Upcoming Meetings
May 28, 2014 Superintendents' Council
June 4, 2014 MRVED Board (7 p.m.)
June 25, 2014 Superintendents' Council
Communication Briefings
Numbers know-how
When you are writing numerals, you should spell out the numerals from one to nine and use digits to represent numbers 10 and above. Here's an exception to that rule: If you use more than one number in a sentence, use digits for both - but only if they both refer to the same kind of thing.
Examples: "When we totaled the four teams, we counted more than 200 participants." In that case, "four teams" is a different kind of thing than the "200 participants," so it is ok to use different styles. "The power came back on for 1 hour and then stayed off for 24 hours." In that case, both numbers refer to time, so you should use digits in both cases.
This is the last update of the 2013-2014 school year! We hope you have all grown a little in your educational journey as a results of many of the different aspects of the update! As you go throughout your summer, the MRVED wishes you a relaxing and rejuvenating summer! Take some time to relax, you have all earned it. Don't turn your brain totally off. Take the summer to do something you love, but also spend some time thinking about your own educational philosophy and how you can grow as an educator over the next school year.
As every summer, do not be a stranger if you are in the Montevideo area. Mary always has the candy dish full and will greet you with a smile (if she's not at her lake place or rooting on the Twins). There is usually one person in the office all summer (besides around the 4th of July). The MRVED office hours stay the same, 7:30-4:00 M-F if you need anything!
The last chapter on lesson mastery deals with cooperative learning. We will look at different ways to do cooperative learning in the classroom and then wrap up our First Days of School series.
"Cooperative learning is not so much learning to cooperate as it is cooperating to learn"
Cooperative Learning
Cooperative learning refers to a set of instructional techniques whereby students work in small, mixed-ability learning groups (Wong, 245). Breaking into groups can be a tough task for some classrooms, whereas in others it is a simple task. The question then becomes, why is this so? The answer may be as simple as looking back a couple weeks at teaching your students procedures and routines. Have you practiced getting into groups the correct way? Do your students know your expectations for getting into groups?
Clear Expectations
Having clear directions and expectations for getting into groups is very important. Students need to know how many people will be in a group and how many groups there will be. Also point out from the start, how long each group will be meeting. Is it for the complete class period? Will it be longer?
Having clear expectations from the beginning clears up questions such as: How many people should we have? Can I change groups? How long are we in groups?
Placing Students in Groups
According to Harry Wong, "cooperative groups should be heterogeneous in terms of ability, sex, ethnicity, and other personal characteristics" (Wong, 251). Wong goes on to say, "It is only from working with a diversity of people that students will learn the skills needed in a world of diversity. These skills are learned when students are grouped heterogeneously." (Wong 252)
As you place students into groups, the number of students per group should be dependent upon how many jobs there are within the group. This will alleviate the issue of one or two students not doing anything in the group. The reason they do not do anything is because there are too many kids and not enough jobs.
**Tip - Create job description cards and laminate to be used within group work.**
Benefits to Cooperative Learning
"Most of the research indicates that cooperative learning leads to higher achievement for all students."
What some of the research says:
Positive affects for both high and low ability students.
Use higher-quality reasoning strategies, higher-level processing, and deeper thinking than isolated students.
Develop skills of leadership, communication, decision making, and conflict management (21st Century Skills).
Relationship building within groups.
Teaches interdependence.
Improves self-confidence.
How to Make Cooperative Learning Work
There are 4 elements that are needed to make cooperative learning work.
Positive Interdependence
Social Skills
Individual Accountability
Group Evaluation
Positive Interdependence
Students really have to believe they are part of a group and they must believe they are in it together for a purpose.
Social Skills
The skills of cooperative learning need to be taught. These skills include: leadership, communication, trustfulness, and conflict resolution.
Individual Accountability
Each member of the group is held accountable for the performance of all. The teacher can stress accountability by being able to randomly call on any member of the group to present findings at any time. This ensures that all members are actively participating.
Group Evaluation
Periodically, the groups must assess how well they are working together and how they could do better.
Conclusion
Harry Wong's First Days of School book is a must read for every teacher! If you haven't picked it up recently, make it a point to read it over the summer. If you need a copy, you may check one from the MRVED library, or ask a friend ;)
The past 2 months we have spent time looking at what characteristics make for an effective teacher. We broke it down into three areas:
Has positive expectations for student success.
Is an extremely good classroom manager.
Knows how to design lessons for student mastery.
Hopefully you have gained something from going through part of the book. Obviously there is so much more in the book! Wong provides tons of examples throughout the whole book and is worth the read. He has recently published a new book called The Classroom Management Book. His new book will definitely be on my reading list for this summer.
Blogs/Sites to Follow Over Summer
If you are looking to explore some technology over the summer, bookmark the following websites and/or blogs to learn more over the summer. This list is definitely not all-inclusive! This list is a smattering of some of the blogs and sites Brandon follows. Not all are tech focused blogs, but many are. Some of these blogs/sites can really challenge your thinking as an educator. Choose one or two blogs to follow over the summer and see if you can make it part of your daily routine to check those one or two sites. Once those have become habit, look for one or two more.
The Center for Social Studies Education is sponsoring a variety of workshops this summer for social studies teachers and/or people who are interested in social studies. Access the link below to see dates, location, and cost.
Communication Briefings Improve your personal productivity:
1. Resist busywork. When contemplating a long to-do list, you may be tempted to tackle a cluster of easy, fun or low-priority items first. A wiser strategy: Jump on your number one priority first, even if doing so takes more time and forces you to postpone more pleasurable tasks.
2. Stop procrastinating. Follow the "two minute" rule: If you can complete a task within two minutes, don't put it off. Do it now. Upcoming Meetings
May 28, 2014 Superintendents' Council
June 4, 2014 MRVED Board (7 p.m.)
June 25, 2014 Superintendents' Council
Ustream Ustream is a service that allows you to broadcast events online for free. There is a paid version that is ad free and of better quality. If you are not in the mood to broadcast events, you can always browse the variety of live events being streamed. A couple live streams of note are the International Space Station and the variety of live Eagle and Aquarium cams.
Ideas for what to broadcast live: (After getting permission from parents, administration, and technology coordinator)
According to Harry Wong there are three major characteristics of an effective teacher:
They have high expectations that all of their students will succeed.
They are extremely good classroom managers.
They know how to design lessons to help students reach mastery.
We have spent 2 months on having high expectations and classroom management. The last two weeks of the MRVED update will focus on lesson mastery.
"If the student cannot demonstrate learning or achievement, the student has not failed - WE have failed the student."
Increase Student Learning
The million dollar question is how do we increase student learning? If there was a silver bullet answer to that question, everyone would be doing it. What we, as teachers, can do is increase the amount of time the students are working in our classroom. The research shows that the person who does the work is the only one who learns. Wong says if you were to walk by any classroom, who is doing the work? The teacher! No wonder why teachers are so tired at the end of the day and students are so full of energy walking out the door. The teacher has worked and the student has sat there doing nothing. Wong states that according to research, most schools devote only 35% of their time to learning. The other 65% is spent on "other" tasks. If a business ran at 35% efficiency, it would be bankrupt!
It would be interesting to do a study in each of our MRVED schools and track actual learning time in the classroom. I think we would all be astonished at the results.
To increase the amount of time the student works to learn:
Have all assignments posted for students when they enter the room.
Have "bell ringer" activities ready.
Teach procedures and routines to minimize interruptions and maximize learning time.
Constantly monitor students to keep them on task.
An hour is an hour and you will never get more than 60 minutes out of it, but you do have control over how you spend that 60 minutes. Take a day or two and track actual time on learning in your classroom and I bet you will be amazed!
Did you know the Minnesota Zoo offers teacher education programs? The Minnesota Zoo will be offering a series of workshops focusing on conservation issues facing Minnesota wildlife. Come learn more about these animals in our own back yards– observe them at the zoo, learn about their habitats, exploring their roles in the ecosystem, and discuss some of the challenges that they face here and beyond. Gather ideas and activities for teaching about these animals and broader conservation issues in your classroom. Workshops are open to all educators.
Check out their programs by going to their website.
The Minnesota Center for Mineral Resource Education
The MMEW is a three-day workshop for K-12 Earth science educators and pre-service teachers that offers short courses and field trips focused on the geology and mineral resources of Minnesota. The upcoming 17th annual MMEW will be held June 17-19, 2014 at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, MN. On the first day of the workshop, participants may choose among 16 different short course topics taught by professional geologists, academics, government scientists, and K-12 educators. Many of the courses introduce curriculum ideas for various grade levels. The second and third days of the workshop will involve field trips that are designed to familiarize participants with the geology, mineral resources and environmental issues of southwestern Minnesota.
Participants will receive a variety of resource materials including rock and mineral samples, lesson plan ideas, posters, maps, videos, and other useful information. Upon completion of the workshop, attendees will be provided with a certificate of participation listing contact hours. We are looking into again being able to offer graduate credits through the University of Minnesota Duluth with the submission of a lesson plan in addition to full workshop attendance.
You can find out more and register by going to their website.
Upcoming Meetings
May 28, 2014 Superintendents' Council
June 4, 2014 MRVED Board (7 p.m.)
June 25, 2014 Superintendents' Council
Communication Briefings Skilled vs. skillful. Both words imply possession of a skill, but skilled most often is used in reference to specialized training or education, as gained by a craftsman or technician: "We hire only skilled accountants." Skillful, on the other hand, means showing proficiency, knowledge or aptitude: "A skillful persuader, Jack usually got his way."
Answer Garden
If you do brainstorming in your classroom and you are looking for a tech tool to assist with this task, look no further than Answer Garden. AnswerGarden is a minimalistic feedback tool. Use it in the classroom as an educational tool or at work as a creative brainstorming tool. Post it in a tweet or you can embed it on your website or blog to use it as a poll or guestbook. You simply add your question, give the students the address, and watch the answers come in. There are a couple unique features; answers need to be 20 characters or less, the more an answer appears the bigger the word is (creates a nice visual).
"The number one problem in the classroom is not discipline; it is the lack of procedures and routines."
Procedures and routines are one of the most important aspects to managing your classroom. Effective teachers have procedures and routines (PR) for everything, and the students are well versed in the procedures and routines. PR's need to be explicitly taught to your students. It is a mistake to assume that students know how you want things done by just telling them how you want it done. Practice makes perfect!
Procedures vs Discipline
A procedure is a method or process for how things are to be done in the classroom. Do not confuse PR's with your discipline plan.
Discipline concerns how students behave.
Procedures concern how things are done.
Discipline has rewards and penalties.
Procedures have no penalties or rewards.
An example of a procedure is opening a combination lock. If you do not follow the procedure, the lock does not open. There is no penalty for not following the procedure other than your lock simply does not open. If you follow the procedure correctly, the lock opens. Likewise, there is no reward for following the procedure other than the lock simply opening.
Importance of Procedures
A procedure is how you want something done. It is your responsibility to state clearly how you want a certain task completed. A routine is what the student does automatically without prompting. A routine becomes a habit.
Procedures are statements of student expectations necessary to participate successfully in classroom activities...
Procedures allow for many different activities to take place efficiently in the classroom.
Procedures increase on-task time and greatly reduce classroom disruptions.
Procedures tell a student how things operate in a classroom, thus reducing discipline problems.
Examples of Classroom Procedures
This list below is not an all-encompassing list of procedures in the classroom. The list is provided for you to think about how these procedures are completed in your classroom, and if the students fully understand those procedures.
Possible Classroom Procedures
End of the period or class
End of the day
Walking in the hallway
Starting class
Transition from activity
Asking for help
Taking attendance
Using the restroom
Going to the office
Using the trashcan
If you forgot something
Passing in papers
Late work
Fire drill
Tornado drill
Lockdown
Gathering supplies
Group work
When you are tardy
Band lesson
Substitute Teacher
The Three-Step Approach to Teaching Procedures
"Most behavior problems in the classroom are caused by the teacher's failure to teach students how to follow procedures." (Wong, 174)
3 Step Process
Explain - State, explain, model, and demonstrate the procedure.
Use concrete terms
Demonstrate, step by step
Rehearse - Practice the procedure under your supervision.
Actually practice the procedure
Repeat until it becomes routine
Reinforce - Reteach, rehearse, practice, and reinforce until the procedure becomes a routine or habit.
Praise students once procedure has become a routine
Be sure to teach the students how you want certain procedures completed from the beginning of the year. If you don't teach the procedure from the start, you will face an uphill battle all year long. The time spent teaching the procedure is well worth it in the long run. By teaching procedures, you will actually gain time in your classroom as students will not need to ask questions or be confused as to what they are to do.
Major League Baseball®, PEOPLE® and Target® invite you to nominate a current or retired teacher who is a classroom all-star. Someone who has made a difference in the lives of students as well as the community.
Thirty teachers will attend and be honored at the 2014 MLB®All-Star Game® at Target Field® in Minnesota. Nomination accepted until May 6.
Summer Professional Development TODAY is the last day to register for MRVED summer professional development classes. We are still short of the 10 person minimum for some of the classes. Registration will close today at 3:00. As a reminder all summer offerings are open to substitutes in the MRVED districts as well.
EduTecher and EduClipper eduTecher and eduClipper both come from educational technologist and speaker Adam Bellow. Both of these resources are phenomenal resources that you should start exploring today, or at least put on your list of things to do this summer! eduTecher is an ad-free website that organizes web tools by content area and/or grade level. All sites that are submitted come from users and have great descriptions and are user rated. eduClipper can be compared as the Pinterest of education. The interface feels much like Pinterest, but without all the cute sewing tips or recipes. If you are remotely interested in finding awesome things for your classroom on the internet, both of these sites are for you!
"Effective teachers introduce rules, procedures, and routines on the very first day of school and continue to teach them the first week of school."
The teacher is responsible for communicating and maintaining behavior. The most successful classes are those in which the teacher has a clear idea of what is expected from the students and the students have a clear idea of what the teacher expects from them.
Rules are expectations of appropriate student behavior.
Decide on your rules and post them prior to the first day of school.
Clearly communicate in both written and verbal your expectations.
It is easier to maintain good behavior than to change inappropriate behavior that has been established.
Rules immediately create a work-oriented atmosphere.
Rules create a strong expectation about the things that are important to you.
Two Kinds of Rules
"The function of a rule is to prevent or encourage behavior by clearly stating student expectations." (Wong, 145) There are two kinds of rules; general and specific. Each serves their own purpose.
General Rules
Respect others.
Be polite.
Keep the room clean.
Specific Rules
Be in class and in your seat before the bell rings.
Do no swear.
Have all materials ready to use.
The advantage of general rules are they are flexible and are open to interpretation to meet the needs of many situations. One disadvantage to a general rule is that they sometimes need to be defined further for students. An advantage of specific rules that they clearly state what is expected of the students. A disadvantage to having specific rules is that there needs to be many rules to meet the needs of the full classroom.
Introducing the Rules
You should have between 3-5 rules posted in your classroom. Any more than 5 rules and students have a hard time remembering. As you go over the rules with your class, remember to state the rules are to keep them safe and allow everyone in the class to learn. The rules should be posted permanently somewhere in the room and also given to students to have in their notebook or folders.
Students can be involved in the creating of the rules, but their role is somewhat limited. There are certain district and school-wide rules that must be adhered to. You, as the teacher, also have expectations that need to be met. When all is said and done, there maybe is room for the students to create one or two rules.
Consequences
Rules are most effective when there are consequences. There are two kinds of consequences; positive and negative. All discipline plans need to have consequences. The consequences need to be posted as well. If you do not involve your students in the creation of the rules, creating consequences would be a great place for students to get involved. A typical sign outlining consequences could look like this:
If you choose to break a rule
1st time: Name on the board
2nd time: 15 minutes after school with teacher
3rd time: Lunch with the teacher
etc...
If you choose to follow the rules:
Game day on Friday afternoon, or movie day, playground time, etc...
Consequences must also be reasonable and logical. A reasonable consequence is on that follows logically from the behavior rather than one that is arbitrarily imposed. For example a student turns in a project that is unreadable. The logical consequence would be to redo the project (or parts that are unreadable). The illogical consequence would be to write a paper on how being sloppy will hurt the student in the long run. Any consequences given out for behavior should be related to behavior. Deducting points on an assignment due to behavior is not a logical consequence.
Support
After your rules and consequences are established, the teacher should get support from administration, colleagues, and parents. You must have administrative support to make sure your consequences or rules do not violate any school or board policies. You will also need their support if you need to remove a student from your classroom for an infraction of the rule. Your discipline plan also needs support from other faculty members to ensure everyone is "on board" with classroom expectations.
You should acquire parental support for your discipline plan as well. This can simply be sending your discipline plan home with a parent and student signature at the bottom. Sending your plan home for students to go over with parents is important because if the student breaks one of the rules, the consequence is no surprise for the parents.
Wrapping it Up
Creating a discipline plan is often an overlooked part to classroom management. Having something written down and posted creates an environment where everyone knows what is happening. Getting the support of administration, faculty, and parents is also another crucial aspect to creating an effective discipline plan. Keep it simple, keep consequences logical and reasonable and everyone will be happy.
