I am definitely losing steam with my "book study." My original goal when I started was to read and study each chapter, reflect on the questions at the end and post them here.
The thing is with about a month left until school starts I'm totally feeling anxious because there is still so much to plan and prepare! I have even started having difficulty falling asleep because my mind is going a million miles per hour.
That being said, this chapter of the book has a lot to offer, it has everything to do with your classroom environment, from making the kids feel safe, routines and procedures, keeping them engaged etc. Lets get to the reflection questions.
1. I never really thought about the safety of my classroom. I teach at a very small charter school, we only have 36 kids in 7th and 36 kids in 8th grade! My classes are made up of 2 7th grades with 18 each and 3 8th grades with 12 each! I LOVE this about my school! So, I know my kids very well and I think that goes a big way in keeping them safe!
2. and 3. Oh boy! Question 2 asks if my class is student-centered and how can I improve the layout so every student is fully engaged. Question 3 talks about how well do you use the time that your students are with you. This has been my obsession since May! I can honestly say that last year Sept-April, it was absolutely NOT student-centered. Rows ruled, I planned big presentations, told them exactly how to do everything. Starting in May things began to change. I made groups and had the advanced kids work totally on their own discovery style and the lower level kids worked with me in smaller groups. While it was a million times better than what I was doing, it wasn't exactly perfect. This led me to hitting twitter and google hard to find better ways to teach. I ended up at a Flip Class webinar by Crystal Kirch and my life changed!
Right now I know that getting them out of the rows and getting them to actually work goes a long way in keeping them engaged. My struggle is creating my class routine.
In the past it was:
1. Do now, discuss homework from last night
2. Lesson (I do, we do) then independent practice (you do)
3. and if time share out or exit ticket (which we hardly EVER got to finish.)
What I am thinking about now starts the day before:
1. Stop class activity 10 minutes prior to end, pose a difficult question relating to the next lesson. Have students work independently writing/trying to solve the problem in their notebooks.
2. Homework is video with basic skill needed to solve problem given at end of previous class. 1st activity next day is discussing previous problem with group first than share out with class.
3. Practice skill (which used to be the homework) Ask 3 than me, I meet with each student to assess. etc. Students who finish the required practice set move on to choice of activities.
REPEAT
Ahhh I just love how that plan looks! Now, some of the things that I am struggling with are, I don't plan on doing a video every day, what does the class routine look like when there is no guiding problem? I want to group them by ability and I don't have faith that everyone will be able to do a google form that night so that I can do that before class. I may have a do now question to quickly assess them in the beginning of class then change their seats. I want to start using interactive notebooks, when does that happen? Do they use them to take notes? Activities in class? These are the things I need to think about this week!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Homework!
No, not the homework I am assigning, but hw I gave myself after #flipchat tonight! I read about this cool website www.ifttt.com and had to try it out! So my 1st "recipe" as they are called is anytime I write a blog on Blogger, it sends a tweet to Twitter with the title and url of the blog. Pretty neat, right? Itwlrks with a bunch of different websites including youtube and vimeo, so it would be useful for posting my flipclass videos to my website if I chose to go that way.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Burnt out-but some great finds!
I have to remind myself that summer is also a time to recharge and rest, I've been so obsessed with PD this summer that I kind of wore myself out! I am still rereading my classroom management book, Discipline Survival Guide for the Secondary Teacher, but took a little break, Twitter has me going in 1001 different directions so much good stuff to read and research. Here are some things I found this week.
I discovered the Layered Curriculum website and immediately loved it, however, it might just be a little TOO much to start with along with my flipping. I have decided to start more slowly with that, but I will absolutely incorporate some choice and points for grades right off the bat. Our school motto is "Failure is not an option!" I love the idea of giving them a point sheet that has the lowest grade as a D. I am actually thinking about making the lowest grade a C by having them keep making corrections until they get at least the C.
Another cool website I discovered this week is Powtoon and its really easy to use and super duper cool, but I feel like I am just not that creative! I really need to sit down and decide what message I want to communicate and then start. I am so guilty of just wanting to "play".
Just today I read a blog and found this Mastery Connect I signed up for the free account and just peeked in for a minute. From what I can see so far is that it is a social site where you can search for and share assessments.
Another awesome thing I found was that Edweb has a whole series of webinars on Common Core that are available to watch! Holy moly you can really get sucked into this!
Finally since I have nothing better to do this summer, I signed up for the free 5 week course on Design Thinking at Edutopia. What is Design Thinking? Not really sure! But I think it has something to do with creative problem solving. I guess I will find out!
Oh one more thing, gosh no wonder I've been feeling overwhelmed!!!!, I also signed up to participate in Connected Educator Month at P2PU it starts August 1st also.
Whew, I think that's it! Unless you like zombies, Amazon has a free book right now called Dead Things, pretty good so far!
I discovered the Layered Curriculum website and immediately loved it, however, it might just be a little TOO much to start with along with my flipping. I have decided to start more slowly with that, but I will absolutely incorporate some choice and points for grades right off the bat. Our school motto is "Failure is not an option!" I love the idea of giving them a point sheet that has the lowest grade as a D. I am actually thinking about making the lowest grade a C by having them keep making corrections until they get at least the C.
Another cool website I discovered this week is Powtoon and its really easy to use and super duper cool, but I feel like I am just not that creative! I really need to sit down and decide what message I want to communicate and then start. I am so guilty of just wanting to "play".
Just today I read a blog and found this Mastery Connect I signed up for the free account and just peeked in for a minute. From what I can see so far is that it is a social site where you can search for and share assessments.
Another awesome thing I found was that Edweb has a whole series of webinars on Common Core that are available to watch! Holy moly you can really get sucked into this!
Finally since I have nothing better to do this summer, I signed up for the free 5 week course on Design Thinking at Edutopia. What is Design Thinking? Not really sure! But I think it has something to do with creative problem solving. I guess I will find out!
Oh one more thing, gosh no wonder I've been feeling overwhelmed!!!!, I also signed up to participate in Connected Educator Month at P2PU it starts August 1st also.
Whew, I think that's it! Unless you like zombies, Amazon has a free book right now called Dead Things, pretty good so far!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Going through my piles...
These are some of the books I have laying about at all times. While I am trying to do a solo book study on Discipline Survival Guide, I feel the need to reread all of these as I make my plans for the new year.
Section 3 Cultivate Your Role as a Classroom Leader-Reflection
Reflection questions
1. I think as an "older" new teacher I have agood handle on this. I am a mom too so that helps as well. My students definetly look to me as the leader and even when some misbehave the others turn to me to fix it.
2. Do my students pay attention to me? I would say for the most part yes. I feel like if and when they don't it is because I'm talking like Peanut's parents. So the whole key to that is to shut up!!!! Actually, in addition to Flip Class and Layered Curiculum the other teaching strategy if you want to call it that, that I have latched on to is Never Say Anything a Kid Can Say
3. One thing that I am being firm on is parent contact. We are a very small school, I only have 72 students total. I am going to make sure I build very good relationships with every single parent. I really feel that will be the key to my success this year.
To do
I feel that I have not made a lot of progress this summer with redoing my lessons for flipping. I wanted to get at least 3 units done and recorded, but now I will be happy with just one!
Monday, July 23, 2012
Section 2: Adopt a Comprehensive Approach-Reflection
Chapter Reflection Questions
1. After reading the list of common mistakes, the most glaring one that I make is being inconsistent. When I think about it, I really set up my classroom to fail. When I look back at some of the trouble I had over the past two years, it was always when I wanted the students to sit still and quiet while I talked/demonstrated for 15+ minutes. I know that they should be able to do this, but I have to admit sometimes my lessons were boring as hell! So, my biggie no-no, is that I would let a little misbehavior slide, because if I could just "get through" this example or explanation I could let the good kids get to work and THEN I could handle the trouble makers! As the kids say SMH! I slowly learned by the end of the year that it doesn't work for me or for them. If I look back, the last month or two, I was pretty much having them do "flip class" work without any instruction or real structure at all. Given those two points, the last two months were joyful and productive and I loved going to class everyday. I am so excited to see what happens when I add the videos and structure to make it even more meaningful.
2. I have always thought that I was clear about communicating my high expectations and that students understood them, which is why when they didn't act like they did, both of us were confused. One of the many ways I am changing my class this year is how I grade. Each unit will have a point system and the students will choose how they earn those points. Since our school motto is "Failure is not an option" I am removing the F grade completely from the points, the lowest they will get is a D. I think that is going to have a huge impact on my kids. I will ask them "what could you do if you knew you could not fail?" I think that by them knowing exactly what I expect from them and giving them control of it will take away any doubt of my confidence that they can be successful.
3. I haven't figured out all of the details yet, but this year I am definitely getting the students involved with creating the discipline plan. The two things that I will not budge on though is that disrespect of any kind will not be tolerated and parental contact will always be involved. I plan on recording my students teach and model the rules and procedures and keep that video accessible. We can even review it after long breaks.
Based on my reflections these are things I need to do before Sept: Create first units activities and points Make lists of procedures Decide how to I will have students create the rules of the class
1. After reading the list of common mistakes, the most glaring one that I make is being inconsistent. When I think about it, I really set up my classroom to fail. When I look back at some of the trouble I had over the past two years, it was always when I wanted the students to sit still and quiet while I talked/demonstrated for 15+ minutes. I know that they should be able to do this, but I have to admit sometimes my lessons were boring as hell! So, my biggie no-no, is that I would let a little misbehavior slide, because if I could just "get through" this example or explanation I could let the good kids get to work and THEN I could handle the trouble makers! As the kids say SMH! I slowly learned by the end of the year that it doesn't work for me or for them. If I look back, the last month or two, I was pretty much having them do "flip class" work without any instruction or real structure at all. Given those two points, the last two months were joyful and productive and I loved going to class everyday. I am so excited to see what happens when I add the videos and structure to make it even more meaningful.
2. I have always thought that I was clear about communicating my high expectations and that students understood them, which is why when they didn't act like they did, both of us were confused. One of the many ways I am changing my class this year is how I grade. Each unit will have a point system and the students will choose how they earn those points. Since our school motto is "Failure is not an option" I am removing the F grade completely from the points, the lowest they will get is a D. I think that is going to have a huge impact on my kids. I will ask them "what could you do if you knew you could not fail?" I think that by them knowing exactly what I expect from them and giving them control of it will take away any doubt of my confidence that they can be successful.
3. I haven't figured out all of the details yet, but this year I am definitely getting the students involved with creating the discipline plan. The two things that I will not budge on though is that disrespect of any kind will not be tolerated and parental contact will always be involved. I plan on recording my students teach and model the rules and procedures and keep that video accessible. We can even review it after long breaks.
Based on my reflections these are things I need to do before Sept: Create first units activities and points Make lists of procedures Decide how to I will have students create the rules of the class
Friday, July 20, 2012
Section 1 Successful Discipline Rests with You-Reflection
1. I do agree that every teacher has discipline problems, it is the way that they react to these problems that determines the success of their classrooms.
The implication of this belief for me, means that I must be proactive and think through how I will handle situations, not try to create a room that has NO situations or problems. Previously I just thought that if I made my plan and communicated my expectations that I would have no trouble at all. Big mistake!
2. Honestly, it has been so long since I was a student and I have blocked out a lot of my memory from my younger years that this is hard for me to do. I would love to be able to visit some other teachers, and Im going to try to do that this year.
Last year my math coach suggested that I take an extreme approach and write all of the students name on a white board and if they so much as said one word I was to give them a check that was detention, then 2 checks for 2 detentions and 3 checks sent to the office, etc. It did get them under control, but what it really did was just train them to watch for when I picked up the marker. I hated it and so did they.
3. I think I can provide them with structure and boundaries as well as freedom and choices by including them from the beginning in making the rules and procedures of the class.
Since I plan on running my class very differently (flipped and lots of collaberation) I will make the activities that first week all about making and possibly filming the rules and procedures.
Actually, I absolutly love the idea of filming them teach and model the rules! There is no question that I am going to do that! Ok now off to start working on those activities!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)