Today was Halloween! I was not sure what to expect with the different .... choices of costumes that could appear in a secondary school. I was pleasantly surprised that many of the students made excellent choices. Many of these costumes were not store bought, but rather they were hand made by the students. They were a mixture of the classic costumes and witty ideas.
More than just costumes, something happened at school today. The students stepped up and showed their true colours and the colours were beautiful.
At lunch in the cafeteria, the Student Council was running a best costume contest. The final two costumes were a Shrek/Fiona couple and Bender from Futurama. The paired costume was a student dressed all out as Fiona with a younger brother (a primary student) as Shrek - it was adorable! The Bender costume was all hand-made and well designed.
When the student population voted by cheers, it was difficult to tell which one received the loudest cheer. The student council then did something a bit different. Instead of picking the costume that was most relevant to them, they selected the Shrek/Fiona pair to win. They knew how much it would mean that much more to the younger student.
As a teacher; this was a very, very proud moment that they saw the good of their decision, even while influenced by the large amounts of sugar in their systems.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
The Power of NO
Today I had the privilege to attend a classroom management session by Rick Smith. It was amazing! I learned so much, reinforced what I was doing and gave me many practical items to take back to my classroom.
Looking back on it immediately, one thing has stuck out to me and it is the power of no. We all know as teachers that we make decisions and that the students need to follow them. In a secondary classroom, I find myself explaining the reasons for these decisions that takes away from the class discussion or activity. These explanations usually allow the students to argue about the decision made. This affects my authority as a teacher in the classroom and distracts not only the students but all of the other students in the class. Rick suggested keeping your vocabulary to two statements - can you guess what they are?
1) No
2) I understand and the answer is No
I think these two statements are very powerful. Firstly, the student is going to run out of excuses or reasons and stop sooner or later. Secondly, this gives us as teachers an easier chance to hold our ground.
I think that it is important, as a secondary teacher, that I give opportunity at a later time to provide that learning opportunity to the student on why I made my decision; but I agree that it is should be expressed later.
With this strategy in mind, I am going to start implementing it immediately. I have a couple students with exceptionalities and I think this will minimize the confrontation in the lesson. In addition, this will minimize the number of the students who like to leave class to "wander" and chat with friends. My goal will be to use this strategy in at least two conversations/confrontations/arguments I have with students between now and Friday. I know that it is not realistic to have it in all of my interactions right now, but I will make a start!
Looking back on it immediately, one thing has stuck out to me and it is the power of no. We all know as teachers that we make decisions and that the students need to follow them. In a secondary classroom, I find myself explaining the reasons for these decisions that takes away from the class discussion or activity. These explanations usually allow the students to argue about the decision made. This affects my authority as a teacher in the classroom and distracts not only the students but all of the other students in the class. Rick suggested keeping your vocabulary to two statements - can you guess what they are?
1) No
2) I understand and the answer is No
I think these two statements are very powerful. Firstly, the student is going to run out of excuses or reasons and stop sooner or later. Secondly, this gives us as teachers an easier chance to hold our ground.
I think that it is important, as a secondary teacher, that I give opportunity at a later time to provide that learning opportunity to the student on why I made my decision; but I agree that it is should be expressed later.
With this strategy in mind, I am going to start implementing it immediately. I have a couple students with exceptionalities and I think this will minimize the confrontation in the lesson. In addition, this will minimize the number of the students who like to leave class to "wander" and chat with friends. My goal will be to use this strategy in at least two conversations/confrontations/arguments I have with students between now and Friday. I know that it is not realistic to have it in all of my interactions right now, but I will make a start!
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Just starting to use Technology
I think the biggest struggle I am finding is determining the best use of technology in my classroom. I want to find a balance between all of the tools that students can use as well as f2f interaction.
I am a mathematics teacher, so I find adding technology into the classroom a bit more challenging. I am successful at using tools to help learning such as graphing calculators or Google Forms for exit surveys, but I feel that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
My goal over the next couple months is to find a few tools that I can use effectively in my classroom that allow my students to develop perseverance through the tougher questions and challenge them to apply their knowledge.
I would love to hear from you about your best tech in the classroom, especially if you have used it in a math lesson!
I am a mathematics teacher, so I find adding technology into the classroom a bit more challenging. I am successful at using tools to help learning such as graphing calculators or Google Forms for exit surveys, but I feel that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
My goal over the next couple months is to find a few tools that I can use effectively in my classroom that allow my students to develop perseverance through the tougher questions and challenge them to apply their knowledge.
I would love to hear from you about your best tech in the classroom, especially if you have used it in a math lesson!
Google Moderator
Have you not heard of it? Don't worry, I had not idea this Google creation existed until I attended the ECOO 2013 Conference just this past week.
What is it you ask?
Google Moderator is a tool that you can use to pick the best topics. Participants ask questions and then you get to vote on the ones your like and the ones that you dislike. The top questions float to the top of the screen, while, unpopular ones float down to the bottom. It is pretty neat!
No more fighting over what topics are reviewed in a review class and no more struggling to find questions that interest the students on the new article you just read, Google Moderator will find out the top ones for you!
Here is how one teacher uses Google Moderator, to give you a better idea on how it can be used:
More than just a teaching tool, you can use this to determine important (or most popular) topics for department and whole school meetings and for sport teams to discuss what they would like to practice.
Today I will be using Google Moderator for the first time. The students in my math class will be logging in at the start of the class and letting me know what topics they would like to review before the summative assessment tomorrow. The most popular topics, for the class, will win the first spot in the review list.
This great tool will give students a chance to have their input into their learning and show them that they are not alone in their questions!
What is it you ask?
Google Moderator is a tool that you can use to pick the best topics. Participants ask questions and then you get to vote on the ones your like and the ones that you dislike. The top questions float to the top of the screen, while, unpopular ones float down to the bottom. It is pretty neat!
No more fighting over what topics are reviewed in a review class and no more struggling to find questions that interest the students on the new article you just read, Google Moderator will find out the top ones for you!
Here is how one teacher uses Google Moderator, to give you a better idea on how it can be used:
More than just a teaching tool, you can use this to determine important (or most popular) topics for department and whole school meetings and for sport teams to discuss what they would like to practice.
Today I will be using Google Moderator for the first time. The students in my math class will be logging in at the start of the class and letting me know what topics they would like to review before the summative assessment tomorrow. The most popular topics, for the class, will win the first spot in the review list.
This great tool will give students a chance to have their input into their learning and show them that they are not alone in their questions!
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Google Forms for Formative Assessment
Google forms are a great way to collect data quickly and efficiently. The bonus is that it they are also really easy to create.
How can you add them into your classrooms? There are a few ideas:
How can you add them into your classrooms? There are a few ideas:
- Use them as exit cards
- Have them as peer feedback forms
- Sign out sheets
Today was the first day that I used a Google form for my exit card. I had the students answer three short questions to let me know how they were feeling. If they had their device, they signed into the form themselves, and if not, they answered it on the teacher's computer on the way out of the classroom.
Here is a sample of the form that I used today:
I really like the ideas of giving the students the opportunity to say that they "aren't there yet." In my classroom this allows the students to identify that they are working towards the understanding and that it is okay to not be there yet. Not being there yet does not necessarily mean that you need extra help, you just need extra time to strengthen and connect your understanding.
Once all of the students have filled in the form, you can see the data in graphs - much easier than looking through all of those pieces of paper. Google does the hard work for you!
Google forms also allow for a variety of different questions from text to multiple choice. No matter the type of question, Google will still sort the information! Such a great tool for the classroom.
How do you use Google Forms in your classroom?
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Tech In the Classroom
It is here! Technology is everywhere! Your students have it, you have it and whether you like it or not, it is going to be used.
It is our job as teachers to teach students how to use it effectively (although many of us don't know how to) and how to make the tech work uniquely for each of our students.
Right now, there is so much information out there that you may feel like you are in tech overload. I agree, that trying to stay up on the latest gadget, app or tool is exhausting. There are so many options and different ideas for completing the same task that it is difficult to choose.
As a somewhat tech-savy teacher, I am now creating a home where teachers can go (mainly based on Secondary School) and see ideas and thoughts around the latest gadgets/app/tools. There are my ideas on how to use tech in the classroom and how to make it work EASILY for you and your students.
My mission:
It is our job as teachers to teach students how to use it effectively (although many of us don't know how to) and how to make the tech work uniquely for each of our students.
Right now, there is so much information out there that you may feel like you are in tech overload. I agree, that trying to stay up on the latest gadget, app or tool is exhausting. There are so many options and different ideas for completing the same task that it is difficult to choose.
As a somewhat tech-savy teacher, I am now creating a home where teachers can go (mainly based on Secondary School) and see ideas and thoughts around the latest gadgets/app/tools. There are my ideas on how to use tech in the classroom and how to make it work EASILY for you and your students.
My mission:
- to make it easy for teachers to integrate the technology into their classrooms
- to help teachers incorporate technology rather than fight against it
- to assist in developing new ideas for how to engage all of your students, even your most difficult ones, using technology
As I come across other information and useful links they will also be posted. Please comment and help me brainstorm these ideas - this is part of the new tech! Provide me with your thinking and ideas and we can work together to make useful and meaningful resources for our classrooms.
E
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