Successes:
1. The Mystery Student Game. The kids really looked forward to this game. At the beginning of class a student was randomly selected using Teacher Aide Pro after attendance was taken with the same app. This student was rewarded at the end of class if they had demonstrated that they were safe, respectful, responsible, and positive. Fossils and sea shells made great prizes.
2. Art is Out of This World. Selecting a theme was very helpful in creating lesson ideas and cohesion between grade levels. It was difficult to adhere to the theme as the year progressed, but over all I thought it was helpful. Next year I am thinking of using the phrase :The Earth without art is just 'eh.'" I can use it to help develop more multicultural lessons.
Improvements:
1. Possibly painting the tables to match the designated color for better team/table identification.
2. Better jobs assignments.
3. Inspirational imagery collections.
4. More clay projects, and start them earlier.
Of course there are plenty more successes and improvements to document. I will post more of these with pictures as I work (yes teachers work over the summer) to organize, reflect, and plan for the upcoming school year.