Warning! This blog post is very train of thought, and I am processing as I am writing.
This school year has been a bit of transition for me. After years of working full-time, I am now part-time teacher and part-time mom. My school is on block scheduling, so I teach one day and I am at home the next. Because I am only teaching 3 blocks of Spanish 1, I have been able to focus on prepping for one class (instead of my normal two or three). During first semester I experimented with speaking quizzes, dictionary activities and current events.
The one take-away that I have from this past semester is that I need to plan ahead at the beginning of the year with goals for the students. I think I expected too much out of my Spanish 1 students in terms of the amount of work that I asked them to do and the content of the speaking tests. Next year I would like to be more specific about the goals for my students and then create classroom activities to align with those goals. (I am having a "duh, Maria" moment--those are what the State Standards are for! Because we are a private school, we are not tied to the state standards. When I write lesson plans I do not have to specifically align them with the state standards, so they are not at the forefront of my mind when I do lesson plans--even though that is what I was trained to do in college.)
Goals for Spanish 1 conversation tests based off the Ohio State Standards:
Semester 1:
Interpersonal Communication
1.a. Use a common range of expressions to make requests and seek clarification.
2.a. Engage in greetings, introductions and leave-taking.
Quarter 1 conversation test: I will say a question or a phrase and the student will respond. Students will introduce me to a friend.
Quarter 2 conversation test: I act like a new student in the school and I ask the student questions about the schedule and locations of places in the school. Or I show them a picture and the student tells me as much as she can about the picture.
Semester 2:
Interpersonal Communication
1. b. Ask and answer a range of questions to seek or clarify information.
2. b. Ask questions and provide answers on a range of topics.
3. b. Ask and answer questions about feelings emotions and preferences.
Quarter 3 conversation test: I act like a waiter and the student orders their food like in a restaurant.
Quarter 4 conversation test: Students create questions that they ask me in Spanish about anything using vocabulary and expressions that they already know.
Goals for Spanish 1 projects based off the Ohio State Standards
Semester 1:
Presentational Communication
1.a. Plan a range of texts and presentations by brainstorming ideas and choosing vocabulary, phrases and sentence patterns.
2.a. Create and present lists and classifications.
3. b. Dramatize or perform authentic songs, dances, skits, plays, monologues or scenes from literature using appropriate gestures.
Semester 1 Project: Imaginary Friend Project (see blog post here) or Family Tree Project.
Semester 2:
Presentational Communication
1. b. Organize thoughts and choose resources.
2. b. Tell a personal story or anecdote that relates some details.
3. a. Recite or retell authentic stories, folktales, legends poems and rhymes using appropriate gestures.
Semester 2 Project: Presentation on high school sports or daily routine for final exam or Family Tree Project.
Based on the standards, I know I already do classroom activities and projects that match these standards, but I would like the alternative assessments--like conversation tests and projects--to align with the standards.
Showing posts with label Reflections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reflections. Show all posts
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Goals for Next Year
I am not ready to return to school in August--I am definitely ready for my summer vacation. However, at the end of a school year I am always eager to learn from my mistakes and improve my classes for the following school year.
Here are my goals for the 2011-2012 school year:
1. Classroom Management
-Students need a routine, but after 7 years of doing the same routine, I am spent. I would like to try a new routine for the beginning of class. I like saying prayer, but I am tired of the same old thing. A religion teacher at my school does a Question of the Day at the beginning of class, and then she has students submit their answer through DyKnow within a couple of minutes. I am thinking about doing something similar.
-In Spanish 3, I will still start with the prayer and conversation (una charla). I am going to make conversation at the beginning of class mandatory for a participation grade. I can do something similar with a question of the day, but everyone has to answer. It may help to give them the question of the day a day before so they can think about it. I remember in high school and college--before I was really proficient--I would think of how to say sayings or phrases in Spanish. This internal dialogue encourages proficiency, and my hope is that my students would use the time in between classes to think about what they will say.
-Also in Spanish 3, I am going to change how I issue participation grades, but I am not sure how to do it. I will have to reflect on this over the summer.
2. Technology
-Create new projects for Spanish 1 and Spanish 3 using technology. I am interested in using Glogster, VoiceThread and recording programs.
-Use my iPad and iPod touch in the classroom to record speaking activities. Hopefully this will give students an opportunity to do a speaking activity, but it would not require me to leave the classroom to do it.
3. Professional Development
Each year, teachers at my school are required to do something for professional development and it can change from year to year. For example, one year I do peer observation and the next formal assessment or portfolio development. Next year, I will do personal development, which is a way that our administration is encouraging balanced lives at our school. I still have some time to sign up for what I want to do, but I want to explore meditation. As August approaches, I will make this goal more specific.
Here are my goals for the 2011-2012 school year:
1. Classroom Management
-Students need a routine, but after 7 years of doing the same routine, I am spent. I would like to try a new routine for the beginning of class. I like saying prayer, but I am tired of the same old thing. A religion teacher at my school does a Question of the Day at the beginning of class, and then she has students submit their answer through DyKnow within a couple of minutes. I am thinking about doing something similar.
-In Spanish 3, I will still start with the prayer and conversation (una charla). I am going to make conversation at the beginning of class mandatory for a participation grade. I can do something similar with a question of the day, but everyone has to answer. It may help to give them the question of the day a day before so they can think about it. I remember in high school and college--before I was really proficient--I would think of how to say sayings or phrases in Spanish. This internal dialogue encourages proficiency, and my hope is that my students would use the time in between classes to think about what they will say.
-Also in Spanish 3, I am going to change how I issue participation grades, but I am not sure how to do it. I will have to reflect on this over the summer.
2. Technology
-Create new projects for Spanish 1 and Spanish 3 using technology. I am interested in using Glogster, VoiceThread and recording programs.
-Use my iPad and iPod touch in the classroom to record speaking activities. Hopefully this will give students an opportunity to do a speaking activity, but it would not require me to leave the classroom to do it.
3. Professional Development
Each year, teachers at my school are required to do something for professional development and it can change from year to year. For example, one year I do peer observation and the next formal assessment or portfolio development. Next year, I will do personal development, which is a way that our administration is encouraging balanced lives at our school. I still have some time to sign up for what I want to do, but I want to explore meditation. As August approaches, I will make this goal more specific.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Madrid
After accompanying students to Zaragoza, Spain, for an exchange program, my colleague and I were free to travel to Madrid for a few days. The students will stay in Zaragoza for 5 weeks, and their host families will accompany them back to Madrid to catch their flight to the U.S.
In Madrid, we walked around and visited several must-see sights. My colleague had been to Madrid several times before, but everything was new to me. We visited El Prado, El Museo Reina Sofia, El Palacio Real, El Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, La Plaza Mayor and El Parque de Buen Retiro. We visited a few stores, but my favorite store was Salvador Bachiller (http://salvadorbachiller.com/), which has everything from shoes to purses to suitcases to iPhone cases.
What impressed me the most:
-The beautiful and stately interior design in El Palacio Real. I like that they have kept most of the original designs dating back to the 18th century. It's impressive to see the artwork and the "souvenirs" that past royals have collected from other countries.
-La Guernica en El Museo Reina Sofia. I have read about and seen many pictures of Pablo Picasso's masterpiece, but I was not prepared for the size. It was in a room about the size of a football field with bare white walls , and it was the only art work in the room which added to the tragedy of the scene. There were Picasso's sketches of the painting and photos showing the stages of completion.
-Also in the Reina Sofia there was an exhibit with front pages from about 300 newspapers dating September 12, 2001.
-We did not spend that much time in El Retiro, but I appreciated the beautiful quiet in a large metropolitan city. Every large city should have something similar.
-Of course, I would be remiss in not mentioning Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez which is located in El Prado. A friend of mine who visited Madrid several years earlier told me we had to see Las Meninas. I had seen pictures of the painting before, and I did not understand until I saw it. There is something about the painting that is so intriguing. Perhaps it is Velazquez's play with perspective or that he painted himself in the painting or the princess in the painting. I really don't know, but I could have looked at it for hours.
-The ease of transportation. My hometown does not have a great public transportation system, and being in Madrid made me wish for one. It was easy to figure out and easy to get to everywhere we wanted to go.
In Madrid, we walked around and visited several must-see sights. My colleague had been to Madrid several times before, but everything was new to me. We visited El Prado, El Museo Reina Sofia, El Palacio Real, El Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, La Plaza Mayor and El Parque de Buen Retiro. We visited a few stores, but my favorite store was Salvador Bachiller (http://salvadorbachiller.com/), which has everything from shoes to purses to suitcases to iPhone cases.
What impressed me the most:
-The beautiful and stately interior design in El Palacio Real. I like that they have kept most of the original designs dating back to the 18th century. It's impressive to see the artwork and the "souvenirs" that past royals have collected from other countries.
-La Guernica en El Museo Reina Sofia. I have read about and seen many pictures of Pablo Picasso's masterpiece, but I was not prepared for the size. It was in a room about the size of a football field with bare white walls , and it was the only art work in the room which added to the tragedy of the scene. There were Picasso's sketches of the painting and photos showing the stages of completion.
-Also in the Reina Sofia there was an exhibit with front pages from about 300 newspapers dating September 12, 2001.
-We did not spend that much time in El Retiro, but I appreciated the beautiful quiet in a large metropolitan city. Every large city should have something similar.
-Of course, I would be remiss in not mentioning Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez which is located in El Prado. A friend of mine who visited Madrid several years earlier told me we had to see Las Meninas. I had seen pictures of the painting before, and I did not understand until I saw it. There is something about the painting that is so intriguing. Perhaps it is Velazquez's play with perspective or that he painted himself in the painting or the princess in the painting. I really don't know, but I could have looked at it for hours.
-The ease of transportation. My hometown does not have a great public transportation system, and being in Madrid made me wish for one. It was easy to figure out and easy to get to everywhere we wanted to go.
¿Qué os apetece?
In January, I visited Spain for the first time (and Europe for the first time, too!). I accompanied a group of students who were participating in a five-week exchange program that our school set up with a colegio in Zaragoza, Spain. After the students' host families picked them up, my job was to visit, eat, visit and eat some more. We spent about 4 days in Zaragoza and 3 days in Madrid.
We visited many beautiful places, but the first topic I want to write about is FOOD! Perhaps the most famous food concept to come out of Spains is tapas. Tapas really refer to portion sizes--they are small plates of finger food typically served with some alcoholic beverage, usually wine or beer. The first night we were in Zaragoza, our hosts took us on what is called el tapeo, which is basically a tapas crawl. We went to one tapas bar and ate one tapa, and then we moved on to another bar and so on.
The first bar we went to only served tapas with mushrooms. The tapa in this bar was simple: a stack of sauteed mushrooms served on top of a slice of french bread. Also we all had a small glass (much smaller than what you would get in an American restaurant) of vino tinto, or red wine. Here is a picture of all the mushrooms being cooked. This is what heaven looks like!
After the mushroom bar, we went to a bar called La cueva en Aragón. There we had a tapa that four of us shared that seemed more like breakfast to this American. It was fried sliced potatoes with ham and onions on top. There may have been other toppings, but I did not take a picture, so I cannot remember.
The next bar we sampled a few tapas that were slices of french bread with various toppings. My favorite was Queso de cabra con confituras (Goat cheese with jam). Delicious!
For a final hurrah on our tapeo was a very interesting tapa that had I not been traveling I may not have had the guts to try it. It is called La Guardia Civil (which refers to the Spanish police). It is called this because whenever you seen anyone with La Guardia Civil, you see them in twos. With this tapa, most people order two. It was like a mini-sub sandwich, and the fillings were sardines, tomato, red pepper and a pickle. I have never tried a sardine before and never had wanted to try one. But I went for it. It was very salty, but not as bad as I thought it would be. 
We visited many beautiful places, but the first topic I want to write about is FOOD! Perhaps the most famous food concept to come out of Spains is tapas. Tapas really refer to portion sizes--they are small plates of finger food typically served with some alcoholic beverage, usually wine or beer. The first night we were in Zaragoza, our hosts took us on what is called el tapeo, which is basically a tapas crawl. We went to one tapas bar and ate one tapa, and then we moved on to another bar and so on.
The first bar we went to only served tapas with mushrooms. The tapa in this bar was simple: a stack of sauteed mushrooms served on top of a slice of french bread. Also we all had a small glass (much smaller than what you would get in an American restaurant) of vino tinto, or red wine. Here is a picture of all the mushrooms being cooked. This is what heaven looks like!
After the mushroom bar, we went to a bar called La cueva en Aragón. There we had a tapa that four of us shared that seemed more like breakfast to this American. It was fried sliced potatoes with ham and onions on top. There may have been other toppings, but I did not take a picture, so I cannot remember.The next bar we sampled a few tapas that were slices of french bread with various toppings. My favorite was Queso de cabra con confituras (Goat cheese with jam). Delicious!
For a final hurrah on our tapeo was a very interesting tapa that had I not been traveling I may not have had the guts to try it. It is called La Guardia Civil (which refers to the Spanish police). It is called this because whenever you seen anyone with La Guardia Civil, you see them in twos. With this tapa, most people order two. It was like a mini-sub sandwich, and the fillings were sardines, tomato, red pepper and a pickle. I have never tried a sardine before and never had wanted to try one. But I went for it. It was very salty, but not as bad as I thought it would be. 
Other tapas enjoyed that we did not sample on our tapeo were:
Croquetas de jamón (Ham croquettes--on the left). These were my favorite. I first had them for breakfast but later we had them as a tapa in Madrid. It is pureed potatoes with onion, ham and cheese. Jamón serrano (the famous ham from Spain that is specially cured--similar to prosciutto) served with french bread and manchego cheese. In many bars, you will see pig legs
Croquetas de jamón (Ham croquettes--on the left). These were my favorite. I first had them for breakfast but later we had them as a tapa in Madrid. It is pureed potatoes with onion, ham and cheese. Jamón serrano (the famous ham from Spain that is specially cured--similar to prosciutto) served with french bread and manchego cheese. In many bars, you will see pig legs
hanging from the ceiling or rafters. This is where the jamón serrano comes from. (Photo from www.wikipedia.com). La ensaladilla rusa is a salad that could be compared to American tuna salad or potato salad. The ingredients are potatoes, tuna, pickles and mayonnaise. 
Sunday, November 7, 2010
How Much Teacher Help Is too Much? By Diane Trim
I received this via an email from Inside the School. I thought there were some good talking points about teacher help.
I have always been perplexed by the term spoon feeding. I know that it means that the teacher gives his students too much help, but I've never been clear on how much is too much.
I'll give you five possible spoon feeding scenarios. Let me know in the comments which one(s) are spoon feeding and which one(s) represent good teaching.
Scenario 1: One test hint
Lindsay is new teacher who passes out Test Hint coupons like extra credit points. During a test or a quiz, a student may use one coupon for a free teacher hint on a question. Students ask the teacher a question and she gives them a hint. She doesn't accept the question, "Is this right?" but the rest are fair game.
Scenario 2: Testing from homework
Matt, the math teacher, encourages his students to complete their homework and ask questions about problems they can't solve. He gives homework a completion grades only and doesn't grade at all on correct answers. Matt told me that he wants students to attempt the homework and to figure out a method for solving the problems that worked for them. As a reward for the students who complete homework every day, Matt creates his tests and quizzes from the homework questions. Students who keep up with the math class's daily work tend to perform well on Matt's assessments.
Scenario 3: The review game
A popular history teacher always plays a review game with his students before a test. The questions he uses are right off the test sheet. Students may use notes, books, or one another to answer questions. When the class finishes the game, the students take the test.
Scenario 4: The cheat sheet
Our physics teacher believes her students have a difficult time memorizing all the formulas and measurements they need to answer physics questions. The day before a test, she distributes a 3 x 5" index card to her classes. Students fill up the card – in ink only, no printed material – with formulas, definitions, and facts they think they'll need for the next day's test. The physics teacher claims that creating the "cheat sheet" actually helps them study. She also says that her testing objectives aren't at the understanding level of Bloom's Taxonomy. She aims for the higher levels of analyzing, applying, and evaluating.
Scenario 5: Start me out
Michelle, the English teacher, often takes modeling essay writing one step further for students who aren't strong writers. She sits with a small group and begins a sentence for them. She asks her students to finish the sentence with their own words. She and her students draft a paragraph together and she models the essay writing process with them. Before the students return to their seats, Michelle makes sure each kid has at least an introduction, a thesis statement, topic sentences, a clincher, and an outline for the rest of the essay.
What do you think? Are any of these scenarios examples of spoon feeding students information? How much assistance is too much? Where do you draw the line in your own classroom?
I have always been perplexed by the term spoon feeding. I know that it means that the teacher gives his students too much help, but I've never been clear on how much is too much.
I'll give you five possible spoon feeding scenarios. Let me know in the comments which one(s) are spoon feeding and which one(s) represent good teaching.
Scenario 1: One test hint
Lindsay is new teacher who passes out Test Hint coupons like extra credit points. During a test or a quiz, a student may use one coupon for a free teacher hint on a question. Students ask the teacher a question and she gives them a hint. She doesn't accept the question, "Is this right?" but the rest are fair game.
Scenario 2: Testing from homework
Matt, the math teacher, encourages his students to complete their homework and ask questions about problems they can't solve. He gives homework a completion grades only and doesn't grade at all on correct answers. Matt told me that he wants students to attempt the homework and to figure out a method for solving the problems that worked for them. As a reward for the students who complete homework every day, Matt creates his tests and quizzes from the homework questions. Students who keep up with the math class's daily work tend to perform well on Matt's assessments.
Scenario 3: The review game
A popular history teacher always plays a review game with his students before a test. The questions he uses are right off the test sheet. Students may use notes, books, or one another to answer questions. When the class finishes the game, the students take the test.
Scenario 4: The cheat sheet
Our physics teacher believes her students have a difficult time memorizing all the formulas and measurements they need to answer physics questions. The day before a test, she distributes a 3 x 5" index card to her classes. Students fill up the card – in ink only, no printed material – with formulas, definitions, and facts they think they'll need for the next day's test. The physics teacher claims that creating the "cheat sheet" actually helps them study. She also says that her testing objectives aren't at the understanding level of Bloom's Taxonomy. She aims for the higher levels of analyzing, applying, and evaluating.
Scenario 5: Start me out
Michelle, the English teacher, often takes modeling essay writing one step further for students who aren't strong writers. She sits with a small group and begins a sentence for them. She asks her students to finish the sentence with their own words. She and her students draft a paragraph together and she models the essay writing process with them. Before the students return to their seats, Michelle makes sure each kid has at least an introduction, a thesis statement, topic sentences, a clincher, and an outline for the rest of the essay.
What do you think? Are any of these scenarios examples of spoon feeding students information? How much assistance is too much? Where do you draw the line in your own classroom?
Monday, October 18, 2010
Ten Things that Successful New Teachers Do, By Dr. Mary C. Clement
I receive emails from Inside the School. The emails contain news about conferences or classes or short articles containing tips for classroom teachers. Even though this article is for new teachers, I thought it was a valuable reminder for myself.
Ten Things that Successful New Teachers Do
By Dr. Mary C. Clement
The first year of teaching can be challenging, rewarding, stressful, joyful, difficult, and fun. The first year will always be memorable, with some ups and downs, but also with many valuable learning experiences for the teacher. While some teachers describe their first year as "a trial by fire," or a "sink or swim" experience, there are strategies for making the first year more productive and less stressful. The following strategies will help you to get organized in your first classroom and to achieve success with your students.
1. Over-prepare for the first day of class
You only get one chance to make a first impression, and the first day of class is critical. As soon as possible, begin work in your room. Count the desks, find out the number of students, and start gathering materials and books. Learn the daily schedule for the first day, and know what paperwork has to be completed on that day. Plan how you will introduce yourself and plan what assignments and activities the students will do to introduce themselves to you and to each other. Community building is critically important to having a well-run classroom. Consider interest inventories for the first day. Keep the students very busy and engaged in get acquainted activities as well as academic ones.
On the personal side, if you have moved to a new town, get settled in as early as possible, and practice your commute to work. Do everything you can to ensure that you will arrive ready, calm, and organized on the first day.
2. Plan for classroom management
First of all, plan your philosophy. Read widely about management plans from a variety of theorists and then take the best from each of them for your plan. Find out what the school wide rules are and who provides the back-up support for teachers regarding discipline issues.
Next, plan the routines and procedures for everything students do in your room. Arrange the desks so that you can walk to each student. Make seating charts. Have an entrance table where students pick up supplies. Greet students at the door the first day and ask them to find their seats, based on a chart on the screen, and then to start the assignment on the board.
Post the rules, with consequences and positive rewards, on the wall. Send a copy of the posted rules home to parents in the first newsletter. Make sure students have a copy for their notebooks or in the syllabus. Teach the rules. Review them on Mondays, and whenever necessary. Enforce the rules equitably. Motivate students with positive rewards that reinforce teaching — computer time, a review game, or extra minutes to study for a quiz.
3. Accept today's students
No matter your age, today's students will not act as you did when you were their age. Accept this and teaching becomes a lot easier! Accept their music, their fashion, their tattoos, and their backgrounds. Today's students need their teachers now more than ever before, and the toughest to teach may need us the most.
4. Assess prior interest and knowledge
Do not assume that all seventh graders are ready for the seventh grade curriculum. Use pre-test with students to find their levels of expertise. Have students complete ungraded assignments and open-ended questionnaires about your discipline. Yes, this takes time, but spending a few weeks reviewing or teaching the basics may put you farther ahead later in the year.
Use interest inventories to ask students what they read outside of class, and what their goals are for the school year. Don't ask embarrassing or overly personal questions, but knowing a little about your students will help you to meet their needs.
5. Open lines of communication with parents
As the new school year begins, send letters and/or emails home to students' families. Share the school calendar, the management plan, and also information about the curriculum. Find out when the open houses are scheduled, and meet as many families as possible. Observe how other teachers handle parent conferences, and use conferences when needed. Don't hesitate to have another teacher or administrator sit in on parent conferences.
6. Use a variety of teaching strategies
Are you concerned about being too teacher-centered and direct in your classroom? Are you worried that if you teach with groups that you won't get a good evaluation? The key is to use a variety of strategies and to keep learning new ones. Today's young students are already using computers and some middle and high school students are taking online classes, so keep current with your teaching methods.
7. Keep good records (and a new portfolio)
Keep a good plan and your second year of teaching will be 100% easier, because you will know how long it took to complete chapters and activities. In addition to keeping your plans, keep samples of student work and proof of your completion of professional development activities. Some schools may require you to produce a portfolio as part of your annual evaluation. If you change jobs, you will need a portfolio for your next job interview. Your files, both electronic and paper, will help you in your current or future job.
8. Take advantage of your mentor and of professional networks
A mentor can help you to find materials, organize your classroom, plan the curriculum, and just listen to your concerns. If possible, consider having your mentor observe in your classroom or go observe in his/her room. Be sure to thank your mentor for all his/her help and time.
Your membership in professional associations can connect you with a world of other mentors. Consider membership in one organization for teachers, like Kappa Delta Pi, and one for your discipline. Attend their conferences for motivation and ideas.
9. Practice positive self-help and stress management
First-year teachers often report that their jobs consume them, taking up hours and hours of time outside of the school day. While preparing for teaching, and keeping up with the paperwork is time consuming, prioritize some time for yourself. Exercise, eating right, and creating some down time in each week are critical to staying strong. Make time for friends, and create a support network to help with the personal and life balance issues.
10. Know what you do and why — reflection works
When the days get tough, remind yourself of the importance of teaching. Remember student successes, and how much students need you as their teacher and as their role model. Reflect upon your job. Keep a journal. Write an article for your professional association's publication. Create a blog for reflection, if you want to go public. Teachers rarely get all the support they need from outside sources. We need to create and refine our intrinsic motivation often. Be positive in your self-reflection.
Mary C. Clement is a professor of teacher education at Berry College, northwest of Atlanta, GA, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in curriculum, teaching methods, instructional management, and supervision of instruction. She is the author of six books, including Building the Best Faculty, So You Want to be Teacher?, First Time in the High School Classroom, and The Definitive Guide to Getting a Teaching Job.
Ten Things that Successful New Teachers Do
By Dr. Mary C. Clement
The first year of teaching can be challenging, rewarding, stressful, joyful, difficult, and fun. The first year will always be memorable, with some ups and downs, but also with many valuable learning experiences for the teacher. While some teachers describe their first year as "a trial by fire," or a "sink or swim" experience, there are strategies for making the first year more productive and less stressful. The following strategies will help you to get organized in your first classroom and to achieve success with your students.
1. Over-prepare for the first day of class
You only get one chance to make a first impression, and the first day of class is critical. As soon as possible, begin work in your room. Count the desks, find out the number of students, and start gathering materials and books. Learn the daily schedule for the first day, and know what paperwork has to be completed on that day. Plan how you will introduce yourself and plan what assignments and activities the students will do to introduce themselves to you and to each other. Community building is critically important to having a well-run classroom. Consider interest inventories for the first day. Keep the students very busy and engaged in get acquainted activities as well as academic ones.
On the personal side, if you have moved to a new town, get settled in as early as possible, and practice your commute to work. Do everything you can to ensure that you will arrive ready, calm, and organized on the first day.
2. Plan for classroom management
First of all, plan your philosophy. Read widely about management plans from a variety of theorists and then take the best from each of them for your plan. Find out what the school wide rules are and who provides the back-up support for teachers regarding discipline issues.
Next, plan the routines and procedures for everything students do in your room. Arrange the desks so that you can walk to each student. Make seating charts. Have an entrance table where students pick up supplies. Greet students at the door the first day and ask them to find their seats, based on a chart on the screen, and then to start the assignment on the board.
Post the rules, with consequences and positive rewards, on the wall. Send a copy of the posted rules home to parents in the first newsletter. Make sure students have a copy for their notebooks or in the syllabus. Teach the rules. Review them on Mondays, and whenever necessary. Enforce the rules equitably. Motivate students with positive rewards that reinforce teaching — computer time, a review game, or extra minutes to study for a quiz.
3. Accept today's students
No matter your age, today's students will not act as you did when you were their age. Accept this and teaching becomes a lot easier! Accept their music, their fashion, their tattoos, and their backgrounds. Today's students need their teachers now more than ever before, and the toughest to teach may need us the most.
4. Assess prior interest and knowledge
Do not assume that all seventh graders are ready for the seventh grade curriculum. Use pre-test with students to find their levels of expertise. Have students complete ungraded assignments and open-ended questionnaires about your discipline. Yes, this takes time, but spending a few weeks reviewing or teaching the basics may put you farther ahead later in the year.
Use interest inventories to ask students what they read outside of class, and what their goals are for the school year. Don't ask embarrassing or overly personal questions, but knowing a little about your students will help you to meet their needs.
5. Open lines of communication with parents
As the new school year begins, send letters and/or emails home to students' families. Share the school calendar, the management plan, and also information about the curriculum. Find out when the open houses are scheduled, and meet as many families as possible. Observe how other teachers handle parent conferences, and use conferences when needed. Don't hesitate to have another teacher or administrator sit in on parent conferences.
6. Use a variety of teaching strategies
Are you concerned about being too teacher-centered and direct in your classroom? Are you worried that if you teach with groups that you won't get a good evaluation? The key is to use a variety of strategies and to keep learning new ones. Today's young students are already using computers and some middle and high school students are taking online classes, so keep current with your teaching methods.
7. Keep good records (and a new portfolio)
Keep a good plan and your second year of teaching will be 100% easier, because you will know how long it took to complete chapters and activities. In addition to keeping your plans, keep samples of student work and proof of your completion of professional development activities. Some schools may require you to produce a portfolio as part of your annual evaluation. If you change jobs, you will need a portfolio for your next job interview. Your files, both electronic and paper, will help you in your current or future job.
8. Take advantage of your mentor and of professional networks
A mentor can help you to find materials, organize your classroom, plan the curriculum, and just listen to your concerns. If possible, consider having your mentor observe in your classroom or go observe in his/her room. Be sure to thank your mentor for all his/her help and time.
Your membership in professional associations can connect you with a world of other mentors. Consider membership in one organization for teachers, like Kappa Delta Pi, and one for your discipline. Attend their conferences for motivation and ideas.
9. Practice positive self-help and stress management
First-year teachers often report that their jobs consume them, taking up hours and hours of time outside of the school day. While preparing for teaching, and keeping up with the paperwork is time consuming, prioritize some time for yourself. Exercise, eating right, and creating some down time in each week are critical to staying strong. Make time for friends, and create a support network to help with the personal and life balance issues.
10. Know what you do and why — reflection works
When the days get tough, remind yourself of the importance of teaching. Remember student successes, and how much students need you as their teacher and as their role model. Reflect upon your job. Keep a journal. Write an article for your professional association's publication. Create a blog for reflection, if you want to go public. Teachers rarely get all the support they need from outside sources. We need to create and refine our intrinsic motivation often. Be positive in your self-reflection.
Mary C. Clement is a professor of teacher education at Berry College, northwest of Atlanta, GA, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in curriculum, teaching methods, instructional management, and supervision of instruction. She is the author of six books, including Building the Best Faculty, So You Want to be Teacher?, First Time in the High School Classroom, and The Definitive Guide to Getting a Teaching Job.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
The first quarter...
This year is my school's first year of the implementation of a Tablet PC program. The freshmen are the only students that have tablets, and we will build the program class by class. We are using HP tablets. The two main programs that the students are using are DyKnow and Microsoft One Note. As the teacher, I use both DyKnow Vision and DyKnow Monitor. Vision is the presentation software (think Power Point), and Monitor is what we use to monitor what is on the students' machines and control what students can and cannot access on their tablets during class. The students use One Note as their digital binder. They have notebooks for each of their classes and ways to organize each notebook.
After six weeks of teaching Spanish I in a tablet PC environment, I have several observations and thoughts:
1. The transition was difficult for a lot of students. Students are so accustomed to textbooks, and using an online textbook is not as easy. About three weeks into the school year, a frustrated student said in her most pouty voice, "I miss textbooks!"
2. The organizational skills that students will learn after four years of using a tablet in school will be invaluable for them in a paperless world. Organizing digital clutter is a key skill to learn.
3. If students are going to be distracted, they will be distracted regardless of whether there is a laptop in front of them or not. If it is not doodling, writing notes or texting on their cell phones, it's chatting on Skype or sending an email.
4. If students are going to cheat, they will cheat regardless of whether there is a laptop in front of them or not. Cheating still happens, just in different ways.
5. The laptop is just a tool. It does not take the place of classroom conversation, the rapport I have with my students or my personality. It does not change the goals I have for my students.
6. I have become mostly comfortable with using DyKnow Vision as the presentation software, but I am still struggling with DyKnow Monitor. It is difficult for me to figure out what I want to block and when. I try to always block Skype because there is a chat feature on Skype, but still need to figure out when to block email and the internet.
7. Freshmen receive demerits for doing anything that they should not be doing on their laptops. It is critical that teachers use the demerit system to communicate to students that playing video games is not acceptable in school.
8. There is so much more to do!! I feel comfortable right now, but I want to add something on, especially the use of a Web 2.0 resource. I am planning a project for second semester, and I think I will be using Glogster (www.edu.glogster.com).
After six weeks of teaching Spanish I in a tablet PC environment, I have several observations and thoughts:
1. The transition was difficult for a lot of students. Students are so accustomed to textbooks, and using an online textbook is not as easy. About three weeks into the school year, a frustrated student said in her most pouty voice, "I miss textbooks!"
2. The organizational skills that students will learn after four years of using a tablet in school will be invaluable for them in a paperless world. Organizing digital clutter is a key skill to learn.
3. If students are going to be distracted, they will be distracted regardless of whether there is a laptop in front of them or not. If it is not doodling, writing notes or texting on their cell phones, it's chatting on Skype or sending an email.
4. If students are going to cheat, they will cheat regardless of whether there is a laptop in front of them or not. Cheating still happens, just in different ways.
5. The laptop is just a tool. It does not take the place of classroom conversation, the rapport I have with my students or my personality. It does not change the goals I have for my students.
6. I have become mostly comfortable with using DyKnow Vision as the presentation software, but I am still struggling with DyKnow Monitor. It is difficult for me to figure out what I want to block and when. I try to always block Skype because there is a chat feature on Skype, but still need to figure out when to block email and the internet.
7. Freshmen receive demerits for doing anything that they should not be doing on their laptops. It is critical that teachers use the demerit system to communicate to students that playing video games is not acceptable in school.
8. There is so much more to do!! I feel comfortable right now, but I want to add something on, especially the use of a Web 2.0 resource. I am planning a project for second semester, and I think I will be using Glogster (www.edu.glogster.com).
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Test Day with Laptops
The last two days I taught my Honors Spanish 2 class as an official laptop class. I used Dyknow both as the presentation software and as the monitoring software. Honestly, it was rough. We barely spoke any Spanish, and we were focused on the technology most of the time. I guess that is to be expected.
Things I learned:
1. I will have to make a conscious effort to keep the class communicative and interactive. I will also have to figure out how to stay in the target language as much as possible--which will be a challenge when we are using so much technology. As a department, we may have to work on developing a list of technology words that we will have to teach and use in the classroom.
2. It's not going to be perfect everytime, and I don't have to use the laptops 100% of the time.
3. I didn't do any partner work, and I did not do much communicative work. That is something I need to change.
4. Everything felt stilted and unnatural, but anything that you do for the first time is bound to feel that way.
5. I used the polling feature in Dyknow. It was very cool, and the students enjoyed it. The students had to read each question in Spanish, which was great, but they did not produce anything. In the future I would have them respond back with the correct answer or ask them a question that is slightly different from the polled question.
6. There is much to do and much to learn before using laptops full-time in the classroom.
Things I learned:
1. I will have to make a conscious effort to keep the class communicative and interactive. I will also have to figure out how to stay in the target language as much as possible--which will be a challenge when we are using so much technology. As a department, we may have to work on developing a list of technology words that we will have to teach and use in the classroom.
2. It's not going to be perfect everytime, and I don't have to use the laptops 100% of the time.
3. I didn't do any partner work, and I did not do much communicative work. That is something I need to change.
4. Everything felt stilted and unnatural, but anything that you do for the first time is bound to feel that way.
5. I used the polling feature in Dyknow. It was very cool, and the students enjoyed it. The students had to read each question in Spanish, which was great, but they did not produce anything. In the future I would have them respond back with the correct answer or ask them a question that is slightly different from the polled question.
6. There is much to do and much to learn before using laptops full-time in the classroom.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
A new year
Tomorrow is the official first day of school. We are officially one year away from implementing our 1-1 table program. At our opening faculty meeting we spent a little time discussing our plan for the implementation of the program. The most important two words are "bit by bit." It's easy to get caught up in all the flashy Web 2.0 websites, but I know I can't and won't do it all the first year of the tablet program (or the second or third...).
The main transition will be from a notebook paper classroom to a digital classroom. Instead of students taking notes in their notebooks, they will take notes on their tablets. Our school has purchased the programs DyKnow and One Note for these purposes. I still have a lot to learn with these programs, so I will update later with what I learn as we go through that process together as a school.
The main transition will be from a notebook paper classroom to a digital classroom. Instead of students taking notes in their notebooks, they will take notes on their tablets. Our school has purchased the programs DyKnow and One Note for these purposes. I still have a lot to learn with these programs, so I will update later with what I learn as we go through that process together as a school.
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