Monthly Archives: May 2013

Classroom Management Experiments

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Kagan Stuctures, the Music Wand, and Brain Breaks

Yesterday I subbed in an excellent school with third graders.  I brought several of my usual bag of tricks for experimentation.  Kagan structures for collaborative work (or breaks) and the music wand to gain attention continue to be hits with the students.  I used a brain break during an hour long session of math worksheets.  As I ran around a tiny table in front of table groups, a hit in itself, the students stood up to perform “the wave”.  When first being introduced to brain breaks, I wondered if the interruption would serve as a hindrance to getting back into the groove of working.  To date, this has not been my experience.  Students love the change in routine, then continue working with a wonderful attitude.  It deepens the teacher/student relationship which is interesting.

Twitter

Many in this group had not heard of twitter, yet this didn’t stop the enjoyment of tweeting about personal events.  If the students worked hard, they could tweet on a large post-it anything of interest.  Here’s my header post-it:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best result of using this method was learning more about each student.  I visualize book responses, predictions, and inferring author’s intent in a very informal style which can still stimulate higher level thinking.  A winner idea courtesy of Pinterest.

Class Dojo

Another experiment was the use of Class Dojo.  Assuming I would not be using a computer in the classroom, I printed out a Class Dojo page with student roster numbers, table numbers, and one slot for “Whole Class”.  Each slot has its own avatar in the appearance of a monster.  I wish there were more monsters so each student could have an original image, but I believe I can create additional avatars if I choose.  I’ll check into this later.  I informed the students how I receive the best classes everytime I sub, but wanted a better way to brag to their teacher at the end of the day.  Because of this, I printed out the avatar sheet.  During the day, I would catch students performing three model behaviors: following directions, respecting people and property, and staying on task.  There were no rewards from me, but I would leave the paper for the teacher so she could see how wonderfully her students behaved.  Points, once earned, could not be taken away.  This form of positive reinforcement was received very well for an initial trial.  It will be interesting to see the effects over a longer term.  I really have to thank my prior mentor during my internship for modelling true positive reinforcement.  It was quite an experience to observe how effectively she managed the classroom without calling attention to any negative behavior.

Overall

At the end of the day, I would conclude all management experiments as successful.  Three teachers asked for my name and number because the students responded well.  This was a bonus since this is a school where I would love to be a part of the team – very positive, friendly, down to earth dynamics.

Incredible Website

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While waiting for my oldest daughter to be ready this morning, I browsed the Edmodo communities.  Luckily, I came across this website educatorstechnology.com.  Wow!  So many articles that I had to resign myself to samples.  There’s simply too much, but certainly enough that anyone can find something useful.  One article from Educational Technology and Mobile Learning is “The 33 Digital Skills Every 21st Century Teacher Should Have”.  I think it’s kind of funny when the term 21st Century learning or teachers is used because it’s all basically 21st century.  This article has a lot of resources listed with links that I’ll check more into at a later date.  What I’ve seen so far is worth saving the information.  Honestly, my focus over the summer is literacy, but I keep finding new technical information.  I’m just going with the flow.

Scribblar

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I tried to embed Scribblar to my blog, but it is too large an image.  It takes away any ability to scroll or move the page so I changed it to an image icon.  This site kind of gives you the feel of a smart board.  (Oh to have a smart board in my future classroom – fingers are crossed.)  This is my room where I am learning about this website.  One daughter has a project to create a math tutorial to upload to youtube.  Remembering this site from earlier explorations, I decided to give a closer look.  Who knows if my daughter will choose to use this or come up with a different idea, but it sure is fun to play.  After browsing the various features, it seems that it has use when a promethean board is not available.  With a subscription, 35 uploads are allowed, but since Power Point can easily be used, then I can only imagine if one wishes to draw on a slide during a presentation?  I only have the free version.  It’s an engaging way for partners to work together on math problems.

Empirical, Scientific, Supportive and Authentic

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There’s simply too much I learned at the NSTA conference to state within 1 post, but I can give the highlights. From Betsy Rupp Fulwiler, I gained insight into training students to keep true scientific records, recording only what has been observed using concise terminology, then backing conclusions with supportive evidence. A very positive tone is used without lowering expectations. Standards are raised, increasing writing skills even as conventions are not emphasized. Students learn organization, scientific skills, science concepts, analytic skills, and communication skills. It was fascinating. Her book is Writing in Science in Action.  There are ideas which can easily be implemented even if the entire program is not utilized.  I have a friend in Connecticutt who immediately began using strategies from this program.  She plans to keep me updated on the results – I’m looking forward to this.  The conference itself was amazing.  It’s interesting how quickly connections are made with shared enthusiasm.  If I asked sincere questions about a teacher’s classroom, I could usually sit while words spilled from the other, so eager to share.

Okay, what else was learned?  Using current events to spark interest in topics.  Most of the ideas presented can be used in any subject: digital storytelling, news events, applying higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, using various technological applications/websites.  I soaked it in.  Because Texas State “teaches current best practices” (It’s kind of funny when certain phrases are heard repeatedly between classes), I was able to contribute to conversations.  Go Bobcats!

It was worth the extra hours at home preparing, then catching up with daily responsibilities.  Having a room to myself at night in a hotel – Bonus!