Powerful moments

The students got to work in partners on their math review (our daily warm-up). Although it is a review, sometimes the students get stuck and need to bounce their ideas off of one another. Having the students talk about math is a great way to extend their learning and encourages problem solving. I give the students opportunity to use "math talk" as much as possible. Even as an adult I often like to discuss my ideas with others, or sometimes I may just need confirmation if I solved something correctly or not. When we checked our math review as a class the students got to be the teachers. They think it's fun and I see it as a great way to hear explanations of their thinking... It's a win-win situation! 

We end our day with social studies (my homeroom). We are learning about citizenship and characteristics that make someone a good citizen in our community. Today we focused on the behaviors our classmates exhibit that make them good citizens in our classroom community. Each student had a handprint taped to their back. They went around the room and wrote positive traits they have noticed about one another. All I can say is this was... AWESOME! It ended up being a powerful lesson and really strengthened our comfort level with one another. The students were beaming with pride when they took the handprints off their backs and read what their classmates had to say about them.