The Paint Party as Rejuvenation

  

My niece organizes painting parties for children and adults. In December, I accompanied her to a school where a group of ten teachers spent an evening painting. It was a relaxing and joyful event. (I was the paint squirter.) Teachers sat across from one another and talked about school, about their kids, about their lives. It was a warm and caring evening.

As we think about how to bring people together, painting is a possibility. What if we took the time to play, or paint, to stop and enjoy the company of those with whom we work? I am struck by the power of "play" with adults. I think we need to play more. Our January CIRO (Checking In, Reaching Out) meeting was a paint party! We invited the education department to join us. Oh yes... that was fun! A local Asheville Pizza and Brew restaurant/game room/movie house allowed us to use a section of their "game room" to paint. We ordered pizza and beverages, visited, laughed, painted. As a thank you I gave them the sample we were painting from. Now there are orange skies and purple mountains in and around our department.

May the holidays be a time of reflection and rejuvenation!!!
Our "Painting Party!!" We have decided to make it an annual event! CIRO!!

Rejuvenation: Passing on the Passion

Americans are definitely not known for their geography skills; we're probably more known for the lack thereof. On one of the first days of the year, we did a background knowledge jeopardy as a fun pre-assessment. One of the questions was, "Name 3 countries in North America." The answers I got? "North Carolina," "Seattle," and "South America." My kids don't even know the difference between cities, states, countries, and continents!

So I decided to make a weekly geography competition that doubles as a quiz. For Bellwork, Monday-Thursday, students add 3-5 countries (depending on how many countries there are) on a blank map of that week's continent (we started with North America, then South America, and now Europe).

They have to memorize a certain number to get an A, like for Europe they had to know 7 for an A, 6 = B, 5 = C... and so on. The competition part of it is for the students who label the most countries in the class. First place gets a soda or a candy bar of their choosing. Second and third place get a small piece of candy from my stash.
I had students today who labeled 35-40 countries!
When it's all finished, I have the winners do a smartboard geography game to see if they can beat the timer. It's a lot of fun!
The last week we will do the entire world, and I'm thinking I might have a big gift-card-type prize for the top student of the entire team.
You'd be surprised how much they get into it, and how much it affects students you wouldn't suspect.

Woo-Hoo moment of the day: One student, who has proven to not be proficient in many areas, asked where Easter Island was. I told him that Chile owns it, so you know it's near there. He then instantly pointed just west of Chile on the map next to him and said "So somewhere around here?" My heart swelled with joy!!

The need to meet, to share, to care about one another.

Okay, it is time to reach out to your colleagues!
Wednesday, I sat down with Minal to brainstorm using more projects on the algebra/geometry classroom. It was so fun to share ideas! She had great ideas and we mapped out a skeleton structure for next semester.
This afternoon, Friday,  Jeanie and I met to 'check in and reach out (CIRO). We talked about how important talking, sharing, and collaborating are. We talked about how professional development meetings are great, but we need time to talk! There is so much power in talking! And so we want to encourage all CIROs to share what is working, share ideas, share your inspiration!
This afternoon we celebrated! We wish you had been here!
We talked about classroom management, kids, teaching, technology, work place relationships, assessments, and sisters. We talked about how fun trivia is...and the importance of playing and working out. (Jeanie is working out and doing yoga. I have been swimming.) But we think whatever we do, or whatever you do, is important.
There is a secret santa activity going on at Jeanie's school. (This inspirational game can boost morale and bring joy to teachers.) Teachers, staff, and administrators draw names and between Thanksgiving and winter break give little gifts every day or every other day to a secret 'pal.' Her secret santa is awesome! And it has been fun for social interaction. It is optional for teachers. The 'happy committee' at her school runs it. They also do diper parties and retirement parties at her school.
We talked about the importance of staying connected to a place. Many alumni had good experiences at our alma mater. We think it is important to keep in touch with those whose lives were touched as they developed as teachers. So we are going to invite other alumni and former faculty to join us next month!
We talked about yearbooks. Teachers at her school picked students to take pictures for a day. Students get the yearbook camera, yes, the real camera, for a day. Students with the 'best pictures' get a gift card. She had a student who normally was not very high performing who took Great pictures! It was fun to share the successes of students.
So this week we checked in, caught up, shared ideas, shared great stories about students' successes, and inspired hope in one another. Our question for you is: Who inspires you? Who is your mentor, your advocate? We think it is time to get in touch with them and tell them Thank You! If someone made a difference in your life, tell them! We need more good CIR-O! 😊

It´s that time of year! Part II

Part II

I received an email from a colleague who started the correspondence with,  'as a break from grading, I decided to work on this article.' I love how unapologetic the statement was. Today, between grading, I decided to start decorating the house for Christmas. It allowed me a few minutes, well maybe an hour, to unwind and just breathe. Once I took a break, I was able to get back on the grading horse and ride.

We have to take care of ourselves. On that note, I have been very intentional about drinking lots of water and exercising. The dog is always willing to go for a walk.

Finally, enjoy this time with your students. They may need a lot more patience than usual.  They are worth it and need to know you care about them as people and as learners. (:

Survival: Effective Classroom Management

Hello all,

The countdown is on. Nine more school days until winter break. And it can't come soon enough for teachers! Once December hits, students are wrought with excitement and short attention spans. How do you combat this? The answer: effective classroom management.

I very rarely give lunch detentions. I haven't had to write a kid's name on the board in months. Instead, I entirely depend on my "Free Time Friday" system.

Every class starts out with 10 minutes of free time on Friday. If they keep all 10 minutes, they can also have free seating, 8 minutes gets them music while they work. (*NOTE* advice to new teachers: ALWAYS make free seating a harder-to-attain reward, and music easier. They will be LOUD with free seating and quiet with music. This is for your sanity).

I can take a minute for anything. If I tell a student more than once to stop flipping the bottle. if the students are too loud, if they aren't all seated and quiet after my countdown.. It doesn't matter if it's one student or a group of students. They are all accountable for each other, and it really works.
(Btw, countdowns are amazing no matter what age! Countdown for clean up, countdown for transition, countdown for quiet.. it really works as long as you have an immediate consequence, in my case, a minute of free time).

I can also add a minute if I feel like we had an overall good class or classroom discussion, so it's not all negative.

It's quick, it's easy, and it's effective. That must be your goal when deciding on a classroom management style. Don't try an elaborate system (with tickets or fake money) unless you're willing to keep up with it, because it will become ineffective if you don't.

Ultimately, though, it's all about finding your style. Hope I helped!

It's that time of year!

It is the season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, a time when I am anticipating some time off with friends and family. But my middle school children were not always excited. Sometimes their worlds were not as safe, as secure, or as hopeful as mine. When I was teaching I tried to bring in activities and experiences that reinforced content but engaged them more, especially on Fridays, for them and for me. Yesterday, I shared three activities with my middle school college students.

First, I asked my students to brainstorm their heroes using the following categories: family, artists (athletes, musicians, ...), a favorite middle school teacher, their favorite book character or author, historical figure and asked them to tell why they are their heroes. In groups they chose several to share and then we talked about writing them a letter. 
Second, I then had them 'choose 10 things' they would want to take with them if they had to leave your home forever. (Note: toiletries, all family members and pets would be going.) I then said, 'oh no, things have changed, you can only take five things - so if you said 'clothes' you can now only take one item.' I then asked them to choose which of those items was most important and which was least. Note: With the fires in our area, evacuation is something they are familiar with. 
Third, we mad a 'thank you quilt.' I cut 5x5 inch squares, asked students to write a thank you card to the 'In Real Life' (our after school enrichment service project through Asheville City Schools) people. Students then placed their square on the door, which decorated the door and will be used to make a certificate to thank them for giving us this opportunity. 
Perhaps you could use these activities with your students. I would love to gather more ideas from you specific to your content areas. (:
Have a great week CIROs.

Rejuvenation: Growth Mindset and Answering Questions

Hi All,

This week I finally figured out something. I wasn't doing what I ask my students to do every day. I don't have a growth mindset.
I recently bought Carol Dweck's book in order to try to improve my classroom environment. I didn't realize the impact it would have on me personally. My disillusionment is a product of the feeling that I cannot change anything. I lost my drive, and now I'm determined to change this.
For example, I cannot change the fact the county uses Canvas, but I decided to make my own website through Weebly. It's fudging the growth mindset idea a little bit (in which the best scenario is that I should actually learn the new program), but this is definitely a step in the right direction. And, I had fun doing it!
Look at my new website!

Now onto the questions I thought I could try to answer:

How to address the lack of writing in social studies?
Implementing writing and reading core standards in Social Studies classrooms is so incredibly important. I didn't understand what this meant until I took a workshop that taught me the CER method and showed me HOW to use writing in my classroom. I later went to the Core Advocates workshop and I honestly feel much more equipped to teach and evaluate writing. This was a long process, and it was extremely helpful to have the ELA teacher on my team as my mentor. She taught me how she teaches annotations and how she grades her CERs. The dialogue between a SS/ELA teacher is a must, so there is consistency.

Role/place of writing in “content” classes?
Relationship between writing and thinking?
I thought my answer to both these questions kind of coincide. In SS, I usually have students read several primary and secondary sources on a controversial topic, then have them choose a point to argue using evidence they gathered. For example, last year I had them write about whether we should have dropped the atomic bombs. There are clearly two schools of thought there (historically and presently), and it challenges students to argue using perspective, while using writing standards.  

How to incentivize or motivate students to care without the ranking/grading? What works to motivate?
It is extremely difficult to get kids to CARE about learning to the point where you don't need to grade. 
However, one time I did a CER question that asked what was the true motivations for explorers, (3 Gs, remember those?). I had one student in particular that felt really strongly about how the explorers were in it for the money and not religious reasons, and wrote an entire page on it (well beyond the expected length). That leads me to believe that if the topic is controversial enough or something they really care about/have strong feelings for, then they may be motivated to respond without a rigid grading/ranking system. 
Discussions are easy to get them to do without grading, especially with the political climate we're in. They want to talk about current events. As long as you give them articles to prepare them with real facts, then I know you can have a good, deep, meaning discussion without grading or ranking. And perhaps a reflection writing response after? I can see them doing that without grading as well. As long as they're passionate enough about the topic. 

Disillusionment: Learning Canvas

Hello everyone,

I consider myself a techy person. I'm the one everyone goes to when things are broken, or they can't figure out a program. So why am I having such a hard time with Canvas?

Canvas is the county-wide program for the 1:1 computers. It's linked to Powerschool, so any grade taken in Canvas is transferred automatically.

Canvas is a clunky program that takes a lot of time to master. It is not instinctual at all. For example, you cannot just copy and paste images into a Canvas assignment. Instead, you have to save the photo on your computer, then upload to your Canvas files, and then upload it AGAIN to your assignment.

At first, they pushed us to use Google Drive, which I did. All of my files are uploaded in a neat order. I can easily reach resources from my PLC members. Then they choose a program (Canvas) that does not talk to Google Drive at all? Apparently there's a way, but it's like you have to go through a 12-step program to even try to get a single file from it. I wish that our county bought Google Classroom instead.

Some of the 6th grade teachers, who had extensive training on Canvas, like it. They say once you get it, you'll love it.
The 7th-9th grade teachers' training was literally one day. There was an optional training in the summer, but I had a full-time summer job and was not able to attend. Any time spent on "getting" Canvas has to be done on my own time.

It begs the question: if I, someone who considers herself a techy, am having a hard time with it, then how do they expect non-techy teachers to master it? Should I spend hours learning this program, when in less than 4 years they'll undoubtedly enforce another program and if I ever decide to leave Buncombe County, will no longer exist anyway? Can I scoot around this program and set up my classroom through a weebly that will last no matter where I go?

This may be a silly problem, but it's a problem nonetheless.

Single Gender Charter School Reflection

Live  from New York.

I received this email from Jess. She is in her sixth year of teaching and just moved to New York.

I've been at my new school for almost 2 months now. The school year officially started for us on September 6th. I have 82 amazing girls in 6th grade, all except one being African American or Latina. They come from a variety of backgrounds and all five boroughs, but share a passion and love of life that has re-energized my teaching. We started off our year reading "Ronia the Robber's Daughter", by Astrid Lindgren - a fairy tale in novel form - and the girls have been loving it.

I'm typing this as I watch them take an assessment, my heart swelling with pride and joy. These girls are here to learn, even on the days when they whine and complain (they are still middle schoolers after all) they know education is important and want the best for themselves. These girls has given me back my zest for this job. 

Of course, it's only October. I might have a different view come March!

The school itself is a Charter school and because the staff culture is vastly different. The network invests a lot in teachers - their happiness, their time, and their quality of life and instruction - so while there are drawbacks and hiccups, overall everyone is happy to be here and excited to come to work. 

I'd like to do a full write-up on a day in my life to give some idea of what it's like here, but for now I'll share a few highlights.

-On Tuesday I had the pleasure of having our network CEO and an advisor to the Mayor of NYC in my classroom. I'm hoping they enjoyed their time!

-Yesterday the sixth grade went to the American Museum of Natural History. Our specific focus was on the Hall of Human Origins, but we also saw some pretty cool dino bones and sea life!

- Today is Book Character Day! The girls got a break from uniform and have dressed up as their favorite book characters! The teachers are also in costume, and it's been a lot of fun to see some of the creativity and excitement the girls have infused into their costumes. It has been a great day all around.  

This weekend I'm taking part in a professional development that is geared toward growing teacher leaders and changing the face of education. I'm really excited for it, so I'll send an email soon with what I've learned and what is happening.

Anticipation: 1:1 Computers and Nearpod

Hello everyone,

This week my team received their laptops for the 1:1 digital initiative! It's very exciting. Don't need to fight the copier! Woo'hoo!

My new favorite site is Nearpod.com.

There are two options with Nearpod: Student-paced and Live lesson. Yesterday, I used the Live lesson, where I projected the PowerPoint-like lesson on the board and had the students use the pin number to log-in so they can also see the PowerPoint as I talk about it. I controlled what was on their screens. Everytime I clicked next, their computers will automatically follow. I added quizzes and gave them time to answer, which was put in my reports so I can later put it in as a grade. Best part? Whenever a student goes on a different tab, or goes on something else, the small people symbol in the corner turns red. I can click on it, and see who's not following along.

Today, I used the Student-paced. I gave the students the pin and they controlled their own screens and went through the lesson at their own pace. There was also a quiz at the end.

After trying both, I probably will not use the Student-paced nearly as much. I can see it working better in high school, with older, more responsible students. However, it was rough trying to keep kids, who have not yet learned time management, to stay on task. It's a good tool, but I think I might only use it when I am giving any type of background knowledge lecture and I can instantly give formative assessments after each key idea.

 My kids didn't do so hot, but this is what the reports page looks like. The donut graph shows wrong, right, and no answers.

And underneath is shows each students' participation and quiz grades, so I can put these in the grade book later.

Rejuvenation: PD..AMLE annual conference rocks!

Last week Jeanie shared her inspiration at a PD experience. I am fired up! Conferences are so fun and the AMLE annual conference was amazing! (Note: the NCMLE conference is accepting applications to present... Want to share our collective stories?)

I just got back from the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) Annual Conference. I hope you all will be able to go some time. It will be in Philadelphia next November.
On my flight back I tried to capture the experience...

What you do matters. More than ever, our world needs your passion, your hope, your knowledge and inspiration, your joy and your commitment. We need to continue to be middle level advocates! And we value your work, your skill, and your compassion to make a difference one child, one teacher, one parent, one colleague, one administrator, one community member, and one legislator at a time! Thank you for an inspiring conference, for your joy, your spirit of welcome, you. You are my heroes!

The #AMLE2016 conference showered us with the power of
Laughter,
Celebration,
Data,
Mindfulness,
Leadership,
Instructional Strategies,
Technology,
The Arts,
Collaboration,
Research,
Exploration, and the reason to
Never give up!

It as and is a world view of hope that is sparked in middle schools around the world. Thank AMLE for leading the journey, and inspiring us to carry the torch to light the way.

This week I had the opportunity to connect with middle level advocates, colleagues really, from Europe, Mexico, Australia, Canada, and across the US. I heard stories, passion, commitment, joy, and celebrations of middle level students and those who advocate for them. I heard research about the adolescent brain, the power of mindfulness, service learning, collaboration, data, and statistics all spotlighting middle level youth, middle level programs, and middle level leaders. I heard individuals and groups of classroom teachers, middle level administrators, middle school students, companies and exhibitors, professors and international organizers who have captured the essence of, value towards, and insight into the lives and needs of young adolescents.

It, the #AMLE2016 conference, was powerful. I could not help but reflect back across the middle level educators who, early on, recognized that young adolescents are different from elementary children and are different from high school youth, and who dreamed of a middle school run by young adolescent visionaries, who designed buildings, structures and programs to support their unique needs. I know they are proud.

In the nineteen eighties we were given tools for teaming, flexible scheduling, advisory, and exploratories. Professors and principals inspired us to collaborate as teams, to create experiences that integrate curriculum, engage learners, and develop academic as well as social and emotional needs of this age group. In the nineteen nineties Turning Points and This We Believe, NASSP, and AERA provided us with national research supporting these dreams. And now, in the twenty-first century practitioners, research scholars across disciplines as well as Teacher Leaders, organizations, administrators, school improvement teams, districts, and district partners are coming together, sharing contributions to the field. Data are rich and compelling. Practitioners and researchers are not only giving us amazing strategies, that are embedded in research from psychology, neuroscience, and physiology, but they are also giving us passionate, committed, and transformational leaders.
Those leaders, our leaders, came together in Austin. They inspired us with their joy and commitment, challenged us to never give up on our kids, immersed us with data, and guided us with a platform to conduct more research. Corporations and organizations shared their expertise, their tools, their compassion for and commitment to middle level educators and the children we teach. Together, in Austin, we were released from politics and barriers, and we embraced our passion for young adolescents and those who serve them.

We are making a difference from many different paths. We are second career educators, educators who accidentally landed in this field. We are teachers who have decided to be middle school principals by choice, and we are moving into leadership roles as team leaders, coaches, assistant principals, principals, district directors, and superintendents. We are just starting our careers and we are retired. But we all share the spark, the light, the passion, and a belief that middle level education is where young adolescents learn to believe in themselves, learn to believe in their own dreams, to make a difference. And we are committed to walk beside them on this part of their journey. The rich dialogue and the deep thinking of those who brought us passion and inspiration through research and practice, stories, dialogue, and for those whose data captured what is good about young adolescents and middle level education, thank you.

I hope you all can join us next year in Philadelphia!! (:

Rejuvenation: PD and Fun in the Class

Attending any professional development is a good way to feel rejuvenated again. I attended the literacy training on Tuesday, which focused on the Common Core reading standards. I have done this training before through Achieve the Core in Greensboro last year, but even with that background, it's incredible how much I forgot.

It's daunting how much information you can get in a PD in such a short amount of time.  It's easy to feel inspired to think, "I can't wait to revamp my entire syllabus and way of teaching!" But it's just not feasible. My goal in every PD I attend is to find one thing I can take back into the classroom. Baby steps is key, and taking even just one thing to incorporate in class can prove challenging. However, each one thing you successfully incorporate, the closer you get to becoming a better teacher.

When I went to Achieve the Core last time, my team and I decided to utilize a common writing method, the CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning). I now use it for formative assessments based on a group of primary documents. Learn more about CER here!

On another Woo-Hoo moment: I think I've already talked about Quizlet Live on this blog before, so I decided to film my students playing it so you can see how useful/fun it is!
(They all have permission to be filmed.) 

Video 1 Commentary: The SmartBoard shows the number of questions correct for all the teams. The quickest team to get all the vocab words correct wins. One of the students at the beginning of the video glances at the board to see his team's status. If the team gets a question wrong, they have to start back to 0. The second team the video shows gets one wrong as I walked by. The third team there was a ESL student, with extremely little knowledge of English. The pair took over his iPad, I told them next time to let him press the words, but they can tell which words they want him to choose. This will at least allow him to feel a part of the team. The game automatically stops when a team wins, as seen towards the end of the video where the "Congratulations" screen pops up on everyone's iPads at once, and the winning team celebrates. I don't give them anything but bragging rights for winning, they just love the competition that much. 

Video 2 Commentary: Best reaction to winning ever. 

Current Events in the Classroom

I'm Jeanie and I'm a BT3, teaching 7th grade S.S.

We recently had a county memo about how we should handle current events in the classroom. My principal said, "I don't envy you Social Studies teachers. You all are in the trenches." And we are. Students want to talk about everything that our country is experiencing. They have opinions (or rather, their parents opinions) and want to talk about them. 

As a Social Studies teacher, I want them to get excited about current events, but I also don't want the conversation to get away from our purpose. 

The best way I've found to do this is through their Bellwork. 

Bellwork in general is a must. It's so important to have something that students are expected to do right away. If they don't have that, then you risk the kids thinking the beginning of class as "hangout" time, and it's hard to get them focused when you're ready to officially start class. 

I treat my bellwork as a journal, where they can release all of their ideas, but I still try to relate it to what we're doing. 

For example, we are currently in the Reformation unit, and I asked the following question:
Describe a time you, or someone you know/learned about, stood up for what they thought was right, even though others might disagree.

In my last block, Kaepernick came up, and the BLM movement. I opened the discussion up, and had students tell their personal stories as well as their opinions. We even got into why people say "All Lives Matter" and one of the students expressed why they believed it degraded the premise of the BLM movement, and how when they say BLM, they're not saying others don't matter. I think it's super powerful when the kids are thinking through these big concepts as a group. I think we underestimate middle schoolers a lot, because they really do have the potential to really think big.
And I was able to go back to the Reformation by comparing the Protestant Reformation to BLM, as a movement seeking social justice. It was pretty incredible.

How are you?

How are you? We may want to use the teaching phases: Anticipation, Reflection, Disillusion, Survival, Rejuvenation (Know that people will be responding to your posts and offering their insights and advice.) Start with what is working? What challenges did you face this week? (classroom management, discipline, content...) What whoo-hooo celebrate a success? (about your kids, your team, your school, your own successes) What advice have you figured out?

I love your posts! I think we need new labels. While the phases of teaching give us the roller coaster labels, I think there are richer labels such as setting/meeting goals, and the ahhhhhs and Ahhh haaa's of teaching. So if you want to use a different label, or use more than one that is great. Thanks for sharing. I share your work with my preservice teachers. Thank you for helping them with the realities of teaching. This week my students asked how to have conversations about race relations and current protests going on in our country, in the classrooms and schools, while continuing to focus on standards?

Week 4: Survival

My name is Jeanie. I am a BT3 and teach 7th grade Social Studies.

Working: Building relationships with the students is so important to have a good year. That doesn't mean being their best friend. In my mind it can just mean listening to them and acknowledging their presence outside of the classroom setting. I've gone to the first home games, and today I got a lot of kids saying, "I saw you! Did you see me when I did this?!" I was happy to share with their excitement, and it helps because they will forever be on "your side."

This Week's Challenge: "I'm BORED!" A phrase I am coming to hate. I understand a small part of what we do is entertain, but should I feel pressured to entertain all the time, everyday? How can I instill the passion of my subject onto the students? I do "fun" things, I have them moving while doing the "boring" stuff, but they can't do that all the time. Are "old school" ways totally obsolete now?

Whoo-Hoo Success: Organization. The best thing I've ever done was buy a notebook and sheet protectors my first year teaching. I keep my lesson plan for the week (and mark it with a sticky note as a book mark) and a copy of every assignment we do. I have a Google Drive that has everything as well, but when you get something offline, it's hard to keep up with it electronically. Plus, I can keep all my laminated gallery walk pieces. My notebooks have saved me more than once when I have extra time in class and need something to do.
Link to my Google Drive if interested.

Using Data to Drive Instruction // A Whoo-hoo!

We've all heard it before... "use data to help drive your instruction". Sounds pretty simple, right? Well actually, it takes a lot of time and extra effort in order to really use your data for the benefit of your students (and without driving yourself crazy).

One of my personal goals this year as an educator is to really sit down after each assessment and take a look at what the scores are telling me in regards to student proficiency. My outcome (unit) tests or quizzes are all organized by common core state standards and learning targets. I use standards based grading and students are given a score of 0-5 on each learning target.  After grading the tests, I was able to look at each class period and pinpoint which targets students seem to be grasping better than others.

It's one thing to just take note of the proficiency or lack thereof for each class period. However, it's something totally different when you actually use that information to change your next lesson plan(s). For instance, in my freshman level class no student scored a 3 or above on domain and range. Therefore, something wasn't clicking and/or I should change the way I approach my teaching of this topic. I knew there would not be time for me to take multiple class periods going back over this material. So for the next week, we spent a couple of minutes during the warm-up looking at different domain and range situations. Students were encouraged to ask for help from both myself and their classmates during this time. On Friday of that same week, students were given a very short warm-up assessment on domain and range. To my surprise, scores increased dramatically after spending this extra time going a little deeper into these concepts.  (cue whoo-hoo!)

Using data to drive your instruction doesn't necessarily have to take away from class time you've already prepared for. Use the 5-10 minutes as class is starting to look back over some concepts students aren't proficient on (yet!). You'd be amazed at what those few minutes can do for not only their scores but also for their confidence!

How do you use data to drive your instruction? What hesitations do you have?

Twitter Feeds as Rejuvenation

What whoo-hooo celebrate a success? (about your kids, your team, your school, your own successes) What advice have you figured out?

Twitter feeds, give lots of support. Adolescent Success is housed in Australia. They are giving lots of advice and stimulating conversations.
Check it out
#MYEdOz

Week 2/3: Anticipation

I'm Jeanie and I'm a BT3 and a 7th grade Social Studies teacher.

What is working: I have implemented a new strategy this year to help the students kind of sum up their learning. I am going to base every unit on 5 strands of Social Studies: History, Economy, Government, Culture, and Geography. They are my "Building Blocks" and I have a one page summary sheet that we will do after each unit. We just completed our first one for our first unit, "Social Studies 101," which basically just sums up each of the strands. I think it's going to be a very useful tool. It's also a way for kids to have something from previous units, without having to keep EVERY classwork assignment we do.

Challenges: I never had problems with classroom management until now. I am very proud of my classroom dojo rewards system with simultaneous "watch list" consequences, which culminates in loss of a team-wide Fun Friday reward.
It's really only bad in my last block. There are several ADHD students in that class, and by the end of the day, they are all done. It's difficult to get them all focused on the task, and not talking when I'm talking. I hesitate to reprimand them (with an actual consequence, like lunch detention), because I know it's largely due to their attention deficit. I honestly am not sure what to do with that class. Would love any suggestions!

Whoo-Hoo Moment: Today is the day before the unit test. Vocabulary is a large part of the test, and I tried Quizlet Live for the first time ever. IT'S AMAZING!!!!! The kids were totally into it, even with no real prizes. Just the simple competition did it for them. Each student had an iPad and I shuffled the teams every time, which helped the class camaraderie and also paired low-levels with ESL with high-level with average. They seriously did it for 40 mins straight, and by the end they were all experts on the vocab. I never had to worry about someone getting on something else, because every team member on Quizlet Live is essential to win. Try it, it's awesome!

Hope everyone's semester is going well.

Reflection - Week 3

Hi all,

I'm glad to see that I am not the only one that has been unable to blog recently. Honestly, I have been caught up in the normal beginning of the school year hustle with some personal stuff thrown in on top and it has been hard to keep myself to a schedule. I am hoping that this week I can do much better!

I suppose I am currently in a Reflection phase since I am focused on benchmark testing and revising previous year's material. I know that teaching is about constant reflection and this is something I can say my PLC and I work very hard on. It is difficult to say that something you created or taught needs work, but having a supportive system within our PLC makes that process a little easier.

Things are still going smoothly in the classroom. We are preparing to start our first real unit of study (everything up to now has been more preparation for the remainder of the year) and I feel like I have laid the foundation for a successful year with my new students. I see them all attempting all of the assignments and trying to work out their own questions, but I also see that they are willing to struggle. This is something we have really tried to hit hard at the beginning of the year.

Challenges are starting to pop up since the students are starting to come out of their shells. While it is interesting to see some of my students open up and talk to me throughout the day, there are definitely some students that have shared their whole life story with me. They like to talk and so there have been lots of opportunities to reteach expected behaviors. Luckily, there have been no instances that have warranted phone calls home. I have, however, had some out in the hall conferences to help the students reset themselves.

My whoo-hoo moment came after grading out first "official" writing activity. Students went through the entire writing process from brainstorming to publishing on their opinion about the most important school rule. I was impressed with the level that my students are writing at and I am confident that they will be able to work on their skills and improve before moving on to the high school.

Some advice (that I have also had to remind myself) is that the students are still learning the way I work and I am still learning the way they work too. I have to keep in mind that we are still trying to find a way to work together and that will build over time. I am working on getting to know my students and use those little bits of information in the classroom to build a rapport. I am still very hopeful and excited at this point in my year and that is a good feeling for me.

Best wishes for a successful week :)

Vicky

Anticipation/ Survival

How are you? We may want to use the teaching phases: Anticipation, Reflection, Disillusion, Survival, Rejuvenation (Know that people will be responding to your posts and offering their insights and advice.) Start with what is working? What challenges did you face this week? (classroom management, discipline, content...) What whoo-hooo celebrate a success? (about your kids, your team, your school, your own successes) What advice have you figured out?

So since this is the second/third week of this blog and I am just NOW responding should clue you in to some insight on how I am.

Hello, my name is Sara and I am a BT 1.5. I finished my student teaching last December and I taught as an interim teacher and then a full time teacher at a different school where I finished out the school year. Over the summer I got married and moved to Raleigh, where I got a job teaching 6th grade Science.

Starting with Anticipation, this is my first time teaching 6th grade (I student taught/ interim taught 8th grade and then 7th grade) so I am looking forward to a new age group. I am also excited about the 6th grade Science curriculum which is focused primarily on the Earth Sciences, which are my favorite to learn about and study! We are at the end of week two and we have done two labs already. So far, my students really enjoy working together and are demonstrating great collaboration, critical thinking and communication. I anticipate more lab activities and the chance to incorporate more BYOD (which has been adopted county-wide) activities in our classroom. As the weeks progress I know I will have to mix up some of the student groupings (as the honeymoon phase wears off and personalities start to clash) but I am hopefully that this will result in students getting to know and work with more of their peers. There are at least five elementary schools that feed into this middle school, so many students are still trying to make friends.

I am feeling like I am in survival mode in regards to all of the extra "stuff" I am supposed to keep up with, create, file, document, etc. Oh man- when the professors said that the other stuff (PDP's, IEP meetings, whatever new teaching philosophy the school/county is focusing on) is what will take up more of your time then actually teaching- they were not kidding! All of the extra tasks and jobs they tack onto the classroom teacher can be overwhelming. I am really appreciative of all the experience I received through UNCA, student teaching with an amazing veteran teacher and starting a teaching job mid-year with an EC team. All of those experiences make me feel confident as I am planning the rest of the school year. 

I survived week one...

I survived week one! And if you're reading this, that must mean you did too! Congratulations, the first week of school is no easy task. I'm Caitlin and I teach Math to freshman and sophomores. I am super excited about this semester because I will actually be co-teaching Math 1 Honors with a colleague.  I am excited to see how we can better serve our students together as a team rather than all of the responsibility falling on just one of us. I don't have too much else to share about my classes just yet, so I'll share a goal I've set in order to feel more prepared each day and to feel less rushed going in to my 5th year of teaching.

I've set a personal goal for myself to just stay one week ahead. Sounds easy, right? Nope. I can remember my first couple years of teaching and how it was ALL I could do just to keep my head above water. Throw in changing schools, teaching a new course, and getting married... let's just say this didn't make it any easier. However, in order for my sanity to be saved I need to stay ahead.  Whether that's with lesson plans, creating new/supplemental material, or just making copies, it puts my stress level at ease knowing those things are already done. I feel prepared and confident when I walk into my classroom each day and I actually feel like I'm doing less work at home than I used to do.  I'm happy to say I've been successful thus far (week 2)... here's to hoping I can keep up with staying ahead in the weeks to come!

How do you lower your stress level? Have you mastered the art of staying ahead? I'd love to know what works for you!

Week 2: your story matters!

Lifted from middleschool2015-2016.blogspot.com

6. Your story matters. Consider the past, the present, and the future.

This we believe (NMSA, 2010).

*A shared vision developed by all stakeholders guides every decision. Shared Vision

Over the course of this journey, I realize how difficult it is for teachers to maintain their vision. Teaching takes a lot of physical and mental energy and sometimes we forget our calling, our purpose. We spend hours planning, implementing, assessing, and communicating with children, teammates, and parents. In addition, each year, schools are engaging in new technologies, new teaming configurations, new instructional designs, new initiatives, new grants and district tasks, that are often school-wide. How is it then, we can gain new knowledge about emerging strategies and practices, while meeting the needs of our students, planning authentic lessons and units, creating our own professional development plans, and finding ways to take care of ourselves and our families? I believe our passion and hope is not lost when we take time to reflect on what we are doing, on what has been done in the past, and to use our knowledge of the present to dream more about what we will do in the future.

More than 60 years ago, Dr. William Alexander, fondly known as the father of the middle school movement, addressed educators at “the 1963 Cornell Conference, …He prepared a speech proposing a new school called the middle school. His address, The Junior High School: A Changing View… provided a comprehensive rationale and program guidelines for the establishment of developmentally responsive middle schools” (Smith & McEwin, 2011, pgs 4-5). In 1973, the National Middle School Association was formed; and in 2011 outreach expanded to serve an international body of educators who serve students ages 10-15, currently known as the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE). Our focus continues to address the need for developmentally responsive middle schools.

Day 2 - Anticipation

We will post these by weeks.... Introduce yourself as to a first name, what grade and what subject you teach (do not include your last name or your school). And share how you are... How are you? We may want to use the teaching phases: Anticipation, Reflection, Disillusion, Survival, Rejuvenation (Know that people will be responding to your posts and offering their insights and advice.) Start with what is working? What challenges did you face this week? (classroom management, discipline, content...) What whoo-hooo celebrate a success? (about your kids, your team, your school, your own successes) What advice have you figured out?

Hello, my name is Vicky and I teach 8th grade language arts. This is my 7th year teaching and my 3rd (straight) year in this subject area. I suppose I am still in the anticipation stage after day 2 of the new school year. So far everything is running as smoothly as possible given a new schedule, new expectations, and new students.

It's hard to say what is working right now since I am still in a honeymoon period with my new students. I am waiting until about week 3 to make assumptions about what is going to work for these new students.

My challenges have been the usual ones. Since I know very little about my students I don't know which students don't need to sit near each other or who is best friends with who. I am also still trying to frantically learn names and that makes calling students down for minor behaviors tough.

My successes are that everyone seems prepared (keep in mind it is only the second day) and motivated to work on the assignments I have given. I'm excited to see how far we can go this year.

My advice at this point would be to continue thinking positive. There are, inevitably, going to be some changes and mishaps during the first week, but that is life. As I am trying to keep the million things I have to do straight in my brain, I have found that lists are my best friends. :)

Best,
Vicky

Week 1: Late Rejuvenation

My name is Jeanie and I teach 7th grade Social Studies. This is my third year at my school, but second year teaching 7th grade. I taught 6th grade SS my first year.

Honestly, over the summer, I felt a lot of disillusionment. At the end of the last school year, I found out that the principal changed my team. It was devastating. I worked with one member throughout my entire time at my school, and another, Emily, became a very dear and amazing mentor to me. We worked so well together. At the end of the year, our team had significantly less referrals than any other team in the 7th grade. I attribute that to our positive outlook and reward-driven team discipline plan, which I hoped I could carry-on to my next team and school year.

In July, I met with my new team to discuss some of the team logistics. None of us had ever worked with each other, so we had to start from scratch. It was difficult because we are all such different people with very different philosophies. Although we seemed to disagree on many issues, we were all willing to compromise. That, I think, is one of the most important attributes a teacher can have, flexibility, an open-mind, and a willingness to compromise.

The change in team was only one of the big changes I'm experiencing. My school changed our entire schedule from a middle school to a junior high model. We still have teams, but we no longer have planning as a grade, instead it's with our subject. This means I'll be more on my own. It also means teaching five classes instead of four. There are many pros and cons, but the biggest pro is that we have smaller class sizes (an average of about 18) and the biggest con is losing a portion of our planning. Planning is a valuable time to talk and get advice from other colleagues, and the thought of losing that is daunting for me as a new teacher.

Despite the many changes, and the anxiety I felt, it all changed after today. Today was the first day of school. I was not looking forward to today, or even this year. However, I didn't let that ruin my mood. And I ended up having a fantastic day! The kids reminded my why I do this. I love teaching. I love sharing my passion and connecting with students.

I want to end on a success that I had today. I listened to a lot of Ted Talks this summer, and one of them stuck out to me. I can't remember which one, but this person said we need to tell the kids WHY they should care about our subject. That's kind of a tall-order for Social Studies, but I took it on! I gave them three reasons 1. to prepare them for their future job in a globalized world, 2. to help them understand the development of current events and how they came to be, 3. fight ignorance.
I used real-life examples for each (including a cringe-worth quote from Brittany Spears), and they agreed! They nodded their heads, asked questions, even agreed and added their own stories. I really think they got a new appreciation for the subject before they even started it. I think I'm going to start every year with my "argument" to get them to CARE about learning my subject.

Blogs to Share

I am thinking we may have blogs we read, blogs we post to.... What do you think about sharing those with one another?
I kept one all last year. It has advice based on the 16 characteristics of exemplary middle schools.

middleschool2015-2016.blogspot.com

If you have one you love, share it here.

Also, I received a post from Mark Garrett. He is the superintendent of McDowell County Schools.

Good Morning:

I wanted to take a quick moment this morning to wish you all well as you officially kick off a new school year.  There is nothing quite as exciting as the first day of school.  With this new year, we once again have the distinction and privilege of impacting the young people of McDowell County and beyond.  Great opportunities await.

As we move into 2016-17, I wanted to pass along the ten reflections that I shared at our convocation last Tuesday.  I encourage you to ponder on and apply as we serve together this year:

1. Do what is best for students and it will be what is best for adults
2. We are in the people business and customer service is crucial
3. All means all
4. Culture trumps strategy
5. Great performances come as a result of great preparation
6. Playtime is crucial for everyone
7. Don't invest in toxic behaviors or toxic people
8. Learning is an active process
9. Growth should be the goal
10. The better you know your standards, the better the students will know them 

Know that you have my support and admiration as you continue to impact lives all around you for the better.  Students notice and they remember.  Tell your story.  Build your legacy.

Let this great day lead to a great week, month, and year for everyone.

Respectfully.

Mark Garrett, Superintendent

McDowell County Schools

Week 1: Back to school tomorrow!

We will post these by weeks.... Introduce yourself as to a first name, what grade and what subject you teach (do not include your last name or your school). And share how you are... How are you? We may want to use the teaching phases: Anticipation, Reflection, Disillusion, Survival, Rejuvenation (Know that people will be responding to your posts and offering their insights and advice.) Start with what is working? What challenges did you face this week? (classroom management, discipline, content...) What whoo-hooo celebrate a success? (about your kids, your team, your school, your own successes) What advice have you figured out?


Greetings!  My name is Bethany and I teach 7th grade Social Studies.  Currently, I am both highly-anticipatory and I'll be honest, slightly reluctant as we start our 2016-2017 school year tomorrow.  I can't wait to spend time with all 106 of my new students, getting to know them and establishing classroom procedures and relationships.  However, I always enjoy my summer freedom and laziness so much, it is with reluctance I go back to work tomorrow.  I'll post again in response to the other questions later in the week.  Good luck to everyone else starting back this week, too!  As always, I have to remind myself that these kids are going to need a few adjustment days to get back into the routine of school.

Week 1 - Starting School!!!

Setting the stage...
Last year I blogged as part of my professional development plan. My last is posted on a page. It is why I think we need to do this.


We will post these by weeks....
 Introduce yourself with your first name, what grade, and what subject you teach (do not include your last name or your school)
What year you are as a teacher. 1st year, 2nd....

How are you?
We will want to use the teaching phases: Anticipation, Reflection, Disillusion, Survival, Rejuvenation as labels.
(Know that people will be responding to your posts and offering their insights and advice.)

Start with what is working?

What challenges did you face this week? (classroom management, discipline, content...) 

What whoo-hooo celebrate a success? (about your kids, your team, your school, your own successes) 

What advice have you figured out?

What made you weep?

Other?