Morning Messages and Classroom Agreements

Good Afternoon Cerritans,

After taking the trouble to privatize the blog, I have learned that I can legally make it public as long as I do not use children's names in the captions. That will make all of our lives easier, I think, as you will be able to access the photos and downloads quickly, and you can even add the Cerrito blog to your RSS feed  (that is a service that sends you an email when I post). The blog will still not come up in Google searches, either.

That being said, I neglected to take photographs today, so you're stuck with a few different kinds of snapshots of our day.

Each morning, students have a morning message to perform, some kind of task that gets kids to work as soon as they enter the threshold of the classroom. It sends an important message about the significance of this space, and it helps warm up the brain. On Monday, it's focussed drawing. Here was today's:

Good Morning Cerrito Creek,

Lake Anza sure was fun on Friday. 

Check your new job this morning.

On Monday mornings, we draw a still life in silence. Use a pencil. Choose a seat that gives you the perspective you want, but be sure not to block anyone else.

This afternoon, we began our process of creating a classroom agreement. In the end, it will be a document we can all sign that will be simple, direct, and positively stated. I like to begin the process by having students brainstorm all the no-no's. Here are a few highlights:

NO

• using hammer or other distractions to skip lessons/important learning opportunities
• throwing stuff in class
• leaving Rosie's cage open/mistreating classroom pet
• putting tacks on chairs / practical joke
• sitting on Mike's special chair

We have some work to do before we get to the Golden Rule, but that's a start!

Homework:
Read 30 minutes. Make 3 connections, 1 text to self, 1 text to world, 1 text to text. Write them on sticky notes and stick them in the book where you made the connection. A text to self connection is something you can personally relate to in the book (that reminds me of the time I...), a text to world connection is about something you know about the world (Danny is poaching with his dad and I know poachers get thrown in jail if they get caught...), and a text to text connection is when you connect what you are reading to something else you have read.

4thMath Mon
5th math (I give out a packet each week, and this week it's in two parts: part 1 and part 2.)

Circle the words in the writing piece you are working on that look misspelled. Don't correct, just circle.