Final Exams

Although there is still one month left to the school year, students should be thinking about preparing for their final exams.

How can parents support their scholars without interfering? Start by asking what your student's plan is for preparing for finals. This gives your scholar the high-ability cue that tells them you trust their ability to generate an effective study plan.

Ask if the exam is cumulative or not. If a plan has not already been designed, this will help give perspective regarding how much studying will be required.

Ask if the teacher is holding extra help sessions before or after school. Encourage the use of this opportunity!

Ask if the exam schedule has been posted online. Again, while developing a study schedule, it is important to know the date of the exam!

Ask if your scholar has a special request for breakfast on exam day. Wouldn't you like to have your favorite breakfast before your big work presentation?

"Teach Like a Champion" Revisited

I had an interesting conversation recently regarding Doug Lemov's book "Teach Like a Champion." My colleague introduced me to a criticism on the book: it is too formulaic. My knee-jerk response was to be defensive, so I took a moment to think. My reply was fairly non-committal: New teachers need strategies to use in the classroom. This book provides strategies.

Then I started to really think. Was I defending the book because I liked it when I first read it and haven't taken a critical look at it since? Is it in fact, too formulaic? So I reflected and hoped to come up with a really complex provocative response. Instead, I ended up with this: Doug Lemov's book "Teach Like a Champion" provides teachers of all ability levels with tools to use organically as they work to create the classroom culture that empowers all students to succeed.

It's up to us, the teachers, to use these tools as we see fit and to remember to vary our approaches to increase student learning. That's a formula for success!

Setting Goals

Setting goals can be a difficult concept to grasp, but I have learned a lot about setting goals while clearing trees from a property this summer. I learned that I have two styles of goal setting when attempting to complete the minor steps that support a larger goal: Task and Time.

Task

We had several big trees that needed to have large branches removed. We knew it would take quite a bit of time to remove them all safely, but we could not estimate how much time it would take us. There were too many factors: Could we reach them safely? Would the branches drop where we wanted them to? Would the saw blade break? We also knew that the number of branches on the tree we focused on were limited. There were a finite number of branches, and we knew we could accomplish all the branches in one day. So, we set a Task Goal for ourselves: Remove all the undesirable branches from one tree.

Students and teachers can also benefit from setting a Task Goal. In writing an essay, it may help some students to focus on the task of writing just one paragraph at a time. For a long math homework assignment, some students may prefer to complete a predetermined number of problems then stretch their legs for five minutes. A long reading assignment can be broken down into reading chapters or to a natural break in the writing.

A Task Goal is a good way to approach jobs that have a quantifiable nature.

Education Law

How much do teachers really know about education law? If they have only attended the Teachers' Lounge School of Law, then they don't know much...and what they do know is probably not true! I am discovering that the more teachers base their education law knowledge of the knowledge and expertise of other uneducated teachers, the more they put themselves - and their students - at risk.

Any educator that is interested in learning about education law in layman's terms should consider reading the book School Law: What Every Educator Should Know, A User-Friendly Guide by David Schimmel, Louis Fischer, and Leslie R. Stellman. It is easy to understand and contains numerous examples of cases that demonstrate the concepts that are presented. This is the required reading for the course I am currently taking: Teachers and the Law.

Another resource that we frequently use is Principals Teaching the Law: 10 Legal Lessons Your Teachers Must Know by David M. Schimmel, Suzanne E. Eckes, and Matthew C. Militello. As the title indicates, this book has ten lessons that lead learners (principals and directors) can use with their team to share education law knowledge.

I encourage teachers to learn the laws and regulations in their districts. Protect your students, your schools, your team, and yourself!

Success

We live in a world of 140 character tweets, 6.5 second vine clips, and emoticons. Everything we think or feel and want to share with the world must be distilled down to its purest form - its essence - so that our followers, viewers, and friends will know what we are experiencing the instant they view our post.

Within this instantaneous world, I am working with students toward success - their success as well as my own success. I am working on both because they are inextricably intertwined.  I measure my own success in challenging questions a student is finally acting bold enough to ask, connections between concepts that students uncover on their own, and "aha" moments when a student's eyes light up with sudden and deep understanding.

Ready? Set... Back to School!

Ready?

The end of summer approaches, and the beginning of the new school year is almost here. Back to school clothes and supplies have been purchased, and everyone is starting to get nervous and excited. What could we be forgetting?

Set...

Here is a list of five items to address that you may not have done yet:

The Bag

Your student may have a new bag this year, but perhaps the bag from last school year is just fine? Don't worry about replacing it for the start of the school year, worry about cleaning it! Schedule time with your young child (or assign it to your your older student) to clean the bag for the school year. Empty it completely, wash it in the washing machine or with the hose outside (I recommend this method - wear your bathing suit and bring water balloons!), and restock it with the usual supplies. Don't forget a fully charged calculator! (Keep your eye out for backpacks on sale in late September and early October. Grab one or two for backup.)

Summer Work

Make sure your scholar has completed the assignment(s), saved a copy on the home computer and in remote storage if it is a writing assignment, and placed a protected hard copy in a folder in the clean bag. Name, assignment details, and date should appear at the top of the pages or where the directions indicate.

Screenleap and iPads

Today I had the opportunity to turn a technology failure into a success using ScreenLeap in my 1:1 iPad middle school Spanish classroom.

My lesson plan was based on projecting an interactive presentation on an interactive whiteboard (IWB). The students would add to their notes from a previous class. However, the VGA port on my MacBook has become very temperamental, and the laptop did not detect the projector once it was connected.

My students were prepared for class with their iPads, and I directed them to ScreenLeap while I quickly logged into the site frommy MacBook and shared my entire screen (which was displaying the interactive presentation). Once I was sharing, ScreenLeap provided me with a code which I wrote on the board. The students keyed the code into the space provided on ScreenLeap and were amazed to be viewing my computer screen on their iPad!

Is Twitter Powerless Against Spam?

An interesting thing has happened to one of the weekly educators' Twitter chats that I attend: We've got SPAM! Over the past two or three weeks, what started as just a smattering of spam has turned into an all-out onslaught of off-topic, lewd, and derogatory images and tweets. However, we are educators - which means we love to solve problems. Our (awesome) moderators quickly chose a new platform, Google+, and those who already had an account were able to switch over easily.

Obviously, these incidents raise a few questions from the people involved, myself included:

• Is Twitter powerless against spammers? 
• Is Google+ a viable platform alternative for weekly professional development chats? 
• How can we merge the professional learning network developed on the original platform with Google+?
• Will we eventually have the same spam issue on Google+?

I am so excited to have an amazing professional learning network and am in awe of the work that they do. They will not be derailed by spammers. They will continue to meet weekly. They will continue to collaborate online. The only question is, which platform will we use?

Get it together, Twitter. We've got our eyes on Google+.

UPDATE: After weeks of intrusive posts by spammers, the most recent #satchat was nearly spam-free! So, the answer to my first question, is Twitter powerless against spammers, is no! Twitter has the power to stop the spam. I am interested to learn how it was addressed, and how much effort our moderators had to put into the effort. As far as the other two questions regarding Google+, I am still exploring how it can be used to continue my efforts to grow my professional learning network.

Google Forms Success!

I decided to continue my experiment with Google Forms by using it to create my Teacher Evaluation Form for my students to complete. The process of creating the form was quick and easy. I used Multiple Choice and Short Answer type questions. I created the form in about 15 minutes for the 25 questions. My students were able to access the form on their iPads and completed them in about 10 minutes.

Next, I quickly accessed the spreadsheet that showed all the responses and printed it for my department chair. Done! Now I am waiting to hear back from my department chair to discuss the results.

I plan to copy the form in order to use it for other classes as well.

I call this a Google Forms success!

Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs)

The year before last, my school installed interactive whiteboard (IWB) systems. We happened to purchase the ēno by Polyvision for the middle school as a pilot program, then purchased the Mimio system for the upper school the following year.

The IWB system has three distinct components as it relates to teaching: the projector, the interactive whiteboard, and the presentation software. The projector can be used as a ... well, a projector for showing the class images from a computer or tablet (we have iPads). The interactive whiteboard features allow a person to use a stylus at the board exactly the way you would use a mouse on a computer. The interactive software allows the teacher to create dynamic presentations for a unique experience each time the material is presented. (You can download software free at Promethean.)

Here are some problems and solutions we learned along the way while using the eno IWBs.

TodaysMeet for Twitter Basics

There are some amazing resources online for teachers who would like to get started using Twitter, but aren't quite sure how. When I first started using Twitter,  I would begin to read these blogs and get completely overwhelmed. How would I have time to tweet if I couldn't find the time to finish reading an article about tweeting?

Here I will put together some Twitter basics then explain how I have used todaysmeet to teach twitter basics to middle school students..

Create an Account

As always, create your account. Go to twitter - the link brings you directly to a page on which you can create an account. If you are trying to brand yourself, you will want to use a name that is recognizable and consistent with your brand. Same goes with your profile picture. Think before you create: This is how you are building your digital footprint. What footprint do you want to have?

Hashtags

Hashtags are user generated shortcuts so you can get right to the types of tweets (twitter posts) that you want to read. Including them in your tweets means that like-minded tweeps (Twitter + peeps = tweeps, your people on twitter!) can find your tweets easily as well. They look like #edchat (which is a great hashtag for teachers to search for).

The Not-Quite-Flapped Classroom Part 2

Perhaps you have already read about my first steps with The Not-Quite-Flipped Classroom and are wondering about my progress. I have continued my exploration of a hybrid classroom with mixed results.

Classroom Atmosphere

When my students know in advance that we are using personal iPads and video tutorials in class, they arrive and get right to work. Most students work alone, but others choose to share an iPad and are quick to borrow my headphone splitter. I allow students to pick their own partners for the most part.  Sometimes I step in and redirect students to more productive partnerships. Class begins quickly and efficiently.

Work Ethics

Students are able to concentrate without distractions on the video tutorials that I have created using educreations. They can really focus because they have blocked out external distractions by using earbuds or headphones.  Each student is able to get into the written work that is both the class assignment and the homework. This allows students to have less written work to do at home.

Tragedy in CT

My heart is so heavy for the students, families, and community in Connecticut.

If you are looking for resources for talking with children about this tragedy, please feel free to take a look at my Pinterest board, After School Tragedy.

Peace, prayers, love, and hope from me to you.

Pinterest Basics

I have been exploring how Pinterest can be used in education as a platform for digital curation on a zero dollar budget. In order to participate, you must first know how to use Pinterest. (Feel free to check out my Pinterest boards.)

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board. On each board, you can "pin" images from websites that link back to the original site. Once you create your account, you can create several public boards and up to three private boards. The public boards are ... well, public! Anyone can find the board, follow it, and repin from the board. Only you can access your private boards.

Getting Started with Pinterest

So, you have already created your account and a couple of boards. There are a few basic options for pinning to these boards.

Pinning Basics

Many websites already have a Pin button that you can select while on that site. You will get a pop-up that allows you to select the image and board that you want, as well as the option to tweet your pin. There is also a text box which you may use to add your own description of the site. Once you have completed these, select Pin.

Sky Over School

Sky over School, a photo by KGallsEduSvcs on Flickr.

As I left work one day, I couldn't help but pause and take this photo with my iPad.

Technology Flavor of the Week

At many schools, teachers suffer from the Technology Flavor of the Week Syndrome. Every time some new exciting technology comes out, we jump in with (a token pilot program in which we are told to make it look successful because they have a plan to jump in with) two feet. I believe I know what the powers-that-be must think: New technology makes us appear cutting edge; This is being given to us as a gift - let's show how much we appreciate our donor by putting it to really great use; and Other schools have it - we can't fall behind! The reality is that teachers cannot keep up with a new piece of technology every year that they are required to somehow work into their curriculum.

The irony is that each new piece of technology is great! Interactive whiteboard? Yes, please! Computers in my classroom? Absolutely! 1:1 iPad program? Sounds exciting!

So what's my problem with the technology flavor of the month?

The Not-Quite-Flipped Classroom

I have read so much information about flipping classrooms. I can see both the benefits and the disadvantages. As I am not quite ready to experiment with this technique until I know my students will find success with it, I decided to try a Not-Quite-Flipped lesson.

I'd Like You to Meet My Class

 The group that I used for this experiment was my grade 8 Pre-Algebra students. There are fifteen students in my class, seven boys and eight girls, and one student with a specified learning disability (SLD). I teach in a private middle school, grades six through eight, with a total of 77 students. We are in our first year of a 1:1 iPad program with iPads that the school purchased, and students are assigned one iPad for the year to use in school and take home each day.

The Backend

Prior to class, I had a bit of work to do. On my iPad, I used the educreations app to sign up for an account with http://www.educreations.com/. Then I created a video tutorial with the app for the lesson topic. A few things to note: Create all the backgrounds for the slides first, then go back and record your voice while you write, and once you have recorded your voice, there is no edit feature. Next I went to the educreations website on my computer and created a class and added the tutorial I had just created. Finally, I sent an email to my students with a link to the class in educreations.

What's your mantra?

I wake up every day and have the same thought: What if today is the day my students remember?

I try to keep this in mind whenever I interact with students. Every interaction with another person leaves a print on that person's life. It may be positive, negative, or easily forgotten. How can I know in the moment which category I am in?

I have no way of knowing where the student is in life at the moment of our exchange. A student who appears defiant may be dealing with some personal issue outside of school. How will they remember me and our conversation during a delicate time? Will I have been compassionate? Abrasive? Caring?

Some students in need of positive reinforcement act out in negative ways, gaining attention through inappropriate or disruptive behavior. What do these students most need from me? Do they need to know that I believe they can do better? That I have high standards for them, and I expect them to reach those standards?

It is a difficult thought to have at times: What if today is the day my students remember? But if I try to hold this thought throughout the day and let it guide me, at least I will look back and know that my students will remember the best I had to offer.

Managing 3 Middle School Classroom Interruptions

Working in a middle school classroom is a unique experience. Students are not quite little and not quite big ... although sometimes they are impressively either - or both!

I have a few strategies for managing a classroom for this age group. They are listed below under the type of situation in which I use them.

However, before I get into how I manage these amazing and unpredictable creatures, I have to share an important piece of information: I have worked very hard to nurture a classroom culture in which every person in the room is assumed to be doing their best at every given moment. The best a student (or a teacher) can do today may not be the same as tomorrow. Whatever the best may be, that is what we expect from ourselves and from each other.