Teamwork: Mischief Managed

When my kiddos work in teams, something magical happens in my classroom. No, really, not even being a sappy blogger full of hyperboles! I LOVE getting my students into teams to work on an assignment or task. 

Most teachers, including myself, spend the bulk of their instructional day working with small groups of students that are mixed homogenously during center work time. This is a GREAT instructional strategy, especially for differentiating lessons. However, I would like to emphasis the need for more TEAMWORK time in our school day!

Below are five easy ways to start and use teams in your classrooms:

1. Create teams of 4-6 children that are of mixed abilities (and personalities—not exactly data driven but we teachers do have brains in our heads!). After teams are created, I let my children work together to come up with a team name. The teams in my classroom are Minion, Odd Squad, Alabama, and Kevin. Yes, I have a team called Kevin. No, I did not provide input into team naming. I do know some teachers that name their teams first and then have a big ceremony, sorting kiddos into their places (much like in Harry Potter).

2. Teach and PRACTICE accountable talk or age appropriate academic conversation stems. Read more here and here. I can not emphasis the word PRACTICE enough… PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE! I also suggest practicing them content free first. For example, engage students in conversations about something relevant to them; social media, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, frozen waffles, etc.

3. I also assign turn-n-teach partners within my teams. We do a team-based activity called “T-TAP” that I will blog more about later. Essentially, we rotate within a lesson between solving problems in teams, solving problems alone, and then discussing the solved problem with a partner. Just trust me… Assign partners within your teams!

4. Create a space for teams to work together. I have a flexible seating style classroom that you can read more about HERE. So, it is a little easier for us to move into teams since we have the space to do so. We use Target bathrugs for our teamwork time. They simply grab a rug and a clipboard, then get in a circle on the floor with their teams. I have also seen teachers have clusters of desks in their rooms for group or teamwork. Whatever works for you, your kids, and your classroom, just make sure you have a spot! I also would suggest using the same routine to get into teams over and over so that it cuts down on confusion and transition time!

5. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU WILL READ ON THIS BLOGPOST ABOUT TEAMWORK. (OBVIOUSLY, BECAUSE IT’S TYPED IN ALL CAPS!)

***** WHEN STUDENTS START WORKING IN TEAMS, REWARD OFTEN, LOUDLY, AND SPECIFICALLY! For example, “Chloe I love how you used accountable talk to disagree with Nolan.” Or “Wow! I love how team Alabama is working together to teach each other how to solve that problem!”

My classroom behavior management system that you can read more about HERE uses pom-poms for positive praise. Each time I say a student’s name during team time, they know they automatically get a pom-pom! I AM ALSO UP WALKING AROUND THE ROOM CONSTANTLY! I have a clipboard in my hand to take formative notes, and performance notes that I share with the students and use to drive instruction. 

*You can read more about the differences between my classroom groups and teams HERE.

Click on the links to see videos of my scholars working in teams!

https://goo.gl/photos/uMk7QsAAaf2ezDF28

https://goo.gl/photos/Am1HjAoAkbM1PxgU6

There's a First Time For Everything

There truly is a first time for everything. I never dreamed I'd have something to write a blog post about, but I also never thought I'd have a classroom with no desks. First things first, my teacher BFF Mrs. Lauren is an amazing, inspiring teacher and friend, who somehow has enough time in the day to be an impressively great teacher and mom, then write blog posts on the side. You go girl! This is Lauren's blog and for some reason she thinks I can write blog posts too, so here I am to share my flexible seating switch.

My name is Lana Currence and I teach second grade at a low income school in Tennessee. Our students deal with things many of us would never dream of. They are the main reason I decided to make the switch to flexible seating. I felt that my kids deserved a place to come to that made them feel clean, comfortable, safe, loved, and happy. Sadly, I don't believe that all of them are able to experience that at home. Another reason that I made the switch is because it is real world experience for them. They are developing the ability to make choices about their own learning. They are taking responsibility for how well they are working in class. They are daily deciding if they are in a spot that they work well in. The silliest thing is that before, I wasn't even using their desks. I do small group teaching all day long. The only time they were at their desks was for independent work or while we were watching a video. I figured since we were hardly using them, I could certainly stand to get rid of them. To help myself make the switch, I researched and read multiple blogs including Top Dog Teaching and Lucky Little Learners. If you are thinking about the switch, they are fantastic blogs to look at. Top Dog Teaching gave me a lot of inspiration and Lucky Little Learners gave me a lot of know how with her Q&A post. 

This is what flexible seating looks like in my classroom. I have two crate seat tables with six crate seats at each table. The crates are milk crates that my husband and I built seats for with a little wood, fabric, foam, and a staple gun. 

This is our SPED teacher Ms. Carrie that helps in my inclusion classroom. She's wonderful!

Then, I have the wobble disc table with six wobble seats at it. The wobble discs came from Amazon for about 15 dollars each.

I have a rug with one Big Joe bean bag that has six possible clip boards at it. The rug and Big Joe bean bags were ordered off of Amazon.

I have a reading center with two black reading chairs and two big joe bean bag chairs. I have six clip boards at this center as well. The black chairs were a gift and the others came from Amazon.



















I also have two desks available in my room if a student needs the structure of a desk, or if they choose a desk. 

In all, that makes 32 possible seats in my classroom. I only have 18 students this year, so they all have ample opportunity to choose a spot to sit without fighting over one certain spot. I think that having exponentially more seating options than students is one of the keys to making flexible seating work. 

Their community supplies are in a carrier in each center. You can see them in some of the above photos. Each carrier has Expo markers, pom pom erasers, pencils, crayons, glue, and scissors. Their books and workbooks are on a shelf in the back of the room. I thought that my kids might miss having their own space to work and keep things, but they don't miss it at all and my room is so much neater and cleaner. NO MORE messy desks for the win!

To pass out papers, I have a paper sorter. In the afternoons, they grab their papers out of the sorter, then get their backpack and color their behavior calendar for the month that matches our behavior clip chart. 


To manage behavior I use this anchor chart and clip chart. The anchor chart makes students responsible for their own behavior and learning. Giving my students no warning and simply moving them from seats was the most effective behavior management tool I have used. It works so well because they absolutely do not want to be moved from their seat of choice. I also use the clip chart from teacherspayteachers to reward great students and to give students warnings if they are continually making poor choices. They get a prize from my prize jar if they get on pink and a pink jewel goes on their clip. If they get on pink six times, they get to go on my hall of fame forever. I love the clip chart because it is wonderful tool for positive behavior management. 

We work in small groups throughout the day. In the morning reading time, we go through four fifteen-minute rotations where I teach the reading skill in my group, and Ms. Carrie teaches phonics in her group. Independent groups are read to self/iPads and listen to reading on the computer. Read to self/iPad group is one where students will do one or the other every other day. Then, we have rotation for our special area classes like PE. When they come back, we have four more fifteen-minute rotations. I teach language at my table, they practice word work for phonics, then they do listen to reading, read to someone, read to self, or iPads for their independent groups. When we are finished, we have about 30 minutes to play a review game for the things that we have learned so far in the day. It could be a reading skill, phonics lesson, or a language skill that we cover during this time. We also like to take a brain break right before we go to lunch.

When we come back from lunch, we have four more fifteen-minute rotations for math. I teach the math skill. I have an assistant that spirals a math skill or reinforces my skill with a game. The independent groups play games with cards or dice, do IXL, Starfall, or other math games on the computer, or iPads. After groups, I do a fifteen-minute review lesson over what we have covered in at my table. Usually it is a game that we play for review and then do a quick check. Here are some photos of group work time: 

You may be wondering, "How in the world does this woman test her students with no desks?" I'm glad you asked! The students spread out in a place that is good for them and put up a divider that I have from laminated paper and test. Here are some photos of what in the world that looks like: 

So why go through all this trouble? The number one reason is that the kids LOVE it. I mean REALLY love it, ya'll. They tell me every day they want Mrs. Lana to move up to third grade with them. They are comfortable. Our classroom is their safe-haven and home. While I haven't seen seismic shifts in behavior or earth-shattering raises in grades, I have seen a wealth of other positive effects. I have seen jittery children with and without ADHD find a place that they can comfortably work. I have seen children take responsibility for their behavior. I have seen certain students become more serious about their learning. I have seen children that were shielded or guarded begin to express their individuality and learn more about themselves. I have seen students make good choices over and over again. I have seen students enforce the very rules that I have set about our classroom because they want to protect it. These students are not only learning standards, they are learning life skills. My classroom is helping me foster independence, responsibility, and individuality. 

Education grows and adapts every year. Our classrooms need to grow and adapt with education. Most of all, they need to grow and adapt with our students. 

- Mrs. Lana