Thanks to a loyal listener, we have discovered that there was a problem with our feed. If you haven’t had the opportunity to listen to Podcast 101, it is now available. (There is a reason that I’m an administrator and not a professional xml writer.)
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!
Troy & Shawn
Billy stands up and says, “My name’s Billy. My father’s a lawyer, l-a-w-y-e-r, and he defends people in court.”
The teacher says, “Very good. All right, Benjamin.”
Ben stands up and says, “My name’s Ben. My father’s a pharmacist, f-a-m … f-a-r-n … f-n…”
The teacher says, “Benjamin, you go home tonight and learn how to spell pharmacist. All right, Jennifer.”
Jennifer stands up and says, “My name’s Jennifer. My old man’s a bookie, b-o-o-k-i-e, and if he was here, he’d give you nine-to-five odds Benjamin ain’t spellin’ pharmacist by tomorrow.”
Who designed Noah’s ark?
An ark-itect! (from Arkansas) …
What did they wear at the Boston Tea Party?
T-Shirts!
When crossing the Delaware River why did George Washington stand up in the boat?
He was afraid that if he sat down that someone would give him an oar to row!
If Atlas supported the world on his shoulders, who supported Atlas?
His wife!
What’s the moral of the story about Jonah and the whale?
Interim Executive Director Named: Dr. Pino
From the NMSA Press Release:
Dr. Pino is currently a consultant for schools and districts primarily in the state of Florida and serves as an advisor to the Florida League of Middle Schools. During his career, Dr. Pino has been a principal, a district director of middle level education in Florida and Ohio, and served as president of National Middle School Association (2000-2001). Additionally, Dr. Pino is a core member of the faculty for NMSA’s summer leadership institutes.
The NMSA board and staff are pleased to welcome Dr. Santo Pino.”
Get your tax deduction on school supplies. (IRS website)
Grown Up Digital by Don Tapscott
Advisory Coat of Arms:
russeltarr Latin motto generator: My younger students had great fun with this when designing Medieval Shields – http://tinyurl.com/m2jdfr
Interactives
“Interactives” provides educators and students with strategies, content, and activities that can enhance and improve students’ skills in a variety of curricular areas.
http://www.learner.org/interactives/
It pays to get ’em to shower after PE …
Letters
What’s the best way to share documents like in DropBox? Is there a better program than DropBox?
Now that I’m back in the classroom teaching, I can honestly say there’s plenty of things that have surprised, saddened and delighted me. Here are a few lessons I’ve learned in only 4 months:
Todd Williamson: 8 Internet Tools
(My notes incomplete due to session scheduling. Complete notes (and a Prezi!) can be found at Todd Williamson’s blog.)
Chatzy
Private Chats.
Edmodo
Private micro-blogging service
Animoto
http://animoto.com/education
xtra normal
www.xtranormal.com
If you can type, you can make movies.
Doesn’t require a sign-in.
Has a place to write the script.
Choose a camera angles.
Alice is a simple programming language between characters.
Similar to xtra, but xtra is simpler.
Make Beliefs Comix www.makebeliefscomix.com
Easy way to make a comic strip.
Leave it blank and have the kids draw in the background.
Netvibes
RSS feeds.
Public RSS feed page.
www.netvibes.com/sunfish#Science_Feeds (Note: This sample link is no longer available.)
Twilliamson15 on twitter.
Todd Williamson (See also Shawn’s Notes)
Session Description: This session will focus on web-based tools that allow your students to collaborate, communicate, and create. Join us for a fast-paced (possibly lightening fast) look at eight (or more) tech tools that you can use to enhance your teaching and student learning. Oh, and they’re free too!
Create multiple tabs on one web site. This means that the teacher need only send the students to one URL to see all of the sites. Great tool to solve the problem of students writing down multiple web sites.
No registration needed. Stickies on a wall. Useful as graphic organizer. Students can move the notes around.
Temporary Chat Room – Free Private Chat
Used to create an engaging environment
Password from the Teacher
Used with a video to keep the kids engaged.
Easy to track what the kids do.
Kids posting in the chat room.
Kids are turning in assignments
Private Microblogging Service – (Think Twitter for a selected group of students).
Code from the teacher.
Kids can only send to everyone or the teacher.
Free slide show creation with sound.
Used to create videos from still pictures. Can be used to demonstrate understanding.
Look for educational account which lengthens the videos.
If you can type, you can make movies.
Free account allows you to create 1-2 character movies.
Comic strips on line
Free and easy to use.
Can have them put the background in after they print.
Can be printed or emailed.
No email or account required.
Multiple characters and multiple expressions are available.
See also:
•.Comic Fonts: http://www.blambot.com/fonts_dialogue.shtml
virtual stickies.
Allows you to set up Public RSS feeds. You can control the information sources.
Sunfish Learning on netvibes.
http://www.sharetabs.com/?8techtools
UD4
Calendar of Events:
NMSA News:
Other News:
1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
2. Don’t worry about what people think, they don’t do it very often.
3. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car.
4. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
5. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you’ve never tried before.
6. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.
7. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.
8. A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.
9. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.
10. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.
11. Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.
12. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.
13. Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.
14. Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.
15. No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes.
16. A balanced diet is a muffin in each hand.
17. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.
18. Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.
19. Junk is something you’ve kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.
20. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.
21. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.
22. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.
23. Thou shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator.
24. Someone who thinks logically provides nice contrast to the realworld.
25. It ain’t the jeans that make your butt look fat.
26. If you had to identify in one word the reason why the human race has not achieved it’s full potential, that word would be ‘meetings’.
27. There is a very fine line between ‘hobby’ and ‘mental illness.’
28. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.
29. You should not confuse your career with your life.
30. Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.
31. Never lick a steak knife.
32. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.
33. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.
34. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she’s pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.
35. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that deep down inside we ALL believe we are good drivers.
36. Your friends love you anyway.
(http://gotfunny.leroysjokes.com/2008/08/18/the-36-rules-of-life/)
Conversation Starter:
Today’s episode of CNN Student News has a short segment in which there is a discussion about the differences in the ways in which male and female students learn. The segment talks about the idea of all male or all female middle schools. This segment could be a good prompt for getting students to reflect and discuss the ways in which they learn.
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/12/student-conversation-starter.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+freetech4teachers%2FcGEY+%28Free+Technology+for+Teachers%29
Practicing new skills and learning new facts is often presented as less than exciting, but education does not have to be this way. Good teachers have always known that puzzle games are some of the best ways to get old and young alike well on their way towards mastering a subject area. ProProfs is dedicated to the mission of combining education and entertainment, providing free online puzzles, brain games, and other fun resources to get people actively involved in the learning process.
http://www.proprofs.com/
(http://www.learnoutloud.com/Free-Audio-Video/Literature/European-Classics/A-Christmas-Carol/29311)
Footnote helps you find and share historic documents. We are able to bring you many never-before-seen historic documents through our unique partnerships with The National Archives, the Library of Congress and other institutions.
by Jon Hamilton
Intensive reading programs can produce measurable changes in the structure of a child’s brain, according to a study in the journal Neuron. The study found that several different programs improved the integrity of fibers that carry information from one part of the brain to another.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121253104
Brain research has reported that the brain does not compartmentalize information. “The brain is by nature a pattern-detecting appartus… The focus of this session is on developing curricula that integrates
multiple subjects with arts-based project applications while encouraging use of higher order critical and creative thinking skills, with participants developing curricula suited to their needs through discussion, examples of student work and assessment.
aviary web site. All about integrated teaching. Don’t teach single subject teaching. Art teacher who is big upon cross the boundaries of teaching and learning. Points out the make up of the brain. Teachers need to work together to develop multi-disciplinary lessons.
Carol Josel
(Troy’s Notes) Session Description: As children reach middle school, pressure builds, coursework and studying demands intensify, and supporting students’ academic efforts with essential learning strategies becomes even more crucial but is often overlooked. This presentation will help teachers incorporate time management, memory techniques, study strategies, 2-column notes, and test-taking skills into their lessons, regardless of the content area. All activities are included in a take-it-with-you packet for immediate classroom use.
www.Schoolwisebooks.com
http://www.schoolwisebooks.com/blog
mailto://carol.schoolwisebooks.com
Move to nationalize standards. Some teachers are being asked to report where they are in every book every 2 weeks.
Salaries tied to student performance. Pretty Good Student by Charles Osgood. 1/3 of states have lowered their standards over the past few years.
Ask students to define time. How structured is your time? If completely structured rank as a 10. Teenagers should get at least 9 hours of sleep a night. Time Activity (see handout pg 64).
Memory Tips:
• Repetition • Recitation • Chunking
Good Books: Demonic Mnenomics
How to Spell It – can look words up by the “wrong” spelling.
DMSCB – Divide/Multiple/Subtract/Check/Bring down (Does McDonald’s See Cheese Burgers)
Kids read more closely just by highlighting. Post-its in the textbook are also helpful. SQ3R
CEU: GR6
(Shawn’s Notes) Quote: “Helen Ladd: “One theory of action seems to be that holding teachers accountable for their student’s scores . . .”
“The Pretty Good Student . . . ” by Charles Osgood.
Time activity
Define time
How efficient are you with your time. A scale of 1 to 10.
What is your personal time waster?
Kids spend 45.5 hours per week watching television and related activities per week.
Notebook check (This is an actual, physical notebook)
Ingredients:
Assignment Book
Homework folder
Hole puncher
Small pencil case
22 dividers (+ keyboarding)
Notebook paper
Sample section
Science
Notes
Tests/quizzes
Homework
The Interference and Memory Curve
99-95% crammed at night
80% by the time the student hits first hour.
50-60% retention by the time of the test.
0% a day or two after the test.
Memory strategies: Einstein “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
Factual knowledge is important also.
Yellow paper activity.
Repetition
Recitation
Chunking
Mnemonics
Book: Demonic Mnemonics
Book: How to Spell it
DMSCB
Does McDonald’s Sell Cheese Burgers?
Divide/Multiply/Subtract/Check/Bring Down
Study Skills
Two column note taking
On the left put the question
on the right put the answer.
Students can fold it and then quiz themselves.
Calendar of Events:
NMSA News:
Other News:
Always wanted to be a procrastinator, but never got around to it.
~~~~~
My friend has kleptomania, but when it gets bad, he takes something for it.
~~~~~
Did you hear about the big fight that Madonna, Cher, Jewel, and Fabio had?
They’re no longer on a first-name basis.
~~~~~
It is hard to understand how a cemetery raised its burial cost and blamed it on the cost of living.
~~~~~
Everyone has a photographic memory. Some don’t have film.
~~~~~
I couldn’t repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.
~~~~~
How do you tell when you run out of invisible ink?
Funny Picture of Christmas lights display:
Primary Source: take a look at the editing that Dicken’s did when writing “A Christmas Carol”. (Warning- it’s written in cursive, which may be a strange language to some middle schoolers).
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/30/nyregion/dickens-christmas-carol-pages.html
A neat way to save and share web sites, and parts of web sites, graphically. This can also share bookmarks with Delicious- thus, when you dropped something in a box, it would also put a bookmark in Delicious for you.
Here’s how they say that teachers can use SimplyBox:
I am a teacher, how do I create accounts for my students?
a) You, as the teacher, can create a second account with SimplyBox in the name of the entire class. Then you would need to give the kids the user name and password you created for the account. By the way, the account then is only accessible by people that have the user name and password for the account. The students then will be able to see the content of the boxes in the account and add comments – from any computer. Now, if they need to add content to the account, they would need the SimplyBox toolbar (the one with the “Box It” button) downloaded on whatever computer they are using.
b) You can simply use Public Boxes (you create them under the Sharing menu option). Each Public Box has a URL. So, students can access the URL and see the content of the box and their comments to the different items. And the creator of the Public Box can delete the box at any time. Since this is a Public Box, students will not be able to add content to the Public Box, only comments.
c) Creating accounts for students that do not have an e-mail. Please go to this link.
Session Description: A major roadblock to student learning and development is their feelings and beliefs that they are “stupid”. Based on research from students, participants attending this session will (1) become aware of the five causes of stupid, (2) become aware of how students respond when they feel stupid and (3) consider effective ways of minimizing the negative impact stupid has on learning and development.
Differently when we are being very effectively.
We’re all Top 20’s & We’re all bottom 80’s.
What do we need to get rid of?
• In our schools
• in ourselves
Kids will pretend when they feel stupid.
Why do kids feel stupid when they can’t do something? Stupid doesn’t exist. What does exist is real situations and real experiences.
We must talk about (and teach) the problem solving process and how kids feel about failure. Stupid means not Good Enough or Inadequate
Do with kids: Use Notecards: On the front, situations of when they feel stupid, ON the back what they do.
What do they do:
1. Stop Trying – Withdraw
2. Get aggressive
3. Judge themselves
4. Drink
5. Pretend
Presenter answers:
1. Withdraw: quit + quiet
2. Pretend:
3. Emotional: embarrassed, Angry, sad
4. Judgments: I’m not good enough,
5. Attack: argue, swear, bully, challenge
6. Defensive: This is stupid, you’re stupid
7. Motivate: work harder but maintain inside feeling of “I’m not good enough”.
8. Numb: Numb is better than dumb
5 Causes of Stupid:
1. Called- When I say something and other say it’s stupid or when some says something and I don’t
know what they mean – can include non-verbals as well.
2. Comparison – when I’m taking the test and am one of the last people taking the test…I rush through it and don’t read the questions or answers.
3. Confusion – When guys are talking about stats and football and I have no idea.
4. Can’t – when I strike out in a baseball game, I feel like I’m no good at baseball and will
probably strike out again.
Ooze #1- spreads to the next time
Ooze #2 – spreads to other situations
5. Certain Situations – In any class when I read….I get mad.
Stupid needs to become part of the curriculum.
Need to make Confusion OK – Celebrated – Expected. Don’t ever go into a room where you are not confused.
Every human invention has been made on the back of failure.
Analogy of what happens when Joe Mauer strikes out. The kids would say that he’s probably thinking that he’s stupid. Explain that Joe is thinking that the pitcher threw a curve ball on the outside of the plate in this situation. The difference is that he’s learning.
Schools determine which kids are smart.
School should determine how kids are smart.
Keeping Stupid in the box:
1. Share your personal experience of stupid with kids
2. Share the 5 causes of stupid
3. Have a large = sign in your room and refer to it when the kids might feel stupid
4. Share the importance of confusion
5. Every couple of weeks, ask them if they’ve felt stupid.
6. Practice the script. Give kids a script:
Awareness; www.top20training.com & info@top20training.com
CEU Code: AS6
Todd Johnson
Assertive discipline tried and found not to work.
We’re going to take a walk through his classroom.
CEU Code XK4
Philosophical Guidelines
Treat students as you would like to be treated.
Do only 50% of the work.
You can only influence behavior, not change it.
You can’t make a student behave. You can’t.
Make it uncomfortable for kids to not follow the rules.
Agenda
Discipline Polarities
Tight vs. Flexible
Tight
Advantages:
Consistent
Set Limits
Structured
Non-emotional
Follow through
Concise
Disadvantages
Power struggles
Confrontation
Win/Lose
My way or the highway
Rebellion
Rules more important than people.
Physical confrontations
Loose
Advantages
Individual needs
Responsive
Negotiate
Creative
Adaptable
Caring
Disadvantages
Taken advantage
Used
Inconsistency
Pandemonium
Chaos
Wasted time
Too emotional
No limits
Law of Least of Interventions
“Don’t use a shotgun when a flyswatter will work.”
Most problems arise during transitions.
Start with the least amount of power necessary.
Use the Law of Least Intervention
eye contact
The “look”
gesture
snap fingers
proximity
call student’s name
shake your head
Clear your throat
flick the lights
count
count backwards (elementary)
Use humor
Touch
Ignore
Audience suggested
deep breath
wave
foreign language
stop/quiet
raise one eyebrow
voice level
state behavior
“Keith, you’re talking.” vs. “Keith, quit talking.”
Zen bell
foreign language
whisper
Calendar of Events:
NMSA News:
Other News:
Michigan Association of Middle School Educators
Eastern Michigan University
“The Prince, the Wolf and the Firebird”
By Jackson Lacey
Directed by Pam Cardell
December 4, 5, 10, 11 at 7PM
December 5, 6, 12 at 3PM
School Matinees: December 9 and 10 at 10:00 am. Tickets $4.00 for students and every 15 students gets a chaparone in for free.
Classroom 2.0
Second Life:
Greetings from CMU University Theatre:
You are invited to this year’s terrific Theatre for Young Audiences production: The Chicago Gypsies – written by V. Glasgow Koste.
Synopsis:
The year is 1931 during the height of the Great Depression and the poorest people in the world are actors! The Dover family has traveled from Chicago to perform in Dodge City, Iowa, for the holidays, but the play closes unexpectedly because of a lack of attendance. The Dover’s have no money to return home and so they are forced to remain in Iowa, to find work and their daughter, 10-year old Charley, the youngest actress in the company, has to attend school! This heart warming and funny story is told through Charley’s eyes with humor and insight. “If you’re a gypsy, you carry your home inside you.”
Details:
* Who: Students 4th grade and up
* Where: CMU’s Bush Theatre in Moore Hall, Mount Pleasant, Michigan
* When: 10:00am, Wednesday through Friday, February 24, 25 & 26, 2010
* Play info: Nancy Eddy- Director – (989) 774-2061 or eddy1n@cmich.edu
* Tickets: Advance ticket purchase is required
o Seats are available on a first come, first served basis
o Cost: $3.00 per student – one free escort ticket with every 15 purchased
o Available by phone at: (888) 268-0111 or (989) 774-3000
* Website: CMU – Theatre for Young Audiences Web Site
* Items of interest:
o Maps, driving directions, volunteer greeters and ushers, and an emergency contact number for information while you travel will be provided for your convenience
o Run Time: Approximately 90 minutes with a 10 minute intermission
o Talkback: After each performance there will be a 15-20 minute question and answer session with the director and the cast
o Study Guide: A complimentary study guide will be available on the Theatre for Young Audiences web site
Please feel free to share this information with any teacher who may have interest. We look forward to seeing you here!
—
Jim Hickerson
Coordinator of Marketing and Outreach
Central Michigan University – College of Communications and Dramatic Arts – Theatre, Interpretation & Dance
____________________________________________
Phone: (989) 774-3874 – Fax: (989) 774-2498 – Office: 144 Moore Hall
Mail to: CMU, Moore 333, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859
Note: due to the rising cost of transportation, many schools are becoming very creative in order to continue to participate in off-campus activities. Some schools are asking parents to volunteer to drive groups and others are working with parents to assist in paying for buses. Some have discussed partnering with another nearby school in order to share the expenses. If you anticipate an issue with transportation costs, please contact me at your earliest convenience to see if additional opportunities exist.
Produced by special arrangement with the DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY of Woodstock, Illinois.
Real Teachers:
Pictures of our World. Have students take pictures of “their world”. Have the students narrow down their choices to 1 picture. Discuss why the picture is important.
MAMSE: Contact your local MAMSE board member and volunteer to be a Regional Coordinator!
Charter Colleges: Marvin Olasky proposes charter colleges to further democratize education.
Grown Up Digital by Don Tapscott
Seale and educators across the country are employing an array of digital tools—blogs, wikis, videos, and social media—to tap into their passion for collaborating, creating, and sharing.
“It’s about initiating higher levels of engagement,” says Seale, “and making the learning more self-directed and self-motivated.” “Let’s face it,” she adds, “being literate today means more than reading words on a printed page and writing an essay.”
“I don’t think we yet have a handle on what it really means to be literate in the 21st century,” Fisch acknowledges.
So don’t throw away your copies of To Kill a Mockingbird; even the most fervent Web evangelists believe there is still space for the Great Books. But the bottom line remains: We can’t stop there. Our students are living in a different world.
http://www.nea.org/home/35939.htm
FastPencil: Turn your blog posts into a book. http://ow.ly/E8z3
One of the laments of librarians and English teachers about blogs is the lack of permenance. Once the electrons go away, so does the content. FastPencil can turn blog posts into chapter books for paper books.
What happened to Second Life? BBC questions current model of marketing in virtual environment.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8367957.stm
ANKI:
Spaced Repetition
Anki is a spaced repetition system (SRS). It helps you remember things by intelligently scheduling flashcards, so that you can learn a lot of information with a minimum amount of effort. (Available for Mac/Linux/iPhone-iPod Touch/Windows)
http://ichi2.net/anki/index.html
Mark McLeod
*Notes from Todd Williamson who took much better notes than I (any errors in transcription though are mine alone):
Session Description: Student engagement is the key to learning for middle school students. This session will explore many teaching strategies and techniques that encourage students to get excited about learning. The presenter will model various strategies that can be used immediately in the classroom. Both veteran and new teachers will leave this session with many powerful, yet practical strategies to motivate today’s middle school students.
Idea of emotional bank account Attitude is the most important thing. There are 2 feat which interfere with success:
• Fear of Embarrassment
• Fear of Failure
Personal life needs to be in order. The kids bring enough baggage. Kids need to be involved or the drop out later. What is the #1 Quality you want in your students?
• • •
Am I treating everyone in here with the attitudes I expect?
We can’t change other people, we can only change ourselves…so make sure you do that and enjoy what you do.
No one forces anyone to have a great attitude. It’s your choice.
Has everyone spend a few minute encouraging others…return to seats when we hear YMCA, and do YMCAtogether. FUNTIMES!!
Teachers have to be willing to step out and take risks. Take ideas, tweak them to work for yourself, and take the chance to use them.
Many teachers are afraid of embarassment and failure, so they never take risks.
Kids bring enough baggage, teacher doesn’t need to bring more into the picture. Make desposits into kids emotional bank accounts. Are we making deposits or withdrawals from our kids accounts? These are not accounts we want closed.
You can’t change what’s in the past, so don’t let it stop you. If you’ve made too many withdrawals in the past, don’t dwell on it, just start making deposits from then on.
Sometimes we have to INTENTIONALLY make deposits until it becomes habit. WE ARE SO INGRAINED AS TEACHERS TO LOOK FOR THINGS TO CORRECT, SOMETIMES WE JUST NEED TO FOCUS ON WHAT ALREADY IS GOOD.
Developing positive relationships doesn’t just happen in the classroom, we have to do it everywhere in life so it becomes habit.
It’s not the teacher that sends students to the office, it’s the environment. Free time and inappropriate conversations happen when positive relationships aren’t established.
AGREE WITH A TWEET BY @MSMATTERS…MARK MCLEOD IS GIVING GREAT ADVICE FOR LIFE AS WELL AS THE CLASSROOM
Students AND Adults both need deposits into their emotional bank accounts. What are some ways to make deposits into students emotional bank accounts?
1. ATTEND GAMES
2. GIVE JOB IN CLASSROOM
3. POSITIVE PARENT CONTACT
4. DISCUSS INTERESTS
5. PRAISE
6. RECOGNIZE BIRTHDAYS
7. STICKERS (haha)
8. REWARDS
9. FOOD
10.NOTICE THINGS FROM OTHER CLASSES SUBJECTS
Adults
1. FOOD
2. SHOW UP FOR SIGNIFICANT EVENTS (DEATHS, ILLNESS, WEDDINGS)
3. LISTEN
4. REWARDS
5. KNOWING WHO KIDS ARE
6. RECOGNITION
Practice attention getting strategies in the classroom…bells, sayings, etc…don’t just tell them, actually practice it.
Students don’t know how to make deposits…we have to help teach them. “Cha-ching” shirts…on the back “Have you made a deposit today?”
2nd Biggest Motivator: Success
Set up students for success…self-motivated students blurt out because they want the thrill of victory
Don’t worry about the blurtter-outers…they’re self-motivated and will learn anyway. Target the kids who never raise their hands and set them up for success.
#1 Questioning Technique to add Tension: Ask, Pause, Call…Tension keeps all engaged, don’t start question with “Suzy, what is…” everyone else tunes out and learning stops. Random name generators add to tension as well. This keeps kids engaged…and no one has to know for sure who’s name is pulled out if you really want to call on a particular student.
#2 Questioning Technique is “Volunteers”…This gives a bad sampling because you get the same volunteers every time. Ask Pause Call with random name generator causes more thinking, from a larger number of students, and allows you to climb up Blooms.
#3 QuestioningTechnique: Choral Response…Have a signal when you want students to respond together, otherwise they won’t know when to start or stop.
#4 Questioning Technique: Signal Response…Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down/Windshield Wiper… Whiteboards…SHOWING WHITEBOARDS WITH A HANDLE, MARKER, AND 4 DIFFERENT COLORS.
Notes: Ross Burkhardt on Writing for Real Reasons
Quote: “Our sincere interest in students’ lives and their opinions is one of the strongest motivators we have. Nothing on earth is so irresistible to a writer as the knowledge that her writing might actually influence someone else’s thoughts or feelings.”
CEU code: EQ7
Why are we using writing as punishment? (Cartoon reference)
NCTE quote: “Conventions of writing are best taught in the context of writing.”
NCTE quote: “When writers actually write, they think of things that they did not have in mind before they begin writing.”
“Writers need a classroom culture that supports writing, a culture in which everyone, including the teacher, is part of a writing community.” Vicki Spandel
“You can’t be what you can’t see.” Dr. Joycelyn Elders, Nov. 2003 in an Atlanta Speech.
The Teacher As Writer
“Almost nothing does more to sustain a culture of writing than a teacher who writes with students, thereby underscoring the importance of writing, and also allowing students to see the process.” Vicki Spandel
“Save all drafts!”
What Ross did in his classroom will not work in our classrooms.
Adapt these writing strategies to your own:
Students
style
setting
Take out a sheet of paper . . .
Activity: Letter of appreciation or acknowlegement.
On the sheet of paper, identify three people that are important to you and why.
It doesn’t matter who they put down on the paper.
Letter to Jack Berckemeyer . . .
Share/Pair instructions
Decide who goes first.
First person shares – 1 minute
Switch
Second Person shares – 1 minute (or so)
Teacher reads a letter of gratitude and then seals it in an envelope.
Real audience
Real person
Shows authenticity
Choose principal, AP, fellow teacher, etc.
Send the student to the person in the sealed envelope that they saw sealed and then point out that they came back empty handed.
Assignment
You’ve identified three people, now write a letter like this to one of those three people.
“Grade is an A. I will not read it.” “If you’d like me to read your letter to help with your grammar and punctuation, I will read it.”
“Tomorrow I will be at the door. Have your letter ready to go when you walk into class tomorrow. Your grade goes down from there if you didn’t turn it in.”
Part Two:
Make three columns on a piece of paper.
Put the number 8 at the top left column.
Put all the things you did (best stuff) in a column. Things you did in 8th grade.
Wherever you stop, draw a line. Write down the best stuff from 7th Grade.
Go around the room and mention one thing. Kids can add as each contributes.
Do the same for 6th Grade
Look over the entire list and pick the three best things you ever did in middle school.
Identify the staff member who was most responsible for making that activity happen.
It’s the last week of school kids, you have a list in front of you the best stuff in middle school and the people who made it happen. What could we do with that information?
Assignment: Write two letters of acknowlegement to staff.
If they want to write to you, they have to write a third letter.
HMP: Holiday Memory Piece
Monday before Friday before Christmas Break.
“Kids, I’m going to read you something and then I’m going to ask you some questions”
There are no questions, lol!
Christmas Eve Exchange . . .
Questions are a little bit about the story . . .
“Ok kids, we’ve got a holiday coming up . . . ” shows a list of holidays.
“On Friday of this week you’re going to share one of your holiday memories.”
Let the Jehovah’s Witness kid talk about not celebrating holidays.
Can’t fail because they can pick from any memory.
They’ve experienced it and it has already happened.
Tell them that they are going to create a public piece of writing.
GOW: Gift of Writing
identify three people who are important to you and briefly describe them.
Share a model of what this writing will look like.
“Tears on the Turnpike”
“In what way is your experience different than your experience of the story?”
She’s in it. She’s a participant.
He gave this piece of writing to his sister as a gift.
Assignment:
Your job is to create a gift of writing to give to an intended audience.
Letter to Self: LTS
The Grade is a B and I will not read it.
Minimum of two pages on the next 5 topics.
Put the heading at the top of the page and you turn in two pages in to me at the door.
Want an A? Turn in three pages.
This honors the narcissism of the adolescent.
This could address the GLCE about creating writers who “want” to write.
Belief informs Action
The 10 Assertions.
Calendar of Events:
NMSA News:
Other News:
“The Prince, the Wolf and the Firebird”
By Jackson Lacey
Directed by Pam Cardell
December 4, 5, 10, 11 at 7PM
December 5, 6, 12 at 3PM
School Matinees: December 9 and 10 at 10:00 am. Tickets $4.00 for students and every 15 students gets a chaparone in for free.
I’m a 7th grade life science teacher, so we often use microscopes. My room is a retro-fitted science classroom, so I don’t have big lab benches for microscopes – instead I bring in my power cords from Christmas lights. The first time any class uses microscopes, we spend a good ten minutes of class going over the procedure for plugging in and turning on the microscopes. One particular fifth period I had just instructed the students to plug in the microscope and turn them on – and after sufficient wait time announced “At this point, everybody should be turned on.” This is when I got some very strange looks from a group of boys in the corner, and all I could do was laugh.
Earlier this year, I was reviewing Celsius/Fahrenheit conversions. I was explaining to the kids that there was a messy mathematical formula we could use to do these conversions, but for our purposes I helped them out and gave them a side-by-side picture of the two thermometers that they could draw lines across to make the conversions. “This way you all can avoid the getting your hands dirt with all the math for now.” To which one of my smartalic boys blurted out “But what if we want to do it the dirty way?” As the rest of the class burst into laughter, I chuckled inwardly and then explained that we’ll have plenty of chances to get our hands dirty in science this year, but this won’t be one of those times.
Kate K.
From the Twitterverse:
MOYA: Artwork due March 12, 2010
MAMSE: Contact your local MAMSE board member and volunteer to be a Regional Coordinator!
iTunes Comments
iTunes App: Coverup
Seale and educators across the country are employing an array of digital tools—blogs, wikis, videos, and social media—to tap into their passion for collaborating, creating, and sharing.
“It’s about initiating higher levels of engagement,” says Seale, “and making the learning more self-directed and self-motivated.” “Let’s face it,” she adds, “being literate today means more than reading words on a printed page and writing an essay.”
“I don’t think we yet have a handle on what it really means to be literate in the 21st century,” Fisch acknowledges.
So don’t throw away your copies of To Kill a Mockingbird; even the most fervent Web evangelists believe there is still space for the Great Books. But the bottom line remains: We can’t stop there. Our students are living in a different world.
http://www.nea.org/home/35939.htm
Diana Day
Session Description: You will be prepared to work with disruptive, aggressive, disrespectful, attention-demanding, and unmotivated youngsters. Rather than hearing descriptors of misbehavior, you will leave knowing what to do about it! Learn where to seat them, motivate and set limits for each of these types of students who challenge your authority daily. Knowledge is power. Empower yourself, going home happy and fulfilled. There are ways to deal with difficult students.
adversity reveals character.
Prime Time activity (Bellwork).
The less you talk when doing discipline, the better. The more you can signal, the better.
Urgent – they want what they want when they want it Talks back – dismisses correction as silly or not about them. Lies- becomes verbally abusive – will talk a lot about simple questions. Fights- power struggles, threatens, cusses, throws things.
Limit Seeking Behavior:
you’ve got to fight all of the battles, you just choose when you fight them.
They want to make you mad. They win by engagement.
Send the kid to the “Buddy Room” – have a card with another room number written on it. Send the kid to another room. Tell the kid that it’s not working with us. Talk later.
This is a specific program.
Kid 3 Motivation lacking student.
Good teacher with lots of information. Not sure how much is actually useable by all of us.
The Greatest Teacher Activitiy
Objectives: To help participants focus on the importance of having the “courage of one’s convictions.”
Time: 13-20 mins.
Materials: Pre-assigned note cards (for participants to select and list 5 great teachers)
Of those five identify their characteristics and share in a group.
“Who’s got that vision?” Monte Selby
A young boy carves on the walls of the cave, (check lyrics online)
Pictures shown during the “show”
Ghandi
Mother Theresa.
Mr. Rogers
One of the things we’ve lost is telling our stories about our teaching, growth and experience. Retell the stories, retell the fundamentals.
Personal Teaching Vision
Objective: To challenge teachers to fullfill their personal . . .
Sheet:
My Vision for Myself
Name:
Date
Why I became a Teacher . . .
My most noble vision of myself as a teacher ….
What am I going to do over the next few months to reconcile my vision of myself at my greatest with my present circumstances?
Not a group activity.
Have them write this letter to themselves and seal it in an envelope. Pass it back in three months or so.
Hearing a Different Drummer/Marcher
Directions
1. On signal close your eyes and keep them closed until instructed to open them.
2. Follow the directions carefully, but ask no questions and make no comments.
3. If you find it hard to complete a task, just do the best you can.
Hand on paper
Fold in half and make a crease.
Fold it in half again.
Fold it in half again.
Tear off the right corner. (unfold if you need to to find the right corner and then refold to tear it folded.)
Flip paper over and tear the right hand corner.
Unfold the paper completely.
Hold it up and look around.
None of the papers should be uniform to the teacher’s “paper”.
What do we need to know about our students in order to give them a REASONABLE chance for success?
Notecard activity.
Handout: I can do something! (Debbie Silver, 2006).
Student Profiles
What do we need to know?
Reading level
English language proficiency.
Level of adult supervision and involvement at home.
Personal interests
Preferred learning styles
Least favorite things
Fears
Strength areas (Multiple Intelligences)
“Great teachers never lose their Marvels!”
Recognizing differences
Objectives: to introduce the concept of differentiation
Materials: Many lemons, one per participant.
Procedures:
Give each teacher a lemon as they come into the meeting and then have them hold it for a while. Tell them to bond with the lemon and examine the lemon. Collect part way through the meeting and then at the end dump them out on a table and have them find their lemon.
Even though they are similar, they will find differences and find their lemon.
What does the following run-on sentence say?
i a m n o w h e r e
I am now here
I am no where
Practicing Safe Stress
Two Wolves Inside story
an elder Cherokee Natie American was teaching his grandchildren about life . . .
IALAC Activity
100 ways to enhance self concept in the classroom.
Killer Statements
I Am Loved And Capable
Tell a story of people having a bad day . . .
Tear away the paper with IALAC on it as you tell all the terrible events of the story or day.
Don’t take stuff away that you don’t give back emotionally to the teacher.
CEU Code LZ9
Website: www.debbiesilver.com password: iamateacher NMSA 2009 zip file.
Calendar of Events:
NMSA News:
Other News:
“The Prince, the Wolf and the Firebird”
By Jackson Lacey
Directed by Pam Cardell
December 4, 5, 10, 11 at 7PM
December 5, 6, 12 at 3PM
School Matinees: December 9 and 10 at 10:00 am. Tickets $4.00 for students and every 15 students gets a chaparone in for free.
2 Truths & a lie – have students make 3 statements: 2 are true, 1 is a lie. Section the room into thirds. Have the other students move to one of sections that they think is the lie.
Shout out to March Wells III: Thanks for being on the podcast with us!
Shout out to our NMSA traveling buddies: Jennifer Fryzel, Andrea Melaragni, Nancy Kiefer, Kathy MacDonald, March Wells III, Fran Delaney, Vickie Molnar!
Shout out to Dr. M. Monte Tatom and Susie Highley for saying, “HI!”, at the NMSA conference.
MAMSE: Contact your local MAMSE board member and volunteer to be a Regional Coordinator!
https://sites.google.com/site/breakthroughforum/home
Find resources, share lesson plans,
create tests, view reports, make teaching fun.
Dr. Lori G. Wilfong Kent State Unversity
Thursday 10:30 am
5 words or less.
Write about themselves first. This gets them going.
Scaffold summary writing by having students subtract out the 10 (teacher picks the number) on pieces of paper. Have them arrange the words in a way that makes sense. They then use those 10 words and only those 10 words to create a summary – in full sentences. Can use notecards, sticky notes, scratch paper, etc.
Strategy #2: Class Trip by David Lubar
SWBST: Somebody Wanted But So Then: (Something Wanted But So Now)
| Somebody | Wanted | But | So | Then |
| Mr. Pegler | To go to the museum | |||
| Congress | Reform healthcare | They can’t agree | They keep arguing | We still don’t have reform. |
One sentence summaries are made easy.
Can also remove the Then if that is a repeated item.
Strategy #3: (See The Most Important Thing by Margaret Wise-Brown)
The Most Important Thing:
Leads to the structure that helps kids do well on standardized tests.
Strategy #4: Found Poetry
Works with a wide variety of sources. Works with fiction and content.
Strategy #5: Fishbones
Strategy #6: Four-Two-One
Strategy # 7: Final Countdown
(Large Triangle with 1 space on top, 2 in the middle, 3 on the bottom). This is a reverse 3-2-1.
Strategy # 8: Vanity Plates
Strategy # 9: Magnet Summaries: Similar to 10 words or less.
Strategy # 10 Shaping Up Review Four shapes. Heart, square, triangle, circle:
All of these strategies can be used to facilitate a written summary.
Thses challenges are met with an inadequate educational response, making matters worese.
Large numbers of studetns with demanding emotional, social, and academic needs in a sub set of middle schools
Insufficient numbers of skilled, stable adults in these schools and neighborhoods.
As a result, middle grade students in high poverty schools begin to disengage from school in large numbers and at a n accelerating rate.
Some stop attending school on regulary.
Flight
Some start acting out and being distruptive
Fight
Some just stop trying and start failing courses
Withdrawl.
Student disengagement precedes involvement with the juvenile justice system and teenage pregnancy.
4-years of resilience.
Finding 2: Students who enter High School two or more years below grade level struggle to pass standards based courses and exit exams.
Attendance and behavior are the key to achievement over time and graduation.
Effective instruction PLUS student engagement – achievement gains.
Having a good teacher made the largest difference.
Attendance and behavior had additive effects beyond just having a good teacher.
As attendance and behavior improve, it has a doubling effect on achievement.
Implications for Practice
Most of the things we think matters, does matter but with limited impact.
To make progress will need comprehensive strategies.
In addition to good teachers, stron ginstrucitonal programs, and safe and supportive learning environments we will need to pay attention to the ABC’s to improve achievement.
Attendance
We need to measure attendance in informative and actionable manners- Every Absence Needs to Bring a Problem Solving response.
We need to track attendance closer than the average daily attendance.
We need acknowledge good attendance.
Social recognition is better than physical reward.
Half of kids absences are discretionary absences. They chose to be absent.
Good attendance needs to be recognized regularly through public acknowledgement and social rewards.
For better or wrose need to acknowledge that middle grade students are making independent decisions about rather they are engaged by school.
“How many students are missing 20 or more days a year?”
Behavior and Effort
Need high engagement electives that provide avenues for short term success and positively recognize asymmetrical skill levels in students.
We need to build in short cycle activities to provide recognition.
Need activities that honor and use middle grade students desire for adventure and camaraderie.
Why are they skipping school? They’re getting adventure and friendship out of it.
Positive behavior needs to be recognized.
Same as attendance.
Organizational and self-management skills need to be taught.
PRAGMATICS!
Course Performance
Quality course work involves the ability to integrate a series of skills and a set of knowledge to produce and intellectual product. Common benchmark assessments may not measure this.
We need to acknowledge the implication of course grades being more predictivie of eventual success than standardized test scores. Need common grading rubrics.
We are pressured to make middle school like high school, but this is not right.
We need to create standards that fit the maturation level and cognitive ability.
We need to create high school and college readiness indicators that are meaningful and engaging to middle grade students, and understood by parents. Think Academic Merit Badges.
We need to get Extra Help Right.
Standard model is to provide extra help by someone else.
Providing extra help on what he doesn’t know isn’t helpful for his need on the test on Friday. Aim extra help at the stuff he needs for the test coming up in class.
Putting it all together with early warning and Intervention systems.
Focus on effective intervention is not just identification.
Recognize and build on student strengths.
Provide time, training, and support to teachers.
We’ve gone from just teaching to teaching and making sure that kids are staying on track.
Match resources to student needs but practice intervention discipline.
Evaluate the effectiveness of interventions
Measure which ones work and drop the ones that don’t by looking at them with a microscope.
Remember you can get started with the data in your school.
Diplomas Now is designed for the middle and high schools with the greatest number of “off-track” students
1. Combine whole school reform, national service, and integrated student supports with an early warning indicator system and on-site coordination to provide a full school tiered system for supporting all students.
2. Continuous monitoring of student performance related to key early warning indicators.
3. Identification of students who are veering off track by indicator.
Used Americorps volunteers to follow kids as a cohort.
4. Provide the appropriate interventions.
Diplomas Now Schol Design.
Providing the right support to students at the right time.
information: See Robert Balfanz’s website to get the powerpoint.
http://www.every1graduates.org (Presentation Here)
rbalfanz@csos.jhu.edu
Calendar of Events:
NMSA News:
Other News:
“The Prince, the Wolf and the Firebird”
By Jackson Lacey
Directed by Pam Cardell
December 4, 5, 10, 11 at 7PM
December 5, 6, 12 at 3PM
School Matinees: December 9 and 10 at 10:00 am. Tickets $4.00 for students and every 15 students gets a chaparone in for free.
Troy, Shawn and March sat down in Indy to discuss how the conference was going so far.
Here is a link to the presentation that we will be giving. We’ll be in a small room. A really small room. We’ve made some adjustments but things should go well.
Looking forward to a great discussion.