A Day in the Classroom

My goal this year is to blog about what it is really like in my classroom. I created this blog to focus on my work as a teacher without getting tangled up in the politics of education.  Mostly.  I have another blog for that. Hopefully this one will give some people inspiration to try something new and others the knowledge that they aren't alone in the crazy world we teach in!

Teaching my way is messy.  I believe that most things worth learning require some digging and moving and rearranging.  They require failure and change and trying again.  I try to give my students that chance as much as possible.

This is what my classroom looks like when we get started.  I love my tables!  They are old cafeteria tables, so when I need open space I just fold them up and roll them away.

This is one of those tables after we were done:

This was our first experiment of the year and it was all about bubbles.  How can you learn about bubbles without making a mess?!  As we go on, I'll teach them how to keep their work neat, but for now?  It'll dry.  They cleaned up their own mess afterwards, and they learned what they needed to.  They also had a blast doing it!

I'm so glad we have days like that, because they balance out days like today.   
This is what my classroom has been like today. All day. 

Me: Find the page in your science textbook that has an illustration of a plant cell.

*observe students flipping through pages one by one*

Me: No, please don't flip through the pages one by one until you find it. Use the tools we've talked about to find the right page.

*observe students flipping through pages one by one*

Me: Please don't flip through the pages one by one until you find it. Use the tools we've talked about to find the right page. Yes, that's right. The index is a great tool to use. (Repeat for about 30 minutes)

*all are now on the right page and we have discussed the difference between plant cells and animal cells*

Me: Who can tell me what the purpose of the chloroplasts is?

Student: (Note, I use student to mean any of the many who answered, not just one) They are in the plant cell.

Me: Yes. What is their purpose.

Student: a pumpkin

Me: A pumpkin? Think about the question and the response together. "What is the purpose of a chloroplast? A pumpkin." Does that make sense?

Student: No.

Me: Okay, good. So, what is the purpose of the chloroplasts?

Student: Animals!

*Repeat above conversation re: pumpkins for animals, skin, pumpkin again and other assorted nouns.*

Student: They have chlorophyll.

Me: *Mentally singing the Hallelujah chorus because at least we are on the right track* Yes! So what is the chlorophyll for?

Student: *You aren't going to believe it. Just wait. Really* A pumpkin.

*music dies a quick death in my head, repeat earlier conversation multiple times*

Student: It makes food for the plants.

Me: *music starts a bit softly this time* Great! And because plants have this chlorophyll, they are what color?

Student: *You know what's coming, don't you? You don't believe it, but you do.* A pumpkin.

*Repeat previous discussion re: pumpkin, animal, purple, leaves, and trees*
Student: Green.

Me: Yes! Most plants are green! Green, I say. Green!

Fortunately for me (or for my students, I'm not sure which), pumpkins did not come up for the rest of the day. However, all conversations went a similar route. Tomorrow is another day! My kiddos are terrific, and they are smart. We are going to have frustrating days like this, but they are so willing to try unfamiliar things.  That is going to make all the difference.  The jump from 2nd to 3rd grade is so hard!  We will all make it through the week, and by golly we will learn something! Even if it is only that "a pumpkin" is not a good shot in the dark answer.