Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles

I believe that a significant part of a person responsibility classroom is knowing it how you learn. It is very important for each student to know what works best for them, and whenever possible to learn that way.

Each year we start with a quick test, a learning styles and multiple intelligences test. Each student is given a two-sided test with a section for each of the four styles and the eight intelligences. Students rank the statements in each section from 0, never, to 4, always. Students then add up the 0's-4's and the totals are compared to see which learning styles and which intelligences are their strengths.

We then talk about what each style and intelligence is like, the strengths and the weaknesses of each. I have sheets with tips for each that I share with the students as well. I do tell them that as important as it is to know their strengths and to try to work in them, I also inform them that they need to learn to function in any style or intelligences.

Why? Because teachers also have their own style and intelligence. Some teachers will teach in as many of each as possible to meet the needs of their students, yet some will not. That is why it is important to know all the styles and all the intelligences.

Being a responsible student means knowing how you learn, making choices based on that, and learning how to function even if the teaching is not in your style or intelligence. Hopefully, this year I can help my students know how they learn and how to be responsible to make choices that help them learn.

I have each student write their name on a sticky note for each style and a sticky note for each intelligence and then we place them on little posters. These posters are a great visual reminder to help me plan for my students, helping me plan based on their needs.

My Whiteboard

I am so going to be one of those teachers who posts pictures of their babies. You know, those classroom babies! This post is devoted to my whiteboard.

I have a Promethean Board, and interactive whiteboard, so I rarely needed to write on my whiteboard. I have Promethean pens that allow me to write on the interactive board. So I divide my whiteboard into sections to write information for my classes. I have been doing that for the last couple of years, and each year I like it a little bit better. This year, I LOVE it!

First I went out and purchased some washi tape. I picked one that had two shades of blue dots, little dots. It is just enough to be seen without overshadowing anything else on the board. I have had bulletin board around the edges and sections for years now. I put magnet strip on the back. It was a good idea, but students knocked it all over the board. I decided I wanted to try some kind of tape instead this year. I love the washi tape!

Then I was shopping at Joann Fabrics and Crafts, considering how to do the wording on my board. I have just written most of it up there, with some headers done on laminated card stock. It works, and is fine, but I was looking for a change. I came across these magnetic letters and I fell in love with them. They are about $4 so I know I couldn't write out many full words. I purchased a "R" for reading, a "M" for math, two "S's making "SS" for Social Studies, and a "W" for writing. Then I spelled out the word "DAY" and bought an "A" and a "B" to put up for A Day and B Day. I also bought a "H" and a "W" to make "HW" for homework. The last ones I bought spell out "I WILL" for my I Will statements. I don't put up "I Can" statements. I Can means I am able to, but I Will means I am going to. Semantics.

My whiteboard.

Reading and Math and I Will and HW stretch across the board.

Social Studies and Writing and under A/B Day is my schedule.

I hope you like my board! Regardless, I LOVE it!

New Atmosphere of Excitement

Tomorrow is the first optional work day of the year, and I'm actually excited about it! It's been a couple of years that I've been so excited to start a school year. Actually the last year or two or three I have not been all that excited to start a school year. I thought it was teacher burnout, but now I don't think it really was.

What could it have been? Well, let me tell you what I saw the few times I went into work in the last two weeks. I saw smiles. I suppose smiling teachers isn't such a strange thing, but the smiles this year have been bigger, lasted longer, and seem to be more genuine. Now the state has made some poor decisions of late that would make it hard for any teacher to smile, but I have seen these real smiles.

You know what I heard? I heard laughing. I heard conversations about all sorts of things, and in no voice have I detected any stress or strain. It was pleasant to just listen. I can't think of even one complaint in any of those conversations.

What did I feel? A sense of calm. A sense of joy. A sense of peace. All of which feel like a breath of fresh air.

Even when I was being told that I would have to teach Math, I was at peace. I don't love the decision, yet it's alright.

I am pretty sure I know why the change has taken place, and no, I will not put it in print. Yet every teacher who I have worked with over the last few years or so will probably know why. This is not a subtle bash-on-someone post, that is so not the point. I just felt that I needed to post about how I am feeling about the new school year, or I might just burst. I am truly excited! :)

**Update. I am adding this part, because the atmosphere at work isn't the only thing that makes me excited to go back to work. It is a pretty significant thing though. I am excited to be working with one of my BFFs. She and I make a great team, if I do say so myself. I know that I'll get some "little challenges" this year, like I always do, but for some reason that's okay. At least right now it is. I am very excited to see how this whole Responsibility Class is going to work out. I am excited, and nervous about the idea of community seating. How do I explain that to the overly anxious parent at Open House? I am excited for year 19, maybe because I am doing things differently this year. Maybe it's because things are changing. The state is getting harder to work for, so maybe this'll be my last here and that is freeing. Maybe I'll stick around and thumb my nose at the state and continue to do a great job regardless of how they treat teachers. I don't know, but I am very excited!

Math Teacher

So now I'm teaching Math too. Today my grade level meet with the principal and assistant principal and because of the way the state has decided to evaluate teachers we either have to teach Reading and Math or we have to take a MSL (measure of student learning) Test. It's not like the other state tests, where the score matters for both the students and the teachers. Rather this test only matters for the teacher. I would okay with that, but that isn't the principal's preference. Of course there's a BUT. But we might get another 5th grade teacher and if we do my team would become a team of three which would mean that I wouldn't teach Math and my students would have to take the MSL.

Now it's been two years since I've taught Math and the standards changed during that time. I'm not scared of teaching Math. I actually like Math, but don't like teaching it. I can get over that though. I will probably teach the low Math students of mine and my partner's. I prefer that. I actually enjoy teaching the "low" kids best anyway.

I guess my concern is that I'm trying this whole new idea of the Responsibility Classroom for Reading, which is going to be a lot of work. Then I am teaching Social Studies, which doesn't have to change much, but this year I am incorporating Writing into Social Studies. I actually like teaching Writing, which is pretty amazing because I used to HATE it! By 5th grade they have the basics of writing down so we get to focus more on digging deeper with our writing. My concern is adding on another subject that and I have no idea what the standards really are. I honestly didn't bother looking at them in any depth the last two years. I have them. They are in my binder with all the other standards, but I really have no idea the major focus of them.

I know it'll be fine, and no I am not stressing over it. But I would rather not. Oh well, at this point I will be and I will embrace teaching it. This just makes the year that much more of more of an adventure.

Room Arrangement Craziness

I went to work on Monday and Tuesday and put in a few hours working on arranging the room and decorating it. I have to say that I am struggling a bit with the set up in my room. Like so many other teachers, when I set up the room I want it to look a certain way. I know this is true because I popped into five classrooms that were already set up and saw neatly formed desk groups.

What always makes me laugh is watching commercials or movies where the classrooms are always set up in neat rows. I remember neat rows when I was in school, but you don't find many elementary classes set up like that anymore. For awhile now, groupings of desks are what are found in most classrooms because of cooperative learning. So here I go and try to break the current mold, and I'm not really liking it.

I like my room to be set up with zones. The classroom library zone. The teacher desk zone. The table for groups zone. The students' desks all-neatly-grouped zone. Trying to set up a classroom that allows students to sit in groups, pairs, or by themselves is making me crazy. I want to put those desks in neat little groups so badly. On Tuesday when I went in I didn't touch a single desk. I wanted to but I didn't. The room just felt full of desks.

I have been trying to think of different ways of doing it without it feeling like a desk warehouse but still give them the freedom to sit in the arrangements that work best. That hasn't been easy. When I go back to school again I have a few minor changes that I think I'll make. One thing is to cut my carpet into two pieces. I have a very long carpet and it takes up quite a bit of room. I think that if I cut it and make the main section of carpet smaller I can move some desks closer to my Promethean Board and they won't seem to stretch from the front of the room to the back. Then I can use the smaller piece of carpet for a work area for small groups. Today I decided to hang out in my PJ's rather than work, so in my mind it should work, but I'll have to see it if it works next time I go in.

The next change is making one the pairs and one of lone desks into a group of three. I currently have five sets of pairs and five lone desks. I think going from five of each to four still works. I have no idea how many students will want regular solo work desks, but five does seem like a lot to me. Of course, desks are just one option for working alone or with groups. I do have four comfy nooks set up in the room so a desk isn't always necessary.

I really hope these changes help my craziness and still work well for the atmosphere that I am trying to create. Some might wonder why I don't just set it up the way that I want, but it isn't about me. It drives me crazy when teachers say they won't do something because it is inconvenient for them. Um, it's not about them. It's about the kids. Okay, mini rant is over. :)

Setting Up the Room

Tomorrow I plan on going in to school and start setting up my classroom, well at least I'm going to try. This year I plan to use the desks, tables, and such are community space rather than students having assigned seats. Now here's the kicker, I plan to do this for Reading only. I will also have two Social Studies/Writing classes each day and since we do an A/B schedule for Science and Social Studies that means four classes. Those classes will have assigned places, at least initially. If each class demonstrates that they can handle choosing their own seats then I will give them a chance to.

So how do I set up a room with group spaces, partnership places, and leave-me-alone-while-I-work spaces for Reading and yet have it set up for my other classes.  I want to make nooks of space for comfy spot reading, that's reading with a pillow, and more relaxed spaces for book clubs to meet. So not only do I need to create desk and table spaces, I need to make comfy spaces. That is the challenge I will try to address tomorrow.

The other problem with community spaces is where does everyone keep their stuff? The cubby spaces are nice, but just not big enough for all their supplies. Plus 5th graders tend to have a slob or two or twenty per classroom and I don't want to see stuff hanging out of cubbies everyday. Last year, every day ended with me telling them we weren't leaving until the stuff by the cubbies was picked up. That is not an exaggeration, I really did, and they actually had a desk to keep all their stuff in.

Today, I ventured out to the stores on the last day of tax-free weekend (I will miss them since this is NC's last one) and look for some storage solution to this challenge. Boy, are storage things expensive. I started at Big Lots, figuring I would find them at the best prices. Um, no! I was surprised at how pricey they were. Next I hit Target and then Walmart. I found that the prices were pretty much the same at all three places, with Target being the most expensive.

I found these rolling carts with ten drawers each, that are a good size for folders and notebooks. I would need three of them to accommodate all the students and at around $25 a piece that is a lot of money for a poor teacher. At this point I plan to ask my parents to donate either $5 or $10 gift cards to Walmart and hopefully I will get enough to pay for one and maybe some toward another one. I would then take care of covering the rest. I'm hoping that works because they really would be the ideal solution.

I am looking forward to seeing the room come together and start our Year of Responsibility.