What went well today in our classroom:

• Children sharing in jigsaw groups what they have been learning about one of the six regions of Canada.
• Children writing headlines (a visible thinking routine) to highlight something interesting or important about a region of Canada that someone else shared.
• Conversations around division: does the larger number always appear first in a division problem? When a smaller number is divided by a larger number is the answer a negative number?
• Using the pictures from The Mysteries of Harris Burdick to spark writing during our 5 minutes of silent writing.
• Starting to set norms around more effective conversations in class: wait a few seconds after someone has spoken; say something before having your say.
• Dictation of a simple Spanish poem: what sounds/words are my students hearing when they listen to Spanish? How are they translating that into writing?
• Weekly status of the class preceded by 3 minutes of writing to these two prompts: I am at the part where…I’m thinking…
• I’m spending less time giving instructions so kids can work.

What didn’t go well today in our classroom:

• I’m having a hard time sticking to my time limits.
• Because I have too many tabs open, it takes me a long time to find what I need when I need it.
• I still talk too much.
• I’m not consistent with guidelines for group discussions.
• I could make better use of my prep time.

Plans for improving tomorrow:

• Set a timer for mini lessons.
• Do even more turn and talk.
• Enforce guidelines for group discussions.
• Push all my open tabs to One Tab.
• Stay positive.

Cross posted to Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Tuesday.