Welcome to My Classroom

I currently teach third grade at Schwarzkoff Elementary in Utica Community Schools. Schwarzkoff is a Title I school with approximately 530 students from kindergarten to sixth grade located in Sterling Heights, Michigan. At Schwarzkoff we utilize PBIS (positive behavioral intervention and supports) to promote a safe and positive place to learn. PBIS also provides the behavioral supports necessary to have success academically. As a proud member of the PBIS committee, we are always using data and evidence-based research to make informed decisions to maintain consistency and high exceptions within the school.

In my class, I have 27 third-grade students. Out of my 27 students, 14 of them are English Learners. All of my EL (English Learner) students' native language is either Arabic or Chaldean. In my class, I have 4 students with an IEP (Individualized Education Plan). I teach all subjects, including ELA, math, science, and social studies. The ELA and social studies curriculum we use is McGraw Hill. Our math curriculum is Math Expressions, and our science curriculum is Amplify Science.

The Setting

Every design choice and layout decision made in my classroom was carefully thought out. When deciding my table groups I use a system that groups all of my students into four categories. A1 are high average students, A2 are average students, B1 are low to average students, and B2 are low students. When creating my seating chart I place A1 students next to B1 students and A2 students are next to B2 students. Every table then ends up with students from every group. This helps maintain a wide range of skills at every table. The students never know which group they are in or my rationale in creating the groups. It is important to me that my students sit in groups to encourage collaboration. I make sure that all desks are angled toward the board and students never have their back toward the board. Toward the back of my classroom, I have a kidney table where I teach daily small group lessons. I placed this table in the back so that while I am working with small groups I can still see everyone else in the classroom. One of my favorite aspects of my classroom is my reading corner. Long before I became a teacher I started collecting children's books because I have always wanted to have a large classroom library. I never wanted a student to feel that they could not find something to read or feel like they read everything. I am frequently changing the books displayed on the top of the bookshelves to relate to what we are learning, holidays, or seasons.

Focus Wall

Each week in our reading unit we have an essential question, a genre to study, vocabulary words, spelling words, a focus skill, and a focus strategy skill. All of these are displayed on the focus wall. The focus wall is also where I display vocabulary words we are currently studying in math.

Status of The Writer

We complete many genres of writing in my class and for each genre we use a five-step writing process. The steps include brainstorming, drafting, editing and revising, conferencing, and publishing. I use the status of the writer to keep track of where all my students are at in the writing process. Each pocket is numbered and students move their numbered set of cards to match their writing status. This is especially important when I am planning my conferencing schedule.

Homework and Learning Targets

In my classroom, I have a homework board where students copy the homework into their planners. I also have learning targets that I update every day for each subject. It is the job of a different student every day to start the lessons by introducing the learning target. The lead student reads the learning target twice and the class repeats. The lead student then calls on three students to repeat the learning target.

Schedule

In my classroom, I update our daily schedule every morning and then review the schedule with my class. I want my students to feel prepared for the day and reduce any anxiety my students might have about what to expect that day. I also use a points system called quiet ready points. Throughout the day I give points to tables that are following directions and prepared for the lessons.

Total Participation

I am extremely passionate about total participation and engagement in my classroom. To help promote both, I have total participation bins in the middle of all my tables. First, I have exit tickets that I use at the end of many lessons. I use the results of the exit tickets to create groups for the next day. Second, I have ABCD cards and I use these to promote all my students giving responses to questions. Third, we frequently use dry erase boards in class. Each bin contains erasers students can use to quickly clear their answers. Lastly, is the Quick-Write/Draw paper. I found this resource in the book Total Participation Techniques. My routine for the Quick-Write/Draw papers is to first allow students to write or draw their answers to a provided question. Then they share their work with their partner. Next, I call on students to share what they said or what their partner said. This routine gives all students think time and talk time before being asked to share their thoughts with me and the class.

Communication

I use two forms of communication in my classroom. I send home a weekly newsletter every Monday. My newsletter lists the weekly spelling words and vocabulary. I also state some of the learning targets or focuses for each subject that week. I use my newsletter to remind parents of anything important going on in the classroom and any important dates coming up.

I also utilize ClassDojo to communicate with families. I use ClassDojo to post announcements, pictures, create events, message parents individually and in groups. ClassDojo also has a translation tool so parents can translate any of the content to their native language.

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Some of My Favorite Resources

01.

Calm Classroom

I use Calm Classroom at least once a day to teach my students mindfulness.

02.

Walpole

Sharon Walpole is the author of How to Plan Differentiated Reading Instruction. All teachers at my school K-3 use Walpole as a reading intervention.

03.

ReadWorks

ReadWorks offers hundreds of reading passages that cover all content areas and a wide range of reading levels. I use ReadWorks to support comprehension.

04.

Epic!

Epic provides students with thousands of online books. Teachers can track student reading and assign specific books.

05.

Imagine Math Facts

This is an online game that promotes math fact fluency. It is adaptive and motivates students to gain automaticity in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.