Routines, Mythology, and Rice Krispie Treats

This felt like more of a typical week. We stuck with the schedule, and having those boundaries is really helpful at the moment; we are all starting to build some muscle memory around the routines for arrival, dismissal, independent reading, and word study. Aside from being consistent with the schedule, I also rolled out revised class jobs this week and had students complete a survey indicating interest and availability, and that has been going quite well. I was sure to choose arrival and dismissal captains who could really support with keeping the routines on track, and that has been a great help.

Other things that went well this week:
  • We are in the midst of a unit on Greek Mythology. It has been really fun, and students are getting a lot better at reading closely. Our summaries are starting to feel less like retells, they are getting better at determining theme and finding all the key details to support their theme, and we have been reflecting on who would be a good audience for an adaptation for each myth based on an SEL reading the kids have. Their final project will be to create an adaptation and present it to another class in the school, and I think they are going to do a great job with that.
  • For Black History Month, we have been studying Black owned businesses and Black led community organizations. We have also been reading Young, Gifted, and Black as a mentor text, and students are working to create an infographic about a business or organization with a partner. There has been a lot of excitement about this, and they are doing a great job identifying key details to include in their writing.
  • Rice Krispie Treats! Students have the option to make Rice Krispie Treats in class (we just use a hot plate) for their birthday or half-birthday if their birthday falls in the summer, and we made our best batch yet yesterday. 2.5 bags of Dandies vegan marshmallows, 1 full stick of butter, and about 6 cups of gluten free rice cereal seemed to be a great ratio for very marshmallow forward treats.
My hopes for the week to come:
  • I'm hoping to support students to have more of a growth mindset about their work and to have more skill around approaching challenging tasks. I rolled out math journals on Friday for them to reflect on their work at the end of each block, and we are going to start talking about one of the the math practice standards each day and applying it to a problem that we do on slates. In ELA, I'm trying to use more checklists and I'm trying really hard not to answer kids when they ask "is this good?" I read something about this, maybe on Edutopia recently, and instead I'm redirecting them to answer that for themselves.
  • Prioritizing exercise! (and prioritizing in general) I was able to prioritize getting a bit of exercise after school a couple of days this week, and it really makes a difference. My intention is to prioritize the highest leverage tasks for the day before school and during any planning periods I have so that I can leave on time and exercise after school on the days I don't have after school obligations.

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