Overheard in October

So, here’s October’s round-up of things I overheard in 5E this past month.

(Name) was on fire! Yeah, she was!

[After looking at another student’s vocab strip that shows students use of weekly vocab words in speaking], I need to start saying the words.

I like using the computer more than writing stuff down.

I like when we have a choice [of assignment] because I’m always different.

I liked having a choice because personally I don’t like inspiration [mind-mapping program]. I prefer to write it down because I feel that’s easier for me.

Basically, the opposite of what (name) said.

If she [book character] was married to him [other book character], he’d be doing all the work.

If I did a glog [for a choice assignment], I’d do all the fanciness and never be done.

Sometimes I’m just in the mood for stuff on the computer.

[After some snarky comments about the fact that someone has to go to “dancing class”] He’s going to be a better dancer than you, and he’s gonna get all the girls.

People, forget about the sticky notes and focus on what we’re supposed to do.

It was all of us; we’re a team.

They looked like a group. [In response to watching a video clip of different groups working on a project.]

That’s leadership. [Again in response to watching another group on video]

That’s my star sentence.

We have a pretty good dialog, how about you?

He’s in the zone. [About a student on our simulated archaeological dig]

I can do minimum, maximum and range, but I always forget mode and median.

A lot of times I scan over the directions and miss something.

Oh, I’m actually getting this.

Oh this is awesome. I love my blog.

That definitely goes together. Who agrees? [During work reconstructing artifacts from our dig]

Ok, ok, (name) you and me can work over here at your desk. [to a student who is not always easy to work with]

(Name), do y ou need some help, buddy? Well I’m here for you.

Hey, I want a personal assistant. [after some students got personal assistants during math time]

Hey (name) if you hung around Ms. Eiteljorg more you would have really understood.

In  the second paragraph, is it supposed to be just facts or can I infer too?

I love Blogger’s cafe!

Is the Blogger’s cafe open?

You have to follow the archaeology code of conduct.

Those are the October highlights. I could have put in many about the Blogger’s cafe. It’s a huge hit. (Read about it here.) What have you overheard lately?

 

Overheard in 5E, September

So, here’s the first version of the (to be) recurring series “overheard in 5E.”

To review, I thought I would listen in on what my students said, here and there, and share a selection once in a while. For this first installment, several quotes (marked with *) are from our 5E day which I wrote about here.

-Do you want to switch jobs, because I think you’re better at this

-(to new student) Do you want to play with us at recess?

-(to me while standing in the lunch line looking at a photo of a city at night) I think cities are so beautiful at night. They’re like amusement parks with the rides all lit up.

-I’m a really busy person.

-Can I explain it different than [sic] my group? I think it’s the same answer, it’s just my brain works in a different way.

-All my life people have been saying I’m crazy, so instead of fighting against it, I embraced it.*

-Do you feel you have pushed the boundary of crazy? (answer) I haven’t yet, but I feel I may soon.*

-I started cooking last year and I really like it. (boy)*

-I didn’t know what ‘scowl’ was until we had it for vocab.

-When you do it (puzzles), where do you keep them, because when I do them I don’t like to keep them on the ground.*

-My mom can’t take it (1,000 piece puzzles), if she doesn’t get a piece in a minute, she quits. My brother and I, we have a lot of strategies.*

-I love to laugh, and I do it a lot. They say I’ll live longer, so that’s a good thing.*

-’07 was a good year for you. (student brought in sports trophies and certificates from 2007)*

-It looked ok, and then I started reading it and it’s like the best book ever.*

-I personally love Snoopy, but that’s just me.*

-I love eating. (response)-Who doesn’t?*

-I just got interesting in the military and then I got obsessed with it.*

I’ve already got some good material for the October post!

Has anyone else overheard anything good lately?

Another New Year Idea-Overheard in 5th grade

So, I’ve been thinking about another new school year idea. I know I already posted a list of new year ideas and plans. As I also mentioned just recently, my first thoughts aren’t always were I end up.

I’m definitely still on board with the digital portfolio business and the epals (I’ve made contact with a teacher on Crete), and I’m seriously making progress on how to work in some significant time for individual projects (maybe even blogging since I won a raffle for a ton of upgraded blogs with Edublogs-yet another reason to attend conferences).

My newest idea relates to this blog. I feel it is more part of a way I want to continue working and interacting than it was in the past. And, I know that once school starts, in a few short weeks, it’s more than likely that I will not have quite as much time as I do now. My thought is to have a “regular feature” as it were on the blog so that at least an idea for a post is ready on a regular basis. I’m thinking that a “things overheard in 5th grade” might be an interesting weekly-ish post.

For those of you who do not spend so many of your waking hours with 5th graders, it could be eye-opening, if not earth-shattering. For those more familiar with 5th graders, I’m sure you will recognize some of your students. For me, I think it will serve as an interesting way to think about who I am hearing, who I am listening to, and who is not being heard.

Of course, I try to make sure everyone gets a turn to be heard. I believe I am very aware of making sure boys’ and girls’ voices are equitably represented. I try to keep in mind racial, religious, etc differences in the voices of the room as well. But, how well do I actually do this? And what does all this talk add up to anyway?

My plan is this:

• I will keep notes on interesting things I hear in class during the week
• Once a week, or so, I’ll post some highlights or lowlights as the case may be.
• I will of course not use names or any identifying information (beyond boy or girl).
• Over the course of the year I collect data so that it’s almost like an action research project.

My hopes and dreams for this little project are these:

• I have totally interesting students who give me vast amounts of scintillating material.
• I manage to write some of it down on a somewhat regular basis.
• I am able to think more about my own reactions to and interactions with my students.
• I am able to analyze the development of our classroom culture.
• I can keep up with this and have at the end of the year a picture in words of the year (wordle might be interesting here).

I’m excited already. Anyone else interested?