Daily Grind

I don't know why it has taken me so long to post photos of my classroom in Sao Paulo! Today, I snapped a few photos while my students were taking their "Morning Break". Yes, my students get three (3!) breaks throughout the day. The first one is at 9:30 for "Morning Break", then they go outside for Recess from 12:15-12:45. The final break is "Afternoon Break" from 2:00-2:25.

My school is a Responsive Classroom school. We begin each day with a "Morning Meeting" on the rug. During the meeting, each student greets one another. We will also discuss classroom news and "hot topics". My students LOVE the Hot Potato Greeting, and the Ball Greeting. I made up the Ball Greeting, they sit on their desks and throw a small red ball to each other. Below is a photo of the growing list of  "Greeting Ideas".

 I arranged my desks in groups around the rug in the center of the classroom. I love being able to work on the rug with the whole class, either for "Morning Meetings", or "Rug Meetings" where I meet with students who need extra guidance in math. Plus, I find that as I teach I can monitor students better this way than  in rows because I am closer to more of them!

How AMAZING is the wall of windows? We LOVE them! However, it is difficult to teach when a group of high schoolers are chatting on the High School library balcony which is directly across from my patio! In the photo below, all of the students are eating their snacks on the patio.

 One of my strengths is teaching students organization. They write their homework down in their agendas every morning, and I sign the agenda everyday! Try to read the BSS (Brazilian Social Studies) homework in Portuguese!

 Our vocabulary Word Wall is above the white board. For classroom management, I use a Stoplight System. Every student begins the day with green. They get a yellow slip of paper as a visual warning, and if I do not see improvement or the behavior has not changed, they get a red slip. Students who receive reds know that they will miss recess unless they prove to me that they have fixed the problem behavior. This visual reminder helps the students self-regulate, and helps me not give too many warnings!

 This year, my class has a Parking Lot Questions poster for questions about the curriculum that we want to research more! The yellow poster is a Song Request Poster. I play requested music on Friday Fundays and when students are working quietly at their seats. Finally, the green poster is for "Individual Wonderings" a student can post any question (about anything) and anyone in the class can take the sticky note, find the answer to the question and teach the whole class a new fact!

The CARES board reflects our CARES curriculum. Every Friday, students mix grade levels and learn about a CARES standard with their assigned CARES teacher.  CARES stands for Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-Control. Currently, we are learning about Assertion and I have seen homework excuses dwindle!

 I use www.onlinestopwatch.com all the time in my classroom! My Brazilian students really struggle with time management. I find that the timer helps students stay on track, as well as notice how much time they waste chatting!

 The room looks messy, but this was taken during break! The students left materials on their desks because we were returning in 4 minutes! The big ivory rectangular box on the ceiling is our new air conditioner! Our hallway is the first hallway to get AC installed. As Summer approaches, we use the AC everyday! (Yes, Brazil's seasons are opposite of the US. While you are in Winter, we are in Summer.)

 The wall behind my desk is white and bare! I tried to "warm up" the room by hanging our "Sandwich Book Reports" for Parent-Teacher Conferences last week. (Thanks for your help, Kev!) Posting things on the wall in Brazil is SO annoying! Everyday there is a new poster on the ground, it is so humid that the posters just fall  right off of the walls!