Friday, May 30, 2014

Summer Reading -- Teacher's Edition

I've got two book recommendations for you, but you might think I'm crazy -- they're both about teaching. Perhaps you think that reading a book about teaching is the last thing that will relax you over summer break. But these aren't your everyday books about teaching.

(Disclaimer: Both of these books have been around for awhile. I read them years ago. But that doesn't make them any less good, does it?)

And now, without further ado, the titles. Educating Esme by Esme Raji Codell and Teacher Man by Frank McCourt (yes, the Angela's Ashes Frank McCourt). Yup. These aren't books espousing a bunch of educational theories or pedagogy (though, if you know me, you know I love those books, too!). They are, rather, memoirs (Codell's is actually written in the form of a diary) and both chronicle the beginning of their respective teaching careers, Esme's as a fifth grade teacher in Chicago and Teacher Man's as a high school teacher at a vocational school in New York, NY.

I can't really say, based on these books, that Codell and McCourt are good teachers (or bad teachers, for that matter). But I can say that they are honest teachers. There are lots of ups and downs portrayed in these pages. Many I can relate to, and I'm sure you can, too. Many I can't. I've never taught in the types of schools Codell and McCourt taught in. So, I guess what I like about each is that I gain an appreciation for the struggles of teaching in urban/inner city schools; I like the authors' candor; I like when the books make me laugh or nod along when I can relate; I even kind of like when they make me cringe if I disagree; I like how they remind me of what it felt like to be a beginning teacher.

Happy reading this summer! Feel free to share any titles you recommend (they can be dorky books about teaching, or, if you're cooler than me, not!).


Friday, May 23, 2014

Games in the Classroom: Not ALL Fun & Games

Do your students play games in your classroom as part of the content and skills they are learning? Great! Games can be an excellent venue for formative assessment because they provide awesome opportunities for immediate feedback and support.

Check out this post from Edutopia for some specific examples. This is a wonderful time of year to think about introducing games to your classroom to keep up that student engagement and motivation as the days get sunnier and warmer.

Concerned about just how you can use games as formative assessment, using the informal data you gather by observing your students to inform future instruction? Give your district's instructional coach a holler -- she'd be glad to collaborate with you on this! 

Friday, May 16, 2014

It's Not Over 'Til It's Over

Yup. It's mid-May. State-testing is just about wrapped up. Educator evaluations are being finalized. June, and, with it, the end of the school year, is literally right around the corner.

It can be hard to stay motivated and engaged at this time of the year, for students and teachers both. But we must, mustn't we? After all, there are still weeks and weeks left of learning (don't shoot me; I'm just the messenger, y'all!).

If you're having difficulty holding onto a feeling of excitement for the classroom right about now, maybe it's time to throw caution to the wind and try something new. It might be just the thing to give you that burst of energy and enthusiasm to carry you forward until that last bell rings.

The great thing about trying something new now is that you know your students SO well at this point. It can be tricky to "experiment" earlier in the year, especially when you're just getting a handle on who's who in your classroom. But if you try something out now, with students you know well, you may feel comfortable enough with it in the fall to begin the year with it!

So, if you're interested, think about the following possibilities:
  • Maybe you've never felt quite comfortable with -- or never even tried -- a workshop format with your students. Why not try it out now?
  • Perhaps you know you should use formative assessments more often to inform your instruction, but the day-to-day life of a teacher has slowed you down and distracted you from this. Now could be a great time to play around with it a little more.
  • Maybe you find yourself using the same ol' activators and summarizers you always use -- or maybe you find yourself having strayed away from these valuable tools. Now could be the time to learn about some new strategies to use at the beginning and/or the ending of a lesson.
  • You've always thought about trying to tier a lesson, but you're just not sure how. Now's a great time to learn more about this, especially with your knowledge of your students!
The possibilities are endless! If you'd like some guidance and collaboration, you can always contact your district's friendly instructional coach. *wink, wink.*

Friday, May 9, 2014

Dealing with Defiance

It's not overly fun to think about, but sometimes we have students who can be defiant in the classroom.

My number one piece of advice in this kind of situation is to not take it personally. Usually, there are a myriad of factors leading to a student's defiant behavior, most of which probably have little or nothing to do with you as the teacher. That said, sometimes the best starting place is to try and explore what is causing the defiant behavior. Who can you talk to about this that may have some insight? The student's guidance counselor? The school psychologist? The parents? Other teachers who have had success with the student? Often, knowing what's causing the behavior can be a good way to begin to know how to address it.

In the meantime, it's best to think of how you will approach classroom management with this particular type of student. Here are some pointers from my own experience and research:

Address the behavior as privately as possible.
This is crucial, especially with adolescents. If you reprimand a defiant student in front of the entire class (even if the reprimand is rather "gentle" from your perspective), you have placed that student in a situation where he or she feels the need to "save face" in front of his or her peers. This need to "save face" may very well cause the student to engage in defiant behavior with you -- often, an adolescent with defiant tendencies sees no other way out of this kind of situation other than to escalate it.
However, if you pull the student aside after class to have a private one-on-one conversation with him or her, you'll often find the dialogue to be much more effective in helping to change student behavior. He or she will typically not be defiant in this kind of situation, because there will be no need to "save face" with no peers around to witness your dialogue.

Use positive, versus negative, statements.
Instead of telling potentially defiant students (or any students, for that matter) what not to do (i.e., "Stop talking"), try telling them what they should do instead (i.e., "Please listen" or "Focus"). In this way, you'll be giving the students expectations of how they should be behaving, which some may truly not be aware of. And you'll lessen the likelihood that they will react defiantly.

Use "I" statements.
Try stating things in terms of what your needs are as the teacher, instead of imposing what you see as the needs of the students on them. For example, instead of saying "You all need to stop talking so you can learn better" (something your students may, unfortunately, try to disagree with), try saying, "I find it difficult to keep everyone's attention when there are other conversations going on. That's why I need you to be quiet at this point and focus your attention here."






If you're interested in reading more about how best to interact with defiant students, check out this link, which goes into a nice amount of detail on causes of defiant behavior and approaches to dealing with it in the classroom. Or work with your district's instructional coach (wink, wink) to see how you may be able to turn things around in your classroom.