See My Reading Journal for Responses to these texts
Monday, June 24, 2013
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Quotes
"Plan to be better tomorrow than today, but don't ever plan to be finished."
~Carol Ann Tomlinson
~Carol Ann Tomlinson
Advice for the First Year
I have completed my first solo year and, in my opinion, it was a spectacular success! I still love my job, I didn't estrange my husband (lol), I feel enthusiastic about next year, and to top it all off, most important of all, my kids showed some impressive improvement! I still have so much to learn and so much growing to do, but I feel I am headed in the right direction. So, here are some things I noticed that I need to work on, or was very successful at, that make a first year smooth and effective.
Certainty
(Not to be confused with knowing everything all the time)
Certainty is a quality of all effective teachers. It often develops with experience, but some people have natural certainty or have already developed certainty in their lives. Certainty is akin to authority, but without the power connotation. It is the simple ability to convey your expectations in a way that makes it clear that there is no other option but to comply. It is speaking in a calm, even tone, standing tall and proud, and commanding attention, even when there are 30 fifth graders looking back at you and you are shaking in your boots. When I say commanding attention I don't mean like a drill sergeant, commanding attention can come in many forms, depending on your personality. Maybe you have that soft, kindergarten, "I'm going to pull you in with my sheer delightful, quiet enthusiasm." Or maybe you are hilarious and pull the kids in with your charisma. Or maybe you have that special cool, quirky quality that draws people in because you're just so interesting... Whatever it is, harness it and portray absolute certainty that your students will listen, comply, and learn.
Certainty comes with preparedness, passion, and understanding. You must be prepared before you ever step in front of your classroom. Understand your subject matter and curriculum, set up and practice routines, and have organized lesson plans arranged. As a first year teacher, occasionally preparedness won't happen. It is ok to apologize and wing it as best you can, but DO NOT MAKE A HABIT OF IT! Students will get frustrated and will begin to act out. They will see you as powerless and unreliable.
Your passion for the subject, process, content, students, learning, etc. also needs to be evident most of the time. Finally, you need to be understanding with yourself and students. Part of certainty is not always knowing you are right, but knowing you are knowledgeable, prepared, and caring and are doing the best for these students that you can. You need to be understanding of yourself when things don't go as planned, when you change your mind, or when you say something stupid. It happens. Deal with it, and move on. You also need to be understanding with students. Students act the way they do for a reason. Do not confuse leniency with understanding, though. Students need to be held to consistent high expectations.
Preparedness
This is something I excelled at in some areas and really need to work on in other areas. You should always be at least a week ahead in planning curriculum, but be flexible enough to adjust as real life happens. The beautiful thing about being planned a week ahead is that it generally turns out to be about two weeks because you plan so much! I utilized the summer before my first year to plan, plan, plan. I basically worked full time during the summer, but I was so excited that it was fun. Really, though, I started planning for my first year when I stepped into my first education class in college. I saved, sorted, organized, and categorized every piece of material that I received from a class or a classmate. It has really come in handy!
Beyond having your curriculum prepared, you should also have your activities, projects, parties, and field trips planned as far ahead as you can. This is something I really struggled with. I was always so focused on making sure my lessons were going to go off without a hitch that I would put off the actual preparation until the night before. If you are planned ahead, have the materials ready, and encourage volunteers to help in your classroom, you will save yourself a lot of late nights. I often let that glorious bulletin board slip by because I wasn't prepared enough to delegate the task.
Certainty
(Not to be confused with knowing everything all the time)
Certainty is a quality of all effective teachers. It often develops with experience, but some people have natural certainty or have already developed certainty in their lives. Certainty is akin to authority, but without the power connotation. It is the simple ability to convey your expectations in a way that makes it clear that there is no other option but to comply. It is speaking in a calm, even tone, standing tall and proud, and commanding attention, even when there are 30 fifth graders looking back at you and you are shaking in your boots. When I say commanding attention I don't mean like a drill sergeant, commanding attention can come in many forms, depending on your personality. Maybe you have that soft, kindergarten, "I'm going to pull you in with my sheer delightful, quiet enthusiasm." Or maybe you are hilarious and pull the kids in with your charisma. Or maybe you have that special cool, quirky quality that draws people in because you're just so interesting... Whatever it is, harness it and portray absolute certainty that your students will listen, comply, and learn.
Certainty comes with preparedness, passion, and understanding. You must be prepared before you ever step in front of your classroom. Understand your subject matter and curriculum, set up and practice routines, and have organized lesson plans arranged. As a first year teacher, occasionally preparedness won't happen. It is ok to apologize and wing it as best you can, but DO NOT MAKE A HABIT OF IT! Students will get frustrated and will begin to act out. They will see you as powerless and unreliable.
Your passion for the subject, process, content, students, learning, etc. also needs to be evident most of the time. Finally, you need to be understanding with yourself and students. Part of certainty is not always knowing you are right, but knowing you are knowledgeable, prepared, and caring and are doing the best for these students that you can. You need to be understanding of yourself when things don't go as planned, when you change your mind, or when you say something stupid. It happens. Deal with it, and move on. You also need to be understanding with students. Students act the way they do for a reason. Do not confuse leniency with understanding, though. Students need to be held to consistent high expectations.
Preparedness
This is something I excelled at in some areas and really need to work on in other areas. You should always be at least a week ahead in planning curriculum, but be flexible enough to adjust as real life happens. The beautiful thing about being planned a week ahead is that it generally turns out to be about two weeks because you plan so much! I utilized the summer before my first year to plan, plan, plan. I basically worked full time during the summer, but I was so excited that it was fun. Really, though, I started planning for my first year when I stepped into my first education class in college. I saved, sorted, organized, and categorized every piece of material that I received from a class or a classmate. It has really come in handy!
Beyond having your curriculum prepared, you should also have your activities, projects, parties, and field trips planned as far ahead as you can. This is something I really struggled with. I was always so focused on making sure my lessons were going to go off without a hitch that I would put off the actual preparation until the night before. If you are planned ahead, have the materials ready, and encourage volunteers to help in your classroom, you will save yourself a lot of late nights. I often let that glorious bulletin board slip by because I wasn't prepared enough to delegate the task.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
End of the School Year Activities
Here are some ideas I gleaned from various sources to fill time at the end of the school year.
Summer find someone who...
Summer Bucket List Activity
Adapted from this activity on Teachers Pay Teachers:
Source: teacherspayteachers.com via Ronee on Pinterest
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Home - School Behavior Chart
Next year I am going to try something new for behavior. This year I would call parents when there was some kind of big behavior problem at school, and when particular students had a really great day/week, but I didn't have a consistent home-school behavior communication plan. So, here it is, my behavior plan for next year (only for students who need it, of course):
Monday, June 3, 2013
Motivation Quote
As Kroll (1992) pointed out, “Because inquiry is an affair
of the heart as well as the mind, students must feel connected to a topic if
they are going to inquire deeply and honestly into it” (p. 11).
Kroll, B.M. (1992). Teaching hearts and minds: College
students reflect on the Vietnam war in literature. Carbondale, IL: Southern
Illinois University Press.
Behavior Rubric
I've now used this rubric for two years and I'd swear by it. I use it once a month. I have the students self-assess their behavior in one color, then I also assess their behavior in another color. I have them take it home and have their parents sign it. Sometimes on the back I have the students write an area they would like to improve in and a goal for that area.
"Tomorrow's Alphabet" Activity
I used the book "Tomorrow's Alphabet" by George Shannon to teach inference. I describe inference as using clues the author leaves and prior knowledge to solve the mystery of the book. I also use the metaphor of putting a puzzle together: when you put a puzzle together you don't know exactly what the next piece will look like but you have enough clues to figure it out.
I read Tomorrow's Alphabet aloud, covering up the second page for each set. (If you haven't read the book it goes something like this: "V is for paper-" (page 1) "tomorrow's... Valentine." (page 2). I then have students predict what they think will be on the next page, stating what clues or information makes them think this.
After finishing the book I have the students choose a letter (or assign them a letter) and make their own "Tomorrow's Alphabet." I used this at the end of the year so I focus on graduating, moving on, etc. in my examples. I.e. "A is for child - tomorrow's adult."
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Quotes
“Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of
life, few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even
to hope, by a limit imposed from without, but falsely identified as lying
within.”
-Stephen Jay Gould
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Silhouette Art
We did this project for Halloween, but it could really be done for any season. It is a simple project and turns out beautifully.
Materials
- Small pieces of watercolor paper
- Paint brushes
- Water color paint sets
- Black construction paper OR black tempura paint
- Glue
Steps
- Paint a skyline with watercolors, covering the entire watercolor paper (may need to discuss the colors of the sky at different times of day).
- Cut a scene out of black construction paper or paint it over the water color with tempura paint after it dries.
- Glue the scene onto the water color paper.
Dr. Seuss Art
This project is a low-prep, fun way to honor Dr. Seuss!
Materials
- 11 x 17 in white construction paper (twice as many as you have students)
- tempura paint
- paint brushes (small and large)
- black permanent markers
- pencils
- glue (school or stick)
- Dr. Seuss books for reference
- Students paint broad horizontal or vertical stripes across their first piece of construction paper in a single color, leaving the background white.
- While the backgrounds dry students draw their favorite Dr. Seuss character lightly in pencil.
- Paint over the pencil with tempura paint.
- Once the paint dries, outline the character in permanent marker (optional).
- Cut out the character.
- Glue character onto background.
Stained Glass Craft Project
This is a semi-complicated craft that the kids love! It can also be done around any holiday with holiday-themed templates. It could be done with any grade level, but it is pretty complicated.
Materials
- Sharpies (Various colors, lots of black, at least the number of sharpies as you have kids unless you want to do this in stations)
- Plastic wrap (1 roll, any brand)
- Heavy duty aluminum foil (1 roll, any brand)
- Paper plates (just the basic cheap kind)
- Tape (any kind, really, it goes on the back.
- Stained glass or mandala templates printed on plain paper (see below)
Preparation
- Cut aluminum foil and plastic wrap in square or rectangular sheets that are big enough to cover the paper plates.
- Print mondala and/or stained glass templates on normal paper.
- Crinkle up aluminum foil into a ball (not too tight because you'll need to flatten it out!)
- Flatten out the aluminum foil.
- Cover the bottom of the paper plate with aluminum foil and tape the corners on the other side.
- Choose a stained glass template and wrap the plastic wrap tightly around the template. Tape it on the back of the template.
- Color the plastic wrap with colored sharpies, starting with the inner portions of the stained glass.
- Outline the colored portions in black sharpie.
- Remove the plastic from the template. (Template can be recycled)
- Cover the aluminum foil plate with the plastic wrap and tape on the same side as the aluminum foil was taped.
- Color in gentle, even strokes.
- Wait to outline until the very end so mistakes can be covered.
- Work from the center outward so the marker doesn't get on your hands or get smeared.
- Spread the plastic wrap gently with your fingers as you color to prevent wrinkles.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)