Module 4 Uni 3- Activity 3 - Norms and Procedures

Module 4 – Unit 3 – Activity 3

Activity 3: Blog Post

When I first began teaching, I was advised that I should have a list of rules, and so I would spend the first 30 minutes of the first class each term explaining each rule and why and what would happen to the students if they didn’t follow them. It wasn’t always successful and I realized that a lot of the rules were a bit pedantic.

And so now, I start with two rules – Don’t be rude and listen when others are talking. For me, the ‘don’t be rude’ is one of the most important standards that every classroom must have. If the teacher is willing to put some effort into it, it’s possible for all of the students – regardless of their gender – to generally like and respect one another. But I know some teachers who let their students tease each other, or just half-heartedly tells them to not be mean, and the genuine respect never materializes.

 However, I think it’s so necessary to have because it makes everything in the class – from participation to group work –run so much more smoothly, and I think we should be aware of the fact that our students are just children, and how they’re treated when they’re in elementary school can have long-range effects on the mental and emotional stability later on.

After explaining these rules, I usually then ask my students what THEY think the rules should be, and – to be honest- they’re often way more strict than I would be –

- No eating in class

- No drinking in class

- No bathroom

- Must always raise hand

- No chewing gum

- No talking

- No using pens while writing

Etc..and I will agree to most of them, and ask the students why they think they’re necessary, but I’m always willing to make concessions if need be. Sometimes students do have to go to the bathroom. Or something they are really thirsty. If we’re just doing something simple in class, and they ask to get some water, I know they’re not trying to avoid work or anything like that. Our classes are three hours longs, with two five-minute breaks, and ten year old children shouldn’t be forced to sit motionless for that long of  a period.

However, if they just had their break time and just played on their phone, and then they ask to go to the bathroom as soon as break time is finished, I’ll warn them that the next time, they need to use their break time more wisely or I’ll say no. This also helps because other students can hear and realize that they should probably remember that rule for the future.

For food, most teachers say no eating in class, but I’ve said that they can eat as long as it doesn’t distract the students around them. If they can discretely munch on something from their bag, then…why not? But if they’re obvious about it and other students are begging for some chips, then I take away the food privilege for a couple of days.

The same is true with raising their hands. Yes, it’s good to have the students raise their hands most of the time, but sometimes, if you ask a question and you want the students to respond to it and one another, then the teacher needs to have the authority and the willingness to let the students know that they don’t ALWAYS need to raise their hands before speaking.

When students do break my rule about being kind to each other, I’ll usually take the student into the hallway and talk to them about why they acted how they did, and how they think that made someone else feel. Sometimes, if I feel it’s  needed, I’ll re-address the rules and have the students explain to me why they shouldn’t behave in a certain way, and if they ever have anything to add, or they want to change something, then I’m always willing to discuss it.

Rules should be seen as fair, logical directions that are easy to follow. I’ve had teachers before who strictly authoritarian and it completely destroys the class dynamic s and any positive relationships that the teacher could’ve built with the students.

Module 4 – Unit 5 – Activity 3 - My Biggest Fear

Module 4 – Unit 5 – Activity 3

Activity 3: Reflection Activity: My Biggest Fear

I’ve thought about this a lot, since I’m so comfortable where I teach now. I have over ten years of experience in the classroom, and after calculating it, I’ve realized that I’m way past the 10,000 mark that some people use to measure one’s mastery of something.

I do well in classrooms. I get along well with children. I have no problem being strict if the moment calls for it, but I’ve also learned to make sure that the student who gets in trouble realizes that I still like them and that it wasn’t personal. I’m good at understanding how children think and realizing when they don’t understand something.

However, there are a couple of things that I am a bit nervous about.  I’ve never had to lesson plan more than one week in advance. I believe that this type of organization and structure is something that I will stress out about adapting to at first. I still don’t  see exactly how you can plan for how quickly or slowly students will learn a certain concept. Which I guess leads to my second point, which is differentiating instruction in the classroom. I’ve done a little bit in my current job, but I think that in order to be a successful teacher in a normal school, and in order to do what’s best for the students, that it’s imperative that I try to always teach them at the correct level.

This, then, goes back to preparation and planning, which I guess is something that’ll come with a little bit of practice.

And, finally, I’ve been reading blogs from quite a few teachers lately, and they all decorate their rooms, and try to make cute handouts to sell on TPT. And while I do understand the appeal of doing that, I wonder if that kind of stuff is actually necessary. If the teacher teaches well, and the students are enjoying class, then all of that cutesy stuff…is it completely necessary, or is a lot of it for visitors who visit the classroom and can think, “Wow! This looks like a real classroom!”

But…in terms of the actual teaching of material…I have no qualms about how well I will teach, nor how well I will interact with the students, nor how much the students will enjoy being in my class.

Teach-Now Module 4 – Unit 3 – Activity 3

Teach-Now

Module 4 – Unit 3 – Activity 3

Activity 3: Blog Post

When I first began teaching, I was advised that I should have a list of rules, and so I would spend the first 30 minutes of the first class each term explaining each rule and why and what would happen to the students if they didn’t follow them. It wasn’t always successful and I realized that a lot of the rules were a bit pedantic.

And so now, I start with two rules – Don’t be rude and listen when others are talking. For me, the ‘don’t be rude’ is one of the most important standards that every classroom must have. If the teacher is willing to put some effort into it, it’s possible for all of the students – regardless of their gender – to generally like and respect one another. But I know some teachers who let their students tease each other, or just half-heartedly tells them to not be mean, and the genuine respect never materializes. However, I think it’s so necessary to have because it makes everything in the class – from participation to group work –run so much more smoothly, and I think we should be aware of the fact that our students are just children, and how they’re treated when they’re in elementary school can have long-range effects on the mental and emotional stability later on.

After explaining these rules, I usually then ask my students what THEY think the rules should be, and – to be honest- they’re often way more strict than I would be –

- No eating in class

- No drinking in class

- No bathroom

- Must always raise hand

- No chewing gum

- No talking

- No using pens while writing

Etc..and I will agree to most of them, and ask the students why they think they’re necessary, but I’m always willing to make concessions if need be. Sometimes students do have to go to the bathroom. Or something they are really thirsty. If we’re just doing something simple in class, and they ask to get some water, I know they’re not trying to avoid work or anything like that. Our classes are three hours longs, with two five-minute breaks, and ten year old children shouldn’t be forced to sit motionless for that long of  a period.

However, if they just had their break time and just played on their phone, and then they ask to go to the bathroom as soon as break time is finished, I’ll warn them that the next time, they need to use their break time more wisely or I’ll say no. This also helps because other students can hear and realize that they should probably remember that rule for the future.

For food, most teachers say no eating in class, but I’ve said that they can eat as long as it doesn’t distract the students around them. If they can discretely munch on something from their bag, then…why not? But if they’re obvious about it and other students are begging for some chips, then I take away the food privilege for a couple of days.

The same is true with raising their hands. Yes, it’s good to have the students raise their hands most of the time, but sometimes, if you ask a question and you want the students to respond to it and one another, then the teacher needs to have the authority and the willingness to let the students know that they don’t ALWAYS need to raise their hands before speaking.

When students do break my rule about being kind to each other, I’ll usually take the student into the hallway and talk to them about why they acted how they did, and how they think that made someone else feel. Sometimes, if I feel it’s  needed, I’ll re-address the rules and have the students explain to me why they shouldn’t behave in a certain way, and if they ever have anything to add, or they want to change something, then I’m always willing to discuss it.

Rules should be seen as fair, logical directions that are easy to follow. I’ve had teachers before who strictly authoritarian and it completely destroys the class dynamic s and any positive relationships that the teacher could’ve built with the students.

Module 4 – Unit 2 – Activity 4

 Teach-now

Module 4 – Unit 2 – Activity 4

Reflections on High Expectations

As educators, it is essential that we share our high expectations with our students. Besides giving them a goal to work towards, setting high expectations for our students can help them believe in themselves. However, since students come from different backgrounds and learn at different rates, we should be setting two different types of standards/expectations for our students. The first is the expectations for how our students will behave and treat one another. Every student in the classroom is part of our classroom culture, and they should all be held accountable the high standards that are expected of them. Individually, though, teachers need to understand the prior knowledge and learning behavior that each student exhibits, and then set reasonable, high expectations for each child.

Spiegel discusses an experiment that was done in 1964, where teachers were told that certain students were pre-destined to succeed based on the results of an IQ test from Harvard. He was lying, of course. These students were actually just chosen at random from several classes.  However, what he found was that over the next two years, the students who were expect to improve their IQ, actually improved their IQ significantly more than other students (Spiegel, nd). He realized that the teachers’ expectations for these students affected how well they did in class. These students were given more time to answer questions, received more praise and positive feedback from their teacher, and if they did poorly on something ,their teacher would sit down with them and figure out how this aberration occurred.

This is a huge deal because teachers are just human, and unless we specifically train ourselves not to, it’s quite easy to make snap judgments about our students from the very first day. But what we don’t realize it that, more often than not, our students actually conform to our expectations of them. And so, I think it’s really important for teachers to have high expectations for all students, and from time to time should self-reflect and try to see if each student in the class is being given the same opportunity and expectation to succeed.

A study done by Public Agenda found that the majority of students believe that schools could and should expect more of them (“The Power”, nd). This is something that I have found as well. In my school, we have online homework that the students have to do, but there’s really no punishment if they don’t do it. What I’ve learned, though, is that if I put a huge emphasis on the entire class completing it from the first week, and I make a big deal when the students do complete it, that soon, the majority of the students are actively checking to make sure everyone is doing it, and they’re even helping each other if they’re confused or don’t understand something. It’s important for students to have goals like this – class goals and individual goals. As I’ve said before, whatever you do and say on the first day of class will set the tone…create the rules of that specific classroom culture…that the students will live by until the end of the year. We need to make our goals clear for them, we need to praise them when they do well and help them when they falter along the way, and we must make our students believe that they can achieve anything that we expect of them.

And if we can do that, and still set high expectations for them, then when people say, “You can do anything…”, well, for students in this kind of environment, it’s most likely true.

For our group, I thought we did really well. Samiyyah, Dorothy, and I all seem to have high expectations for our work in this course, and all three of us organized and planned our Glog and worked well together.  We each added certain parts and even changed some things that others put up, but we trusted one another to do quality work when we were each working on the Glog.

References:

Spiegel, A. (n.d.). Teachers' Expectations Can Influence How Students Perform. Retrieved November 16, 2014, from http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/09/18/161159263/teachers-expectations-can-influence-how-students-perform

The Power of High Expectations: Closing the Gap in Your Classroom. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2014, from http://teachingasleadership.org/sites/default/files/Related-Readings/DCA_Ch2_2011.pdf

Module 4, Unit 1

 Activity 4: Reflection on Classroom Climate

I’ve learned that the key to creating a positive classroom begins on the very first day of class. Whatever rules that we set, the expectations that we convey to the students, and how we respond to our students and interact with them lays the foundation for how the students will behave for the rest of the term.

I know that when I first started teaching, I was a bit lax with my students and just wanted them to like me on the first day. Huge mistake. It’s easier to be strict in the beginning and generally become more lax than to go the other direction. When you start out lax and then try to become stricter later on, the students become confused and frustrated since you’re changing the world as they knew it. According to cfchildren.org, “Having classroom rules helps you create a predictable, safe learning environment for your students. Rules give your students clear boundaries and opportunities to practice self-regulation and make good choices” (Key Factors, 2014).

Another thing that I have learned and that I have become very strict about is making sure that students respect one another and treat each other kindly.  As cfchildren.org notes (Key Factors, 2014), we need to promote positive peer relationships by responding when the students exhibit positive behavior among themselves, and also carefully keeping track of which students get along, which ones seem to be getting pushed to the edge of the class, and which ones seem to fight the most. And then it’s up to us to discretely patch up the relationships, point out positive things about certain students, encourage leaders of the class to work with less-popular students, etc.

An article from Edutopia also makes a good point about how we should never say the word “wrong” to our students (Building, 2014). We can ask them, “Maybe. Why do you think that is true?” (whether they give us the wrong or correct answer). We can say, “Let’s look at your work/this word/this problem again and go through the steps. There may have been a mistake somewhere.” But when a student raises their hand and bravely volunteers and answer, if we just say, “Wrong/Nope!” and move on to the next student, there’s a good chance that that student, and other students in the classroom, will feel less comfortable volunteering answers in the future if they’re cut off like that and their idea/opinion/answer isn’t appreciated.

I also agree with cehd.umn.edu when they state that making positive statements is very important, as is joining in with students when they play games (Positive Classroom, 2014). I think we sometimes forget how children see us – as teachers – and we don’t realize how important our opinion is of them. 

A positive remark or comment, either given quietly and personally, or announced in front of the entire class, can make a student feel like they did something really well, and that their teacher actually cares about them. 

Another way of showing this is by joining in activities with your students. I love playing ball games with my students and they always seem to have so much more fun when I’m playing as well. Even when we are writing stories and passing them around in a circle, my students are more engage and seem happier when I’m sitting in the circle with them and writing stories as well. They look up to us and love spending time with us – if we build the right rapport with them – and we can use that influence to help guide them into becoming better, nicer people….if we would only take the time to think about how each comment that we make and each look that we give affects our students, and then try to improve every day in how we treat them as well.

References:

Building a Positive, Trusting Classroom Environment. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2014, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/building-positive-trusting-classroom-jose-vilson.

Key Factors in Creating a Positive Classroom Climate Committee for Children. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2014, from http://www.cfchildren.org/advocacy/about-us/e-newsletter/articletype/articleview/articleid/7934/key-factors-in-creating-a-positive-classroom-climate.aspx.

Positive Classroom Environment and Student- Teacher Rapport... preventing challenging behavior in the classroom. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2014, from http://www.cehd.umn.edu/ceed/publications/tipsheets/preschoolbehavior/posclass.pdf.

Module 3, Unit 4, Activity 1: Instructional Goals for Selecting Digital Tools

Instructional objectives are the goals that we hope to reach, or the knowledge that we hope our students will acquire by the end of a particular lesson. The acronym SMART is a good way to remember how we should be setting our objectives –

Specific – Use specific language that clearly defines the goal you wish to achieve

Measurable – Be sure to understand what you expect to change in your students if they learn this lesson appropriately.

Achievable – Set realistic objectives that can be accomplished by all students if they make an effort.

Relevant – Make sure that your objectives relate to the overall lesson/term/yearly goals that the students are trying to reach.

Timeframe – State clearly how long this lesson/process will take until the results are measurable.

And so, when determining which tools we should use to achieve our objectives, I have found that TPACK is usually a good way to go about it. TPACK stands for Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge, and these are the three key building blocks for any lesson. While some people may discover an interesting technology and then try to develop a lesson plan to match it, lesson planning works more seamlessly when the teacher tries to think about all three aspects while developing a lesson and its objectives.

While the content that we have to teach will be set before time, how we teach it and what tools we use are what will decide whether or not it is an effective lesson. For example, let’s say that we’re doing a lesson on the Vietnam War, and we want the students to do some research on a key event that happened during that time. We could just have them Google it and write a paper, but by doing that, what would our objectives be? The copying of information from one source to their own paper?

We should think about how to make it more interesting and challenging for the students…which means that even though they have to think more about how to accomplish the assignment, they’ll enjoy doing it more. A simple assignment would be to have them create a Glog with images, videos, written summaries, and all of the animations that they wanted to include. This could serve the same purpose of having them delve deeper into an important time in American history, but they’ll have the freedom to decide how to present that information, which is a skill that will benefit them in the future.

But should they do this work in groups or alone? Should it be up to the individual students? When deciding things like this, as well, the teacher must consider the class and its dynamics. Many students will probably benefit from doing a project like this for the first time collaboratively, while some students may feel comfortable working individually.

And after thinking about the class dynamics, maybe the teacher will realize that some students may enjoy making a mindmap instead, and so will offer the students a couple of choices as to how they want to complete this project.

Choosing a technological tool isn’t just about choosing something so that you can say that you’ve used technology in the classroom. It’s about choosing the right tool for that lesson and for your students, and, if need be, giving them a number of different options for accomplishing the same task.