Functional text helps people do regular things everyday. What are some examples of functional text?
-Directions
-Maps
-Captions
-Emails/Letters
-Receipts
-Traffic signs/Regular signs
-Labels (food, products, clothing tags)
-Advertisements
-Bank statements
-Checks
-Technical directions (putting together products)
I used to think that functional text was intimidating to teach, and some forms of functional text are harder to teach than others. Most forms of functional text are easy to teach to 7th graders though. They have a good background knowledge of the world around them, and a lot of my students were more street savvy than classroom savvy.
Functional text is just that: It's about the reading the world around you and understanding the rules of society and life.
Incorporating all text, informative, persuasive and functional throughout the school year is much better than jamming it in right before the test. I would suggest either picking a day once a week (for example if your school has a short day/early release day) or every other week, you can easily incorporate functional, informative and persuasive text into your school year. Better yet, get with the teachers that are on your team, the teachers that teach math, science, and social studies, and give them strategies on how to teach this type of reading in their classrooms.
Good luck, and coming soon will be a giveaway of one of my favorite books!
Monday, October 24, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Literary Terms to Cover in Middle School
I thought I would just compile a list of literary terms and devices that I taught in 7th grade. One of the things that I love about reading is that most of the students already have the base skills in literature and they're already aware of definitions and examples. The challenge at the middle school and high school levels is building on that base knowledge, giving a student more challenging reading material and introducing newer and higher level literary devices to find and use. I plan on taking each of these literary terms and devices and dedicating a post on how I taught that specific device in my 7th grade classes.
If you are teaching an English class, Language Arts or Reading class I would suggest brushing up on these terms. I like having lists of what I am teaching to my students. These are just the literary devices--- that is only a small part of teaching literature. You also have all the non fiction, vocabulary, stories, spelling and writing to deal with as well.
Literary Terms and Poetic Devices in a 7th Grade Classroom
Plot- expostion, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution
Character- protagonist, antagonist, static, dynamic
Setting
Conflict- Internal and External
Tone
Mood
Theme
Point of View- 1st person, 3rd person omniscient and limited, stream of consciousness
Hyperbole
Foreshadowing
Imagery
Metaphor
Simile
Onomatopoeia
Meter
Rhyme
Rhythm
Alliteration
Narration
Personification
Stanza
If you are teaching an English class, Language Arts or Reading class I would suggest brushing up on these terms. I like having lists of what I am teaching to my students. These are just the literary devices--- that is only a small part of teaching literature. You also have all the non fiction, vocabulary, stories, spelling and writing to deal with as well.
Part of being a successful teacher is 1) Knowing what you are supposed to be teaching (standards) and 2) Knowing how you're going to teach each of those concepts.
Start planning (if you haven't already) on how you're going to teach these devices and concepts this school year. I hope I can help by posting ideas of what you can do for each one of these literary devices.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Reading Comprehension
I used to teach reading, and reading comprehension is just one of those things that used to give a majority of my students a hard time. With fluency, there were hardly any problems.
But, when I checked for comprehension, I would often get the wrong answers. Over something that they just read. My first year of teaching, I was very frustrated with this. My students would look at me blankly when I checked for understanding of what they just read. I would then say "You just read it!" (Blank stare still).
First things first. Reading comprehension is essentially understanding what is being read. If you have a sentence that says:
But, when I checked for comprehension, I would often get the wrong answers. Over something that they just read. My first year of teaching, I was very frustrated with this. My students would look at me blankly when I checked for understanding of what they just read. I would then say "You just read it!" (Blank stare still).
First things first. Reading comprehension is essentially understanding what is being read. If you have a sentence that says:
"Bill ran toward the ball that was on the other side of the street."
Several comprehension questions that could be asked in response to this sentence are:
1) What was Bill running toward?
2) Where was the ball?
3) Why was Bill running toward the ball?
4) What do you think will happen to Bill next?
5) Have you ever been in the same situation as Bill?
Okay, so the first two questions are easily lower-level. Simple understanding of the sentence. The next three questions are a bit harder for students to grasp just reading the text once.
The student will have to background knowledge as to why Bill was running toward the ball. They will need to predict what will happen next to Bill. And, they will need to connect the text to themselves.
Often times, we ask our students those first two questions, and those are pretty easy for students to answer. The answer to these questions is found right in the text. The last two questions the students have to do some digging and some thinking to answer well.
Knowing that there are different types of questions and different reading strategies that help the reader comprehend the text is critical to teaching your students to read well.
Here are a few tips that will help your students succeed, no matter the reading strategy that you're trying to implement and teach:
1) Chunk the reading- I usually limited reading together as a class (or partner reading) to about 10-15 minutes a day. After we would read the story for that amount of time, came assignments, discussion and practice.
2) Check for understanding often-I would check for understanding constantly while we were reading. I had to stop at least 3-4 times on each page to ask questions of the class. Before, I used to ask the class questions as a whole, and not many would participate. I gradually changed my approach to having students discuss and answer the questions in their teams or pairs (in complete sentences) while I wandered around the room eavesdropping. If a student wasn't participating, I would ask them the question and they would have to discuss it with me. :)
3) Always review what was read the day before- Maybe do this as bellwork, but before you start where you left off (midway through a story), make sure you review so that the students will remember a little bit about the plot and characters. This can also apply to previewing a story as well. I liked to preview the stories with my students by telling them a little bit about the author and then telling them something that I really enjoyed about the story when I read it. Often times it would be a certain character or a part of the story. Usually those became the favorite parts that the students liked to read as well.
4) Go over vocabulary- Go over vocabulary with your students. Whether you like to use context clues or the old fashioned method of looking up definitions in the dictionary, be sure that the students know the key vocabulary words, and understand the word meanings when you read.
5) Encourage questions and connections- Encourage your students to ask you questions about the story. Encourage your students to ask themselves questions. Constantly inspire them to do something more than just reading to hear the story.
So many of the stories that we read in class were wonderful, coming of age stories that my students could relate to well. Ask your students questions about how the characters, plot, tone or mood relate to them. Have they ever felt that way before? What did they do in that situation?
6) Reach for more reading- I can't tell you how important this is. I have made this claim since I started teaching reading, and I will always stand by this claim.
The more you read, the better the reader you become.
Encourage students to become active readers. If they want to read ahead in a story, I say let them. Give them recommendations for books to read. Be an active reading teacher- read books for the age level of students you teach. Be ready to give recommendations that your students will love. I can't tell you how many times I have helped students pick books from the library, and how many times they have enjoyed the books I gave them! There was even the time that I recommended Bunnicula to one of my students (he was a little lower level than the others). He loved Bunnicula so much he told me "thank you", and he read the whole series of books within a couple of weeks. AND he passed his state exam.
A love of reading will always take your students far in life.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Relationships
Rachel invited me a while ago to write something on this blog. Its been a while. I even had the thought today, my fourth graders are now 8th graders (!!!!), and my 6th graders are in high school now. Ugh. Take my words or leave them. No sweat off my back :)
I thought about my two years that I taught elementary school, and sad as it is, I was better my first year. I think I was better prepared to teach lessons my second year, but I think that as a whole I had a better first year.
Why? I bet you are asking that exact question. Or maybe you don't care. Well if you don't care, too bad. I'm going to tell you anyway.
The thing that made a world of difference for me my first year was the relationships I established with my students. I think I learned that 6th grade is not exactly the age group I would prefer (those pre-pubescent teens I had that year were quite... stubborn I might add, which is not a good combo with a stubborn teacher). But my little fourth graders and I got along much better.
I'd venture to say that first, and foremost, you are always the teacher first. I've seen some teachers try to be best buddies with their students and a lot of times it backfires. The kids like you, but in a sense don't respect you as much. If you establish that professional relationship with them, that being that you are the teacher first and friend second, they like you and they respect you. This is not to say that you let them get away with things that they shouldn't be doing. You can still discipline your students in a way that is still respectful to them and maintains their dignity. You'll find that you are less likely to be having a power struggle when you do things that way.
If I had a kid who displayed unruly behavior, I would give them a warning. If the unruly behavior continued, I'd pull them aside, usually at a later time, to talk about what's going on. Many times, I was able to help the kid deal with whatever it was they were dealing with. More often than not, my fourth graders would come up with their own punishments, and it usually ended up being worse than what I would have given.
I remember being a difficult student when I was in college, the same semester my mom was dying. I tended to care less about what was going on in class, and it showed. This experience helped me to understand that kids, although much smaller than adults, are people too. They have issues, just like we do. The main difference is kids especially do not know how to cope with life's difficulties. The death of a parent, the divorce of parents, the neglect at home, and so forth are not events that are respecters of age. When my kids would act out, I was able to talk to them because of the relationships I established with them. Imagine how much harder it would have been, if I didn't care about my kids or my kids didn't care about what I thought or if they did not respect me. Also, as a result of the relationships I had with them, classroom management was a breeze.
That, and work (for both you & the student) is always so much more fun when you like each other!
I thought about my two years that I taught elementary school, and sad as it is, I was better my first year. I think I was better prepared to teach lessons my second year, but I think that as a whole I had a better first year.
Why? I bet you are asking that exact question. Or maybe you don't care. Well if you don't care, too bad. I'm going to tell you anyway.
The thing that made a world of difference for me my first year was the relationships I established with my students. I think I learned that 6th grade is not exactly the age group I would prefer (those pre-pubescent teens I had that year were quite... stubborn I might add, which is not a good combo with a stubborn teacher). But my little fourth graders and I got along much better.
I'd venture to say that first, and foremost, you are always the teacher first. I've seen some teachers try to be best buddies with their students and a lot of times it backfires. The kids like you, but in a sense don't respect you as much. If you establish that professional relationship with them, that being that you are the teacher first and friend second, they like you and they respect you. This is not to say that you let them get away with things that they shouldn't be doing. You can still discipline your students in a way that is still respectful to them and maintains their dignity. You'll find that you are less likely to be having a power struggle when you do things that way.
If I had a kid who displayed unruly behavior, I would give them a warning. If the unruly behavior continued, I'd pull them aside, usually at a later time, to talk about what's going on. Many times, I was able to help the kid deal with whatever it was they were dealing with. More often than not, my fourth graders would come up with their own punishments, and it usually ended up being worse than what I would have given.
I remember being a difficult student when I was in college, the same semester my mom was dying. I tended to care less about what was going on in class, and it showed. This experience helped me to understand that kids, although much smaller than adults, are people too. They have issues, just like we do. The main difference is kids especially do not know how to cope with life's difficulties. The death of a parent, the divorce of parents, the neglect at home, and so forth are not events that are respecters of age. When my kids would act out, I was able to talk to them because of the relationships I established with them. Imagine how much harder it would have been, if I didn't care about my kids or my kids didn't care about what I thought or if they did not respect me. Also, as a result of the relationships I had with them, classroom management was a breeze.
That, and work (for both you & the student) is always so much more fun when you like each other!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
The First Week of School
Right now, my former school and friends, have already started school. Just as a fun post, I thought that I would walk through my first week of school with some highlights of the things that I have done in the past.
1) Seating arrangements- This first week of school, I let the kids sit wherever they wanted to. Some people thought I was crazy. Seventh graders without a seating chart the first week of school? It was totally cool, because while these kids were sitting next to each other, happy to be in seats of their own choice, I was watching. I am a pretty observant person, and I observed my students. I saw which students were despised wherever they sat; I saw which students seemed to gravitate toward the front of the room; I saw which students stuck themselves into the back corners; I watched the students interact with each other, from some of the girly giggles and chattering to the constant chin ups (you know, what boys do when they say "waz up?"). Basically, I saw the kids that would need to be separated and which kids could be zeroed in as my "troublemakers" (I really hate that term).
2) Procedures- We practiced. I assigned homework (procedures to take home and read to their parents and have the parents sign) and showed the students how to turn the homework back in. I made the students start their procedures from day one, whether it was passing out papers to the people in their team, to how to line up and walk to the library or go out for a fire drill. I took time to practice it. If I was still teaching, I think that I would probably continue on in that vein, but only for three days or so. I would try to start more with the curriculum and use the curriculum to teach procedures from the beginning. BUT for beginning teachers, I think it's super important to focus on those procedures and practice, practice, practice!
3) Get to know you games-Oh the activities that we would do. My third year teaching I really focused on implementing the Kagan structures at the beginning of the school year (before I had to leave for 10 weeks while I was on bed rest and maternity leave). We did a double circle game. One outer circle, one inner circle. I would have the inner circle move and then the outer circle move so they always had new partners. The teams talked about their interests and came up with team names and an identity that was different from the rest of the class. They each had a "sharing time" in their teams when they brought a brown paper bag with three items that described them.
I think the most important thing about that first week of school for me, was getting to know the students and letting the students get to know me. Building a rapport with your classes is extremely important in being able to teach and inspire your class for the remainder of the school year.
I was not a pushover... Students got in trouble that first week of school each year (some even on the first day of school!). You need to be firm, organized and thorough your first week of school. What you decide to do your first week of school in regards to disciplining your students is so important and it sets a tone for the rest of the year.
1) Seating arrangements- This first week of school, I let the kids sit wherever they wanted to. Some people thought I was crazy. Seventh graders without a seating chart the first week of school? It was totally cool, because while these kids were sitting next to each other, happy to be in seats of their own choice, I was watching. I am a pretty observant person, and I observed my students. I saw which students were despised wherever they sat; I saw which students seemed to gravitate toward the front of the room; I saw which students stuck themselves into the back corners; I watched the students interact with each other, from some of the girly giggles and chattering to the constant chin ups (you know, what boys do when they say "waz up?"). Basically, I saw the kids that would need to be separated and which kids could be zeroed in as my "troublemakers" (I really hate that term).
2) Procedures- We practiced. I assigned homework (procedures to take home and read to their parents and have the parents sign) and showed the students how to turn the homework back in. I made the students start their procedures from day one, whether it was passing out papers to the people in their team, to how to line up and walk to the library or go out for a fire drill. I took time to practice it. If I was still teaching, I think that I would probably continue on in that vein, but only for three days or so. I would try to start more with the curriculum and use the curriculum to teach procedures from the beginning. BUT for beginning teachers, I think it's super important to focus on those procedures and practice, practice, practice!
3) Get to know you games-Oh the activities that we would do. My third year teaching I really focused on implementing the Kagan structures at the beginning of the school year (before I had to leave for 10 weeks while I was on bed rest and maternity leave). We did a double circle game. One outer circle, one inner circle. I would have the inner circle move and then the outer circle move so they always had new partners. The teams talked about their interests and came up with team names and an identity that was different from the rest of the class. They each had a "sharing time" in their teams when they brought a brown paper bag with three items that described them.
I think the most important thing about that first week of school for me, was getting to know the students and letting the students get to know me. Building a rapport with your classes is extremely important in being able to teach and inspire your class for the remainder of the school year.
I was not a pushover... Students got in trouble that first week of school each year (some even on the first day of school!). You need to be firm, organized and thorough your first week of school. What you decide to do your first week of school in regards to disciplining your students is so important and it sets a tone for the rest of the year.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Back to School
I always loved the beginning of a new school year. Just think about it: How many jobs out there, can you basically start brand new/fresh after a 2 month vacation? Not many.
After my first year teaching, I decided that my second year would be at least ten times better. And the reason why it actually was? Because I was prepared.
I don't think that teachers can be completely prepared for every single thing out there---life is way too crazy for that. Students are unique and there will be different students that expected. I remember my second year group of students, they were, what I like to say "quirky". They were definitely different. My third year group of students, were, if anything, better behaved, smarter, sassier and MORE quirky. They were so weird (I actually think that goes for middle school students in general).
Again, preparation is the key. If you don't prepare, you're setting yourself up to fail. Whoops. I don't like that "F" word, but honestly, that is what happens. I believe there are three different areas that you need to prepare for. Honestly, as much fun as the summer is, that was the time that I actually had to work on making my classroom a safe, learning environment. I didn't have time to make changes during the school year---that was way too hard for me. Plus teachers and students get in habits, and it will be too hard to switch things up. So here are the three areas to focus on when you're preparing for your school year.
1) Management-Procedures and Routines. Consequences. How are you going to teach your routines and procedures? How much time do you dedicate to teaching these routines and procedures? What about consequences? It is so much easier to figure this stuff out BEFORE the kids get into the classroom than after.
Also, figure out what you're going to have to type up and print out for your students to take home. Some things that should be included are: Student Expectations, Procedures, Homework Policy, Consequences, Tardy Policy, Book List, Homework Expectations, Testing Expectations, Grading Policy, and a Curriculum Preview (what we'll be learning this year). Sometimes teachers will lump all of these things into a disclosure statement or class syllabus. Do what is best for you and your students.
2) Instruction- Make a curriculum map, print and highlight your standards, get yourself a practice state exam, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE look at your textbook before the first day of school! Make sure that you have a plan for teaching, whether it's an annual type of plan (curriculum map) or just a monthly guide of what you'll be teaching. But, please try to make an outline of what you'll be teaching throughout the year.
I would go through each unit, write down the theme, important vocabulary, root words and the stories that we were planning on reading (with page numbers---helps a lot guys!). I would divide the units by the literary terms that the students were learning, and we would go from there. In all the instructional planning you do, please always remember to refer to your state/district standards and curriculum.
If you're a teacher, please read all of the novels/ short stories that you're planning on using in class to teach vocabulary, reading strategies or literary elements. The students will know if you've read them before. And it's always good to be one step ahead when you're planning.
3) Rapport- I have to tell you, as important as management and instruction are, I think rapport is extremely important as well. In order to effectively teach students, you need to have a good relationship with them. I think the first week of school is an excellent time for lots of team building and class building activities.
The students need to get to know you as well, so I would suggest having an introduction activity for yourself on the first day of school. Either a PowerPoint, letting kids answer your questions or, find the fiction.
One year I had students answer a bunch of questions about themselves on an index card (name, parent's name, phone number, favorite subject, favorite book, birthday, etc---for future reference). I then asked them to write down a question that they had for me on the index card, any question at all that they may want to ask. I only told them though, that after the first day, I would not answer any personal questions for the entire school year--this was there only chance.
The students enjoyed it and they asked me several things, including: "Are you pregnant?" (I was about 7 months along at the time); "What's your favorite animal?" (cheetahs); "What's your favorite color?" (red); "How old are you?" (24--at the time); "Are you married?" (yes); "Are you mean?" (yes, but only if you get in trouble/don't follow directions).
Of course, being the literature teacher that I was in a low-income, high ELL population school, I answered all the questions in complete sentences.
Look on the internet, look in books, there are tons of ideas. This was my favorite book in college, and I thorougly enjoyed it! Good luck on your first days of school!
After my first year teaching, I decided that my second year would be at least ten times better. And the reason why it actually was? Because I was prepared.
I don't think that teachers can be completely prepared for every single thing out there---life is way too crazy for that. Students are unique and there will be different students that expected. I remember my second year group of students, they were, what I like to say "quirky". They were definitely different. My third year group of students, were, if anything, better behaved, smarter, sassier and MORE quirky. They were so weird (I actually think that goes for middle school students in general).
Again, preparation is the key. If you don't prepare, you're setting yourself up to fail. Whoops. I don't like that "F" word, but honestly, that is what happens. I believe there are three different areas that you need to prepare for. Honestly, as much fun as the summer is, that was the time that I actually had to work on making my classroom a safe, learning environment. I didn't have time to make changes during the school year---that was way too hard for me. Plus teachers and students get in habits, and it will be too hard to switch things up. So here are the three areas to focus on when you're preparing for your school year.
1) Management-Procedures and Routines. Consequences. How are you going to teach your routines and procedures? How much time do you dedicate to teaching these routines and procedures? What about consequences? It is so much easier to figure this stuff out BEFORE the kids get into the classroom than after.
Also, figure out what you're going to have to type up and print out for your students to take home. Some things that should be included are: Student Expectations, Procedures, Homework Policy, Consequences, Tardy Policy, Book List, Homework Expectations, Testing Expectations, Grading Policy, and a Curriculum Preview (what we'll be learning this year). Sometimes teachers will lump all of these things into a disclosure statement or class syllabus. Do what is best for you and your students.
2) Instruction- Make a curriculum map, print and highlight your standards, get yourself a practice state exam, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE look at your textbook before the first day of school! Make sure that you have a plan for teaching, whether it's an annual type of plan (curriculum map) or just a monthly guide of what you'll be teaching. But, please try to make an outline of what you'll be teaching throughout the year.
I would go through each unit, write down the theme, important vocabulary, root words and the stories that we were planning on reading (with page numbers---helps a lot guys!). I would divide the units by the literary terms that the students were learning, and we would go from there. In all the instructional planning you do, please always remember to refer to your state/district standards and curriculum.
If you're a teacher, please read all of the novels/ short stories that you're planning on using in class to teach vocabulary, reading strategies or literary elements. The students will know if you've read them before. And it's always good to be one step ahead when you're planning.
3) Rapport- I have to tell you, as important as management and instruction are, I think rapport is extremely important as well. In order to effectively teach students, you need to have a good relationship with them. I think the first week of school is an excellent time for lots of team building and class building activities.
The students need to get to know you as well, so I would suggest having an introduction activity for yourself on the first day of school. Either a PowerPoint, letting kids answer your questions or, find the fiction.
One year I had students answer a bunch of questions about themselves on an index card (name, parent's name, phone number, favorite subject, favorite book, birthday, etc---for future reference). I then asked them to write down a question that they had for me on the index card, any question at all that they may want to ask. I only told them though, that after the first day, I would not answer any personal questions for the entire school year--this was there only chance.
The students enjoyed it and they asked me several things, including: "Are you pregnant?" (I was about 7 months along at the time); "What's your favorite animal?" (cheetahs); "What's your favorite color?" (red); "How old are you?" (24--at the time); "Are you married?" (yes); "Are you mean?" (yes, but only if you get in trouble/don't follow directions).
Of course, being the literature teacher that I was in a low-income, high ELL population school, I answered all the questions in complete sentences.
Look on the internet, look in books, there are tons of ideas. This was my favorite book in college, and I thorougly enjoyed it! Good luck on your first days of school!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Teacher Collaboration
Collaboration is a wonderful idea for teachers. When teachers work together to set up procedures/routines/rules/curriculum maps/projects, there are one of two ways you can go. First, your team can be a subject based team. For example, this is most likely what you'll see in a high school or junior high setting.
The first school I taught at, Landmark, I was a part of the Social Studies Department (or team). At my second school, Mountain View, we were a Kindergarten-8th grade school, so things were set up a little differently. We had only one teacher for each subject (with Resource teachers for math, language arts and reading, and an ELD specific reading/writing class called Read 180). So the team I was on at Mountain View was the 7th grade team, and we would often collaborate/share ideas with our 8th grade team as well.
Each type of department and team has it's benefits. If you're team is grade level oriented, you can set up more common procedures, routines and rules. This allows, in my opinion, more organized and well managed classrooms across the board (for the most part). We did have teachers that did not follow these procedures, and while the Sevvies were great (behavior wise) in my class and a couple of my close friend's classes, they were like animals in the other classes. Basically, they knew what they knew what classes they could get away with stuff in.
If your team is subject oriented, then you can set up more subject oriented events. For example, with my classroom neighbor, George (also my mentor my first year teaching), helped me SO MUCH with setting up lessons and curriculum. I really believe the only reason why I was still able to somewhat teach that year was because he was pulling me through by sharing what he was doing with his 7th grade history class as well. On a subject oriented team, you can have common assessments, common curriculum maps, and common projects (we had a Social Studies fair at our Junior High).
Both of these types of teams have their benefits, but I think it depends on the person. More seasoned veterans are probably fine on either team. They are okay with being a mentor for new teachers in regards to management (on a grade level team) or by helping with their wonderful curriculum ideas or projects (on a subject level team).
My personal opinion on the matter: Do what you have to. Most of the teams are already set up in a specific way---when you go to a school, the type of team you're on isn't going to change. But, you will need to learn and adapt. Make the best of whatever type of team you're on and go with the flow. If you're on a subject based team, but you're struggling with management (see MYSELF my first year teaching), then seek out the help of another teacher that is an excellent classroom manager. Unfortunately my first year, I was too stubborn to ask for help before it was too late. I had plenty of teachers that gave me advice that I have taken to heart from that first year teaching. That advice helped me tremendously my next two years.
The one thing I loved about the smaller, grade level team was that we all had the same students, and we could discuss their needs better. And besides, on that smaller, grade level team, we had so many more meetings (at least once a week). We really became close friends.
I thought I'd finish this post by writing a list of ideas for making the best out of your team and future teacher collaboration:
1) Have a good attitude---it can be so hard sometimes when it seems like you have heard the same thing OVER and OVER and OVER again! If you need to do something to keep yourself from murmuring to your neighbor, then just zone out. It's better to keep your opinions to yourself than to sow mutiny and discord amongst your fellow team.
2) Go to your meetings and be active---This is so important. You need to know what's going on. And, if you have any say, suggest having the meetings as often as possible. Okay, you might make enemies with different teachers, but becoming involved in the school and team is as important as staying in the classroom and teaching. Take the intiative, take notes at meetings, and make suggestions. If you don't participate in the conversation, then you have NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN when things don't go your way.
3) Help your fellow teammates---Offer to help. Be positive, not negative. Be responsible and respectful to your teammates and be willing to work with people. If you have the opportunity, arrange for a sub (professional development) and go see other classrooms of your subject area or grade level and watch them teach. Each teacher has their own, unique way of doing things and can share something helpful and informative with someone else.
The first school I taught at, Landmark, I was a part of the Social Studies Department (or team). At my second school, Mountain View, we were a Kindergarten-8th grade school, so things were set up a little differently. We had only one teacher for each subject (with Resource teachers for math, language arts and reading, and an ELD specific reading/writing class called Read 180). So the team I was on at Mountain View was the 7th grade team, and we would often collaborate/share ideas with our 8th grade team as well.
Each type of department and team has it's benefits. If you're team is grade level oriented, you can set up more common procedures, routines and rules. This allows, in my opinion, more organized and well managed classrooms across the board (for the most part). We did have teachers that did not follow these procedures, and while the Sevvies were great (behavior wise) in my class and a couple of my close friend's classes, they were like animals in the other classes. Basically, they knew what they knew what classes they could get away with stuff in.
If your team is subject oriented, then you can set up more subject oriented events. For example, with my classroom neighbor, George (also my mentor my first year teaching), helped me SO MUCH with setting up lessons and curriculum. I really believe the only reason why I was still able to somewhat teach that year was because he was pulling me through by sharing what he was doing with his 7th grade history class as well. On a subject oriented team, you can have common assessments, common curriculum maps, and common projects (we had a Social Studies fair at our Junior High).
Both of these types of teams have their benefits, but I think it depends on the person. More seasoned veterans are probably fine on either team. They are okay with being a mentor for new teachers in regards to management (on a grade level team) or by helping with their wonderful curriculum ideas or projects (on a subject level team).
My personal opinion on the matter: Do what you have to. Most of the teams are already set up in a specific way---when you go to a school, the type of team you're on isn't going to change. But, you will need to learn and adapt. Make the best of whatever type of team you're on and go with the flow. If you're on a subject based team, but you're struggling with management (see MYSELF my first year teaching), then seek out the help of another teacher that is an excellent classroom manager. Unfortunately my first year, I was too stubborn to ask for help before it was too late. I had plenty of teachers that gave me advice that I have taken to heart from that first year teaching. That advice helped me tremendously my next two years.
The one thing I loved about the smaller, grade level team was that we all had the same students, and we could discuss their needs better. And besides, on that smaller, grade level team, we had so many more meetings (at least once a week). We really became close friends.
I thought I'd finish this post by writing a list of ideas for making the best out of your team and future teacher collaboration:
1) Have a good attitude---it can be so hard sometimes when it seems like you have heard the same thing OVER and OVER and OVER again! If you need to do something to keep yourself from murmuring to your neighbor, then just zone out. It's better to keep your opinions to yourself than to sow mutiny and discord amongst your fellow team.
2) Go to your meetings and be active---This is so important. You need to know what's going on. And, if you have any say, suggest having the meetings as often as possible. Okay, you might make enemies with different teachers, but becoming involved in the school and team is as important as staying in the classroom and teaching. Take the intiative, take notes at meetings, and make suggestions. If you don't participate in the conversation, then you have NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN when things don't go your way.
3) Help your fellow teammates---Offer to help. Be positive, not negative. Be responsible and respectful to your teammates and be willing to work with people. If you have the opportunity, arrange for a sub (professional development) and go see other classrooms of your subject area or grade level and watch them teach. Each teacher has their own, unique way of doing things and can share something helpful and informative with someone else.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Ten Best Harry Potter Characters
This is just a fun little post. You can have your students do this when reading a short story. Maybe only 3 or 5 characters. Have them use examples from the text or direct quotes. In honor of the last HP movie, I thought that I'd write out a list of my favorite Harry Potter characters. This is in no particular order.
Peeves the Poltergeist
A highly inappropriate, disobedient nutcase poltergeist that obligingly lives at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he is constantly causing chaos with his pranks. My favorite scene with Peeves, although there are so many, is in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, when the Weasley twins direct Peeves to give Umbridge hell. I love seeing the way that Peeves salutes the twins, and causes quite an uproar from Umbridge, while the rest of the student body and the professors ally themselves with the unruly poltergeist. I've always been sad that he's never been included in the movies!
Lord Voldemort
Some people might think that I am weird having him on the list, but I just have to say that I admire how JK Rowling wrote Voldemort's character. Voldemort is pure evil. Seriously, he is. At one time, when he was younger, he may have been not as evil, but that nastiness has always been there. Most authors write their antagonists with having a little bit of heart and remorse left in them, so you can feel almost sympathy with the enemy. Not with Lord Voldemort. He is everything a human being shouldn't be, and some of my favorite chapters in the whole series are found in book 6 when Harry learns about Voldermort's past, and how he became the man/wizard/monster that terrorized the wizarding world. I think it's incredible to see how Voldemort became corrupted by his lust for power. Rowling does an excellent job of writing nasty, evil villains and this is somebody that even Harry, who is a kind, well-meaning kid for the most part, can kill. If I had to choose a person to be second to Lord Voldemort in the evil contest, I would have to say that Bellatrix and Umbridge are tied.
Hermione Granger
Hermione is the best of the best. She is your goody two shoes, who loves school and getting good grades. Basically, she is a model student. If Harry and Ron hadn't become friends with Hermione, there would be no Harry Potter series. She is the glue that holds the trio together. Honestly, the boys are so clueless without her, and without her knowledge and skill they wouldn't have survived all their years at Hogwarts.
Draco Malfoy
Draco's transformation from spoiled, nasty little rich boy into a young man that is essentially bullied by Voldemort really shows his true nature. By the time that you get to book 6, most people realize that Harry and Draco are arch enemies (at least in the school sense). They jinx and curse each other, and pull pranks. Harry is as guilty of this relationship as Draco is. In book 6, you finally see Draco at his breaking point. He is bullied into killing Dumbledore, an act that will most likely kill him in the process. During books 6 and 7, you sympathize with Malfoy, and come to realize that as "evil" as he was in the previous books, he's nothing compared to Voldemort.
Nymphadora Tonks
I'm all about girl power. And Tonks is a pretty hip and skilled witch that can take on some serious tasks. You don't learn very much about her in book 5. She has the ability to change her appearance at will, she's an auror (that has to take some skill), she is notoriously clumsy, and she likes to ask annoying questions of Harry. I wish that they had more of her in the books, but she is definitely a B plot character. And, she's not so awesome in book 6. (Love sick? pssh) And in book 7, you barely see enough of her before you see that she died. I'd like to see a sequel to the Harry Potter books that deals with the adult perspective of Voldemort's rise to power (like during books 5 and 6 of the series).
Weasley Family
Okay, I kind of cheated. I had to include ALL of the Weasleys. This is the family that Harry wished that he had. And Ron, his BFF, is a part of that family. I love Harry's relationship with the entire family. From Ron, Fred, and George that view Harry as a close friend (almost a brother), to Ginny's childish fan girl obsession that turns into romance; Percy's disapproval of Harry and Ron's friendship; and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's almost parent like affection of Harry. As Mr. Weasley says in book 6, "Half of our family does seem to owe you their lives, now I stop and think about it... Well all I can say is that it was a lucky day for the Weasleys when Ron decided to sit in your compartment on the Hogwarts Express". On the flipside of this quote, where would Harry be without the Weasleys? Without Ron?
Professor McGonagall
This is a teaching blog, so I have to write a little blurb about my favorite teacher in the books. She sure is strict, but I really think that her methods got results. Okay, now to stop talking about her as a teacher. Some of my favorite scenes from books 5 to 7 are with her in them. I really liked in book 5 when she defends Harry while engaging in a yelling match with Umbridge (that's pretty unprofessional, at least she tells him to leave before it escalates). I also like how stalwart she is---like when Harry mentions in book 5 after McGonagall is injured that he never imagined Hogwarts without her. One of my favorite, absolute, favorite scenes is from book 7 when Harry is hiding under the invisibility cloak in the Ravenclaw dorm. When McGonagall confronts the Carrows, they spit in her face. Harry, in retaliation, removes his cloak and performs the cruciatus curse on them. McGonagall, in response says, "Potter, I- that was very-very gallant of you." McGonagall, although a strict teacher, is very fair and well-liked and respected by the general student and staff population. Maybe unknown to Harry, she is also an important mentor and guide for him while at Hogwarts.
Severus Snape
Best written character in the story. Snape's loyalty and devotion toward Lily Potter allowed him to protect Harry, who looks exactly like his most bitter rival (James Potter). It's almost funny, the way that Snape bullied and punished Harry. Especially in the 6th book, when Snape tells him that he will only be able to defeat Lord Voldemort if he can master his emotions and nonverbal magic. One of my top 5 chapters in the entire book is when Harry sees Snape's memories after he dies. Poor Snape, so misunderstood, but he eventually receives the respect he deserves, even if it is a little late.
Albus Dumbledore
Harry's Gandalf. Okay, maybe not so much. But Dumbledore is a pretty conniving old man. He knows what's expected of Harry, and tries to protect him as much as possible, even though he knows that Harry will have to be killed (eventually). I like that book 7 shows a different side of Dumbledore. Although he's always been Harry's hero, Harry realizes that not all heroes are perfect. Do I really have to say anymore about Dumbledore?
Harry Potter
Harry could quite possibly be my least favorite character in the series if I let all of his annoying habits (jumping to conclusions, playing hero, being a drama queen) get in the way. But no matter how many faults he has (which show that he is human), he still has so much good left in him. After all he's been through, he's not that bitter. He's learned to deal with the crazy muggle Dursleys, and he's learned to deal with the backlash that comes from being famous. Through most of the series, he's a reluctant hero. He doesn't want to be famous and be the chosen one, but he will, because he knows what needs to be done. I love how clueless he is with girls, I love how Harry fights and argues with his friends and I love how even though there was a part of Voldemort in him, he was still a genuinely good person.
Peeves the Poltergeist
A highly inappropriate, disobedient nutcase poltergeist that obligingly lives at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he is constantly causing chaos with his pranks. My favorite scene with Peeves, although there are so many, is in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, when the Weasley twins direct Peeves to give Umbridge hell. I love seeing the way that Peeves salutes the twins, and causes quite an uproar from Umbridge, while the rest of the student body and the professors ally themselves with the unruly poltergeist. I've always been sad that he's never been included in the movies!
Lord Voldemort
Some people might think that I am weird having him on the list, but I just have to say that I admire how JK Rowling wrote Voldemort's character. Voldemort is pure evil. Seriously, he is. At one time, when he was younger, he may have been not as evil, but that nastiness has always been there. Most authors write their antagonists with having a little bit of heart and remorse left in them, so you can feel almost sympathy with the enemy. Not with Lord Voldemort. He is everything a human being shouldn't be, and some of my favorite chapters in the whole series are found in book 6 when Harry learns about Voldermort's past, and how he became the man/wizard/monster that terrorized the wizarding world. I think it's incredible to see how Voldemort became corrupted by his lust for power. Rowling does an excellent job of writing nasty, evil villains and this is somebody that even Harry, who is a kind, well-meaning kid for the most part, can kill. If I had to choose a person to be second to Lord Voldemort in the evil contest, I would have to say that Bellatrix and Umbridge are tied.
Hermione Granger
Hermione is the best of the best. She is your goody two shoes, who loves school and getting good grades. Basically, she is a model student. If Harry and Ron hadn't become friends with Hermione, there would be no Harry Potter series. She is the glue that holds the trio together. Honestly, the boys are so clueless without her, and without her knowledge and skill they wouldn't have survived all their years at Hogwarts.
Draco Malfoy
Draco's transformation from spoiled, nasty little rich boy into a young man that is essentially bullied by Voldemort really shows his true nature. By the time that you get to book 6, most people realize that Harry and Draco are arch enemies (at least in the school sense). They jinx and curse each other, and pull pranks. Harry is as guilty of this relationship as Draco is. In book 6, you finally see Draco at his breaking point. He is bullied into killing Dumbledore, an act that will most likely kill him in the process. During books 6 and 7, you sympathize with Malfoy, and come to realize that as "evil" as he was in the previous books, he's nothing compared to Voldemort.
Nymphadora Tonks
I'm all about girl power. And Tonks is a pretty hip and skilled witch that can take on some serious tasks. You don't learn very much about her in book 5. She has the ability to change her appearance at will, she's an auror (that has to take some skill), she is notoriously clumsy, and she likes to ask annoying questions of Harry. I wish that they had more of her in the books, but she is definitely a B plot character. And, she's not so awesome in book 6. (Love sick? pssh) And in book 7, you barely see enough of her before you see that she died. I'd like to see a sequel to the Harry Potter books that deals with the adult perspective of Voldemort's rise to power (like during books 5 and 6 of the series).
Weasley Family
Okay, I kind of cheated. I had to include ALL of the Weasleys. This is the family that Harry wished that he had. And Ron, his BFF, is a part of that family. I love Harry's relationship with the entire family. From Ron, Fred, and George that view Harry as a close friend (almost a brother), to Ginny's childish fan girl obsession that turns into romance; Percy's disapproval of Harry and Ron's friendship; and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's almost parent like affection of Harry. As Mr. Weasley says in book 6, "Half of our family does seem to owe you their lives, now I stop and think about it... Well all I can say is that it was a lucky day for the Weasleys when Ron decided to sit in your compartment on the Hogwarts Express". On the flipside of this quote, where would Harry be without the Weasleys? Without Ron?
Professor McGonagall
This is a teaching blog, so I have to write a little blurb about my favorite teacher in the books. She sure is strict, but I really think that her methods got results. Okay, now to stop talking about her as a teacher. Some of my favorite scenes from books 5 to 7 are with her in them. I really liked in book 5 when she defends Harry while engaging in a yelling match with Umbridge (that's pretty unprofessional, at least she tells him to leave before it escalates). I also like how stalwart she is---like when Harry mentions in book 5 after McGonagall is injured that he never imagined Hogwarts without her. One of my favorite, absolute, favorite scenes is from book 7 when Harry is hiding under the invisibility cloak in the Ravenclaw dorm. When McGonagall confronts the Carrows, they spit in her face. Harry, in retaliation, removes his cloak and performs the cruciatus curse on them. McGonagall, in response says, "Potter, I- that was very-very gallant of you." McGonagall, although a strict teacher, is very fair and well-liked and respected by the general student and staff population. Maybe unknown to Harry, she is also an important mentor and guide for him while at Hogwarts.
Severus Snape
Best written character in the story. Snape's loyalty and devotion toward Lily Potter allowed him to protect Harry, who looks exactly like his most bitter rival (James Potter). It's almost funny, the way that Snape bullied and punished Harry. Especially in the 6th book, when Snape tells him that he will only be able to defeat Lord Voldemort if he can master his emotions and nonverbal magic. One of my top 5 chapters in the entire book is when Harry sees Snape's memories after he dies. Poor Snape, so misunderstood, but he eventually receives the respect he deserves, even if it is a little late.
Albus Dumbledore
Harry's Gandalf. Okay, maybe not so much. But Dumbledore is a pretty conniving old man. He knows what's expected of Harry, and tries to protect him as much as possible, even though he knows that Harry will have to be killed (eventually). I like that book 7 shows a different side of Dumbledore. Although he's always been Harry's hero, Harry realizes that not all heroes are perfect. Do I really have to say anymore about Dumbledore?
Harry Potter
Harry could quite possibly be my least favorite character in the series if I let all of his annoying habits (jumping to conclusions, playing hero, being a drama queen) get in the way. But no matter how many faults he has (which show that he is human), he still has so much good left in him. After all he's been through, he's not that bitter. He's learned to deal with the crazy muggle Dursleys, and he's learned to deal with the backlash that comes from being famous. Through most of the series, he's a reluctant hero. He doesn't want to be famous and be the chosen one, but he will, because he knows what needs to be done. I love how clueless he is with girls, I love how Harry fights and argues with his friends and I love how even though there was a part of Voldemort in him, he was still a genuinely good person.
"The Red Pyramid" and "The Throne of Fire" by Rick Riordan
I have a hard time writing separate book reviews for books that are in a series together. So, I thought I'd give a quick review of the first two books in The Kane Chronicles trilogy, by Rick Riordan.
When I first heard about Rick Riordan, it was in the Spring of 2008 (so LONG ago). I was preparing a literature circles unit with my one Language Arts class that I had my first year of teaching. The library at good old Landmark was huge. It was so incredibly, nice, with a large section of books that teachers could check out for their classes to use. One of the books that I thought looked interesting was a book called The Sea of Monsters by Riordan. I tried to read all of the books that I had picked for the Literature Circles groups, and instead, after I finished reading The Sea of Monsters (which is actually book 2 in the series), I found books 1 and 3 and devoured them.
I am going to preface this review by saying that I have a lot of respect for Rick Riordan, not just as an author of great books, but as somebody that obviously has worked with middle school kids successfully, which is pretty rare. I don't know of any other novelists that write with that middle school sense of humor as successfully and inventively as Riordan does. Okay, now on to the review.
Carter and Sadie Kane share narration in both of these novels. They are brother and sister, but they don't know each other all that well since they have been separated since their mother's death when they were quite young. Sadie, the younger of the siblings, has been stuck in boring old England with her grandparents. She gets to see her Dad and brother on Christmas.
Carter has been living with his Dad, a prominent Archaeologist that specializes in studying Egypt and traveling the world with him. When they pick up Sadie and head to the British Museum on Christmas to study the Rosetta Stone, they have no idea that their lives will change so dramatically. Carter and Sadie's father somehow releases the Egyptian God Set, and four other Egyptian Gods: Nephythys, Osiris, Isis and Horus.
Carter and Sadie are then whisked off to Brooklyn with their Uncle Amos and told about their powerful heritage: They have the blood of pharaohs from both their mother and their father and because of this, they start gaining interesting powers, such as the ability to fight monsters and to create portals. They have to use these new talents rather quickly, since Set has entombed their father, and it's up to them to save him and the world from Set's destruction. They encounter several creepy Egyptian Gods and monsters while they try to defeat Set (and in the second book wake up the God Ra). They are also hunted by the magician of the House of Life, who blame the siblings for awaking the Gods, a time-honored TABOO.
Okay, whew. That's a general synopsis of the entire series, and a little bit about the plot from the first book. I don't want to spoil anymore than I already have.
Sadie and Carter take turns telling their story. Usually Carter will take two chapters, then Sadie will write two, and they'll flip flop. The narration in the story is what threw me off the first time I read The Red Pyramid. I didn't like the narration, especially the contrast between the two characters. Carter is a nerdy, well-behaved kid that was OBVIOUSLY home-schooled. Sadie is a snarky, British girl with a punk attitude and enjoys defying orders. The dual narration is different from the Percy books because those books are solely narrated by Percy, and I thought that Riordan was trying to hard to make them like Percy.
I am going to add in that I really like the way Riordan wrote most of the characters from this story, including: Khufu, the intelligent baboon that loves the Lakers and mercilessly beats Carter at basketball; Uncle Amos who looks liked a mob boss with his fedora and Italian suits; Bast, the cat God that wears a leopard print body suit and enjoys her Friskies; Anubis, the God of funerals and ceremonies for the dead, who appears as a jackal headed humanoid to most people, but whose appearance to Sadie changes into a hot, goth, human teenage boy; and last, but not least, Set, the antagonist in the first book that becomes a reluctant ally in the next book, described as wearing a red, silk disco suit. I think part of Riordan's writing ingenuity is just the way he can adapt these Egyptian Gods to modern times.
The second time I read The Red Pyramid, I liked it a lot better. I embraced the differences and similarities between the two series. Riordan's humor, will always be in his books targeted for children. It's a part of his style, and you either love it or you hate it. I really enjoyed the growth that Carter and Sadie's relationship had in the books. They started out as almost strangers, and in the end, they become close friends and they learn to rely on each other. They embrace each others differences, and in the end, they're still family, which is what matters the most.
Both characters show a lot of growth in their personalities as well, when they finally realize at the end of The Red Pyramid making the right choice, is not often the easy choice. And I think that's a great lesson that middle school aged kids need to learn and will be able to relate to. Their choices may not mean the end of the world as we know it, but those choices are important for the students.
The Red Pyramid and The Throne of Fire are both fast-paced, action-comedy novels that showcase the importance of family, friendships, love, choices, and growing up. I recommend these books starting with 5th grade and up. The humor in them helps balance out the sad, serious issues that these characters face. I think that most students will be able to relate to Sadie and Carter, one way or another, and I think they'll enjoy learning about each of the characters, monsters and Gods. They're easy books to get into, especially for the more reluctant male readers that like action. And, there's enough almost romance between Carter and Zia/ Sadie, Anubis, and Walt (2nd book) to make the girls interested as well.
I highly recommend this series to your middle school students! Encourage them to read, read, read!
Carter and Sadie Kane share narration in both of these novels. They are brother and sister, but they don't know each other all that well since they have been separated since their mother's death when they were quite young. Sadie, the younger of the siblings, has been stuck in boring old England with her grandparents. She gets to see her Dad and brother on Christmas.
Carter has been living with his Dad, a prominent Archaeologist that specializes in studying Egypt and traveling the world with him. When they pick up Sadie and head to the British Museum on Christmas to study the Rosetta Stone, they have no idea that their lives will change so dramatically. Carter and Sadie's father somehow releases the Egyptian God Set, and four other Egyptian Gods: Nephythys, Osiris, Isis and Horus.
Carter and Sadie are then whisked off to Brooklyn with their Uncle Amos and told about their powerful heritage: They have the blood of pharaohs from both their mother and their father and because of this, they start gaining interesting powers, such as the ability to fight monsters and to create portals. They have to use these new talents rather quickly, since Set has entombed their father, and it's up to them to save him and the world from Set's destruction. They encounter several creepy Egyptian Gods and monsters while they try to defeat Set (and in the second book wake up the God Ra). They are also hunted by the magician of the House of Life, who blame the siblings for awaking the Gods, a time-honored TABOO.
Okay, whew. That's a general synopsis of the entire series, and a little bit about the plot from the first book. I don't want to spoil anymore than I already have.
Sadie and Carter take turns telling their story. Usually Carter will take two chapters, then Sadie will write two, and they'll flip flop. The narration in the story is what threw me off the first time I read The Red Pyramid. I didn't like the narration, especially the contrast between the two characters. Carter is a nerdy, well-behaved kid that was OBVIOUSLY home-schooled. Sadie is a snarky, British girl with a punk attitude and enjoys defying orders. The dual narration is different from the Percy books because those books are solely narrated by Percy, and I thought that Riordan was trying to hard to make them like Percy.
I am going to add in that I really like the way Riordan wrote most of the characters from this story, including: Khufu, the intelligent baboon that loves the Lakers and mercilessly beats Carter at basketball; Uncle Amos who looks liked a mob boss with his fedora and Italian suits; Bast, the cat God that wears a leopard print body suit and enjoys her Friskies; Anubis, the God of funerals and ceremonies for the dead, who appears as a jackal headed humanoid to most people, but whose appearance to Sadie changes into a hot, goth, human teenage boy; and last, but not least, Set, the antagonist in the first book that becomes a reluctant ally in the next book, described as wearing a red, silk disco suit. I think part of Riordan's writing ingenuity is just the way he can adapt these Egyptian Gods to modern times.
The second time I read The Red Pyramid, I liked it a lot better. I embraced the differences and similarities between the two series. Riordan's humor, will always be in his books targeted for children. It's a part of his style, and you either love it or you hate it. I really enjoyed the growth that Carter and Sadie's relationship had in the books. They started out as almost strangers, and in the end, they become close friends and they learn to rely on each other. They embrace each others differences, and in the end, they're still family, which is what matters the most.
Both characters show a lot of growth in their personalities as well, when they finally realize at the end of The Red Pyramid making the right choice, is not often the easy choice. And I think that's a great lesson that middle school aged kids need to learn and will be able to relate to. Their choices may not mean the end of the world as we know it, but those choices are important for the students.
The Red Pyramid and The Throne of Fire are both fast-paced, action-comedy novels that showcase the importance of family, friendships, love, choices, and growing up. I recommend these books starting with 5th grade and up. The humor in them helps balance out the sad, serious issues that these characters face. I think that most students will be able to relate to Sadie and Carter, one way or another, and I think they'll enjoy learning about each of the characters, monsters and Gods. They're easy books to get into, especially for the more reluctant male readers that like action. And, there's enough almost romance between Carter and Zia/ Sadie, Anubis, and Walt (2nd book) to make the girls interested as well.
I highly recommend this series to your middle school students! Encourage them to read, read, read!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Nice to meet you. Let’s tell some lies.
- My name is Kristin Roberts, a former colleague of Rachel, and an 8th grade language arts (reading and writing) teacher in Phoenix, Arizona.
- I am excited to embark on my 5th year teaching middle school in a few short weeks, but I sure hope those weeks aren’t tooo short.
- I’m eagerly planning to dive headfirst into my curriculum on the first day of school.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, this isn’t Rachel. I’m excited to be guest blogging here. If I can’t work with Rachel at school everyday any longer, this will have to get me through. The list above is an example of an ice-breaker activity I do with my students each year. It’s one of the Kagan cooperative learning structures called Find the Fiction. Each person states 3 pieces of information about herself, and her teammates must guess which statement is fiction. (I’m tempted to embark on a tangential discussion about the trouble with gender-specific singular pronouns here, which I actually have a lot to say about. I’m a girl, so I’ll say herself and her.) Back on point, in my example, the third statement is fiction. I highly value my instructional minutes and do my best to spend them seeped in curriculum, but I believe the first 1-3 days of the year in middle school are better spent on team building and setting up procedures for how those teams will work. Aside from letting students get to know each other, activities like this give them a great picture of what appropriate communication should look like in your classroom. They learn to take turns, use appropriate volumes, listen and respond respectfully, and in my room, we thank our teammates daily.
Let me digress for a moment. (For realz this time --- I teach middle school. I have to say for realz, and I have to use lots of parentheses and ellipses because regular punctuation bores me.) I’d like to take a moment to properly introduce myself in a much more grown-up fashion. My first and second statements above are accurate, but let me flesh out my background a bit more because I love to talk about myself, and I’m sure you’ll find it quite fascinating. Right? Right. My original career ambition was to become an attorney. I earned a bachelor’s degree in pre-law several years ago from Cedarville University (Cedarville, Ohio), but I quickly learned that my passion was not the law. I soon returned to school, this time at Wayne State University (Detroit, Michigan) to earn my teaching credentials. I am certified to teach secondary English language arts and history. In 2007, I moved to Arizona and started my career in teaching middle school language arts. Perhaps one day I’ll share the dark days of substituting that I’m skipping over in my introduction. I’m very thankful for my baptism by fire into the world of teaching, but I’m glad I don’t need to repeat those days. Unlike the law, teaching is my passion. I truly love what I do and am extremely driven to improve my practice. I care deeply for my students and want the best for them. And of course, I live for the hilarious incidents that happen daily in a middle school. The stories I could (do) tell! I will be sharing some of my lessons and strategies with you here on occasion, and I hope you find them useful.
So, Find the Fiction. Use it! It’s a wonderful ice breaker, but it’s also a great activity to reinforce learning. Have students list statements about your curriculum, including one fictional statement, of course, that their teammates will have to find. Whether you’re using it for a team builder or curriculum, please remember to explicitly model it as well as listing clear step-by-step directions on the board. Include details explaining how long students will have to talk, who talks first, how teammates should respond, and what you expect them to be able to produce or share when the activity is over. I like to end the activity with some whole-class sharing of interesting factual and fictitious statements. It’s fun, let’s you learn about your students, and honestly, fictitious is just an enjoyable word to say out loud. I’ll leave you to find my fiction . . . the three statements I shared with my students in 2010 for this activity:
1. My first job was at Baskin Robbins ice cream.
2. My favorite television show is American Idol.
3. I tried to learn hip hop dancing by watching Soulja Boy tutorial videos on YouTube.
Can you find my fiction?
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Greek Mythology
Greek Mythology--- kids love learning about Greek Myths. While this isn't a huge curriculum bullet (there usually isn't too much of it covered on most state exams), it is something that will pique the interest of your students. They especially like it because they can RELATE to it and have PRIOR KNOWLEDGE of most of the content we cover.
Students will draw parallels to: Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus series, both by Rick Riordan; the God of War video game for PS3; the movie Clash of the Titans; and if you're lucky, they have actually learned a little bit about Greek Mythology from actual textbooks before!
I remember I learned about Greek mythology in 6th grade. My wonderful, amazing Language Arts/ Social Studies teachers had our teams divided each into a different Greek Polis. We had competitions against each other, culminating in a huge Olympics competition (I just remember the javelin toss was with pencils). It was so much fun.
I usually saved Greek Mythology for the week before state exams and the week during. I did this so students were actually enjoying themselves in class, not just cramming last minute for state exams (like that helps anyway).
I always started off with teaching about the titans (very briefly) and then we got into the myth of the Gods overthrowing Kronos. And we took off from there. I always started with a print out of notes for the students. On each printout would have the names of each God/Goddess (Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, etc), mythical heroes (Hercules, Orpheus, Achilles, Odysseus, etc), monsters (Medusa, Hydra, Minotaur, Sirens, Cerebrus) and general terms and places (Elysium, Hades, Olympus, Crete, etc). Most of these terms tied to the myths that were from our text book. Those myths were on: Prometheus and how he came to give man fire; Icarus and Daedalus and their metal wings; Apollo and his son Phaeton, who was too proud to not fly his father's chariot; and Orpheus, who almost brought back his beloved from death by playing beautiful music.
We covered why the Gods and Goddesses were worshiped and I had to explain to students that this was the religion of the Greek people. Most students were astonished at this news and thought that "Those fools were crazy." (And that's a direct quote I got). I told little stories about each God, Goddess, hero, monster, place, person, etc. The kids saw that I loved the content/subject, and they caught on to that. Can you guess what unit my students tested the highest on average for? Yep, it was this unit.
We supplemented some stories. I printed out stories about King Midas and his Golden touch, Perseus and Medusa, Theseus and the minotaur, Jason and the Argonauts and a simplified, summarized version of the Odysssey. The teams randomly picked their myth. They read the myth together as a team, and then planned an even shorter skit of the myth. They were graded on their enthusiasm, team work and how accurate their portrayal was.
I really wish that I could have taught more to the students. Their eyes sparkled and they smiled so much when we learned about Greek Mythology. And, don't we want our students to like learning? I always encouraged students to keep reading the content. I told them that if they hadn't already they needed to read Percy Jackson, not only for the content, but the wonderful middle school sense of humor that Riordan writes with.
There are Greek myths all over the place on the internet. So, use those if you need a place to get started. I also used the school library as a source, and had books pulled on Greek mythology. When students were really interested in one aspect (like the myth of Theseus and the minotaur), I would encourage them to try to read more about it on their own.
Most of all, when it comes to Greek Mythology, have FUN teaching your students. They will love it if you do! If you have no desire to do Greek Mythology, then try something else with your students. Egyptian mythology, middles ages, or black plague. Find something that you like to teach and that will engage the students and go. Remember, that it is impossible to teach a supplemental unit like this all year long. But it is there to break up the monotony, and give your students something to do that they'll really enjoy!
Best of luck!
Students will draw parallels to: Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus series, both by Rick Riordan; the God of War video game for PS3; the movie Clash of the Titans; and if you're lucky, they have actually learned a little bit about Greek Mythology from actual textbooks before!
I remember I learned about Greek mythology in 6th grade. My wonderful, amazing Language Arts/ Social Studies teachers had our teams divided each into a different Greek Polis. We had competitions against each other, culminating in a huge Olympics competition (I just remember the javelin toss was with pencils). It was so much fun.
I usually saved Greek Mythology for the week before state exams and the week during. I did this so students were actually enjoying themselves in class, not just cramming last minute for state exams (like that helps anyway).
I always started off with teaching about the titans (very briefly) and then we got into the myth of the Gods overthrowing Kronos. And we took off from there. I always started with a print out of notes for the students. On each printout would have the names of each God/Goddess (Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, etc), mythical heroes (Hercules, Orpheus, Achilles, Odysseus, etc), monsters (Medusa, Hydra, Minotaur, Sirens, Cerebrus) and general terms and places (Elysium, Hades, Olympus, Crete, etc). Most of these terms tied to the myths that were from our text book. Those myths were on: Prometheus and how he came to give man fire; Icarus and Daedalus and their metal wings; Apollo and his son Phaeton, who was too proud to not fly his father's chariot; and Orpheus, who almost brought back his beloved from death by playing beautiful music.
We covered why the Gods and Goddesses were worshiped and I had to explain to students that this was the religion of the Greek people. Most students were astonished at this news and thought that "Those fools were crazy." (And that's a direct quote I got). I told little stories about each God, Goddess, hero, monster, place, person, etc. The kids saw that I loved the content/subject, and they caught on to that. Can you guess what unit my students tested the highest on average for? Yep, it was this unit.
We supplemented some stories. I printed out stories about King Midas and his Golden touch, Perseus and Medusa, Theseus and the minotaur, Jason and the Argonauts and a simplified, summarized version of the Odysssey. The teams randomly picked their myth. They read the myth together as a team, and then planned an even shorter skit of the myth. They were graded on their enthusiasm, team work and how accurate their portrayal was.
I really wish that I could have taught more to the students. Their eyes sparkled and they smiled so much when we learned about Greek Mythology. And, don't we want our students to like learning? I always encouraged students to keep reading the content. I told them that if they hadn't already they needed to read Percy Jackson, not only for the content, but the wonderful middle school sense of humor that Riordan writes with.
There are Greek myths all over the place on the internet. So, use those if you need a place to get started. I also used the school library as a source, and had books pulled on Greek mythology. When students were really interested in one aspect (like the myth of Theseus and the minotaur), I would encourage them to try to read more about it on their own.
Most of all, when it comes to Greek Mythology, have FUN teaching your students. They will love it if you do! If you have no desire to do Greek Mythology, then try something else with your students. Egyptian mythology, middles ages, or black plague. Find something that you like to teach and that will engage the students and go. Remember, that it is impossible to teach a supplemental unit like this all year long. But it is there to break up the monotony, and give your students something to do that they'll really enjoy!
Best of luck!
Using Assigned Detentions to Your Advantage
Detention. Nobody likes to stay after school, especially teachers. However, if you want your kids to be managed and discipline, you staying after to school to babysit manage and help your students is a necessity.
Most teachers have heard of the disciplinary practice. Just to clarify, detention is not a management skill, but a consequence.
So many things to say about detentions...
Why are detentions given? Usually for misbehavior in the classroom of a sort. Sometimes for missing school work and homework. Sometimes for unexcused tardies.
Is it possible for detention to get too excessive? And what about your veteran detainees? Those kids who are ALWAYS in detention and they don't mind?
I am going to write a few ideas for detentions. I haven't been a HUGE fan with detentions myself. My second year teaching, we could get up 30 7th graders in detention. That's a huge number. And about half of that number were some of our veterans. So, while detention is a tool to use in enforcing rules, expectations and management, it is NOT the answer for everything.
1) What types of behavior do you assign detentions for?
Personally, I believe that you need to sit yourself down and maybe some of same grade level teachers as yourself, and go ahead and set some parameters for giving detentions. Some teachers, because of being what I like to say "frazzled" at times, will look for the easiest consequence possible for students, and will start assigning detentions for the tiniest infractions (chewing gum, not raising hand when answering questions, getting out of seat without permission). Your students are going to resent you if you start doing that. When your students start resenting you, they will disrespect you even more.
Some reasons why you may assign detentions:
-After a certain number of tardies (I'd say 3 or 5)
-Excessive amount of homework or school work missing (start early with the missing assignments, 2-3)
-Repeat infractions---you'd have to keep a log of some sort for this. But this is for students, that no matter how many times you tell them and ask them to stop, and they don't, then detentions are the next step. Now, I said above that gum chewing, and shouting out in class, and getting out of their seat without permission were not detention worthy--- but that's when it's a one time offense. You're not going to tell your student, "Hey, you're chewing gum. Here's a detention slip." Instead, you'd say "Hey, this is the 5th time I've caught you chewing gum in my class. What happens next? (Insert hand holding detention slip with students name in big letters with hearts surrounding it)"
-Minor disrespect and defiance-- I am not talking about full blown defiance OR talking (yelling back). Those are offenses that require a more immediate disciplinary action (referral and parent conference) I'm talking about the quiet murmuring a student might have. And when I meant disrespect, I mean disrespect toward you (teacher) and classmates.
Scenario: A student gets an assignment that they don't like. They proceed to whisper to their partner "This is so stupid. I'm not doing it". This type of talk will sow mutiny, and you, the teacher happen to hear it. You head over to the student that started the murmuring. The entire class is watching you, and wants to see how you respond. If you ignore the student, the rest of the class will think it's OKAY not to do their assignment (except for the cute little over achievers that will do it anyway). You say to the student, "I'm so sad you don't like the assignment. But you still have to do it. If I come back and you haven't finished (said amount that you decide based on assignment ), then I'm afraid you'll have to do it for me after school (detention)."
2) Assigning the Detentions- How do you assign them?
First thing---parents need to be informed of where their children are after school. It's a good idea to call parents when you assign detentions anyway. Parents need to understand that detention is NOT a good thing. And a lot of times with middle school aged kids, the detention slips that you may give them, surprisingly, find their way into the trash instead of the parent's hands.
Second---inform the office of the students that are in your classroom after school for detention. This shouldn't be considered just a courtesy, but essential so that the office staff will know where those students are in case their parents come and look for them.
Third---When you assign the detention, tell the parents AND the students that if the behavior escalates, there will have to be a next step (I like the idea of a parent/teacher conference).
Fourth---Also tell your students and parents that there will be a consequence if the student is truant from (skips) detention. In our school and grade level, if students missed one detention, they were assigned two more---1 for the day they missed and another for skipping that day. This doesn't work with all students--- you need to figure out what will work best for you. Have a detention cap (after 3-5 missed detentions) that will decide the next consequence, whether it's a referral or a parent conference.
Fifth--- Don't sound resigned and unsurprised when you assign a student detention. I think all teachers need to remember that we need to hold our students to high standards, and we should show genuine care, concern and disappointment when they don't fulfill those expectations. After all, the first key to a well managed class is a good rapport with your students.
3) What should detention be like?
So many people will argue with me on this one. But, it's important that you decide what you want your students to be doing in detention. I'd like to think of detention as something you can do as a logical consequence. Whatever you do, you DON'T WANT YOUR STUDENTS TO ENJOY IT! Seriously, I'd have students ASK me if they could come to detention (who does that?).
If youbabysit watch only students that you assigned detentions to, then you know why they're there. So, try to make detention a LOGICAL CONSEQUENCE. So, say you have all students that are there because of missing work, make it a logical consequence and tell them they have to do make up work while they're in detention. If the all students present are your excessive gum chewers, make them clean up the room or even scrape gum. For those students that are the excessive standers or hand raisers, make them do SOMETHING BESIDES STARE AT THE WALL. Maybe clean up the room, maybe do homework. Just make them do something. Most students are totally okay with sitting and zoning out---they do it in school anyway.
I personally hate the idea of detention just being a place where students just sit and stare at walls. It doesn't benefit them in anyway at all. If you can't think of a logical consequence, or there are too many different reasons for detention students there, have them all do work (independently) or clean. Don't just let them sit and laugh quietly with their friends.
If students are hard to control, or are refusing to work or do what you've asked them to, don't let them get away with it. That is a way for detention to become a "cool hang out spot" and an ineffective consequence. You need to come up with a time frame anyway to keep your kids, so point to the clock and start writing names when students start acting up. Tell them, "If I write your name down, you have a few more minutes of fun time with me today. You're so lucky". (No lie, I would totally say it like that too. Totally creeped the Sevvies out. *evil laugh*)
Call parents if you plan on doing that so they'll know that you're planning on and they'll be able to adjust their pick up time accordingly.
4) Do Not Assign Detentions for these Behaviors
Defiance--absolutely refusing to do something after you ask nicely. Give them a warning, and if they are still defying you, then call somebody at the office to collect your prodigal student. You don't have the time to deal with it, and you shouldn't have to.
Disrespect--when disrespect escalates to verbal or physical abuse. (A student cusses you out or tries hurting you). If a student starts throwing things or gets violent toward you or anybody else, get the rest of your class our of the classroom and you need to call the office to come and get the student as soon as possible.
Fighting---Students fighting, even play fighting, is not something that should be tolerated in the least, especially with only a detention.
Ditching class---Doesn't matter to me whether the students ditch one class or all classes, and even at school when they're ditching, that should be something that the office deals with, not you.
I didn't forget anything, did I?
***Remember that these are my personal opinions and they are here to help you. You will need to adjust and adapt. We teachers are excellent at that. Do what will work best for you and more importantly, your students.
Most teachers have heard of the disciplinary practice. Just to clarify, detention is not a management skill, but a consequence.
So many things to say about detentions...
Why are detentions given? Usually for misbehavior in the classroom of a sort. Sometimes for missing school work and homework. Sometimes for unexcused tardies.
Is it possible for detention to get too excessive? And what about your veteran detainees? Those kids who are ALWAYS in detention and they don't mind?
I am going to write a few ideas for detentions. I haven't been a HUGE fan with detentions myself. My second year teaching, we could get up 30 7th graders in detention. That's a huge number. And about half of that number were some of our veterans. So, while detention is a tool to use in enforcing rules, expectations and management, it is NOT the answer for everything.
1) What types of behavior do you assign detentions for?
Personally, I believe that you need to sit yourself down and maybe some of same grade level teachers as yourself, and go ahead and set some parameters for giving detentions. Some teachers, because of being what I like to say "frazzled" at times, will look for the easiest consequence possible for students, and will start assigning detentions for the tiniest infractions (chewing gum, not raising hand when answering questions, getting out of seat without permission). Your students are going to resent you if you start doing that. When your students start resenting you, they will disrespect you even more.
Some reasons why you may assign detentions:
-After a certain number of tardies (I'd say 3 or 5)
-Excessive amount of homework or school work missing (start early with the missing assignments, 2-3)
-Repeat infractions---you'd have to keep a log of some sort for this. But this is for students, that no matter how many times you tell them and ask them to stop, and they don't, then detentions are the next step. Now, I said above that gum chewing, and shouting out in class, and getting out of their seat without permission were not detention worthy--- but that's when it's a one time offense. You're not going to tell your student, "Hey, you're chewing gum. Here's a detention slip." Instead, you'd say "Hey, this is the 5th time I've caught you chewing gum in my class. What happens next? (Insert hand holding detention slip with students name in big letters with hearts surrounding it)"
-Minor disrespect and defiance-- I am not talking about full blown defiance OR talking (yelling back). Those are offenses that require a more immediate disciplinary action (referral and parent conference) I'm talking about the quiet murmuring a student might have. And when I meant disrespect, I mean disrespect toward you (teacher) and classmates.
Scenario: A student gets an assignment that they don't like. They proceed to whisper to their partner "This is so stupid. I'm not doing it". This type of talk will sow mutiny, and you, the teacher happen to hear it. You head over to the student that started the murmuring. The entire class is watching you, and wants to see how you respond. If you ignore the student, the rest of the class will think it's OKAY not to do their assignment (except for the cute little over achievers that will do it anyway). You say to the student, "I'm so sad you don't like the assignment. But you still have to do it. If I come back and you haven't finished (said amount that you decide based on assignment ), then I'm afraid you'll have to do it for me after school (detention)."
2) Assigning the Detentions- How do you assign them?
First thing---parents need to be informed of where their children are after school. It's a good idea to call parents when you assign detentions anyway. Parents need to understand that detention is NOT a good thing. And a lot of times with middle school aged kids, the detention slips that you may give them, surprisingly, find their way into the trash instead of the parent's hands.
Second---inform the office of the students that are in your classroom after school for detention. This shouldn't be considered just a courtesy, but essential so that the office staff will know where those students are in case their parents come and look for them.
Third---When you assign the detention, tell the parents AND the students that if the behavior escalates, there will have to be a next step (I like the idea of a parent/teacher conference).
Fourth---Also tell your students and parents that there will be a consequence if the student is truant from (skips) detention. In our school and grade level, if students missed one detention, they were assigned two more---1 for the day they missed and another for skipping that day. This doesn't work with all students--- you need to figure out what will work best for you. Have a detention cap (after 3-5 missed detentions) that will decide the next consequence, whether it's a referral or a parent conference.
Fifth--- Don't sound resigned and unsurprised when you assign a student detention. I think all teachers need to remember that we need to hold our students to high standards, and we should show genuine care, concern and disappointment when they don't fulfill those expectations. After all, the first key to a well managed class is a good rapport with your students.
3) What should detention be like?
So many people will argue with me on this one. But, it's important that you decide what you want your students to be doing in detention. I'd like to think of detention as something you can do as a logical consequence. Whatever you do, you DON'T WANT YOUR STUDENTS TO ENJOY IT! Seriously, I'd have students ASK me if they could come to detention (who does that?).
If you
I personally hate the idea of detention just being a place where students just sit and stare at walls. It doesn't benefit them in anyway at all. If you can't think of a logical consequence, or there are too many different reasons for detention students there, have them all do work (independently) or clean. Don't just let them sit and laugh quietly with their friends.
If students are hard to control, or are refusing to work or do what you've asked them to, don't let them get away with it. That is a way for detention to become a "cool hang out spot" and an ineffective consequence. You need to come up with a time frame anyway to keep your kids, so point to the clock and start writing names when students start acting up. Tell them, "If I write your name down, you have a few more minutes of fun time with me today. You're so lucky". (No lie, I would totally say it like that too. Totally creeped the Sevvies out. *evil laugh*)
Call parents if you plan on doing that so they'll know that you're planning on and they'll be able to adjust their pick up time accordingly.
4) Do Not Assign Detentions for these Behaviors
Defiance--absolutely refusing to do something after you ask nicely. Give them a warning, and if they are still defying you, then call somebody at the office to collect your prodigal student. You don't have the time to deal with it, and you shouldn't have to.
Disrespect--when disrespect escalates to verbal or physical abuse. (A student cusses you out or tries hurting you). If a student starts throwing things or gets violent toward you or anybody else, get the rest of your class our of the classroom and you need to call the office to come and get the student as soon as possible.
Fighting---Students fighting, even play fighting, is not something that should be tolerated in the least, especially with only a detention.
Ditching class---Doesn't matter to me whether the students ditch one class or all classes, and even at school when they're ditching, that should be something that the office deals with, not you.
I didn't forget anything, did I?
***Remember that these are my personal opinions and they are here to help you. You will need to adjust and adapt. We teachers are excellent at that. Do what will work best for you and more importantly, your students.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
What I was never taught in college...
How to be organized. I don't mean my classroom and school supplies. I mean my teacher desk!
I was so disorganized my first year of teaching, I'm afraid I lost quite a few pieces of paperwork. Or I thought I lost them and found them months later.
One thing that I lacked in my college education was the knowledge that teachers deal with A LOT of paperwork. I never had a specific organization system my first year teaching because I didn't realize how much paper would be literally swimming on my desk! I would put aside paperwork from the office, and tell myself, "I just have to remember that the paper is here". About 2 months later, I found it again. It was BAD!
So, second year of teaching, I decided to try to make my desk a little bit more organized. What did I do?
1) Sticky notes- I used these so much. Usually when I had to remember to do something, especially paperwork, I would write it on my post-it note and put it on my computer monitor. Since I was on the computer checking emails and taking attendance for a large part of the day, I would always see the reminder and I would do it before I left my classroom that day.
2) Folders- If I had more than one paper, I would put them in a folder and label the folder. I had book ends that I put on my desk for some of my books, and I would put my folders in there. I usually tried to color code the folders as well.
3) Cups- Use cups, tins or cup like containers for paper clips, pens, pencils, and other little office supplies that you keep around on your desk. It's better to have a designated spot than to have them all over the place. I would keep rubber bands in your desk. Kids have a tendency to use rubber bands as weapons (sling shots), and it would be best to have them in a place that a student wouldn't go to usually.
The most important thing you can do, is clean up after yourself and organize your papers everyday. It's better to do it a little at a time, than wait for it to become a huge mountain of paperwork. Designate a time each day that you can go through your paperwork and clean up your area. It helps a ton!
I am NO professional when it comes to keeping my room super-clean and organized, BUT, I think that your teacher desk can say a lot about you. By keeping your desk more organized, you're more likely to have a better relationship with the office staff because you can get stuff that they need, and you won't be as frustrated when you try to find what you need.
If you have a better idea for organizing your desk, feel free to let me know! I am willing to take suggestions!
I was so disorganized my first year of teaching, I'm afraid I lost quite a few pieces of paperwork. Or I thought I lost them and found them months later.
One thing that I lacked in my college education was the knowledge that teachers deal with A LOT of paperwork. I never had a specific organization system my first year teaching because I didn't realize how much paper would be literally swimming on my desk! I would put aside paperwork from the office, and tell myself, "I just have to remember that the paper is here". About 2 months later, I found it again. It was BAD!
So, second year of teaching, I decided to try to make my desk a little bit more organized. What did I do?
1) Sticky notes- I used these so much. Usually when I had to remember to do something, especially paperwork, I would write it on my post-it note and put it on my computer monitor. Since I was on the computer checking emails and taking attendance for a large part of the day, I would always see the reminder and I would do it before I left my classroom that day.
2) Folders- If I had more than one paper, I would put them in a folder and label the folder. I had book ends that I put on my desk for some of my books, and I would put my folders in there. I usually tried to color code the folders as well.
3) Cups- Use cups, tins or cup like containers for paper clips, pens, pencils, and other little office supplies that you keep around on your desk. It's better to have a designated spot than to have them all over the place. I would keep rubber bands in your desk. Kids have a tendency to use rubber bands as weapons (sling shots), and it would be best to have them in a place that a student wouldn't go to usually.
The most important thing you can do, is clean up after yourself and organize your papers everyday. It's better to do it a little at a time, than wait for it to become a huge mountain of paperwork. Designate a time each day that you can go through your paperwork and clean up your area. It helps a ton!
I am NO professional when it comes to keeping my room super-clean and organized, BUT, I think that your teacher desk can say a lot about you. By keeping your desk more organized, you're more likely to have a better relationship with the office staff because you can get stuff that they need, and you won't be as frustrated when you try to find what you need.
If you have a better idea for organizing your desk, feel free to let me know! I am willing to take suggestions!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
"Nothing But The Truth" by Avi
I liked this book, but unless students understand satire well enough, I don't think they'll enjoy it as much as teachers will. I like other books a lot better. But, here is the book preview video that I made for my students.
What's been on my mind?
This is my little boy Evan.
He is the reason why I am so concerned about the future of education in this country. Public schools are not what they used to be when I was in school. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about possibly homeschooling. I really do not want to home school Evan because I believe in the idea of public education and the socialization that he'll get from going to school. Thankfully, I have some time. This little guy is only 20 months old. I still have a few years to make a choice! :)
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| He's pretending to be a little girl in this picture, wearing my headband. :) |
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
What To Teach, What to Teach
This post is mainly for those teachers that have the privilege to teach reading.
There is so much involved with teaching reading and literature, just like all the other subjects. But, the best part about being a Reading/Language Arts/English teacher? By the time students hit middle school, reading is a review.
By 7th grade, most students have been taught elements of plot, characterization, mood, tone, and theme. The majority of students have also learned the basics of reading functional, expository and persuasive texts. In my opinion, this gives reading teachers a little bit more leeway in planning their reading lessons.
The best way to approach what to teach is to incorporate a few tools:
1) State standards
State Standards are a overview of what teachers are expected to teach and what students are expected to learn. A lot of districts take their own state standards and make a pacing guide or curriculum map for teachers. Most teachers are expected to follow these pacing guides. I DID NOT! I really, really tried to. But, other factors were more important than following each story during each quarter of the year.
A lot of times, the persuasive, expository, and functional texts were left until the end of the year, when I tried to incorporate those texts throughout the entire year. And the story choices were horrible. My students didn't like most of the stories that were selected by the district. So, I picked stories that I thought they would enjoy more. I taught the same literary elements that I was supposed to teach with the other stories.
2) Textbook
This is the most obvious answer. Every subject has a textbook or curriculum. Become best friends (or BFFs as I like to say) with your Teacher's Edition and any supplemental materials. Take them home during the summer when you're planning out your curriculum map for the rest of the year. A lot of times they have lots of worksheets (I'll talk about worksheets later!), but they also have unique project ideas. Lots of ideas for hands on activities, discussion topics, team projects, and suggestions for instructional differentiation, especially for gifted and lower level students. The more familiar you are with your instructional materials, the better you'll be able to implement those activities.
A lot of time I think teachers take for granted these materials, but these supplemental materials are written by education experts. However, you always will know what's best for your students, so if some of those ideas don't work for your classroom, then don't feel obligated to do them. Remember, teaching is all about experimenting, tweaking and trying again. Teaching should never be perfect---if it is, how will you be able to grow?
3) District Pacing Guide or Curriculum Map
Try it out. If following the district pacing guide or curriculum guide doesn't work for your students, then make your own. I did not have a guide like this my first year teaching! It would have helped so much! I had no idea what I was doing, just kind of following what the other teachers were doing and looking at the textbook a week, (sometimes a day) before I was teaching the topic.
I just realized that some teachers may not be familiar with a pacing guide or curriculum map. This is a document that shows what you will be teaching throughout the entire school year. It is usually divided up by quarters or semester, and it is specific. My curriculum maps always had the name of the story, page numbers, standards, objectives and key ideas and literary elements that I was teaching.
If your district does not provide you with a curriculum map, I would try to meet up with other teachers that teach the same curriculum as you, and make complementary curriculum maps. It's always a good idea to get ideas from other teachers, especially those more seasoned teachers. :)
4) Student results from previous state tests and pretests
As always, assessments should guide instruction. The objectives you write, should be geared to your students and their needs, not what you, as a teacher are supposed to teach.
If a class is better with tone and mood than plot, you'll just need to review tone and mood a little bit. You'll most likely have to cover plot a bit longer for your students to get a hang of it. There will always be discrepancies between students--- No two students have the same exact level and ability!
NO matter what I was teaching, no matter how far behind a student was or how far ahead a student was I always pushed my students to keep reading and to keep going. I'm a firm believer that anybody will become a better reader the more they read.
Figuring out what to teach can be emotionally, mentally, and even physically exhausting. The important point is to keep moving forward! You can do this. Even with all the problems that education is having these days, know that you are making a difference in the lives of your students, and they are our future! You are doing a wonderful work---just keep going!
There is so much involved with teaching reading and literature, just like all the other subjects. But, the best part about being a Reading/Language Arts/English teacher? By the time students hit middle school, reading is a review.
By 7th grade, most students have been taught elements of plot, characterization, mood, tone, and theme. The majority of students have also learned the basics of reading functional, expository and persuasive texts. In my opinion, this gives reading teachers a little bit more leeway in planning their reading lessons.
The best way to approach what to teach is to incorporate a few tools:
1) State standards
State Standards are a overview of what teachers are expected to teach and what students are expected to learn. A lot of districts take their own state standards and make a pacing guide or curriculum map for teachers. Most teachers are expected to follow these pacing guides. I DID NOT! I really, really tried to. But, other factors were more important than following each story during each quarter of the year.
A lot of times, the persuasive, expository, and functional texts were left until the end of the year, when I tried to incorporate those texts throughout the entire year. And the story choices were horrible. My students didn't like most of the stories that were selected by the district. So, I picked stories that I thought they would enjoy more. I taught the same literary elements that I was supposed to teach with the other stories.
2) Textbook
This is the most obvious answer. Every subject has a textbook or curriculum. Become best friends (or BFFs as I like to say) with your Teacher's Edition and any supplemental materials. Take them home during the summer when you're planning out your curriculum map for the rest of the year. A lot of times they have lots of worksheets (I'll talk about worksheets later!), but they also have unique project ideas. Lots of ideas for hands on activities, discussion topics, team projects, and suggestions for instructional differentiation, especially for gifted and lower level students. The more familiar you are with your instructional materials, the better you'll be able to implement those activities.
A lot of time I think teachers take for granted these materials, but these supplemental materials are written by education experts. However, you always will know what's best for your students, so if some of those ideas don't work for your classroom, then don't feel obligated to do them. Remember, teaching is all about experimenting, tweaking and trying again. Teaching should never be perfect---if it is, how will you be able to grow?
3) District Pacing Guide or Curriculum Map
Try it out. If following the district pacing guide or curriculum guide doesn't work for your students, then make your own. I did not have a guide like this my first year teaching! It would have helped so much! I had no idea what I was doing, just kind of following what the other teachers were doing and looking at the textbook a week, (sometimes a day) before I was teaching the topic.
I just realized that some teachers may not be familiar with a pacing guide or curriculum map. This is a document that shows what you will be teaching throughout the entire school year. It is usually divided up by quarters or semester, and it is specific. My curriculum maps always had the name of the story, page numbers, standards, objectives and key ideas and literary elements that I was teaching.
If your district does not provide you with a curriculum map, I would try to meet up with other teachers that teach the same curriculum as you, and make complementary curriculum maps. It's always a good idea to get ideas from other teachers, especially those more seasoned teachers. :)
4) Student results from previous state tests and pretests
As always, assessments should guide instruction. The objectives you write, should be geared to your students and their needs, not what you, as a teacher are supposed to teach.
If a class is better with tone and mood than plot, you'll just need to review tone and mood a little bit. You'll most likely have to cover plot a bit longer for your students to get a hang of it. There will always be discrepancies between students--- No two students have the same exact level and ability!
NO matter what I was teaching, no matter how far behind a student was or how far ahead a student was I always pushed my students to keep reading and to keep going. I'm a firm believer that anybody will become a better reader the more they read.
Figuring out what to teach can be emotionally, mentally, and even physically exhausting. The important point is to keep moving forward! You can do this. Even with all the problems that education is having these days, know that you are making a difference in the lives of your students, and they are our future! You are doing a wonderful work---just keep going!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Groups v. Teams
Group work is an important part of cooperative learning. Most experts agree that the best way for students to learn and retain the content that their learning is to teach that content to others. And doesn't that make perfect sense? As teachers, aren't we the best at what we teach?
What is the difference then, between groups and teams? A lot of it has to do with the noun. Oftentimes when people think of the word group, they think of a bunch of people together. The word team usually has people think of sports teams and working together. Personally, I think the word team has a more positive connotation than the word group, which is more of a neutral connotation. It's probably because I played on sports teams growing up.
Teams are groups of people that are working toward a common goal. Because I feel this way, I often used the word team instead of group when I talked about grouping my students together.
My teams were all created based on ability. I used the pretest that I gave my students the first week of school. After I graded the pretests, I put the scores in order from highest to lowest. I then divided the number of students I had by four. I used the Kagan Cooperative Learning system for organizing my students. On the list, each student will be determined by 1 of 4 categories: High, Med-High, Med-Low, Low. For example, if I have 24 students, the top 6 will be my High students, the next 6 Med-High, etc. until I am finished assigning the students.
Ideally, you will have teams of 4. That always doesn't work out. Go for teams of 5 over 3 and teams of 3 over 6. 5 is the maximum amount of students you want in a team. Grouping teams based on ability is better than by grouping by behavior. BUT, do what you have to. You need to have control of your classroom before you can effectively teach.
When students are in their groups, assign them a partner letter or number. I used partners: A, B, C, D. I just did it from where they were sitting. I even had each desk labeled at the beginning of the school year! Another thing: Where you arrange your team members is important. They will be working with each other and in pairs. We used face partners (the person sitting across from you) and shoulder partners (the person sitting next to you). Never partner your High with your Low.
The seating arrangement should go like this:
Face Partners: High-Medium High; Medium Low- Low
Shoulder Partners: High-Medium Low; Medium High-Low
I wish I could draw a diagram on here. Sorry, but just remember that High and Low NEVER partner together.
Last, but not least, do some team building exercises after you get your teams together. If you want them to work together well, they need to be comfortable with each other. Have them make goals together; do a get-to-know-you activity, create a team name together, make a team cheer and encourage them to become friends. I know it sounds corny, but the more comfortable students are in their learning environment, the better they learn. And when they get too comfortable and start talking too much, you know it's time to switch it up. :)
I also cannot stress how important it is for students to become properly social with others. I think this is huge. Character education is shoved aside so often now because of standards and the rushing to teach curriculum. When students are in teams, they learn to work with others and hopefully, eventually, understand that the world is not about them alone, but about others just as much. I hope that in the running around and teaching students day after day, that teachers remember that students are also kids that need social interaction.
I highly recommend the Kagan Structures Seminars for teachers of all ages. A wealth of knowledge is found in these seminars and well worth the time spent!
What is the difference then, between groups and teams? A lot of it has to do with the noun. Oftentimes when people think of the word group, they think of a bunch of people together. The word team usually has people think of sports teams and working together. Personally, I think the word team has a more positive connotation than the word group, which is more of a neutral connotation. It's probably because I played on sports teams growing up.
Teams are groups of people that are working toward a common goal. Because I feel this way, I often used the word team instead of group when I talked about grouping my students together.
My teams were all created based on ability. I used the pretest that I gave my students the first week of school. After I graded the pretests, I put the scores in order from highest to lowest. I then divided the number of students I had by four. I used the Kagan Cooperative Learning system for organizing my students. On the list, each student will be determined by 1 of 4 categories: High, Med-High, Med-Low, Low. For example, if I have 24 students, the top 6 will be my High students, the next 6 Med-High, etc. until I am finished assigning the students.
Ideally, you will have teams of 4. That always doesn't work out. Go for teams of 5 over 3 and teams of 3 over 6. 5 is the maximum amount of students you want in a team. Grouping teams based on ability is better than by grouping by behavior. BUT, do what you have to. You need to have control of your classroom before you can effectively teach.
When students are in their groups, assign them a partner letter or number. I used partners: A, B, C, D. I just did it from where they were sitting. I even had each desk labeled at the beginning of the school year! Another thing: Where you arrange your team members is important. They will be working with each other and in pairs. We used face partners (the person sitting across from you) and shoulder partners (the person sitting next to you). Never partner your High with your Low.
The seating arrangement should go like this:
Face Partners: High-Medium High; Medium Low- Low
Shoulder Partners: High-Medium Low; Medium High-Low
I wish I could draw a diagram on here. Sorry, but just remember that High and Low NEVER partner together.
Last, but not least, do some team building exercises after you get your teams together. If you want them to work together well, they need to be comfortable with each other. Have them make goals together; do a get-to-know-you activity, create a team name together, make a team cheer and encourage them to become friends. I know it sounds corny, but the more comfortable students are in their learning environment, the better they learn. And when they get too comfortable and start talking too much, you know it's time to switch it up. :)
I also cannot stress how important it is for students to become properly social with others. I think this is huge. Character education is shoved aside so often now because of standards and the rushing to teach curriculum. When students are in teams, they learn to work with others and hopefully, eventually, understand that the world is not about them alone, but about others just as much. I hope that in the running around and teaching students day after day, that teachers remember that students are also kids that need social interaction.
I highly recommend the Kagan Structures Seminars for teachers of all ages. A wealth of knowledge is found in these seminars and well worth the time spent!
Student Assessments and Feedback
Because of the state of affairs in a country at the moment, I believe every single state has a state test that they give to measure how well the students,teachers, schools and states are meeting national standards.
I don't know how many people actually like state testing, but I do know that it can be used an effective tool in helping our students progress. Yeah, I just said that state testing can be effective. There are so many issues and arguments about state testing, but I will not get into it here!
Before your school year starts, it's likely that you'll get class lists (hopefully) AND if you're lucky, you may even get a print out of student's test scores from the previous year or years. If you happen to get that list, please please please look at it before the school year starts!
By knowing how well a student has done the previous year on a test, you will be able to anticipate what they need to work on and what they just need a basic review on. SERIOUSLY, this is huge. Imagine you walk into class on the first day of school, and you have a decent idea of where every student is at in your content area. There are issues with state tests, but they do give you a general feel of a student's progress.
Another thing I am going to say: Give your students a pretest. Make it on what they will be learning either the semester or throughout the year. And, again, type up the results.
My last year of teaching, I gave my students a pretest and I made a list, from highest score to the lowest score of all the students. Based on this knowledge, I then put students into teams.
And last, but not least with student assessments: tell them their scores. Pull them aside and have individual conferences with them. I gave students a print out of this: Student Feedback. This details test scores and shows students what they need to improve in. I've had several students that used to keep these in the front of their clear binders, displaying proudly their test scores!
I don't know how many people actually like state testing, but I do know that it can be used an effective tool in helping our students progress. Yeah, I just said that state testing can be effective. There are so many issues and arguments about state testing, but I will not get into it here!
Before your school year starts, it's likely that you'll get class lists (hopefully) AND if you're lucky, you may even get a print out of student's test scores from the previous year or years. If you happen to get that list, please please please look at it before the school year starts!
By knowing how well a student has done the previous year on a test, you will be able to anticipate what they need to work on and what they just need a basic review on. SERIOUSLY, this is huge. Imagine you walk into class on the first day of school, and you have a decent idea of where every student is at in your content area. There are issues with state tests, but they do give you a general feel of a student's progress.
Another thing I am going to say: Give your students a pretest. Make it on what they will be learning either the semester or throughout the year. And, again, type up the results.
My last year of teaching, I gave my students a pretest and I made a list, from highest score to the lowest score of all the students. Based on this knowledge, I then put students into teams.
And last, but not least with student assessments: tell them their scores. Pull them aside and have individual conferences with them. I gave students a print out of this: Student Feedback. This details test scores and shows students what they need to improve in. I've had several students that used to keep these in the front of their clear binders, displaying proudly their test scores!
"I do it---We do it---You do it." Giving Directions only Once!
Have you ever given directions or told somebody something only to look at them and see their eyes staring off into space?
Have you ever asked somebody to do something and five minutes later, it's still not done?
I loved teaching middle school. But this happened so much. I think a lot of times, teachers expect middle school students who are older than elementary aged kids to be able to listen and behave better. What people don't understand is everything that students are going through. Sometimes there are issues at home or at school with friends; and in the case of almost all middle school kids, there is something going on with their bodies that can be awfully distracting.
So, when the time comes for you to give directions or instructions, how do you do it? I remember I've been so frustrated before when I told students their assignment, only to have to go to every single student in the class and explain it individually.
Here are some tips that I learned through the years that help me:
1) Have the directions written out some place that all students can see (on the white board or SmartBoard)
2) Break the directions down into steps. (Step 1, Step 2)
3) When you read each step, make the class chorally read with you.
4) Do each step at a time. Show the students how you will do it. Ask the students in class to tell you what to write on an example. Give the students the direction to do it themselves.
5) Check for understanding by monitoring.
Sometimes giving directions can be really time consuming, but if you're doing a big project or class assignment, you can afford the time to take 5 minutes to give directions. You probably don't want to take the time to give directions like this to students who are answering comprehension questions. When you do a new type of assignment though, this is a really good idea. Remember: Teaching your students how to do everything in your classroom will result in less frustration for you and your students. It will also help you manage and teach your classroom more efficiently. Good luck!
Have you ever asked somebody to do something and five minutes later, it's still not done?
I loved teaching middle school. But this happened so much. I think a lot of times, teachers expect middle school students who are older than elementary aged kids to be able to listen and behave better. What people don't understand is everything that students are going through. Sometimes there are issues at home or at school with friends; and in the case of almost all middle school kids, there is something going on with their bodies that can be awfully distracting.
So, when the time comes for you to give directions or instructions, how do you do it? I remember I've been so frustrated before when I told students their assignment, only to have to go to every single student in the class and explain it individually.
Here are some tips that I learned through the years that help me:
1) Have the directions written out some place that all students can see (on the white board or SmartBoard)
2) Break the directions down into steps. (Step 1, Step 2)
3) When you read each step, make the class chorally read with you.
4) Do each step at a time. Show the students how you will do it. Ask the students in class to tell you what to write on an example. Give the students the direction to do it themselves.
5) Check for understanding by monitoring.
Sometimes giving directions can be really time consuming, but if you're doing a big project or class assignment, you can afford the time to take 5 minutes to give directions. You probably don't want to take the time to give directions like this to students who are answering comprehension questions. When you do a new type of assignment though, this is a really good idea. Remember: Teaching your students how to do everything in your classroom will result in less frustration for you and your students. It will also help you manage and teach your classroom more efficiently. Good luck!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Procedures and Routines to Consider--The Basics
A few ideas for procedures/routines in your classroom.
Entering the Classroom---Do you want them to come in the room in a line? Do they go straight to their desks or do they get their supplies first? My students were supposed to wait in a line until I told them they could come in. When they entered the room, they would come in quietly, go to their seats, take out their supplies and start their bell work. If students came in too loudly, we practiced again and again and again and again until they got it right.
Starting Class (bell work)---Most teachers and teaching experts agree that having a bell work assignment is best in getting your class settled and on task to learn. My bell work was usually a review of the work from the day before. Students should be able to finish their bell work within 5 minutes. You don't want bell work to go on forever. It's happened to me where we've discussed the students' bell work assignment and I look at the clock and cringe because the rest of my lesson will be rushed. This should not be the most important part of your lesson!
Getting textbooks--My students were in teams, pairs or rows. I excused parts of the classroom (1 row, 1 group or 4 pairs) at a time to get their text books. When they were done, I excused another part of the class until everyone had their books.
Turning in homework--Homework was always tricky for me. I usually assigned homework, always due on Friday. On Friday, during bell work, I would have students take out their homework and putting it on the left hand corner of their desk. I would walk around, and while monitoring students, would stamp their work. This way I knew that these students turned in their homework on time. I then excused the students one row or team at a time to turn in their homework. For the homework, I had in-trays for each class period. Sometimes the students would get lazy, and put their work in a different period's tray. If this happened, I would reteach the procedure and, if one student specifically was bad about it, I would take them aside and talk to them about it. I usually didn't have too many problems though.
Getting supplies--Supplies were usually in a specific spot. I had a table at the front of the classroom where I put all the supplies I needed for the day. I then told the students, one row or team at a time, to go and get the supplies they needed to bring back to their group. When students worked independently, I was more relaxed about them getting their supplies as long as they did it quickly and were on task! Sometimes that was a huge struggle though!
Passing out papers--If it seems that I didn't do anything in the classroom, it's not true. I did teach. BUT, I let the students work also. I kept papers in a pile at the table in the front of the room. I told the students "One person from each row, get enough papers for your row." The students took turns getting the papers from the front of the room and passing them out to everyone else.
Passing back work--I kept student's graded work in a crate. Each class period had a hanging file folder, and I just put their work when it was graded. I then had students that finished their work early (usually toward the end of the class period), pass out the papers to everyone else in class. If there was a student that wasn't there that day, the students just put their paper back in the correct folder.
Sharpening Pencils--When do you let them sharpen their pencils? I was never strict about students sharpening their pencils, as long as it wasn't when I was teaching or other students were talking. I told them to sharpen their pencils at the beginning of class. Some students use it as an excuse to dawdle and talk to their friends. So, I also told the students that there was only one person allowed to be at the pencil sharpener at a time. I also told the students that they needed to raise their hand in order to sharpen their pencils.
Going to the restroom--The good old restroom. So many students like to use the restroom as an excuse to leave the room and avoid class. And sometimes to meet up with buddies or girlfriends or boyfriends. So, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. First, have a sign out sheet. Teach the students that they need to ask to go the bathroom, sign the sheet with their name and the time that they left. They should also have a pass. If possible, try to give students an allotment each semester for "free" bathroom passes. Maybe 5 a semester is a good number? It all depends on you.
Second of all, make sure that your students know the appropriate time to use the restroom. I always told my students that the appropriate time to go to the restroom was when I was NOT teaching. A lot of times, unless the students have a health issue, they are fine with "holding it" until the end of the class period. I often told students, "When you finish working on this, then you can go." Most of the time, the students forgot they even asked me. If the students finished their work and remembered to ask me again, then I let them go. There are, of course, times with real emergencies. I always thought it would be hard to distinguish between a kid faking it and a kid that really needs to go. Honestly, you'll know the difference.
Classroom discussion/Answering questions--- Students need to raise their hands when answering questions in a whole class discussion. This is extremely important, otherwise students will believe that it's okay to shout out. Choral answers and reading are completely okay as long as students are taught how to do it properly.
Working in Groups--- This routine will differ with each teacher depending on their personality. But the important thing is this: If you want your students to work successfully in teams, they NEED to be taught how to work in teams. Tell them your expectations before they start working. I always told students that every student had to have their own paper, the noise level couldn't get too loud and if they were goofing off they got one warning from me to go back on task. I tell students beforehand what the consequence: I call it team or partner probation. I will break up the groups and partners and they can't work together for the rest of the assignment. And sometimes, if the kids are super naughty, they can't work with that certain friend of theirs that makes them want to act naughty.
Working in Pairs--Same as above!
Working independently-- Solo time or independent time means students are to be working by themselves. I didn't do this a lot, because I think 7th graders work best in a social settings by teaching and helping each other. I also want to add that I did play music in the background when students were working. I told my students that as long as I could hear the music, the noise level was okay.
Cleaning up the classroom and Class Dismissal--- Cleaning up the classroom is important. I got in trouble from the custodian my first year of teaching for having a dirty classroom. I was too exhausted at the end of the school day to make my students clean up. After I got a scary notice from the custodians, I made my students clean up for me. I wouldn't let anyone leave until the classroom floor was spotless. Sometimes I told students to each pick up 5 pieces of trash before they left. Making your students clean up after themselves after each class period will really help you keep your room tidy.
On another note, just putting supplies away can take a long time for students. They like to dawdle and talk. I always waited until there were just a few minutes of class left to have my students clean up. Just make sure that you watch the time. There have been COUNTLESS times that I have lost track of time and we are chaotically scrambling to clean up.
I also liked to make students sit in their seats until I told them they could leave. I was kind of bratty, but at the beginning of the year I would tell my students: "I dismiss you, not the bell." Sometimes students would be a little eager to leave. I would just gently remind them to sit back down and I usually made them wait until everyone else had left, to prove a point to them.
Remember, the key to any successful procedure is practice, practice and more practice!
If you have any other procedures/ comments please tell me so I can add them in! Also, I will be getting two new awesome contributors to this blog to give another point of view, so you're not just hearing from me!
Entering the Classroom---Do you want them to come in the room in a line? Do they go straight to their desks or do they get their supplies first? My students were supposed to wait in a line until I told them they could come in. When they entered the room, they would come in quietly, go to their seats, take out their supplies and start their bell work. If students came in too loudly, we practiced again and again and again and again until they got it right.
Starting Class (bell work)---Most teachers and teaching experts agree that having a bell work assignment is best in getting your class settled and on task to learn. My bell work was usually a review of the work from the day before. Students should be able to finish their bell work within 5 minutes. You don't want bell work to go on forever. It's happened to me where we've discussed the students' bell work assignment and I look at the clock and cringe because the rest of my lesson will be rushed. This should not be the most important part of your lesson!
Getting textbooks--My students were in teams, pairs or rows. I excused parts of the classroom (1 row, 1 group or 4 pairs) at a time to get their text books. When they were done, I excused another part of the class until everyone had their books.
Turning in homework--Homework was always tricky for me. I usually assigned homework, always due on Friday. On Friday, during bell work, I would have students take out their homework and putting it on the left hand corner of their desk. I would walk around, and while monitoring students, would stamp their work. This way I knew that these students turned in their homework on time. I then excused the students one row or team at a time to turn in their homework. For the homework, I had in-trays for each class period. Sometimes the students would get lazy, and put their work in a different period's tray. If this happened, I would reteach the procedure and, if one student specifically was bad about it, I would take them aside and talk to them about it. I usually didn't have too many problems though.
Getting supplies--Supplies were usually in a specific spot. I had a table at the front of the classroom where I put all the supplies I needed for the day. I then told the students, one row or team at a time, to go and get the supplies they needed to bring back to their group. When students worked independently, I was more relaxed about them getting their supplies as long as they did it quickly and were on task! Sometimes that was a huge struggle though!
Passing out papers--If it seems that I didn't do anything in the classroom, it's not true. I did teach. BUT, I let the students work also. I kept papers in a pile at the table in the front of the room. I told the students "One person from each row, get enough papers for your row." The students took turns getting the papers from the front of the room and passing them out to everyone else.
Passing back work--I kept student's graded work in a crate. Each class period had a hanging file folder, and I just put their work when it was graded. I then had students that finished their work early (usually toward the end of the class period), pass out the papers to everyone else in class. If there was a student that wasn't there that day, the students just put their paper back in the correct folder.
Sharpening Pencils--When do you let them sharpen their pencils? I was never strict about students sharpening their pencils, as long as it wasn't when I was teaching or other students were talking. I told them to sharpen their pencils at the beginning of class. Some students use it as an excuse to dawdle and talk to their friends. So, I also told the students that there was only one person allowed to be at the pencil sharpener at a time. I also told the students that they needed to raise their hand in order to sharpen their pencils.
Going to the restroom--The good old restroom. So many students like to use the restroom as an excuse to leave the room and avoid class. And sometimes to meet up with buddies or girlfriends or boyfriends. So, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. First, have a sign out sheet. Teach the students that they need to ask to go the bathroom, sign the sheet with their name and the time that they left. They should also have a pass. If possible, try to give students an allotment each semester for "free" bathroom passes. Maybe 5 a semester is a good number? It all depends on you.
Second of all, make sure that your students know the appropriate time to use the restroom. I always told my students that the appropriate time to go to the restroom was when I was NOT teaching. A lot of times, unless the students have a health issue, they are fine with "holding it" until the end of the class period. I often told students, "When you finish working on this, then you can go." Most of the time, the students forgot they even asked me. If the students finished their work and remembered to ask me again, then I let them go. There are, of course, times with real emergencies. I always thought it would be hard to distinguish between a kid faking it and a kid that really needs to go. Honestly, you'll know the difference.
Classroom discussion/Answering questions--- Students need to raise their hands when answering questions in a whole class discussion. This is extremely important, otherwise students will believe that it's okay to shout out. Choral answers and reading are completely okay as long as students are taught how to do it properly.
Working in Groups--- This routine will differ with each teacher depending on their personality. But the important thing is this: If you want your students to work successfully in teams, they NEED to be taught how to work in teams. Tell them your expectations before they start working. I always told students that every student had to have their own paper, the noise level couldn't get too loud and if they were goofing off they got one warning from me to go back on task. I tell students beforehand what the consequence: I call it team or partner probation. I will break up the groups and partners and they can't work together for the rest of the assignment. And sometimes, if the kids are super naughty, they can't work with that certain friend of theirs that makes them want to act naughty.
Working in Pairs--Same as above!
Working independently-- Solo time or independent time means students are to be working by themselves. I didn't do this a lot, because I think 7th graders work best in a social settings by teaching and helping each other. I also want to add that I did play music in the background when students were working. I told my students that as long as I could hear the music, the noise level was okay.
Cleaning up the classroom and Class Dismissal--- Cleaning up the classroom is important. I got in trouble from the custodian my first year of teaching for having a dirty classroom. I was too exhausted at the end of the school day to make my students clean up. After I got a scary notice from the custodians, I made my students clean up for me. I wouldn't let anyone leave until the classroom floor was spotless. Sometimes I told students to each pick up 5 pieces of trash before they left. Making your students clean up after themselves after each class period will really help you keep your room tidy.
On another note, just putting supplies away can take a long time for students. They like to dawdle and talk. I always waited until there were just a few minutes of class left to have my students clean up. Just make sure that you watch the time. There have been COUNTLESS times that I have lost track of time and we are chaotically scrambling to clean up.
I also liked to make students sit in their seats until I told them they could leave. I was kind of bratty, but at the beginning of the year I would tell my students: "I dismiss you, not the bell." Sometimes students would be a little eager to leave. I would just gently remind them to sit back down and I usually made them wait until everyone else had left, to prove a point to them.
Remember, the key to any successful procedure is practice, practice and more practice!
If you have any other procedures/ comments please tell me so I can add them in! Also, I will be getting two new awesome contributors to this blog to give another point of view, so you're not just hearing from me!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Organizing the Classroom: Routines and Procedures
Organization... Organization... Organization...
Do you have to be super organized to be a master teacher? Probably not.
Will it help you stay sane, get your school year on the right track and make your life a whole lot easier? Yes. Most definitely.
I've always been a fairly organized person. But it takes a completely different level of preparedness and organization to efficiently teach middle school students.
You literally have to plan out how everything will be run in your classroom, from how students will get papers (do you have one student hand them out? Do you hand them out?) and sharpening pencils (when are they allowed to sharpen pencils? Do they raise their hand or just get up?) to lining up for fire drills (no, it's not okay to run, screaming from the room) and dismissal from your classroom. If you're lucky, you'll have a team that you work with, and there's a good chance that you will have some common procedures.
And the best part about figuring out all of this stuff, is you have to effectively teach, and have your students practice these procedures. After enough practice, they will become routines.
And you have to keep teaching those routines and procedures. Just learning them once at the beginning of the year is not enough. They probably weren't listening the first time anyway!
In preparation for the beginning of new school year, here is a check list of things to do. I will post specifically about successful and not-so successful routines and procedures that I practiced in my classrooms.
1) Figure out your classroom set up.
Groups, rows or pairs? Seriously, this is important. The first step to getting your routines and procedures set up is knowing the physical layout of your classroom. And this can be tricky. Make sure that you have enough room in between desks. Make sure that you have an area for students that have a harder time staying on task. And make sure that you have an area for you to pull students for individual conferences. Individual and detailed feedback is extremely important for student success. Draw out your classroom map on a piece of paper in pencil. Ideally, you should draw a new map every time you move desks or your room around.
2) Give yourself a budget and make a list.
Make yourself a list of any supplies that you need for the school year. If you're lucky, and the school pays for you or provides you with all your supplies, then you don't have to worry too much about a budget. Some of the things to keep in mind for helping you and your students stay organized are folders. The folders that were found in my classroom were: file folders, hanging file folders, portfolio folders (with the pocket on the inside), and binders. Also, pencil boxes, baskets and/or boxes are wonderful to have for organizing supplies, such as scissors, coloring pencils, crayons, glue sticks and index cards. Crates and boxes are wonderful for holding folders containing student work, class folders, absent or make up work and graded work.
Most stores have AWESOME back to school sales in the summer. Keep an eye out especially for Staples ads. They used to have Penny Sales when I was teaching. Other good places to shop for organization supplies are: Target, Wal Mart, and Dollar Tree.
3) Start writing your procedures and routines.
Honestly, write them out. Don't just say "I'll just remember to teach the kids that they need to come in quietly." Write it down as a note for yourself so you won't forget. On the first day of school, most teachers are as nervous as their students. You're bound to forget it if you don't write it down. When you start writing down your routines and procedures, start thinking of how you're going to teach it to your students and ways to enforce the routine. I would also consider prioritizing your list. Which procedures will take longer to teach? Which ones are the more important routines? Which routines can students wait to learn about?
4) Ask other teachers for help.
Teachers are really good at copying each other. And most teachers part willingly with the things that work for them. But what may work for one teacher, won't necessarily work for another. We all have different personalities, and I know that there are some things that I see people do really well, that would have been a complete disaster in my own classroom.
The key is consistency. We should be constantly improving ourselves. Be consistent in your routines and procedures. If something is not working for you, don't be afraid to ask for help. A lot of teachers don't suggest ways to help struggling teachers because they're afraid that they'll offend said teacher.
Don't be too proud. When it all comes down to it, it's really about the students, not you. And if you're not teaching what you're supposed to because the students haven't learned the procedures or you haven't enforced them enough, you are at fault. I've been there, and it's tough. But keep going and remember the better prepared you are before the first day of school, the easier your school year will be.
Tomorrow I will be posting a list of the procedures and routines that I used in my classroom. Enjoy!
Do you have to be super organized to be a master teacher? Probably not.
Will it help you stay sane, get your school year on the right track and make your life a whole lot easier? Yes. Most definitely.
I've always been a fairly organized person. But it takes a completely different level of preparedness and organization to efficiently teach middle school students.
You literally have to plan out how everything will be run in your classroom, from how students will get papers (do you have one student hand them out? Do you hand them out?) and sharpening pencils (when are they allowed to sharpen pencils? Do they raise their hand or just get up?) to lining up for fire drills (no, it's not okay to run, screaming from the room) and dismissal from your classroom. If you're lucky, you'll have a team that you work with, and there's a good chance that you will have some common procedures.
And the best part about figuring out all of this stuff, is you have to effectively teach, and have your students practice these procedures. After enough practice, they will become routines.
And you have to keep teaching those routines and procedures. Just learning them once at the beginning of the year is not enough. They probably weren't listening the first time anyway!
In preparation for the beginning of new school year, here is a check list of things to do. I will post specifically about successful and not-so successful routines and procedures that I practiced in my classrooms.
1) Figure out your classroom set up.
Groups, rows or pairs? Seriously, this is important. The first step to getting your routines and procedures set up is knowing the physical layout of your classroom. And this can be tricky. Make sure that you have enough room in between desks. Make sure that you have an area for students that have a harder time staying on task. And make sure that you have an area for you to pull students for individual conferences. Individual and detailed feedback is extremely important for student success. Draw out your classroom map on a piece of paper in pencil. Ideally, you should draw a new map every time you move desks or your room around.
2) Give yourself a budget and make a list.
Make yourself a list of any supplies that you need for the school year. If you're lucky, and the school pays for you or provides you with all your supplies, then you don't have to worry too much about a budget. Some of the things to keep in mind for helping you and your students stay organized are folders. The folders that were found in my classroom were: file folders, hanging file folders, portfolio folders (with the pocket on the inside), and binders. Also, pencil boxes, baskets and/or boxes are wonderful to have for organizing supplies, such as scissors, coloring pencils, crayons, glue sticks and index cards. Crates and boxes are wonderful for holding folders containing student work, class folders, absent or make up work and graded work.
Most stores have AWESOME back to school sales in the summer. Keep an eye out especially for Staples ads. They used to have Penny Sales when I was teaching. Other good places to shop for organization supplies are: Target, Wal Mart, and Dollar Tree.
3) Start writing your procedures and routines.
Honestly, write them out. Don't just say "I'll just remember to teach the kids that they need to come in quietly." Write it down as a note for yourself so you won't forget. On the first day of school, most teachers are as nervous as their students. You're bound to forget it if you don't write it down. When you start writing down your routines and procedures, start thinking of how you're going to teach it to your students and ways to enforce the routine. I would also consider prioritizing your list. Which procedures will take longer to teach? Which ones are the more important routines? Which routines can students wait to learn about?
4) Ask other teachers for help.
Teachers are really good at copying each other. And most teachers part willingly with the things that work for them. But what may work for one teacher, won't necessarily work for another. We all have different personalities, and I know that there are some things that I see people do really well, that would have been a complete disaster in my own classroom.
The key is consistency. We should be constantly improving ourselves. Be consistent in your routines and procedures. If something is not working for you, don't be afraid to ask for help. A lot of teachers don't suggest ways to help struggling teachers because they're afraid that they'll offend said teacher.
Don't be too proud. When it all comes down to it, it's really about the students, not you. And if you're not teaching what you're supposed to because the students haven't learned the procedures or you haven't enforced them enough, you are at fault. I've been there, and it's tough. But keep going and remember the better prepared you are before the first day of school, the easier your school year will be.
Tomorrow I will be posting a list of the procedures and routines that I used in my classroom. Enjoy!
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