Snowflakes are Falling!

I found the most amazing quote and knew that it belonged on my classroom wall. 

"Every piece of the universe, even the tiniest little snow crystal, matters somehow. I have a place in the pattern and so do you"

This amazing quote comes from T.A. Barron. After I read it, I also knew, that aside from being on my wall, that I wanted each student to make a snowflake that was unique to them to decorate the board. Since I teach three classes, I knew that I would have around 60 snowflakes to hang.

As upper grade teachers, we have assigned a color to each grade level so that it is easy to identify homework, assignments, etc. So, when you see my board and wonder why it looks all pastel-"ish", that is why. But I have to say, that I really like how it turned out.

The more I thought about what I wanted to do, I knew that I wanted more "advanced" snowflakes. I went searching for the perfect website to teach my kiddos the easiest way to to make a 6-pointed snowflake. After all, all snowflakes are six pointed. I settled on THIS site. Not only did it have a video tutorial, it showed in picture form every step and then gave ideas on how to best cut the paper to get great designs. 

After my amazing wife got the quote written on the board (I LOVE her handwriting, I need to get it made into a font!), I made a HUGE white snowflake and added it to the board. That would be my "tiniest little snow crystal".

When I got the students back in class, I had each class read the quote with me and we talked about how this is a new year, and that each student has an important place in our classroom. Then I introduced the snowflake making. It was fun to watch the student struggle to fold the paper. Not because I am cruel, but because I could relate it for them to how in life we struggle to make our presence know in the universe. Sometimes we have failures (destroyed snowflakes) and we get to start again, and sometimes we have great successes and we can congratulate ourselves.

When all was said and done (and there was a lot said AND done... believe me!) I ended up with this:

I hope you will continue the amazing work you do of helping children realize that they really DO matter in this amazing pattern we call life!

Cheers!
-Mr. Hughes

Reach for New Heights

This has become one of my favorite activities to use in my classroom.
I learned long ago in the 11 glorious years of instructing students, that these mini-adults need a focus, a driver, an idea to believe in, a GOAL! Too often I saw students who would aim for the 'dirt' as it were, rather than set a goal that seemed JUST out of reach and strive and work hard to achieve it.

I knew it had to be something that would motivate without allowing for students to be harassed or embarrassed. Something big and visual, yet not a complete distraction during the day.

Hence we created our class Goal Quilt (pictured above). I give the students an 8in x 8in square of colored paper (I use card stock because it is easier to deal with and it holds up much better during the student's sketching and coloring phase of the project. Obviously, you could choose paper that matches your school colors, season, or whatever. I like the various bright colors because it makes the quilt exciting to look at.

First, I discuss with the students what a goal is so they understand what a 'good' goal is and isn't. Once they have decided on their goal (and I ask them to make it school-related), then we discuss what a symbol is. My rule about a goal square is that they can not use WORDS to explain their goal. If you notice OUR quilt, you can see that they used words on the symbol. I didn't really want this either, but since the goal is obviously to get good grades, I relented and allowed them to do that. NO NAMES are on the front. That one I DO stick to. I tell the students that this goal square is for them, they don't need to tell ANYONE what their goal is. Once they have drawn and colored their square and I have mounted it, I ask them about once a week as they leave the room for the day if they are meeting their goal. This keeps them thinking about their goal. We make a new quilt every quarter. This year, instead of making 4 separate quilts, I just turned over the first quarter's quilt and glued the second quarter's quilt on the back. Wahoo! Less paper and work.

Since we have an odd number of students, I made three squares to fill out the chart. I put the quarter of the quilt, one with our class motto, and then I make a goal square as well. This helps the students see that even adults need to set goals. I just use a permanent glue stick and black butcher paper or large sheets of construction paper glued together.

Mine is hanging on our black classroom wall where they will see it during NON-instructional times.

I feel this really has made a difference in our class as I ask the kids individually each quarter if they have met their goals.

Later...