Daily Assignment #70: 7 Qualities of Highly Effective Teachers

As the end of the school years nears, I would like to share with you some inspirational/motivational pieces I have found beginning with 7 Qualities of Highly Effective Teachers by Linc. Fisch.

Highly effective teachers care. They care about their students, their work, and themselves. They treat others with dignity; they respect others' integrity. They give high priority to benefiting others. They affirm others' strengths and beings; it's a kind of love. Highly effective teachers share. They share their knowledge, insights, and viewpoints with others. Their willingness to share is a way of life for them. They don't withhold information for personal gain. Highly effective teachers learn. They continually seek truth and meaning. They seek to discover new ideas and insights. They reflect on their experiences and incorporate the learning into their lives. They are willing to upgrade their skills. They continue growing and developing throughout their lives. Highly effective teachers create. They are willing to try the new and untested, to take risks for worthy educational outcomes. Anything worth doing is worth failing at. They are not discouraged by an occasional failure; they reframe the error as an opportunity to do better as a result of the experience. Highly effective teachers believe. They have faith in students. They trust students and are willing to grant them freedom and responsibility. They hold high expectations for their students, as well as for themselves. Highly effective teachers dream. They have a vision of success. They are driven by an image of excellence, the best that their innate abilities allow. They always seek to improve, never being content with just "gettingby" in teaching or in any other endeavor. Highly effective teachers enjoy. Teaching is not just employment to them; it is their Work. They throw themselves into it with vigor. They gain major satisfaction and joy from it. And that joy often infects their students.

I hope this inspires you and reaffirms all the hard work that you do.
Please share this link with colleagues and friends. If you haven't already, consider becoming a "Follower".Best Effort,Linda103

Daily Assignment #69: Best Effort

Several Followers have emailed and have asked why I close with "Best Effort."  I have learned, and believe, that everything we do is based on the effort we put into it.  If we, and our students, want to learn and be successful we must put in our best effort.  Best effort includes time, practice, focus, effective strategies, resourcefulness, using feedback, and determination.

When learning something new we must use effective effort to build capacity.  Example:  Learning to ski,  we must put incredible effort at the beginning and as we become better at skiing we put in less effort because we have built capacity.  For our students, learning any piece of content requires a lot of effort at the beginning, e.g. learning to read, memorizing the multiplication tables, learning the Periodic Table, Pythagorean theory, etc...

I no longer say to students "Good Luck" on a test, project, presentation, sport, etc...  I always say, "Best Effort".  Luck means outside influences lead to success.  Luck, good or bad, applies to the lottery, and we all know how that works.  Luck does not apply to learning and has no place in the classroom. "Best Effort" means success will be the result of the effort put into the test, project, etc...

I hope you will think about the language you use with your students in reference to effort and success.
So,
Best Effort,
Linda103

P.S.  Please share this link with colleagues and friends.

Daily Assignment #68: Closure for the End of the Year #3: Letters

This strategy is for the very beginning of community building for the new year and away for current students to "pass the wand" to the new students.

Each current student writes a letter to an incoming student for the next school year.  The letter should include a sentence welcoming the new student to the class, one or two sentences about projects and activities that were done this year, and perhaps a sentence on their favorite thing in the classroom.

Students should use the formal letter writing format.  Each letter should begin with "Dear...." and end with "Your Friend" or "Sincerely Yours".

Example:
Dear____________,
     Welcome to room 103.
     This is such an exciting class to be in.  This year we studied islands and got to make volcanoes.  We also studied Social Justice.  We did a play based on the Montgomery Boycott.  You probably don't know what that is yet, but you will.
    My favorite thing in the classroom is the art area.  We get to use clay, paints, markers and other neat stuff.
     I hope you have as much fun as me in room 103.

                                                                                          Your friend,
                                                                                          Benjamin


You may not have a class list for next September and therefore you cannot identify to whom each letter is to be addressed to.  So, just have the students write "Dear" and leave a blank, which you will fill in later.

Two weeks before school begins, send one of these letters and a welcoming letter from you to each of your new students. (refer to Daily Assignment #1)  This, of course, will require you to find a save place for the letters over the summer and to remember where you put them.

Daily Assignment #67: Closure for the End of the Year: #2 Goodbye Book

Another activity for the end of the year is a "Goodbye Book".  This provides a brief summary of the school year for the students.
The teacher puts the name of the class and the year on the front cover. The students complete the cover by decorating it with drawings of things that happened throughout the year.

On the inside have 8-10 pages with ideas for drawings or words.  For example:

Draw a picture of your teachers.
Draw a picture of a friend.
Something you learned.
Favorite field trip.
Something that made you laugh.
Favorite activity.
Favorite book.
Something I shared.
Something I'm good at.
Favorite project.
Favorite unit of study.
Autograph pages/ a gift from a friend.  (The gift from the friend would be kind words.)
A gift from your teacher. (Again, this would be kind words.)

Match the ideas to your class and your students.  I'm sure you have a lot more ideas.

On a side note, I spoke with a student today, who I had 15 years ago, she said she still has her book!  So, these are definitely keepers.

I hope you will experiment with this activity.
Please share this link with colleagues and friends.
If you haven't already, consider becoming a "Follower".
Best Effort,
Linda103
 

Daily Assignment #66: Closure for the End of the Year: #1 Portfolio Presentations

It is June 1st, which means you are almost at the of this school year.  YEA!!!!  Now, is a good time to start planning for the last week of school, if you haven't already.

An activity I did with students, the last week of school, were Portfolio Presentations.  I would meet with each student, (2-3 weeks before the end of school), and go through their work--math, writing, projects, drawings, journals, assessments.  Students would select a piece of work from the beginning of the year and, in the same content area, a piece of work from the end of the year.  We would conference on the significance of the selected work, e.g. why it was chosen, what it represents for the student, what is the difference between the 2 pieces of work, what did the student learn that makes the difference, can they demonstrate the learning. The students would write their responses, which are used for their oral presentation.
Example:
Math:  the student selects a worksheet, from September, which demonstrates his capacity to do simple equations.  The second worksheet, from May, represents the student's capacity to solve 3-digit subtraction equations with regrouping.  For the presentation the student would read their responses from the questions and then demonstrate how to solve a  3-digit subtraction equation with regrouping.

Reading: the student selects a book they read in September and then a book they are currently reading.  They respond to the questions.  For the presentation the student would read the responses then read a passage from the first book and then from the latest book.

Writing: the student would select a piece from the beginning of the year and a current piece.  For the presentation the student would read their responses then share their work.  This can be done by copying the writing onto a transparency or by using an Elmo, or copying onto a computer and showing on a Smart board.

Art work:  the student selects a piece of art from the beginning of the year, perhaps a drawing and a piece from the end of the year.  For the presentation the student reads their responses, shares the art work and demonstrates/describes a technique that they have learned.

Music:  the student selects a piece of music they learned at the beginning of the year and one they currently play/sing.  For the presentation they read their responses, play the 1st piece, then the 2nd.  To take this to the next level, the student could write their own piece of music to play/sing.

The presentations were done as part of a class breakfast.  Parents/families, colleagues, administrators and anyone else who wanted to, came to this event.  It was very powerful to hear and see the students share their learning.  The students took this event very seriously and really put in the effort into their presentations.

I hope you will consider this activity as you begin to plan for the end of the year.
Please share this link with colleagues and friends.
If you haven't already, consider becoming a "Follower".
Best Effort,
Linda103

Daily Assignment #65: Retention Part 2: How to tell the student

Once everyone has agreed that retention would be the best decision for a student, someone has to tell the student.   Some parents prefer to do this themselves.  While other parents prefer the teacher tells the student and then the parent does follow-up conversations at home.  Some parents and teachers, jointly tell the student.  In most cases, when I retained a student, the parents and I told the student jointly.  We would meet with the student at the very end of the year, but before move-up day.  The conversation would begin with a question for the student, such as "How do you feel the school year went for you?'  With follow-up questions, "What was your favorite subject?"  "What did you like best?"  "What did you find challenging?"   "Was there something you would like to have more time to learn or something you would like to improve on?"  "What do you feel was the hardest/most challenging subject?"   I would then explain that... "some students just need a little more time to learn math or reading, or whatever.  It is like that for everything we do.  There are somethings I can do really well and there are somethings I need more time to learn.  That is true for everyone."  Give examples of things that the student does well and then what he/she needs to work on.   Do not give a laundry list of what the student needs to improve on, that can be overwhelming.  Only mention a few areas that need improvement.  Have the parents share areas where they have had to spend a lot of time learning something, hopefully a school related topic.

Tell the student how fortunate he/she is to have adults who want to make sure their learning is right where it should be before they go to the next grade level.  "So, we, your parents and I, have decided we are going to give you that time to make your learning the best it can be at this grade level.  You are going to spend another year in grade_____, to make sure you are totally ready for grade______."  Let that settle in for a few seconds, then clarify any questions the student might have.  Most importantly, be as reassuring as possible.  Make sure the student understands that they have done nothing wrong.  This is all about learning and be well prepared for the next level.

If possible, let the student know who the teacher will be for the new year.  Arrange for the student to visit the new class.  Check to see if the student has any friends going into that class as well.   Suggest to the parents to arrange for play dates during the summer to help build relationships within the new class.

Now, having said all that, please know that this strategy is not researched based.  It is experienced based.
It is what worked best for me, my families and my students.  I hope, however, this will help you with your conversation with a student you may be retaining.

Please share this link with colleagues and friends.
If you haven't already, consider becoming a "Follower".

Best Effort,
Linda103

 

Daily Assignment #64: Retention

By now, you have probably identified a student who is not yet ready to face the challenges of the next grade level. This is a difficult decision and not to be taken lightly. I have yet to meet a teacher who hasn't agonized over broaching this subject with parents.  As difficult as it is, parents should be given a heads up long before May.  However, if you haven't yet, all is not lost.  Still discuss retention with parents at this point.  I have found most parents are not surprised when the idea of retention is brought up.  They usually have had questions and doubts about promotion also. Whatever the situation parents must be involved in this decision, as well as the administrator.

So, when do you retain a student?   In my opinion, you just don't retain a child because he/she's academics are not on grade level.  Instead look at the whole child.  A friend, and former principal, recommended that I use Light's Retention Scale when I was struggling over retaining a student.  I gave a copy to the student's parents to fill out and I completed one as well.  It was very interesting.  When we did the scoring of both forms, the scores actually came out the same.  The scores indicated that the student would be a "Good Retention Candidate".

Here are the 19 categories that are covered:

• Knowledge of English Language
• Physical Size of the student
• Student's Age
• Sex of Student
• Siblings
• Parents' School Participation
• Transiency
• School Attendance
• Present Level of Academic Achievement
• Student's Attitude About Possible Retention
• Present grade Placement
• Previous grade retention
• Immature behavior
• Emotional problems
• History of delinquency
• Experiential background
• Motivation to complete school task
• History of Learning Disabilities
• Estimate of Intelligence

Each response has a numeric value.   For example:
 Knowledge of English Language:
-Student has good communication skills using the English language...........................................0
-Student has limited use of the English language but is acquiring new skills quickly...................2
-Student has little or no knowledge of the English language and is not acquiring new skills........5

At the end of the 19 categories, total the numbers and compare to the Interpretation Guidelines Table.
Example:  A total score of 0-9:  Excellent retention candidate.
This is the link to Light's Retention Scale:
www.boarddocs.com/wcps/.../Light's%20Retention%20Scale.pdf

This tool should not be used as the only method of determining a student's retention.  It is another aid to help in that decision..

Please share this blog with colleagues and friends.
If you haven't already, consider becoming a "Follower".
Best Effort,
Linda103