This week, a question was posed on Edutopia about the idea of using Sustained Silent Writing during your English classes to take a closer look at students' writing needs. I thought this was a fantastic idea. I used to do this with my second graders. I would show them a picture and then prompt them to write about some related topic. It was one way to get the kids' pencils moving. I was able to see which kids were immediately stuck with the ideas at hand. I could see which students would write the bare minimum, and I could see which students were fully confident in their abilities. This is something I have stepped away from since I moved up to the third grade this year, but I think I will very quickly weave this back into my instructional schedule.
After have the students write for 8-10 minutes, I then share all of the anonymous stories with the class and we make corrections to the stories that we read. The children enjoy hearing their stories read aloud, and they find it helpful to see which corrections are made. It is my hope that the students will learn and grow from this type of an activity and I will work this into my lesson plans right away!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Study Buddies
As I said in my last blog, Parent Teacher Conferences were this week. I had a lot of concerns about one of my conferences and even alloted 30 minutes for this one conference. It actually lasted 45 minutes, but it was filled with lots of great ideas to get one student moving in his reading ability. The parents suggested that during his after school latchkey time, the young man spend some time reading with an older students. He would be able to develop a relationship with an older, model student and would also be able to practice his reading skills with someone who is not in an authority role.
Ironically, I was looking through my RSS Feeds and Nancy Jang has posted on Scholastic's website about "Creating a Successful Buddy Program." Her ideas are more directed toward full class activities and projects, but I think that I can start with these ideas and use them to create a relationship between my student and an older reading buddy. Nancy Jang lists some tips to get started:
1. Find a partner teacher
2. Pair up the students
3. Do team-building and get-to-know-you activities
4. Hold academic tutoring sessions
5. Plan social gatherings
6. Plan with your partner teacher
7. Commit to meeting once a week
8. Make academics fun with learning games connected to your curriculum
9. Get the parents involved
10. Jump in with both feet
Read the full article here!
Ironically, I was looking through my RSS Feeds and Nancy Jang has posted on Scholastic's website about "Creating a Successful Buddy Program." Her ideas are more directed toward full class activities and projects, but I think that I can start with these ideas and use them to create a relationship between my student and an older reading buddy. Nancy Jang lists some tips to get started:
1. Find a partner teacher
2. Pair up the students
3. Do team-building and get-to-know-you activities
4. Hold academic tutoring sessions
5. Plan social gatherings
6. Plan with your partner teacher
7. Commit to meeting once a week
8. Make academics fun with learning games connected to your curriculum
9. Get the parents involved
10. Jump in with both feet
Read the full article here!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
TED.com
I was browsing through the Edutopia Blogs tonight and came across a group of people who were discussing a website called TED.com. TED's tagline is "Ideas Worth Spreading." I thought if everyone was having a "Love Affair" with this website, I better check it out! There are a lot of videos on this website of people talking and sharing ideas. I was trying to figure out how to use this in my classroom and how it would have any educational value for me. So, I typed "Kids" into the search box and found a whole list of videos to watch. One title caught my eye immediately, "What Adults Can Learn From Kids."
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/adora_svitak.html
This is a video of a young girl talking about everything we have learned from children. She is very sarcastic in her presentation and she is very well-spoken for a youngster! I loved listening to her and found myself wanting to share this video with fellow teachers. She makes some wonderful points and really gets you thinking! I'm hoping to find other presenters on this website who can also get my students thinking outside the box!
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/adora_svitak.html
This is a video of a young girl talking about everything we have learned from children. She is very sarcastic in her presentation and she is very well-spoken for a youngster! I loved listening to her and found myself wanting to share this video with fellow teachers. She makes some wonderful points and really gets you thinking! I'm hoping to find other presenters on this website who can also get my students thinking outside the box!
Conference Time!
I am spending tonight gearing up for a 12 hour day tomorrow filled with Parent-Teacher Conferences. At our school, it is a one day, all day kind of thing! All the parents sign up for a time, I collect work for weeks, write special notes, record test scores, and prepare to "chat" with each parent. I've been through this before, so it is nothing new, but every year it seems to worry me or get me nervous. What is going to be said? How are things going to be portrayed? Am I going to support and encourage while still setting high expectations for all of my students?
Anyway, as I prepare each year and get myself ready to do the talking, I always wonder, what would the kids say? One of my colleagues told me today that she had her students do their own Conduct Records. The kids know what they do and they are pretty honest about it. I thought this would be a great thing to show to parents. As I was getting ready tonight, I found this link on Scholastic's website as well: http://blogs.scholastic.com/classroom_solutions/2010/11/student-led-parent-teacher-conferences.html This article is a representation of STUDENT LED Conferences. I remember doing these in middle school, but I had forgotten about them. I think this is a link I will save for next year! There are even directions for organizing and creating a Power Point Presentation for the children to share with their parents during conferences. In reality, I could have had the kids create their Power Point Presentation last week and I could have pulled them up on my laptop to share with the parents tomorrow. But, oh well, next year is another chance to do something different!
Anyway, as I prepare each year and get myself ready to do the talking, I always wonder, what would the kids say? One of my colleagues told me today that she had her students do their own Conduct Records. The kids know what they do and they are pretty honest about it. I thought this would be a great thing to show to parents. As I was getting ready tonight, I found this link on Scholastic's website as well: http://blogs.scholastic.com/classroom_solutions/2010/11/student-led-parent-teacher-conferences.html This article is a representation of STUDENT LED Conferences. I remember doing these in middle school, but I had forgotten about them. I think this is a link I will save for next year! There are even directions for organizing and creating a Power Point Presentation for the children to share with their parents during conferences. In reality, I could have had the kids create their Power Point Presentation last week and I could have pulled them up on my laptop to share with the parents tomorrow. But, oh well, next year is another chance to do something different!
Friday, November 5, 2010
A Virtual Principal?
Recently, I took a look at a video on Edutopia called, "Meet a Virtual Principal: How to Lead from a Distance." This video is a great link which shows a number of middle and high school students at work on their individual computers. I found it very amazing to watch the kids busily working on the internet and talking to their professors over head-sets hooked up to their computers. I guess I have always just really wanted to see the technology at work in the classroom and I was shown a snipet of what that would be like. The children are all sitting at separate work stations on this video and do not appear to have much contact with the people around them. It is just astounding to think that they are getting the same education that we offer in a regular classroom filled with many chattering students and varying ideas. Does it really work? Is it just as effective? Has anyone else had any glimpses into a fully functioning technological classroom? I'm so intrigued, and I would like to see more!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Don't Forget About Art!
As I continue to think about what we are trying to do in the classroom, I am constantly thinking about how to make things more fun for the students. I realized that even in the core academic areas it is important to incorporate things like music, art and technology. This article I read this week from Carol Scott on a website called Change.org is all about a group of parents trying to incorporate the importance of art education into their schools. They fear that students are going to miss out on the fine arts aspects of education.
Ms. Scott says, "In our culture's shift to standardized tests, some educators worry that stressing "core" skills will mean that "extras" like art will be left out in the cold. If schools don't provide arts education to students, only the wealthier children, whose families can provide them with those opportunities outside of class, will truly have well-rounded education, they fear. Arts education improves interpersonal skills, emotional skills and group skills, recent studies say." I think it is going to be important for us, as teachers, to try to incorporate more fine arts skills into our classrooms to make up for the budget cuts that are taking place across the country. In doing so, we will be addressing some of the demands of differentiated instruction, also!
Ms. Scott says, "In our culture's shift to standardized tests, some educators worry that stressing "core" skills will mean that "extras" like art will be left out in the cold. If schools don't provide arts education to students, only the wealthier children, whose families can provide them with those opportunities outside of class, will truly have well-rounded education, they fear. Arts education improves interpersonal skills, emotional skills and group skills, recent studies say." I think it is going to be important for us, as teachers, to try to incorporate more fine arts skills into our classrooms to make up for the budget cuts that are taking place across the country. In doing so, we will be addressing some of the demands of differentiated instruction, also!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Laughing's My Favorite
I was reading the Scholastic blog today and a headline caught my eye, "Using Humor in the Classroom." I immediately thought of my little third graders and their smiling faces! One of the rules in my classroom is "Be Happy!" I'm always looking for the kids to enjoy what they are doing and to show their happiness to me through smiles. Their smiles get me through the hectic day, and I know I smile and relax because of them. There isn't a lot that can calm me down when I get stressed out, but the smile of a kid can always make me smile. I went through a bad string of panic attacks during college and dealt with the stress of finals by taking a picture of my young smiley cousin with me to each exam. Something about those pudgy cheeks and gummy grins just make me laugh!
We all know that laughter is one of the most important things in life...they say, "It keeps us young!" I think it is important to remember to bring it into your classroom as well. On the Scholastic website, Mary Blow says, "Laughing is something we forget to do when we become overwhelmed with lesson plans, grading, parent meetings, and state testing. It was then that I realized how important humor is in the classroom. It captivates and energizes, but more importantly, it helps you form relationships with your students." We all know about how overwhelming our jobs can be, but try to smile and to laugh. Just remember, we will be able to form important relationship with our students through that laugh or smile, too!
We all know that laughter is one of the most important things in life...they say, "It keeps us young!" I think it is important to remember to bring it into your classroom as well. On the Scholastic website, Mary Blow says, "Laughing is something we forget to do when we become overwhelmed with lesson plans, grading, parent meetings, and state testing. It was then that I realized how important humor is in the classroom. It captivates and energizes, but more importantly, it helps you form relationships with your students." We all know about how overwhelming our jobs can be, but try to smile and to laugh. Just remember, we will be able to form important relationship with our students through that laugh or smile, too!
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