First Week in 5th Grade!

I am not sure if the semester is going by fast or slow yet, but I have completed my first week in 5th grade. It feels amazing! I survived:) Tuesday, I was not really nervous (I knew it could not be as bad as last semester). I think it helped that I was going back to the same school. So I was familiar with the parking, the signing in and out procedures, and I knew my way around the school (which could be tricky with 3 floors and white walls everywhere). My CT was great from the very beginning. She made me feel so welcome. She had a kidney shaped table brought in for me to use, bought me marker pens, a clipboard, and even a Starbucks gift card. Before the students started to arrive she explained some for the students and their behaviors, which was not good. She said the class was the worst in the school. One of the students had been suspended for 10 days. She just kept saying please come back tomorrow. This made me feel a little nervous, but I thought it would be great experience. I believe I will learn TONS!!! My CT has such a great presence in the classroom. 

Already I can tell this will not be a boring field experience. Something is always happening. This group of students can be a nightmare one minute and then have you laughing so hard you are crying the next. One big thing I learned about this age is the boyfriend/girlfriend drama starts. They start "going out" with each other. And they are so street smart.

But I also picked up some class management and organizational ideas in the last couple of days I would like to share (and keep for my resources)...

Each student has their own drawer with their number on it. If a student gets finished with their work, they can come get something out of their drawer to work on. The teacher places different items based on what that student needs to work on. 

This is where the students turn in their work. This will help keep things some what organized. Also notice that each subject is represented by a color. The students have these colored dots on their notebooks (composition notebooks). The students also have a purple folder for math and a red folder for reading, and they use these during centers. 

The essential questions are also organized by the subject colors. (My CT even has the students read them before we start the lesson.) 

The word wall is also color coded. 

This is the center groups for reading (the math groups are displayed the same way, but the students are grouped differently). Notice their are color groups within each number group. The colors are ability groups. So brown is the lowest and pink is the highest. The math groups are formatted that same way. 

I also learned this cool way to stack chairs. Each chair also has a number on the back, so the students know which chair is theirs. 

The students' workbooks are stored in their own box on the cart. The boxes without numbers are materials for centers. 

 I love this idea. When my CT passes out worksheets, she places the extras in this bin under that day's date. If a student is absent they can look under that date and get their missed work. 

I also like this idea. This can be used to return work or information papers that go home at the end of the week. The students can check under their number to see if they have "mail." 

Many of the 5th grade teachers use this chart to track behavior, homework, and bathroom breaks. I cut the left end off due to privacy of the students. Their is a column for each day of the week, and a homework column. The 2 small boxes are the students bathroom breaks they are given outside of using the bathroom with the class. At the bottom of the page is a key from A-Z of behaviors, management, and organizational expectations. 

A- arguing, B- blurting, C- cafeteria, C- out of chair, D- disrespectful, D- drawing, E- eating, F- not following directions, G- not participating, H- housekeeping, H- hat/hood, I-interrupting, J- inappropriately funny, K irresponsible, L- not listening, M- making noise, M- disrespecting materials, N- dishonest, O- off task, P- playing, Q- playground, R- restroom, S- specials, T- talking, U- unprepared/ no agenda, materials, or pencil, V- not testing appropriately, W- hallway, X- inappropriate exchange, Y- gum/candy, Z- sleeping

I am looking forward to a great semester and getting over my fear of teaching older grades!