Daily Assignment #109: Cautions

I've been thinking about the things I wished someone had told me to be cautious about when I first started teaching.  I've created this list:

• Never release a student to a stranger.  Make sure whomever is picking up a student has permission to do so.
• Touch or not touch.  Be very careful. This is such a sensitive topic, particularly if you are a male teacher.  There are students who may misinterpret a touch.  There are also students who are tactile sensitive.  I've always been a big hugger.  However, there are students I am cautious about approaching.  There are also students who might approach you and it is not comfortable.  You need to make this call, be careful.
• On a similar note, if you find yourself alone with a student in the classroom, leave the door open.  Consider stepping out in the hallway with the student.
• Continuing on this theme, DO NOT drive a student in your car.  There are so many reasons not to do this and you probably know them.  You may have the best intentions but if you were ever to get into an accident or a student accused you of something terrible your life would become not good.  Just don't do it.
• If you have a desk make sure it is facing the door so that you can see who is coming and going from your classroom.
• No matter how frustrating/disruptive a student maybe, never send him/her out of the room unescorted.  
• Never leave your class unattended.  Check to see what the policy at your school is for stepping out of the class for just a moment, e.g. bathroom.  Some districts require a licensed teacher, in other districts it can be any staff member.
• Do not dispense medication, including vitamins, cough drops, ointments, ice.  Check the schools policy on sending students to the nurse and procedures for medication.  The school nurse should notify you of students with allergies or on medications.  If a student may need an Epi-pen make sure the nurse instructs you on how to use it.  For every field trip, or activity out of range of the nurse, make sure you have an emergency kit, especially the Epi-pen.  
• Report accidents.  Don't take any chances that it is nothing.  Better to err on the side of caution than not.  Notify parents.  Parents do not like to hear about their child getting hurt 2 days later.  And document everything.
• If there is something off for a student and you are not sure what to do about it speak with the school guidance counselor.  Document everything.  I continue to keep my documentation of some students just in case.
• Know the school's Emergency Plan.  The school I was in did not have one until after a situation.  As a result, there was chaos.  Staff and students did not know where to go.  Parents didn't know where to find their child.  It was a chaotic mess.  
• Preview videos that you are going to show to your class.  I started a video once only to discover it had been taped over with an orgy scene from a Dracula movie.  Talk about panicking.

Other than that, please feel free to move about the cabin. LOL

Please share this blog with colleagues and friends.

Also, you haven't already take a look at my book on effective strategies:

http://www.bookemon.com/book-profile/daily-assignment/126409

Best Effort,

linda103

Daily Assignment #108: Building Capacity

A visual strategy I used to help my students understand how much effort it takes to build capacity was a cutout of a large rhombus.  At the top of the rhombus was the word Effort.  At the opposite end was the word Capacity.
                                                                     
       
                                                                         EFFORT                                                                  
                                                         
                                                                       CAPACITY

When new content was introduced, whether it was learning how to read, learning borrowing or carrying, a piece of music, whatever it might have been, I would begin by putting a Popsicle stick, or anything that can represent a bar, at the bottom of the rhombus by CAPACITY.  I would explain that the stick was at the bottom because we were learning something new and had to put in a lot of EFFORT to build CAPACITY, which was represented by all the area above the stick.  As the students became more proficient with the material the stick would be moved upward to represent that they had built CAPACITY and the amount of EFFORT they needed was decreasing.

You can use this strategy with the whole class, a group or for individuals.  Keep the rhombus in a very visible place.  I found the students were very encouraged and motivated by the movement of the stick.

Before you use this strategy, you will need to:

1. Name it.
2. Explain the purpose, including defining the terms, CAPACITY and EFFORT.
3. Show how it will work.

On another note, I will not have access to the internet until May 6th.  Please take this interlude to revisit previous Daily Assignment blogs.  You can also refer to my book:

http://www.bookemon.com/book-profile/daily-assignment/126409

Please share this blog with colleagues and friends.

Best Effort,

Linda103

 

Daily Assignment #107: Feedback

Feedback can be given in many forms.  Primary teachers have a tendency to give feedback in the form of cute drawings, stickers and/or positive words, e.g., "Super,""Wow," "Great job," "Well done," or at the other end of the spectrum, "You can do better," "Try again," "Try harder." Middle school and high school teachers give percentages or letter grades.  There are times when all of these types of feedback are appropriate.  However, none of them help students to improve their performance. 

Feedback to improve student performance should be: 

• Timely
• Specific 
• Understandable
• Formed to allow for self-adjustment

                                                      Wiggins, 1998

I would add "in the form of a nonjudgmental statement" to this list.

What does nonjudgmental feedback look and sound like?

Examples:

• " This essay includes an opening sentence and 3 supporting sentences.  It does not include a closing sentence."  (This feedback provides the student with what they did correctly and what they need to improve on. I try not to use the word "you" in the feedback.  Feedback sounds less judgmental without the word "you".)
• " The correct operation was used to solve this equation. However, the calculation is incorrect."
• " The hypothesis is stated correctly.  Only two, out of the required three, forms of data have been recorded. A conclusion has not been included in this write-up."
• " This story includes a beginning, middle and ending.  Punctuation marks are not included throughout the story."  

If the students don't understand the feedback a rubric will provide clarity, especially if exemplars are included.

Nonjudgmental feedback takes time and a lot of thought.  I suggest using nonjudgmental feedback on one set of papers the first week, to practice the language and then increasing the number of sets of papers each week. The more practice the easier and quicker assessing assignments will become.

Please share this blog with colleagues and friends. 

If you haven't already, check-out my book on effective strategies:

http://www.bookemon.com/book-profile/daily-assignment/126409

Best Effort,

Linda103

Daily Assignment #106: Reinforcing Effort Leads to Achievement

Research shows that students may not make the connection between their level of effort and their  level of achievement.   As a result, teachers may need to teach this relationship.  Robert Marzano states, "Students who believe the amount of effort they put into a task increases their achievement actually do better."  When students meet with success, when attempting to reach a specific goal, they should receive some form of recognition for their efforts. 

Marzano's recommendations for classroom practice include:

• explicitly teach students that effort can improve achievement
• ask students to chart effort and achievement
• establish a rationale for recognition
• follow guidelines for effective and ineffective praise
• use recognition tokens
• use the pause, prompt, and praise technique (Daily Assignment #99: Pause, Prompt, Praise)

  
  

                                            Classroom Instruction that Works by Robert J.Marzano, Debra J. Pickering, Jane E. Pollock
  
  
  
  
  Using rubrics helps to raise student awareness that learning is incremental and that the more effort they expend the greater their achievement will be.  (Refer to Daily Assignment #25: Rubrics)
  
  
  In Daily Assignment #69 I shared the reasons why I close each blog with "Best Effort".  Changing our language, as the models for our students, will reinforce the importance of effort.
  
  
  Please share this blog with colleagues and friends and consider becoming a "Follower".
  If you haven't already, check-out my book on effective strategies:http://www.bookemon.com/book-profile/daily-assignment/126409
  
  
  Best Effort,
  Linda103

Daily Assignment #105: Extended Family Trips

Over the years I found it challenging when a parent would come to me and say,"Eddie won't be in school next week.  We're going on vacation.  Please prepare work for him to do while we are away."

I totally understand parents traveling before or after the scheduled school vacations so that they may get that primo airfare.  However, parents don't realize all the challenges and disruptions these extended trips/vacations have on the classroom and the teacher.

My response to these parents changed over the years.  At the beginning of my career I would prepare all that work for the student to take on their vacation, only to have it returned to me unfinished or never returned at all.  I don't think parents are aware of how much time it takes to prepare this work for their trip/vacation.

It was difficult to be pleasant to the habitual vacation family or the ones who would return all tanned and mellow and then expect me to catch their child up on everything the child had missed, or the parent who brought their child to school straight from the airport where they had just returned from an 8-hour flight expecting me to deal with an exhausted child.

What I've learned:

1. Some trips/vacations are worth it, especially those in which the child would learn so much by the experience, such as a travel-learning trip/vacation.
2. Don't prepare the work for the student to take with them.  Instead, tell the parent to have the student read 20-30 minutes each night, perhaps keep a reading journal.  The parents should design 5-10 math problems each night for the child to solve.  Also, have the student keep a journal, with photos or drawings, of their trip.  Parents can also buy commercially produced workbooks.
3. Save all the work that is done during the student's absence.  Give the work to the parents to do with the student at home and then return finished products for grading.  Make sure to give the parent a deadline for the work to be returned.
4. It becomes increasingly more difficult for a student to miss school after grade 2, due to mandated testing.

Check to see what your district or school's policy is on this issue before you decide what you will be doing.  If there isn't a policy it would be beneficial for your school to establish one.  

Please share this blog with colleagues and friends.

Also, take a moment to check-out my book on effective strategies:

http://www.bookemon.com/book-profile/daily-assignment/126409

On another note, I will not have access to the Internet until Sunday, March 11th.  In the meantime, browse through the strategies included in this blog and find one that you would like to experiment with.  

Best Effort, 

Linda103

Daily Assignment #104: Writing Objectives

When I started teaching, writing the objectives for a lesson was something you did when you were student teaching.  Now, objectives for lessons are required.  Some districts/schools require teacher to post the objectives in the classroom for a lesson so that students understand what they are to know and be able to do by the end of class.  My experience, not only as a student, as a beginning teacher was more of "guess what's on the teacher's mind."   My instruction was also activity driven, meaning I really wasn't sure what the students were supposed to know or be able to do but I sure knew they were having fun.

Since those beginning years, I have learned a great deal about understanding objectives of lessons and how to articulate them.  Let me share with you an abbreviated version of how to write objectives.

First, look at your lesson and decide what it is you want students to know and to be able to do as a result of  the learning experience.

Second,  write--"Students will know... and be able to...

Objectives should be specific, observable, measurable and contain verbs, such as the ones listed below:

Objective language: 

Cite, Choose, Define, Label, List Locate, Match, Name, Arrange, Classify, Describe, Diagram, Draw, Explain, Identify, Apply, Demonstrate, Illustrate, Interpret, Predict, Categorize, Differentiate, Predict, Conclude, Critique, Support, Evaluate, Contrast, Interpret, Solve, Prove, Research, Write, State, Discuss, Estimate, Summarize, Analyze.  

There are many more verbs that can be used to describe what students will know and be able to do, this is just a few.

Examples:

• Students will know and be able to state five facts about the planet Mars.
• Students will know how to solve an algorithm in division with 5 digit numbers and be able to solve 10 division algorithms. 
• Students will be able to define a persuasive essay and write a 3 paragraph persuasive essay.
• Students will know 3 shapes and 4 colors and be able to use the vocabulary in describing a picture.
• Students will know how to summarize a story and be able to use a summarizing graphic organizer.

Of course, you need to translate objectives into kid friendly language.  For younger students, giving the objective in verbal form is more appropriate than writing on a chart/smart board.  For older students, posting the objectives, and verbally giving them, is important.

Your students will pay much more attention to the lesson because they know what they will need to know and be able to do after the lesson.  It is so much better to have them have this information than to have them sitting in front of you trying to guess what's on your mind.

Please share this link with colleagues and friends.

Please check-out my book on effective strategies:

http://www.bookemon.com/book-profile/daily-assignment/126409

Best Effort!

Linda103

Daily Assignment #103: Designing a Unit of Study

Designing a unit of study can be very overwhelming.  Let me break it down in more manageable steps for you.

1. Begin with researching the topic.  Keep a list of resource materials.  Make sure to use the latest resources on the topic.  Become knowledgeable. 
2. Decide what it is that students are to know and to be able to do by the end of this unit.
3. How will learning be assessed and how frequently?
4. Do an Activator with the students to find out how much they already know about the topic and any misconceptions or confusions they may have on the topic (refer to Daily Assignments #41-44, #53, #82)
5. Using the data from the Activator start designing the unit. 

Questions to ask while planning the unit:

• What is the time span for this unit? 
• How frequently will I be teaching this unit, e.g., everyday, every other day? How many lessons will I need?
• Knowing the objectives, what will the each lesson include?
• What thinking skills should be included? (refer to Daily Assignment #17, #18-19)
• In thinking about each lesson, what effective strategies can be included to meet the needs of all my students? (refer to all the Daily Assignments) 
• What strategies can be used to include the visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners? (refer to all the Daily Assignments)
• What projects or activities, which will promote understanding, can be incorporated into the lessons? Include a rubric. (refer to Daily Assignment #25)
• What summarizers should be used? (refer to Daily Assignment #46-50, #53, #86)

As you teach this unit keep notes on how things are going.  In that way, when you teach this unit again, you will remember the stumbling blocks and the successes. Don't worry if you don't get everything in the first time, just keep building on what you have each year.  Also, keep samples of students' work for reference, particularly when using a rubric.

Please share this blog with colleagues and friends.  Also, take a moment to check-out my book on effective strategies.     http://www.bookemon.com/book-profile/daily-assignment/126409

Best Effort!
Linda103

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