Daily Assignment #130: Setting and Communicating High Expectations

Recently, a teacher asked me how to establish and reinforce expectations for students.  First, I referred her to Daily Assignment # 1, 2, 3, 4...  When I began to number off each blog, the teacher realized that we are communicating our expectations in everything we do, from how we arrange the classroom environment to responding to students' answers.

Bottom line, after a semester break, begin by reviewing the expectations with the students, hopefully these are posted in the classroom.  It is important for you, as the teacher, to be firm, clear and consistent.  This applies to behaviors as well as performance.  Maintain your standards and expectations, especially on those days when it may feel like it is the first day of school.

Also, create Criteria for Success for assignments, (Daily Assignment #25).  Criteria for Success would be #3 on a rubric.  By posting the Criteria for Success and going over it with students, sends the message that this is bottom line and you will not accept less.  However, make it clear you will accept beyond this level.

Remember, everything a teachers does, during the course of a day, sends messages to your students as to your beliefs, standards and expectations.  When you respond to a child, react to a situation, give an assignment, interact with a colleague, a grade, feedback, and more, sends messages to your students.  So, be clear, consistent and firm.  They will get the message loud and clear.

Please share this blog with colleagues and friends.
If you haven't already, check out my book on effective teaching strategies on Amazon.com.  I would appreciate a review as well.  Thanks.

Best Effort,
Linda103
                                                 

Daily Assignment #129: Even More Do-Nows #3

As promised, here are some more Do-Now ideas:

• Correct grammar of 2-3 silly sentences:  

1.  the robot cow flew the huge whale under the small blue  bridge
2.  look out for the train going up the building  
3.  popsicles are good for painting the little wood house 

• Jeopardy:  give students answers, they design questions:  

1. On Sept. 1, 1715 Louis XIV died in this city, site of a fabulous palace he built.   (Versailles)  
2. Around 1542 explorer Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo discovered this island off L.A. and it's believed he's buried there too.  (Catalina)  
3. This number, one of the first 20, uses only one vowel 4 times.  (Seventeen) 
4. The United States President lives in this building.  (White House)  

• Draw a pictures of Idioms:

1. a wolf in sheep's clothing
2. killing time; pulling you leg
3. kicked the bucket
4. talk to the hand
5. bite the dust       

• Check-It:  2 spelling versions, math problems
• 
  
• Quick math facts
• 
  
• Journal writing
• 
  
• Quotes, explain meaning:  

1. "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." Dr. Seuss 
2. “Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.” ― Bernard M. Baruch 
3. “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” ― Mahatma Gandhi  
4. “If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.” ― Mark Twain  
5. “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire   
6. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”― Mahatma Gandhi   
7. “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ― Maya Angelou

Please share this blog with colleagues and friends.

If you haven't already, take a moment to check-out my book on Amazon. com---

Best Effort,

Linda103

Daily Assignment #128: Even More Do-Nows

Here are few more Do-Nows to add to your repertoire:

• Write antonyms for...            (ex. wet-dry)
•           synonyms for...           (ex. difficult-hard, heavy, tough)
•           homophone for...        (ex. sun-son)
• Write  another word that could belong in this group...    (ex. road, lane, avenue, ______)
• Write a declarative sentence.
•             exclamatory 
•             interrogative
•             command
• What is the root word for....            (ex. totally)
• What is the prefix for ...                  (ex. reestablished)
• What is the suffix for...                   (unemployed)
• Write a list of compound words.
• Fact or Opinion              (ex. Drinking alcohol can be a cause for a car accident.)   (ex. The drinking age should be raised.)
• Fact or Fantasy              (ex. an octopus can change color to match its surroundings.)                (ex. Suddenly the red carpet flies off into the sky.)
• Simile or Not Simile     (ex. Riding a bike without a helmet is like diving into an empty pool.)         (ex. Do not play along the train tracks.)
• Simile or Metaphor      (ex.The judge's robe was black as ink.)  (ex. The car jetted out of the parking lot.}
• Analogies   (ex. traffic cone: orange    as   ___________ : red)
• Cause and Effect  (ex. Otis had a wreck because he was eating a hot fudge sundae while driving.  What is the cause and what is the effect?)

I hope you will experiment with some of these Do-Nows.  I will add more Do Nows in my next blog, on March 10th.  I will not have internet access until then.  Sorry.  Take this time to look through past blogs for more strategies to experiment.  Or better yet, buy my book on Amazon.com.   (I had to get a plug-in.)

In the meantime, please share this blogsite with colleagues and friends.

Best Effort,

linda103

Daily Assignment #127: More Do-Nows

Do Now activities are used at the beginning of the school day, or class, to get students engaged.  They are usually a quick activity, 6-8 minutes.   I recommend using a timer.  It helps to keep students on task and creates an urgency to finish.

Do Now activities should be something all students can do, without teacher assistance. They need to be engaging activities, so students want to do them and will meet with success.  Consider giving extra credit for students who finish them.

In Daily Assignment #44, I listed 8 suggestions for Do-Nows.  I have discovered a few more, which I would like to share with you.

• Math--Word problems
• Science quote: "All the water that will ever be is, right now."  National Geographics, Oct.'93  What does this quote mean?
• You are shipwrecked on an island.  What are 3 things you would want to have to ensure your survival and why?
• "If you were..."    Fill in the blank with a scientist, leader, etc...

For the next few weeks I will be sharing more Do-Nows with you.  So, keep checking in.

Please share this blog with colleagues and friends.  If you haven't already take a look at my book on effective teaching strategies.  It can be found on Amazon.com.

Best Effort,

Linda103

Daily Assignment #126: Handwriting

Recently, there was an article in "The Boston Globe," titled,  "Mom, what is handwriting?" by Eugenia Williamson.  Williamson interviewed British novelist, Philip Hensher, author of "The Missing Ink:  The Lost Art of Handwriting".  After reading this article, and several others on handwriting in schools, I became saddened by the fact that handwriting, particularly cursive, is no longer part of the required instruction in some schools.  Handwriting is being left up to the teacher's discretion.   Needless to say, if something needs to go to make room for content for high stake testing it will be the 20 minute handwriting lesson.

Cursive, for my 2nd grade students, was a much anticipated skill.  They felt so grown-up to be able to write in cursive.  I would say, "Today, we are going to write the letter "t" and then you will be able to write..."  They would wiggle in their seats, sit up straight, pencils ready to go.  It was magical.  The last 2 lessons would always focus on students writing their first names in cursive.  How awesome is that!!!

You can well imagine my chagrin over this paradigm shift, even though I have been well aware of its impending arrival.  Do I think printing and cursive should continue to be taught? Yes.  There will come a day when we won't need to handwrite anything.  Until that day, handwriting needs to be taught.

Is handwriting an art form?  Maybe, but it shouldn't be completely considered outdated yet.  There are times when technology is not accessible.  Have you ever been in doctor's office and had to fill out a form, or the DMV, or a bank, the list goes on.  What if you had no idea how to form letters to complete that form.

There is something very special about reading a handwritten piece of work.  I treasure all the little handwritten notes students and parents have given me, as well as from my own children.  Thank goodness I know how to write.  I have notes and lists everywhere to remind me of things to do.

If you don't have time to teach handwriting during your school day, as Hensher recommends, tell parents to teach their children and to provide their child times to practice their writing, such as writing a nice thank you note to their teacher.

Please share this blog with colleagues and friends.  Also, take a moment to check out my book on Amazon.com:http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=linda+fobes

Best Effort,

Linda103

Daily Assignment #125: Reinforcing Standards and Expectations

Hello Everyone,

I hope you have had a wonderful, relaxing and healthy holiday.

So much has happened in a month, most notably, and sadly, the tragedy at Sandy Hook.  I have no words to express my sadness.  I can't imagine the heartache of the families, teachers, and the community at large.  They are all in my thoughts.  May it never happen again.

We all know, as difficult as it is, we must move forward.

Returning from the holiday break you've probably noticed that your students' behavior, and performance, has taken a few steps backwards.  This is a phenomenon, which I call the "2 Step," 2 steps forward, 1 step backward.  Now it is your turn to dance and you must take the lead.

Begin by reviewing the expectations with the students, hopefully these are posted in the classroom.  It is important for you, as the teacher, to be firm, clear and consistent.  This applies to behaviors, as well as performance.  Maintain your standards and expectations, especially on those days when it may feel like it is the first day of school.

Here is the toughest part--have patience and no blaming, especially that of the students.  They are doing what comes naturally--proving the teacher will not notice.  Don't blame yourself either.

Heads-up--the "2 Step" is common and will happen again after the next semester break--be prepared.

Please share this blog with colleagues and friends.  Also, take a look at my book on effective strategies on Amazon.com.

Best Effort,

Linda103                                             

Daily Assignment #124: Holidays/Semester Closure

It's that busy time year for all of us, shopping, partying, teaching, de-lousing, etc...  I recently attended a party and the topic of conversation for the young mothers was...  you guessed it, headlice.  Naturally, I referred them to my blog #123 and silently gave thanks that I don't have to worry about it.

On another note, a question was asked of me as to how many and how much of the different religious holidays should be taught in the classroom?  And, how are teachers expected to include these topics with everything else they need to cover before the December break?  Good questions.

I have selected information from Daily Assignments #27 and #96 to share with you:

Daily Assignment #27:

Some teachers select several different holidays to teach about religious/ethnic traditions.  Other teachers just share holiday traditions for one or two religions/ethnic groups.  Another approach would to be to ask for parent volunteers to teach their religious/ethnic holiday traditions.  An another approach might be to do nothing at all.

I've done it all.  For me, I found the best approach was to ask for parent volunteers to come in and do a 30-40 minute presentation.  If I didn't know the parent well, I would ask them to share with me their lesson plan in advance.  In this way, I could help them with appropriateness for the age group and timing. The parents were always well prepared.  It would be an amazing lesson and better than what I would have done.

There would be years when only one parent would come in and I would need to teach 1-2 more holidays. Then other years there might be 3 different parents who would come in to share 3 different holidays.  If no one volunteered then I would teach Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa, or a holiday that reflected the population in my class.

Daily Assignment #96:

This is also a time to bring closure to a semester and to units of study.  Knowing that this is a chaotic time, begin planning how you would like the last few days to look and feel like.  Some teachers plan class parties, a class breakfast with student exhibits/presentations, a special field trip, e.g. concert, play, movie.  Then there are other teachers that press on with learning and try to keep a low key tone because the students are already worked into a tizzy.  Having said all that, I recognize that some schools/districts have policies in regard to what should occur on those last few days.

Because this month is such a busy time my next blog will be posted on Sunday, January 6, 2013. 
Have a wonderful, joyful, holiday, whatever it may be and see you in January.


In the meantime, please refer to previous blogs for suggestions of effective strategies.  
If you haven't yet, please check-out my book on Amazon.com ----Daily Assignment: Effective Teaching Strategies.                                  
                                                            
Best Effort,
linda103                    
                                                   .