Daily 5: Chapter 1

As some of you may know, I am joining Tammy and other bloggers in the Daily 5 book study.  I have heard about Daily 5 before and even have read about it on all of your wonderful blogs, but I have not implemented it in my classroom. Right now, I do literacy centers/workstations...and I have to say, I do LOVE it!  My kids are very focused and it just works! I teach a full day K class and I am the only teacher. We also have a separate writing block later in the day. But, a lot of people say that once you go Daily 5 you never go back! --that's the saying right ;) So, I am definitely interested in switching things up!

Tammy gave us all some things to think about while we read Chapter 1 so here are my thoughts...

1. How do I teach new behaviors? We spend a lot of time the first couple weeks of school going over behaviors. I model the behaviors and re-model. I demonstrate wrong behaviors and we discuss why it is wrong and how we can fix it. 

2. How do I teach expectations? I make sure to model and show them the behaviors that I expect. I also hold my students to high expectations and they always meet them!

3. How do I monitor student behavior? I currently use a clip chart for my students behavior and will continue to do so. This is a school policy at my school and it seems to be working wonderfully. With the Daily 5 I am also thinking that I will create a Daily 5 clip chart. The chart will be labeled with the different Daily 5 components and the students can clip their name onto the spot that they are going to work on.  This will also allow me to limit the amount of people at a certain center. For instance, on Listen to Reading I can have 5 dot stickers on the chart. If a students clip is on each of the 5 dot stickers, that means that all of the headphones are taken and they must choose something else to work on.

4. What do I do when a student is not exhibiting desired behavior? Again, I use a clip chart in my room. If I see a student not exhibiting the desired behavior then they move their clip down. I can do this nonverbally with a hand motion that I teach the kids, this way I don't distract others OR if needed I will walk up to that student or say it out loud depending on the behavior observed.

5. Whose classroom is it? Our classroom is definitely OUR classroom. The students help me make decisions, they help me clean, they take pride in how our classroom looks. We are a team and a we have a huge sense of community.

6. Locus of control? I actually discuss this a lot with my students in order for them to realize that they are in control of their education and their future and what they do in the classroom will affect them. I think the K students need reminders of this though. However, I still use sticker rewards and treasure box :/

7. Where are supplies stored? All of our classroom supplies are out in the open for everyone to use. The students text books, writing notebooks, and poetry/science notebooks are in their seat sacks. All other materials are labeled and available to the children. With the exception of tape and the stapler which I have had to keep on my desk due to excessive use and no supplies! :) I have very defined areas in my classroom--listening center, writing center, word-work center, etc. 

I can't wait to hear all of your opinions and ideas for Daily 5! Like I said, I have never done this or been trained on this before! This is all new to me and I am excited to learn from you!
If you are participating in the D5 book study, don't forget to link up with Tammy here...

Then, I will see you again soon because I am hosting Chapter 2!!


And before I forget!!! .... Kindergarten Smiles has a Facebook now! :) The little button on the side of my blog is not linked up yet, but I would LOVE for you to click on the picture below and 'like' my new page!