IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

Over the past few days we have been talking a lot about our community.  We have been reading stories, writing class books, and planning what to do to help others.  Today, I witnessed one of the best moments yet this year.  After each Workshop we typically have a share time.  We had so many books today during writing that we shared a few extra at the end of the day.  One of our friends, Kaylee had worked very hard on her book about Mermaids.  As she shared it there was a magical hush that fell over the classroom.  All of the other friends were instantly fixed.  They listened to her entire story and then each student clapped loudly at the end to celebrate Kaylee’s writing.  They even cheered a little!  As a teacher, this is one of the best moments you can have in a classroom.  Our class is sharing, working together, and celebrating each other!  Here is a picture of Kaylee and her proud moment:

Today we worked together in our math groups to answer the question, “Will it sink or float?”  The kids all had a chance to make their own boats out of foil.  Once they were made, they had to add coins into the boat until it sank.  One student had ten coins before it floated!  Here are a few pictures from our fun.

Ruth and the one hundred squares

During arrival each morning, the children are given several options for what to do once they come in. These options change each week and are chosen to help facilitate conversation and engagement between students. This week, the choices are building with the unifix cubes, creating designs on the geo boards, or looking at the books in our library. The kids have quickly chosen the geo boards as a favorite activity and love creating designs on them. This morning, Ruth showed me what looked like, “Like a million squares!” I asked her, “Are there really a million?” She wasn’t sure. I asked her how we could find out how many. She started counting to see how many squares went across the top. “This is going to take a long time!” She said. I suggested if we know there are ten in each row, we could count by tens to figure out our grand total. Ruth counted, “Ten, twenty, thirty, fourty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety, one hundred! There’s one hundred!” All of our friends could hardly believe there were actually one hundred squares!

Aidan and Christian looking good during explore time

During our first week of school, our class worked together to create a list of classroom agreements. This week, we are revisiting these agreements and focusing on one agreement each day. Our four classroom agreements are:

1. We will treat people with care.

2. We will listen quietly when people are talking.

3. We will stay together.

4. We will be gentle with our classroom tools.

Today, we focused on agreement number two, with each child making a picture of a time when they listened quietly. We will compile these pictures to make a “Miss Estridge’s class listens quietly when people are talking,” book. Please feel free to ask your child about our classroom agreements at home.

Today we had a great start to week two!  As a class, we talked about what we should be doing in our room.  It was a wonderful to hear all of the kids share their ideas on how we can work together.  Here is what we came up with:

1. Raise your hand

2. Listen when other friends are talking

3. Follow directions

4. Be kind to your friends

5. Keep your body to yourself

Over the next few days we will be talking about each one of these.  In addition, we will be writing class books that we can read over and over again to help us!  It is so great to see the kids take ownership over the room!