Sidewalk Task Day

Some days kids are tough. One of my made-up strategies for classroom management (but definitely not backed by any research) is to stand at the front of the class with a piece of paper and pen and write down my observations if students are not behaving in a way that is conducive to classroom learning. For example, if Johnny is yelling "this pencil is so thick!" while Susie is laying across desks she strung together, I tend to stop instruction and take notes. The best part is the kids know I'm up to something, but they aren't exactly sure what. Most times, I am making notes so I have exact quotes and actions documented in case there needs to be a parent phone call. Sometimes, I'm drawing pictures of flowers and writing my name in cursive. But they don't know that.

Today started off like this. As I had hoped, my apparent note-taking did not sit right with the kids, so they soon became attentive and ready for directions. It was one of my top three favorite days of the year (though I may claim that more than three times in one year)... the Sidewalk Task!

It is a beautiful math task (found here) requiring that kids actually use their brains to recognize patterns. I had students focused for over 30 minutes, actively engaged and trying to problem-solve. Even after the bell rang for dismissal, I had a student saying "Miss! Miss! Is this right?" Which, of course, I responded with an "I don't know. Is it right?" and so he tried to explain his thinking to me. AFTER THE DISMISSAL BELL. All students were thinking mathematically and even enjoyed the challenge! Days, or even moments, like this make teaching so totally worth it.