Student Choice about Choice

The students had some say before spring break in how we can make our classroom a better place. We recognized that some students are disrupting and making instruction hard for the rest of us. 

-What can we do differently? 
-We have to work as a team to be successful. 

Every child had the opportunity to share their opinions. They wrote their ideas on sticky notes, and we organized them by category.

The suggestions fell into the following groupings: Assign Seats/Partners, Rearrange Seating, More Rewards, Get Rid of Some or All Alternative Seating, More Consequences

I was surprised to find many students wanted assigned seating!! Also, there was a series of complaints about some of the alternative seating being too noisy or too distracting. There were definitely some requests that certain students should not get the choice of who they will sit with. Finally, there are students who couldn't take the activity seriously.

About a dozen students stayed after school that day to rearrange and get rid of furniture. I assigned seats.

We've been in the new arrangement for about two weeks. Here is some feedback from students about the changes:

Things students like

More things students like 

Some kids are happy with the changes.

Some kids would rather sit with their friends.

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Guest Bloggers

Famous Person

He was born September 7, 1963 in Compton California. He recorded song in his parent’s garage. He is called the godfather of gangsta rap. He was a big part of  N.W.A. He sang the song “Boyz in the Hood.” He created the group N.W.A in 1986 with Oshea “Ice Cube” Jackson. He died from aids on March 26, 1995. More than 3,000 people went to Eazy-E’s funeral. He was buried inside of a golden casket. He had a flannel shirt, jeans and a Compton hat on. He payed $50,000 dollars for each of his nine kids.

Anthony

Question of the Week

In honor of National Sibling Day which is April 10 this year, I asked Marcy how many brothers and sisters she has. She said, “I have two brothers and one sister.” I asked what their names are and she said, “I have one sister named Jacky and two brothers named Ricky and Benny.” Marcy's favorite  sister, Jacky, is going to the army in Korea. She has spent 3 months in Columbia so far. She just came for Easter break and is leaving today at 10:00 p.m She will be gone for a year. She said, “We are going to leave at 8 tonight and drive her to the airport in Sacramento. It's gonna be a 3-hour drive. We won't be home until 1 or 2 in the morning.”
Natalie

Two Truths and a Lie

1. When I was 4 years old I fell of a fence post and I started to roll down a hill. It happened at my uncle’s going away party when he was leaving for the Navy. All I remember was that I rolled down the hill and my dad was running after me yelling my name. When my dad finally got me I fell asleep on my mom’s lap and when I woke up I went swimming with my aunt. I don’t remember anything from the time I rolled and the time I woke up only this.
2. Ever since the 4th grade me and my sister, Cindy, have been pretending that she was my aunt. Cindy is actually my half sister from my dad. I don’t remember much, but all I know is that when my mom and dad split up, Cindy chose to live with my mom. She changed her last name to my mom’s last name. Cindy is very awesome and everyday we go walk around the backyard and sometimes our little cousin joins us.
3. I prefer not to talk about my dad. That’s why when people ask I become super shy and awkward. My dad left me and my mom when I was about three or four and last year in May or June he got remarried. The reason I prefer not to talk about him is because he got remarried without telling me or my mom, and all I know about his new wife is that she is allergic to dogs. Me and my mom only found out through my uncle George’s Facebook and some family that has Facebook.

Faith