Sydney's School Stories

I am officially moving from Newport --> Woodridge Elementary. I am leaving Newport because as a first year teacher you're last to get an assignment and teachers with continuing contract get priority. I will be teaching 5th grade math & science at Woodridge and doing the expertise model (this is where I partner with an ELA/social studies 5th grade teacher and we share 2 classes of kids who switch mid-day). Sad to leave Newport, but excited for new opportunities!!

The medium sized colored bins from Target are amazing for organizing science materials (you can find them at Target for $3 and Dollar Tree also has great deals on all sized bins.  Put ALL of the materials a group will need in a bin for each group- I do this the night before or have student helpers come in at recess to help gather supplies Give directions BEFORE you pass out the bins and write them in a place that students can easily refer to during the lesson (after the bins are passed out- it is hard for kids to concentrate on teacher directions) Give kids a chance to touch/explore the materials- this gets the "newness" of working with materials out of the way  Have a basket that contains extra supplies that groups might need in the front of the room. If your class can handle getting out of their seat for more supplies, assign a "grabber" for each group - this will be the kid who gets more supplies as needed. If your class is too rowdy or distracted by getting...