Some words about how I decide what to teach

I have a vision of where my fifth graders should be at in the middle of May (Science MCAS time!) and I work back from there, to Kindergarten. While only some of my fifth graders in fact start in Kindergarten, I capitalize on the ability of children to learn very quickly from each other. For example, when I review the concept that warmer things move up and cooler things move down, students new to the concept pick it quite easily when those around in third grade start explaining what they know.

I teach to the Massachusetts Learning Standards for Science and Engineering. Generally, the curriculum resources provided by BPS work well. In some cases, however, they include significant material that is not included in the standards and also doesn't lay a foundation for learning other standards-based material - and this material I will often skip over. Further, there are some essential concepts that are insufficiently presented in these resources - and for these I supplement with other resources.

My students have taught me that they can properly retain and apply concepts learned from the middle of third grade. For concepts learned earlier, much revisiting is necessary. My emphasis in the lower grades has thus evolved to a focus on developing the core skills, such as focusing on the questions that describe what we are learning, manners of taking notes, working in groups, following directions, maintaining order, and so on.

My students have taught me my most valuable lessons on teaching. Each year, I review the outcome of the Gr5 Science / Engineering MCAS to find out more about areas of weakness - and I explore. I explore different activities and ways of presenting concepts. I explore ways of making different connections to other concepts. I explore ways to prepare students by changing up the work in the lower grades.

I also teach significant literacy skills, both in using text and in writing. I am working on building up the role of math skills.