Are you a new teacher?

If you are a new teacher, first, congratulations!  You are making a difference for students--even if it doesn't feel like it right now.  Next, you are probably feeling a bit overwhelmed--that's normal.  I can't tell you the number of times I thought about quitting (usually after I made a mistake).  Hang in there.  Finally, here's a great resource full of ideas for you!

Reviewing for Higher Levels of Learning

I used a pizza wheel to review material students are assigned to read prior to or during class. Each student writes a fact he or she learned in one of the pizza slices. Then, working in small groups, students pass their papers to the next group member, who also writes a fact. This continues around the circle until each pizza is full. Students can discuss the material, using the pizza wheels as a prompt. Then, ask students to write an extended response to a higher level question. For struggling students, one of the stumbling blocks to application-oriented questions is ensuring knowledge of basic facts.  This provides an instant go-to guide for a reference.

An added bonus is ensuring that each student participates, rather than certain students dominating group work. Although you can measure students’ understanding in an oral discussion, asking each student to write ensures that all students are involved in the lesson and provides an opportunity for every student to respond.

A Recipe for a Successful Classroom

Missy Miles, former teacher at Jay M. Robinson Middle School, wrote A Recipe for a Successful Classroom. Notice how it incorporates a healthy dose of student choice.

A Recipe for a Successful Classroom

1  tablespoon of lecture (for auditory learners)
2  cups of small-group discussion of any sort of variety
1⁄2 cup of guided reading
1 1⁄2 cups of hands-on activities
1⁄2 cups of various activities that involve movement. Sprinkle in little by little, not all at once.
3 tablespoons of music and art, which integrate content material
2 cups of opportunity for students to decide how they will be assessed
                                                      4 ounces of graphic organizers

The more you stir and allow these ingredients to blend, the more productive your recipe will be. Allow adequate time to let ideas, questions, and exploration occur before putting in the oven to brown.

So, what’s your recipe for a successful classroom? I'd love to hear them via email (link to right) or in the comments!

Ratcheting Up Reviews

Looking for some new ideas for reviewing content for your students?  My December newsletter is out and there are strategies and resources for teachers, and a special plan for principals.  Sign up using the button on the right--I'll be resending it throughout the week to new subscribers.  Also, if you haven't seen the earlier issues on motivation and engagement as well as Rigor and the Common Core State Standards, click "View Our Archives" to check them out.  Have a great day knowing that you are making a difference for someone today!

Real Life Learning for Young Students

Students are never too young to experience real-life learning. Erin Owens creates a fun taste of reality for her first graders. As a culminating activity for an economics unit, the class takes a field trip to a Krispy Kreme (doughnut) store. They observe real-life examples of key concepts: marketing (posters and signs), jobs (cashier, doughnut maker, and manager), goods and services, and teamwork. To apply what they learned, they set up a class store. As a group, they determined the store name, what to sell, costs and needed materials, how to market the store, and the necessary jobs. “All of this took team- work and in the process, the students took ownership of their learning. It was amazing to see the application of concepts in progress. They had job applications, divided into teams, and thought of every- thing we would need to effectively run the store. I served as facilitator and material gatherer, they planned everything. At the end, the other first-grade classes came to purchase our bookmarks.”

Digital and Collaborative Storytelling in the Classroom by Lauren Beebe

You'll find great ideas from Lauren Beebe in this posting on digital and collaborative storytelling.

The Sound Muncher Intervention by Eli Johnson and Michelle Karns

You will LOVE the Sound Muncher Intervention!  Here's a preview:

The Sound Muncher intervention is for K-2 students who need extra attention developing their pronunciation of sounds in the English language. Young students absolutely love this strategy that allows them to receive immediate feedback that recognizes their correct responses as they properly produce the 43 sounds in the English language.

Group Work at a Higher Level

A new and higher standard of rigor is emerging that focuses on increasing skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration. But when your students do group work, do they work together or just sit together? I use a cooperative learning rubric to help define and assess effective group work. Here's an excerpt from my book Classroom Instruction from A to Z and two printable pdfs of the rubric.

Group work is one of the most effective ways to help students learn. It can increase student motivation and is an important life skill. When I was teaching, some of my students didn’t like to work in groups. They complained every day until I brought in a newspaper article that said the number one reason people were fired from their jobs was that they couldn’t get along with their coworkers. That was an eye-opener for my students.

Recently, I was talking with a project manager, and I asked him about the importance of teamwork. He pointed out that knowing how to work with other people is critical. “The more successful you are, the more important it is to influence, motivate, and work with others. If you think about successful people, working with people becomes your job; that is what you do.”

That’s pretty insightful. For people who have achieved high levels of success in the workplace, no matter what the setting, teamwork isn’t part of their job, it is their job. As a teacher, this reminds me that if I believe I should prepare my students for life after school, then I need to teach them to work together.

Recently, I was in a classroom in which the teacher bragged to me that her students worked in groups all the time. When I asked her students, they told me that the desks are placed in groups, but they just read the book silently and answer questions individually. After thinking for a minute, one student said, “We can ask each other for help if we need to.” That’s not really group work. Effective group activities provide opportunities for your students to work together, either with a partner, a small group, or the entire class, to accomplish a task. In these instances, everyone has a specific role, and there are clear individual and shared responsibilities. Missy Miles uses a rubric for assessing each GROUP in her classroom.

	You're a Team Player!	You're Working on It…	You're Flying Solo
G Group dedication	The student is totally dedicated to his or her group, offering all of his or her attention by actively listening to peers and responding with ideas.	The student is partially dedicated to his or her group though sometimes becomes distracted by students or issues outside the group.	The student spends most of his or her time focusing on things outside the group; he or she is not available for discussion or group work.
R Responsibility	The student shares responsibility equally with other group members and accepts his or her role in the group.	The student takes on responsibility but does not completely fulfill his or her obligations.	The student either tries to take over the group and does not share responsibilities or takes no part at all in the group work assigned.
O Open communication	The student gives polite and constructive criticism to group members when necessary, welcomes feedback from peers, resolves conflict peacefully, and asks questions when a group goal is unclear.	The student gives criticism, though often in a blunt manner, reluctantly accepts criticism from peers, and may not resolve conflict peacefully all of the time.	The student is quick to point out the faults of other group members yet is unwilling to take any criticism in return; often, the students argues with peers rather than calmly coming to a consensus.
U Utilization of Work Time	The student is always on task, working with group members to achieve goals, objectives, and deadlines.	The student is on task most of the time but occasionally takes time off from working with the group.	The student does not pay attention to the task at hand and frustrates other group members because of his or her inability to complete work in a timely fashion.
P Participation	The student is observed sharing ideas, reporting research findings to the group, taking notes from other members, and offering assistance to his or her peers as needed.	The student sometimes shares ideas or reports findings openly but rarely takes notes from other group members.	This student does not openly share ideas or findings with the group, nor does he or she take notes on peers'

You can find a PDF of the rubric by visiting   http://www.barbarablackburnonline.com/classroominstruction.htm   and using the drop down menu to choose the rubric.  (Excerpted from Classroom Instruction from A to Z, by Barbara R. Blackburn)

Next, choose the book Literacy from A to Z and use the drop down menu for a student cooperative learning rubric for grades K-2. (Excerpted from Literacy from A to Z, by Barbara R. Blackburn)

Rigor for All Grade Levels

ACT recently released the report The Forgotten Middle: Ensuring that All Students Are on Target for College and Career Readiness before High School. It is the latest in a series of reports documenting the need for increased rigor. However, this one focuses on a key point: rigor is NOT just for high school. In fact, if we wait until high school to increase rigor for our students, we have failed. The authors of the report are clear: "Our research shows that, under current conditions, the level of academic achievement that students attain by eighth grade has a larger impact on their college and career readiness by the time they graduate from high school than anything that happens academically in high school."

Most teachers I work with know this already. At the end of one of my workshops on rigor, a first grade teacher in Baltimore shared how she planned to increase rigor when her students read The Three Little Pigs. She said, "After we read the story, I usually mention something about the three types of houses, but now I'm going to have my students do some basic research about houses built of straw, wood, and brick." Now that's the perfect formula for success: high expectations for students plus creative activities.

How are you increasing rigor in your classroom?