Week 11: Train up a child in the way he should go...Prov. 22:6

This week...
This week was my first full week with complete classroom teaching responsibilities. The last couple weeks have not been much different but this week I added on the 30 minute writing class and so all of my afternoon subjects are back-to-back and I don't get a break until the day is done. In the afternoon the kids come in from recess and we start social studies, then go to Macmillan whole class reading, then writing, then correcting our daily grammar and geography sheets, and if we have time we will do some cursive handwriting.

The days are getting warmer and I only have a few more weeks left of student teaching. The Lord has been so gracious in His provision for me in so many ways. Each morning is a continual reminder of the Lord's goodness to me.

Top 10 of the week:

1. Bottom-Line Duo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VNjegfBx0M&feature=related
   
2. Finishing social studies letters to Mexico!
   
3. Had my first auction experience
   
4. Got to use the Smartboard slate and clicker system to teach fractions in math class
   
5. Finished reading 1 Kings
6. Started reading The Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler one of my guided reading groups
   
7. Started teaching Fractions in math
8. Started teaching about Economy in social studies
9. Started teaching about successful paragraph writing
10. We are learning about tornadoes right now and I created a tornado simulator out of two pet bottles
    

Week in Pictures:

The Bottom-line Duo was a group that came to Carver Elementary School to perform and they were amazing! If you'd like to check out some of their music and who they are the link is below. Try listening to their "Flight of the Bumblebee"
http://www.bottomlineduo.com

Dear 3rd grader,

I live in Dubuque, Iowa and play basketball a lot. I have a cat. Do you have a pet? What is it? What's the weather like?

Dear 3rd grader,
I live in Dubuque, Iowa. I love cheerleading! My favorite food is pizza! What is your favorite food? What is your favorite sport?


Dear 3rd grader,
I have a dog named Kato. Kato is a girl. I have one sister, her name is Hannah. I like to play softball volleyball, and basketball. What is your favorite thing to do? Do you like dogs?

What I am using for one of my guided reading groups

My first auction experience at Tri-State Christian School.

Top Quotes & Stories:

S: "I just made a Hindu!"
T: "You made a what?"
S: "A Hindu!"
T:"What's a Hindu?"
S: "You know...5-7-5."
T: "Oh! You mean a haiku!"


Student #1: "Mr. Eby, how old are you?"
Teacher: "Guess."
Student #1: "Hmmm...27?"
Teacher: "Nope."
Student #2: "I know! 35."
Teacher: "22 years old."

“I didn’t understand a word he said!” –Adam

(When the guy in the performing group Bottom-line Duo explained a song all in musical terminology)

“I can count to eighteen in Roman Catholics!” –Jacob (Correction... in Roman Numerals)

Teacher Thoughts:

1. Before you prepare for a unit be sure to look at the assessments.
2. Better to be clear in your instructions than to have many tests that need to be redone.
3. When you have the students write a letter make sure you introduce the rubric at the very beginning so they have the big picture of where they are going. Also have them type it up so that it includes computer skills and makes the letter more readable.
4. For 3rd grade students who finish work early have them do multiplication practice by using playing cards or dominoes. They can do Multiplication War. You can also adapt the domino pieces so that you can play Fraction War by turning your domino over and the lower number always is the numerator. The person with the larger fraction wins. This might be a little more difficult and the pieces may have to be chosen before hand and put in a container. Kids love Multiplication War.
   
5. Use NLVM website to teach fractions using a Smartboard, Powerpoint or for students to use during computer time for review. http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/frames_asid_169_g_1_t_3.html?open=activities&from=topic_t_3.html
6. For kids who are off-task create a graph for them so that each day you will keep a tally of any time they are off-task. At the end of the day you can graph how well they did. The lower the point on the graph the better they are doing and focusing on their own work.
7. When kids are rowdy it may be good to have them stand up and roll their shoulders, roll their neck, take a few deep breaths and then sit back down again for work. Kids need a stretch break every now and then too.
8. If you have manipulatives for a math lesson. Have them ready the night before.
9. If you use a bell to get students' attention make sure they are quiet immediately after you ring it, otherwise it loses its purpose. Tell students, "This is your warning. We're going to practice once and then after this if you are still talking when I get your attention with the bell I will have you turn your card." Have students resume their talking and seat work and then ring the bell. Then continue the lesson. At some point during the lesson, use the bell and if someone is talking have them turn their card so that they know you are serious and will follow through with what you say.
10. For writing sometimes it is helpful to have typed instructions (if it is a continuing project) on the Powerpoint so that you can display it for the students. That way you don't have to write it out every day.
    

Please Pray...

• that I will read the Bible and pray with diligence
  
• wisdom as I finish my student teaching in the next 4-5 weeks
  
• for me to meet each of my students needs
• for me to be more firm and know when to use appropriate discipline with my students
• for me to give clearer instructions when teaching a lesson
• that I will be more prepared when I go into each week that I teach
  

Week 10: The LORD’s name is to be praised (Psalm 113:3)

This week...
This week was an unusual week. Why unusual? Well, I was trying to keep updated on the situation in Japan and it was a 3-day week because of Parent Teacher conferences so it threw off some of my routine since I didn't return home until about 8:30PM after conferences on Wednesday and Thursday. Parent teacher conferences are great! It is so good to be able to see the parents with their child and to be able to touch base on where each student is at in their learning. It was a great experience.

The Lord has been teaching me to rest in Him these last couple days. There is so much going on in Japan and I wish I was there for it all but my job right now is to work hard for the Lord right here in Dubuque, IA as I finish my student teaching. I have been reading in 1 and 2 Samuel recently and it is amazing how the Lord works in His people. When David turned to the Lord and asked Him for guidance the Lord directed his steps but when David tried to do things on his own he would stumble and fall. The Lord is mighty and abounding in power. He is a refuge for all who seek Him.

Top 10 of the week:

1. Parent Teacher Conferences
2. Talking with family on Skype and being updated on Japan
3. Iulie Hoben was a guest speaker for 3rd grade. She talked about how she immigrated from Romania to the U.S. and what life is like in Romania.
4. Helping out with Sunday School at church. I got to play guitar and sing with the kids. We sang "I'll Do My Best", "Lord I Lift Your Name on High", and "God is so Good". We also did some games and then Benji Leverentz told the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It was great!
5. Finished reading 1 Samuel
6. Played racquetball with Dale. Won 7-0!...However, he skunked me the next four rounds :)
7. Read Santiago's Silver Mine and Bridge to Terabithia
   
8. Helping Dale with his new creation "The Resistance Gym"!
9. Started doing DOL/DOG (Daily Oral Language/Geography) in the classroom
10. Day off on Friday!
    

Week in Pictures:

Dale's new invention: The Resistance Gym. It uses elastic bands and can be used for arm, leg, and ab workouts. It is primarily for physical therapy patients. It is also for those who are in wheel chairs because the Resistance Gym can be adapted so that it is bolted into the wall and a person in wheel chair can wheel right up to it.
Here is the link to his website: http://theresistancegym.com/

The Emmaus racquetball court.

Dale and I before playing racquetball. After racquetball...much more sweaty :)
Iuliana Hoben, originally from Romania, visited our class to talk about immigration and what it was like for her growing up as a child in Romania.

Mrs. Hoben even taught us some phrases! By the way, did you know that Transylvania is a real place and the legend of Transylvania actually came from the story of Count Dracula who was a good man that was hard on the rich aristocracy because of their mistreatment of the poor. Once Dracula died the aristocracy made up stories to put a bad story to his name--thus the story of Count Dracula and vampires!

Top Quotes & Stories:

• S: "I'm all done with my research paper!"

T: "So what are you going to work on now?"
S: "Sarcasticness!"

Note: The student was not trying to be rude but mixed up "sarcasticness" with "exaggeration" which we were working on in writing class. For example, exaggeration used in tall tales or in a fish story.

Teacher Thoughts:

1. Parent Teacher Conferences: Be positive. Parents don't need to be laden with concerns about their child at a conference that only happens twice a year. If you are in communication with the parents all year long via email, phone, and in person you won't have to worry about dealing with problem issues at conferences.
2. Parent Teacher Conferences: Have manila folders with each students records in them so that you can pull them out for each conference. Each conference should be about 20 min.
3. Parent Teacher Conferences: Let the student do at least half of the talking. Let them show off their work and explain what they have accomplished to their parents.
4. Parent Teacher Conferences: Have students complete a form sharing their favorite class and least favorite class. 3 areas they are strong in. 3 areas they need work in. Have them share one thing they learned from each subject area. At conferences let them share this with their parent. Prior to the conference, send home a sheet asking parents to write down their child's strengths and areas they need to work on and any concerns or questions they might have and any goals they think their child should make.
   
5. At the end of each conference have the students make a new goal for the trimester so that they have something to work towards.
6. Welcome the parents and child at the door and greet them with a smile during conferences
7. Have a writing piece or some other project that the students can explain and show off to their parents.
   
8. Bring in guest speakers! Kids love it. Make sure it ties in with what the students are learning and then use it for writing by having them journal about the visit or write a letter to the guest speaker. Kids learn a lot and the teacher does too!
9. Try to get as much school work at lesson prep done at school as possible. Bring some everywhere just in case you have a little spare time here and there to chip away at it.
10. Put up a new bulletin board as soon as you can when there is a new topic.
    

Please Pray...

• that I will read the Bible and pray with diligence
  
• for wisdom and preparedness as I start full time teaching responsibilities at Carver
  
• that I will have opportunity to share about Christ as I share with others about what God is doing in Japan
  
• for continued safety of my family in Japan
• for me to meet each of my students needs
• for me to be more firm and know when to use appropriate discipline with my students
  

Praise

• Well over fifteen people at Carver have asked how my family is doing and it has been a neat opportunity to share with them
  
• Teaching has been going well and I am learning what things are priorities
• I am starting to hear some amazing stories of the Lord's work in Japan from my family
  

Japan Tsunami Aftermath

Week 9: "Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing..."

This week...

Was a fairly normal week in Dubuque, IA. We had some heavy, wet snow one day and today it is very windy but it is starting to warm up a bit more these days. I am thoroughly enjoying my time at Carver and am also enjoying many conversations with Dale Twesten, whom I am staying with, and with family via Skype.

I have loved my Bible reading and have been learning how often Israel grumbled against the Lord. It has been convicting me to realize how I give so little thanks to the Lord in all things. I will often hop into the car in the morning and say out loud, "Thank you Lord" and name all the things I am thankful for that morning. Praise the Lord for His bountiful provision and His great faithfulness!

Top 10 of the week:

1. Knowing that my family is safe in Japan even with the magnitude 8.9 earthquake
   
2. Giving hugs and high fives to my students at the end of the day
   
3. Using tangrams in math to teach area, edges, vertices, perimeter, angles, and congruency concepts
   
4. Finished reading Judges and Ruth
   
5. Started Cloud With a Chance of Meatballs with my students
6. 2nd and 3rd grade Carver musical performance Lights, Camera, Action!
   
7. Played racquetball with Dale. Lost 10-15!
   
8. Watched Bourne Ultimatum with Dale Twesten, and Katie & Peter Fleming on Friday night
9. Read Island of the Blue Dolphins and parts of Understanding by Design
   
10. GAC Potluck
    

Week in Pictures:

The Music Program Lights, Camera, Action! (2nd and 3rd graders)

Two thumbs up... :)

Brewers fans!

Dressed up and looking sharp!

Ready to sing!

Top Quotes & Stories:

• On the morning of the Music Program day one of the girls in my class asked me, "Mr. Eby do you like my dress?" Its great being a teacher. They all did such a great job during the program.
• Amelia came up to me and said in a chipper voice, "Mr. Eby, you look great today!"
  
• One of the girls in my 3rd grade class came up to me and gave me a hug. She said, "Mr. Eby, you smell like my dad." To which I replied, "I hope that's a good thing." She said, "He smells good."
• The students were supposed to create riddles/jokes and one of the students wrote, "What do you get when you cross a spider with a mouse? A SPOUSE!" Mrs. Breitbach and I got a good laugh out of that.
• One of my students wrote this postcard in our immigration unit:

Dear Pablo,
I really miss Mexico but in the United States
you can watch movies. But I hate that you
have to pay!

-Vincent

• Dale had told me about an earthquake that had hit Japan that was in northern Japan and I told him it wasn't a place I had heard of and my family hadn't mentioned anything so I didn't think anything of it. Well, on Friday morning my internet was down so I couldn't check my email. I went to school and Angie Breitbach said, "I heard about the earthquake. Is your family alright?" I assured her that they were fine, assuming it was the earthquake from several days ago. It was until I got home that I really realized the enormity of the earthquakes that had been going on on Friday. I had assumed it was the one from several days prior and had heard nothing about the quake of magnitude 8.9. Apparently, I need to keep up with the news better. Well, I ended up Skyping with my family for a good hour or so and was able to catch up on the news.
  

Teacher Thoughts:

1. Wait until students are quiet before you speak.
2. ALWAYS, leave time for summarizing the lesson. You feel better about it and the students do also.
3. If the students can do it, structure it so that they can. For example, if they can pass out papers, assignments, textbooks, or organize something. Assign jobs or tell students you have a special task for those who finish early.
4. If students have messy desks, every once in awhile clear the students desks and put everything on the floor. Allow for an "organize the desk" time.
5. When parent-teacher conferences come around have the students fill out a form sharing their goals, their favorite classes, least favorite classes, and what they learned in each subject area.
6. When learning about sequence in stories, type up several parts of the story on a word document, print them and cut them out. Place them in an envelope. Provide an envelope for each group and have them put the parts into the correct sequence. The kids are very engaged in this activity!
7. Angie Breitbach has books that she collects so that whenever a student has a birthday she can let them choose a book to keep.
8. Use sticky notes to tab where you are in your teacher guides because then you can open to it immediately
9. Use manila folders to keep copies of different graphic organizers
10. When you read a story, checkout a number of books on the topic so that students can have them available to read in their free time or make it a seat work activity so that it gives them further learning on the topic
    

Please Pray...

• that I will read the Bible and pray with diligence
  
• that I will be prepared and confident in my teaching and that I will be "on top" of all of my teaching responsibilities
• that I will be a Christ-like example and encouragement at Carver Elementary School
• for my family in Japan and their continued safety
• for the relief efforts that will be going on in Japan
• for the Lord to do a mighty work in Japan in the midst of this national crisis
  

Praise

• I have been getting more rest lately and have been able to run every Saturday morning
• I have had some great conversations with some teachers recently at Carver.
  

RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms

Week 8: Be still my soul, the Lord is on Thy side...

This week...
I learned more about flexibility :) I taught 5 of the lessons I had planned for my unit on immigration but much of it had to be adapted or dismissed due to time constraints and making the lessons more age-appropriate. Our next social studies unit will be Ch. 7: How Are People Around the World Alike and Different?

In math I am teaching multiplication and division and let me tell you, these are very difficult concepts for 3rd grade students!

I am starting Stone Fox for one of my reading groups and in English we just finished The Cactus Hotel which is all about saguaro cacti. Our next story for English will be Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I'm excited and so are my students!

Next week the students will be performing in their music program and I am looking forward to seeing all their hard work.

Top 10 of the week:

1. I'm halfway through student teaching already
2. Teaching multiplication and division
3. Taught my first cursive letters to 3rd graders: capital letters 'G' and 'S'
   
4. Finished reading Deuteronomy and Joshua
   
5. Introduced Stone Fox to one of my guided reading groups
6. Carver Picture Day for the students
7. Students wrote cards to soldiers in the U.S. military
8. Friday Nighters: I introduced a variation of dodge ball
   
9. Small group on Wednesday night on Philippians
10. Playing racquetball with Dale. I'm improving slowly but surely! I was also able to go for a 1.5 mile run in just-above-freezing weather!
    

Week in Pictures:
Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures this week but here is one and more are to come!


My Saturday morning breakfast. Josh made cooked up some asparagus the night before so I decided to try some.

Top Quotes & Stories:

• When the class was taking a short stretch break during the day: "Mr. Eby you must be more flexible than me because you're older!" -Andrew
• One of my students, Garret, has a solution to those yellow pencils that have no eraser because it has popped out. He takes his pink eraser and drills a hole with the back of his pencil into the eraser. He claims that it puts a new eraser into the top of pencils.
• On another occasion I stopped by and when one of the students was poking holes into their eraser with their pencil. I said, "Wow. Don't make it too holey!" A girl nearby looked over and said, "Oh, I thought you meant holy like church kind of holy."
  

Teacher Thoughts:

1. When planning a unit decide on groups to use for the entire unit (i.e. Joel and Amos will be partners for the entire week whenever you do pair work). It saves time.
2. When all the students are required to use cursive on all assignments make sure you also use cursive whenever you write. (My cursive looks bad enough on paper. On a white board still worse... On a Smart board with the calibrations off...oh my! :)
3. Pacing your lessons is important.
4. Sometimes its better to have an assessment that takes several days because otherwise you have lots of student work that is unfinished and it hangs on the students and yourself. Less and better quality is better for you and your students.
   
5. When correcting spelling words used in sentences don't have students correct every misspelling. The goal is the spelling words...correct those.
   
6. When correcting student work, find a student that got 100% and use that for checking all other student work. Its much faster for grading.
7. Mrs. Breitbach found a website that had a live video of a bald eagle sitting on 3 eggs about to hatch. She showed it to the class. School can be fun and bringing in little tidbit news and learning in that way will often be remembered better than everything else that is taught.
8. Start your lessons on a good note, end your lessons on a good note. Your students will remember how you began and how you ended.
   
9. If, in your lesson, a student can write their answer on the board or demonstrate part of activity DO IT! The students are far more attentive when they see a peer at the front of the room showing them something.
10. 3rd graders have a difficult time with open-ended assignments. Be structured and thorough in your explanation.
    

Please Pray that I will...

• read the Bible and pray with diligence
  
• be prepared and confident in my teaching and that I will be "on top" of all of my teaching responsibilities
  
• get rest
• that I will be able to have deeper conversations with Antonio at Friday Nighters
• be a Christ-like example and encouragement at Carver Elementary School