Today we started our unit on fractions.  With PlayDoh, plates and plastic knives on our desks, we are building conceptual understanding by comparing medium and large "pizza" slices.  It will take time to understand what a fradtion really is but some students learn this easier because they are visual.  It's a nice change from the division algorithm.

​We hit a self-inflicted roadblock.  Some PlayDoh was old and dry.  I should have checked first.  We'll hit the concept again tomorrow but with better PlayDoh.

It took many days of sitting and recording to take a deep dive into every student's reading, writing and math progress.  I used Screencastomatic and my assessments files to give parents a comprehensive picture of strengths and weaknesses.  The feedback was very encouraging but I need a nap.  Check out the sample video below.

Mr. Rubio is so dedicated to supporting students.  He put together a dessert celebration for all students who had earned at last 10 Soaring tickets.  Students earn these tickets each week by completing all their homework, serving others, doing something extraordinary or just remembering to use the bathroom at recess or lunch.  I wasn't here but the word on the street was this - It was sweet!

I believe that children love to build and create.  Legos makes that easy and fun!

The first part of fourth grade I focus on getting my students excited about reading.  The two charts show our STAR reading assessments from the beginning of the year (August) and our most recent test in January.  We have made progress.  We moved from 49% proficient or advanced to 68% proficient or advanced.  More work still needs to be done but a little celebration is in order.

Our students took the day off and all Grovecenter teachers gathered in the Library Media Center to participate in two important trainings.  The first examined performance tasks for state testing in the hopes of helping us identify learning experiences that will help our student master grade-level standards.

It has been clear for years that these performance tasks are difficult.  However, if we can support students and change our instruction to build confidence, they can become more adept at completing these tasks.

The second half of the day was spent brushing up on mathematical discourse using Thinking Maps.  That means we are going to use our deep knowledge of mapping to help our students not only understand math terminology but think deeply about math concepts.

It was a great day of learning and collaborating.  If I want my students to get better, I must also get improve!