I loved the review of these two chapters. It all comes down to why do we do what we do and are students at the center of our practices? Are we providing our students with a caring, culturally sensitive environment, which fosters the kind of citizenship we desire to see in the next generation? I believe that our practices have to align with our mission statement!
I loved the discussion! We have awesome teachers at WYVA and they are champions!! I learn so much from all of you! Kudos to this great staff! It's exciting to see where these discussions take our program! Thanks for being unaware mentors!
I love that you elaborate on the point that "students (are) at the center of our practices." We have an amazing staff who focuses so directly on our students. They are many ways that I see this happening, but I am both happy and proud to say that it does! Students are all unique individuals with different needs and our staff works hard to meet those needs!
Thanks Angelique! I have really appreciated all the different ideas you gave us at the PD in March. I have really begun using a lot of games in my lessons and online activities, and will include flashcards in an upcoming lesson. I have begun using the big ideas and big picture page (my objectives) by using that to introduce my lesson and that helps the kids really get set and focus on what they are about to learn. It's strengthens mastery! I am excited again about creating lessons, so this has been a really great way to end the year on a strong, positive note!
The Entry Routine and Do Now are two critical skills I would like to see used more. When I first started teaching I was given a book titled, "The First Days of School" by Harry Wong. It is an amazing book that talks about these topics although they were called bell work. I made it a point in my classroom that students knew when they walked in where to go, what should be turned in and where, and what they should be working on without my direct instruction. After transitioning to the virtual classroom, I have varied in my consistency of this critical skill. I instead replaced it with sign ins and social chatting time. We are lucky now to no longer need sign ins. We can see with one report who was in our classes and for how long. With this improvement, if I were still teaching whole groups I would immediately return to the Do Now. I would instead have a learning focused activity that students can complete independently. I would make my entry routine, the expectation that students completed that activity while waiting for the direct instruction to begin (and the stragglers to mosey in.) I would have an expected routine that doesn't change for displaying their answers to the activity. I think this would be a much better use of class time than social interaction even though that is important too.
I have decided to change up my entry routine. Normally I would have a landing page where they can sign in and post any accomplishments they wanted to share. The accomplishments were fun and all, but after a while the students were not posting. I guess there is something said about routine being too routine. Now I am going to start something more like a bell work activity, and review. That way it can cut down on down time. Today I am going to start with a reading activity where the students have to "read" a picture to try to figure out what message is being stated. I am optomisitic that the students will find it interesting.
I like the accomplishments idea. I don't think you have to do the same thing EVERY class. Maybe accomplishments could be shared once a month or something.
I like the accomplishments idea too. I may just steal it :) I always have the exit ticket and answers up from the day before. I tend to get the same response as you at times because they don't both giving a green check or red x for understanding like they should (without me telling them too). Maybe I need to change it up a little. About half the students are so used to doing it that they do it without being asked (but then I don't know if they really understand because it is always a green check). Thanks for the great idea. I would also like to know how the picture went!
When my students come in, they know they have 5 mins to get settled and do the audio check. The moment the timer goes off, we start the lesson. They also know what to do when they go to breakout rooms because I taught the procedures from the very beginning of school. The kids feel comfortable in class because I am sure to always have a lot of praise. I NEVER tell them they are wrong. I will let them know they are on the right track, etc. and then ask another student if they can help them out. My tone of voice is always upbeat and cheerful. I always end class with, See ya later Alligator, See ya Soon Baboon, Be sweet parakeet, etc. By the middle of the year, the kids are saying it to me before I can get it out of my mouth
I think it's great that you always start right on time. I also think it's okay that you NEVER tell them they are wrong. I agree with Right is Right, but I think, like you say, you can show the students they have room for improvement without coming right out and saying they are incorrect. Sounds like a fun and happy class :-)
Entry Routine and CR Culture When my students enter the CR I have a Welcome Board with a table of contents, that I stole from Lynette (thanks Lynette!!), with what we will be doing for the day. For example, since we are working on registration I have that on there, progress review, I have MAP testing information for each individual student, ILP's if that still needs to be completed, and we have been reviewing MAP scores and our goals for growth. As far as CR Culture goes, I spend the first 5-7 minutes just talking to my students. I ask them about life and if anything new and exciting is happening. We meet for an hour so I feel like taking the first few minutes of our time is important so that I can form that rapport with each of my kiddos. I also take those first 10 minutes to touch base with the LC to make sure all is well.
How do I use my ideas about best practices in WYVA to unify the 7 Habits, TLAC and Technology in the classroom? Being an online teacher forces me to be innovative in how I reach out to children and engage them. I value good listening skills and building rapport with families because that is the key to their learning. Through experience, I have also found that best practices include the 7 habits...I live them; best practices also include engaging students through differentiated instruction and that would include the many ways I present material to students to encourage their learning and progress. I am not afraid to learn new things, to make a mistake or to grow... it is all an ongoing process.
Rules are posted in my classroom and students clearly know what they are. Students help write objectives; using critical thinking skills- how to get from A-Z. Seven habits used in monthly meetings and throughout classes. My classroom is safe zone and students know I am still an active learner too, so we share ideas; right. wrong, etc. No thumbs down unless given permission to do so- we encourage in everything we do. In writing they have to give two positive comments to every one critical critique. Notebooks and pencils are required for every class- they have been taught how to take effective notes using Cornell System. My beginning of year survey is something I do with my students rather than send it out for them to complete- so we can talk, discuss and get to know one another better and ask questions on the spot. Cold calling is part of all my classrooms and students know it and are ready for it. Active participation is required on their part and they come ready to participate.
I am so impressed that you establish such important routines right in the beginning of the year. Clearly you use routines to raise expectations and increase quality student learning in your classroom. Amazing!
I hold homeroom meeting monthly with my students and go over the 7 habit for that month. I always ask them at the end of the meeting to make a list of what they do during that month, for I will ask them to tell me at the next meeting what they did, and they usually have a good answer for me for they know I'm going to ask them to put it on the screen. I also use the 7 habits in the newspaper constantly. Every habit is used in one way or another: have to be proactive, begin with the end in mind, for example they are required to write an article for every edition and are held accountable for it, so they do have to begin with the end in mind. Technology is used in the newspaper, math classes, writing classes, the Iditarod, in many different ways. For example, I did "Christmas Around the World" in writing this year on traditions in other cultures. They had to move from breakout room to breakout room to view different culture about different countries by clicking on different links about traditions, recipes, etc. They then had to come back to the main room and write about what they learned and what was their favorite country and what the tradition was. They then had to write about their own family traditions. I used links about Martin Luther King and his speech, or when an author comes to visit the newspaper a link was shown about the author ahead of time so when he did come as a guest speaker the students knew something about him before an interview. For the Iditarod the students had to create a final presentation, so I held sessions with kids to teach them how to use power point. I have also shown kids how to save things on their desktop and make file folders on their desktops so they can file and find their writing more easily. They have also been taught how to file share this year along with application sharing.
Expectations in my classroom are always set. Slides are made to teach students how to do audio set-up and they are taught this at the beginning of the school year. When they come into my classroom, they sign in and then do an audio set-up and give me a green check. Class doesn't count if they don't sign in. Kids take turns reading the classroom rules and these are posted in every session. As the year goes on, towards the end of the year I put up a blank screen and have them tell me what the classroom expectations are by writing them on the screen. Kids take turns reading the class rules and they are posted in every session. They also know where the objectives are ( right after the classroom rules). There is an exit ticket to be completed before they leave. It must be checked a lot of the time before they are allowed to leave class.
I use a lot of humor "light It up" and always try to keep them active, give round of applause to everyone. Positive reinforcement and give applause for answering questions. Positive interactions and make sure all students are involved. I know you have a great answer, but I want to hear from someone that hasn't said anything. Then followed by cold calling if needed. I use green checks and red X's a lot for participation. Sometimes I start my class with a joke or a silly question that would pertain to my lesson, or a real world situation and ask them to write their responses on a board about it.
When my students come in I try and have an activity for them to complete either in the main room or a break out room. I the future I feel I need to shorten this time and not wait for all students to come in to the session. I would also like to include a picture from their history or art lessons to have them discuss. I believe it would be useful for some of them to speak with each other about what they are learning in other lessons.
I struggle with waiting too long for students to arrive, too. I now hesitate to have a real learning experience as the warm-up because I know so many students won't arrive early enough to complete it. We give extra credit points to students who come to ClassConnect in the high school. Maybe I will say you only get full credit if you are on time. I like the discussion idea, too, as it gives them a chance to socialize as well as get prepared for the learning ahead. Thanks for posting.
When students enter my classroom the first thing they see is a Welcome Board with our agenda for the day. I ask that all LCs and students (not matter which grade) are present at the beginning of our session so we can go through progress and talk about the week. This also gives me time to let the student tell me about their week and anything they want to share with me. In looking through the progress, I can see if the student has not mastered a concept that they are working on. We can then discuss the lesson and work until the student can master the concept. The next thing we look at is their ILP goals. I try to have their ILP goals on the board with the goal we will be working on that day highlighted. This helps me focus on the goals that are most important for the student, as well as shows the LC that there is a reason we take time to create ILPs. We then work on the assigned lesson for the session.
I like that your routines are focused on learning and student accountability. I like that you mention ILPs! I do think they need to be a part of all of our weekly or monthly routines.
The first screen students see when they enter my room is the previous day's exit ticket with the work. They know to give a green check or red x for understanding. When I start the recording I work through the exit ticket very quickly and start the day's objectives. At the end, I always do a few of the questions they may see on their assessment. The last slide is always an exit ticket slide and I push it out to them. Funny thing is, one day I was working through two lessons (because the first one was very short) and I put the assessment type polling questions for the first lesson between them instead of at the very end of the powerpoint. The students were frantically confused wondering why we were done after just 15 minutes. I explained that we were going to do another lesson, but going out of the routine a little bit seemed to really bother some. I haven't done that again.
I loved the review of these two chapters. It all comes down to why do we do what we do and are students at the center of our practices? Are we providing our students with a caring, culturally sensitive environment, which fosters the kind of citizenship we desire to see in the next generation? I believe that our practices have to align with our mission statement!
ReplyDeleteI loved the discussion! We have awesome teachers at WYVA and they are champions!! I learn so much from all of you! Kudos to this great staff! It's exciting to see where these discussions take our program! Thanks for being unaware mentors!
I love that you elaborate on the point that "students (are) at the center of our practices." We have an amazing staff who focuses so directly on our students. They are many ways that I see this happening, but I am both happy and proud to say that it does! Students are all unique individuals with different needs and our staff works hard to meet those needs!
DeleteThanks Angelique! I have really appreciated all the different ideas you gave us at the PD in March. I have really begun using a lot of games in my lessons and online activities, and will include flashcards in an upcoming lesson. I have begun using the big ideas and big picture page (my objectives) by using that to introduce my lesson and that helps the kids really get set and focus on what they are about to learn. It's strengthens mastery! I am excited again about creating lessons, so this has been a really great way to end the year on a strong, positive note!
DeleteThe Entry Routine and Do Now are two critical skills I would like to see used more. When I first started teaching I was given a book titled, "The First Days of School" by Harry Wong. It is an amazing book that talks about these topics although they were called bell work. I made it a point in my classroom that students knew when they walked in where to go, what should be turned in and where, and what they should be working on without my direct instruction. After transitioning to the virtual classroom, I have varied in my consistency of this critical skill. I instead replaced it with sign ins and social chatting time. We are lucky now to no longer need sign ins. We can see with one report who was in our classes and for how long. With this improvement, if I were still teaching whole groups I would immediately return to the Do Now. I would instead have a learning focused activity that students can complete independently. I would make my entry routine, the expectation that students completed that activity while waiting for the direct instruction to begin (and the stragglers to mosey in.) I would have an expected routine that doesn't change for displaying their answers to the activity. I think this would be a much better use of class time than social interaction even though that is important too.
ReplyDeleteI have decided to change up my entry routine. Normally I would have a landing page where they can sign in and post any accomplishments they wanted to share. The accomplishments were fun and all, but after a while the students were not posting. I guess there is something said about routine being too routine. Now I am going to start something more like a bell work activity, and review. That way it can cut down on down time. Today I am going to start with a reading activity where the students have to "read" a picture to try to figure out what message is being stated. I am optomisitic that the students will find it interesting.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great idea! I would be curious to see how the picture reading went.
DeleteI like the accomplishments idea. I don't think you have to do the same thing EVERY class. Maybe accomplishments could be shared once a month or something.
DeleteI like the accomplishments idea too. I may just steal it :) I always have the exit ticket and answers up from the day before. I tend to get the same response as you at times because they don't both giving a green check or red x for understanding like they should (without me telling them too). Maybe I need to change it up a little. About half the students are so used to doing it that they do it without being asked (but then I don't know if they really understand because it is always a green check). Thanks for the great idea. I would also like to know how the picture went!
DeleteWhen my students come in, they know they have 5 mins to get settled and do the audio check. The moment the timer goes off, we start the lesson. They also know what to do when they go to breakout rooms because I taught the procedures from the very beginning of school. The kids feel comfortable in class because I am sure to always have a lot of praise. I NEVER tell them they are wrong. I will let them know they are on the right track, etc. and then ask another student if they can help them out. My tone of voice is always upbeat and cheerful. I always end class with, See ya later Alligator, See ya Soon Baboon, Be sweet parakeet, etc. By the middle of the year, the kids are saying it to me before I can get it out of my mouth
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that you always start right on time. I also think it's okay that you NEVER tell them they are wrong. I agree with Right is Right, but I think, like you say, you can show the students they have room for improvement without coming right out and saying they are incorrect. Sounds like a fun and happy class :-)
DeleteEntry Routine and CR Culture
ReplyDeleteWhen my students enter the CR I have a Welcome Board with a table of contents, that I stole from Lynette (thanks Lynette!!), with what we will be doing for the day. For example, since we are working on registration I have that on there, progress review, I have MAP testing information for each individual student, ILP's if that still needs to be completed, and we have been reviewing MAP scores and our goals for growth. As far as CR Culture goes, I spend the first 5-7 minutes just talking to my students. I ask them about life and if anything new and exciting is happening. We meet for an hour so I feel like taking the first few minutes of our time is important so that I can form that rapport with each of my kiddos. I also take those first 10 minutes to touch base with the LC to make sure all is well.
How do I use my ideas about best practices in WYVA to unify the 7 Habits, TLAC and Technology in the classroom? Being an online teacher forces me to be innovative in how I reach out to children and engage them. I value good listening skills and building rapport with families because that is the key to their learning. Through experience, I have also found that best practices include the 7 habits...I live them; best practices also include engaging students through differentiated instruction and that would include the many ways I present material to students to encourage their learning and progress. I am not afraid to learn new things, to make a mistake or to grow... it is all an ongoing process.
ReplyDeleteRules are posted in my classroom and students clearly know what they are. Students help write objectives; using critical thinking skills- how to get from A-Z. Seven habits used in monthly meetings and throughout classes. My classroom is safe zone and students know I am still an active learner too, so we share ideas; right. wrong, etc. No thumbs down unless given permission to do so- we encourage in everything we do. In writing they have to give two positive comments to every one critical critique. Notebooks and pencils are required for every class- they have been taught how to take effective notes using Cornell System. My beginning of year survey is something I do with my students rather than send it out for them to complete- so we can talk, discuss and get to know one another better and ask questions on the spot. Cold calling is part of all my classrooms and students know it and are ready for it. Active participation is required on their part and they come ready to participate.
ReplyDeleteI am so impressed that you establish such important routines right in the beginning of the year. Clearly you use routines to raise expectations and increase quality student learning in your classroom. Amazing!
DeleteI hold homeroom meeting monthly with my students and go over the 7 habit for that month. I always ask them at the end of the meeting to make a list of what they do during that month, for I will ask them to tell me at the next meeting what they did, and they usually have a good answer for me for they know I'm going to ask them to put it on the screen. I also use the 7 habits in the newspaper constantly. Every habit is used in one way or another: have to be proactive, begin with the end in mind, for example they are required to write an article for every edition and are held accountable for it, so they do have to begin with the end in mind.
ReplyDeleteTechnology is used in the newspaper, math classes, writing classes, the Iditarod, in many different ways. For example, I did "Christmas Around the World" in writing this year on traditions in other cultures. They had to move from breakout room to breakout room to view different culture about different countries by clicking on different links about traditions, recipes, etc. They then had to come back to the main room and write about what they learned and what was their favorite country and what the tradition was. They then had to write about their own family traditions. I used links about Martin Luther King and his speech, or when an author comes to visit the newspaper a link was shown about the author ahead of time so when he did come as a guest speaker the students knew something about him before an interview.
For the Iditarod the students had to create a final presentation, so I held sessions with kids to teach them how to use power point. I have also shown kids how to save things on their desktop and make file folders on their desktops so they can file and find their writing more easily. They have also been taught how to file share this year along with application sharing.
Expectations in my classroom are always set. Slides are made to teach students how to do audio set-up and they are taught this at the beginning of the school year. When they come into my classroom, they sign in and then do an audio set-up and give me a green check. Class doesn't count if they don't sign in. Kids take turns reading the classroom rules and these are posted in every session. As the year goes on, towards the end of the year I put up a blank screen and have them tell me what the classroom expectations are by writing them on the screen. Kids take turns reading the class rules and they are posted in every session. They also know where the objectives are ( right after the classroom rules). There is an exit ticket to be completed before they leave. It must be checked a lot of the time before they are allowed to leave class.
I use a lot of humor "light It up" and always try to keep them active, give round of applause to everyone. Positive reinforcement and give applause for answering questions. Positive interactions and make sure all students are involved. I know you have a great answer, but I want to hear from someone that hasn't said anything. Then followed by cold calling if needed. I use green checks and red X's a lot for participation. Sometimes I start my class with a joke or a silly question that would pertain to my lesson, or a real world situation and ask them to write their responses on a board about it.
I like that you hold students accountable from month to month for living the 7 habits. That is something we could with ILPs, too.
DeleteWhen my students come in I try and have an activity for them to complete either in the main room or a break out room. I the future I feel I need to shorten this time and not wait for all students to come in to the session. I would also like to include a picture from their history or art lessons to have them discuss. I believe it would be useful for some of them to speak with each other about what they are learning in other lessons.
ReplyDeleteI struggle with waiting too long for students to arrive, too. I now hesitate to have a real learning experience as the warm-up because I know so many students won't arrive early enough to complete it. We give extra credit points to students who come to ClassConnect in the high school. Maybe I will say you only get full credit if you are on time. I like the discussion idea, too, as it gives them a chance to socialize as well as get prepared for the learning ahead. Thanks for posting.
DeleteWhen students enter my classroom the first thing they see is a Welcome Board with our agenda for the day. I ask that all LCs and students (not matter which grade) are present at the beginning of our session so we can go through progress and talk about the week. This also gives me time to let the student tell me about their week and anything they want to share with me. In looking through the progress, I can see if the student has not mastered a concept that they are working on. We can then discuss the lesson and work until the student can master the concept. The next thing we look at is their ILP goals. I try to have their ILP goals on the board with the goal we will be working on that day highlighted. This helps me focus on the goals that are most important for the student, as well as shows the LC that there is a reason we take time to create ILPs. We then work on the assigned lesson for the session.
ReplyDeleteI like that your routines are focused on learning and student accountability. I like that you mention ILPs! I do think they need to be a part of all of our weekly or monthly routines.
DeleteThe first screen students see when they enter my room is the previous day's exit ticket with the work. They know to give a green check or red x for understanding. When I start the recording I work through the exit ticket very quickly and start the day's objectives. At the end, I always do a few of the questions they may see on their assessment. The last slide is always an exit ticket slide and I push it out to them. Funny thing is, one day I was working through two lessons (because the first one was very short) and I put the assessment type polling questions for the first lesson between them instead of at the very end of the powerpoint. The students were frantically confused wondering why we were done after just 15 minutes. I explained that we were going to do another lesson, but going out of the routine a little bit seemed to really bother some. I haven't done that again.
ReplyDelete