do try to teach them independence and responsibility for their own learning whenever possible. So I broke them into groups of 5 or 6 and gave each group a character strength to focus on that aligns with our school mission (perseverance, exploration, enthusiasm, and respect). I have challenged each group to plan a week of Crew meetings that relate to their theme and include greetings, readings, and activities that we haven’t done before and that include all Crew members.

We are in the very early stages of planning and their ideas are sort of all over the place right now, but over the next couple of weeks I am hoping to help them narrow down their ideas and begin with student-led Crew meetings by the first week of March.

Please join us on our journey to becoming true crew members and not just passengers!