Search results matching tags 'classroom management' and 'teacher'

Cool tools for teachers

sfecich@gmail.com — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 13:26:38 GMT

I wanted to share my new blog with all of you! Add it to your reader or follow it on google. http://samcooltoolsfortheclassroom.blogspot.com/ Its all about cool and techy tools to use in the classroom.

Personalized Feedback

Anonymous — Sat, 19 May 2012 12:00:00 GMT

When you are grading, no when you are going over tests do you run through the problems on the board for all the students to see, even the ones who got the question right?

No teacher has time to personalize feedback in math class. Or do they? If you record yourself when going through a test you can personalize each test as you go through the test. You can say, "Wow, that was great on that question." or "Oh, you just forgot a decimal place." or lastly, "You need to explain more here on number 6, I did not get your thinking." This not only personalizes each test, but your students get use to your thinking and knowing what you want to show on the test. They can hear your thinking over and over again if they need to retake or take another test it would be a great way to study what they missed.

Since my HTML does not like me right now I will just copy the address to the video and article.
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/student-feedback-through-technology

This recording device was through an Apple computer and used for student's iPods.

Classroom Discipline 101

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:25:18 GMT

A teacher in my school with 18 years of experience has an interesting technique to “enforce” discipline management in her class. Every incoming student has hand-outs on their desk which they must address immediately. No down time, no idle chitchatting before the lesson actually starts and transgressors of this rule are called to order without delay. I have seen other instructors do things differently and suffer the consequences: They sit down at their desk while students are still incoming or they write instructions on the white board with their back turned to the class. Granted, these are high school youngsters who should know how to behave; but a teacher who is not ready to keep them busy from the get go will see their class fall into chaos with frightening speed, especially if the group exceeds 25 teens. It is always much more difficult to recover discipline than to start right away in an orderly fashion.

Without a clear sense of what is expected of them, writing the topics for the whole week on the board is a good way of doing this, juvenile students will inevitably fall into a conversation regarding the merits of the latest musical trend, powder their nose, literally, check their smart phone for messages, exchange jokes accompanied with loud laughter, throw pieces of paper across the room, and generally make a lot of noise that requires strong intervention by the harried teacher. Total time lost: 20 minutes!

Keeping these teens on task is no mean feat; aside from establishing clear rules of conduct and keeping them busy all the time, other personal factors intervene to make the teacher a successful professional: a strong voice, a commanding presence derived from a high self-esteem, greeting students by name as they enter, a well-prepared lesson plan, varied activities for the class, walking around to make sure everybody is on task, words of encouragement to the struggling ones, and, most important, a seating chart. To facilitate learning every student’s name, a fundamental requirement to keep discipline, it is convenient at the beginning of the year to sit them alphabetically; it makes memorizing names much easier. Once this is accomplished, change the order by mixing nerds with slow learners, thus hoping they will work well together.

Caricature of ancient school discipline

We cannot as teachers rule by fear, at any level; we must earn their respect by being courteous with them, no matter what the provocation. I made the mistake once of yelling at a student who was being disrespectful; I wrote him up and sent him to detention. I then called the parents and discovered that the kid was in a foster home and had been diagnosed with emotional disturbance. Feeling quite stupid, the next day I apologized to him and he did the same. I should have known better than to think that it was personal; it never is. Some of these troubled teens will lash out at authority as a reflex action, as they have been abused so often by the same authority figures. Keeping calm and poised is the best way to deal with injurious epithets from a distraught youngster. Whenever possible, include some light humor and kids will see the teacher as a “cool” guy or lady. It will make the classroom a lot easier to deal with. But we must be careful not to give the impression that we are their buddies; that would erode our authority and lead to dangerous consequences.

Work as Play! Kids Just Want to Have Fun!

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:20:41 GMT

My team teacher and I were standing in the hallway this morning when she walked over and whispered, “If I were a kid with all this testing, testing, testing, I wouldn’t want to come to school either.” Gasp! No, actually, I know exactly what she means, school has become the most boring place in the [...]

Let Students Own, Not Rent! Making it “Our Classroom”

Anonymous — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 04:28:11 GMT

The other day, I don’t remember why, we moved our desks. Instead of 6 groups of four, we ended up in two groups of 10. At some point during the day, my students asked me to leave the tables in two groups of 10. I took their request lightly, and began to dismiss it. But they pleaded, [...]

Don’t Let the Pigeon Play

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 21:31:39 GMT

There’s nothing a teacher dreads more than being absent and having to prepare for a substitute. In addition to the preparations you have to make in advance, often while you’re sick, there’s always the fear that your students will go bonkers in your absence. I’m sure this has never happened to you, when you’re absent your little cherubs sit still and blink their wide, innocent eyes at the substitute teacher while patiently awaiting your return. If you are in the minority like me and your students need a little reminder of how to behave in your absence I made a special PowerPoint just for you. I was inspired by my friend Karen of Prekinders; her recently released Pigeon packet hooked me on the popular Mo Willems books.

This is how it works, just click on the picture above to download the PowerPoint and insert your students’ pictures in the empty boxes. Click on the talk bubbles to change the text. I gave you just a few examples to get you started, but having the students actually come up with the ideas for the text will be more meaningful. Insert duplicate slides and change text and pictures to create as many pages of the book as you will need. You can show the PowerPoint to the class or you can print the slides, insert the pages in page protectors, and place them in a binder to create a book that you can include in your classroom library and leave for your substitute.

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You class is driving you crazy? Here’s an idea!

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 10:41:00 GMT

More Classroom management topics!

This is my favorite one! I divide the class into 4 groups and I assign a mini teacher in each group. But the role of the teacher is to be one! But what is the mini teacher’s role?

1- Make sure everyone in his group are quiet

2- If asked to turn to a specific page in a book the mini teacher has to make sure the pages are turned to the correct the page

3- Make sure desks and under the desks are clean

4- Everyone has to work as a team

5- When asked to pack their bags mini teacher has to make sure they did everything correctly.

Now the reward!

Every time the mini teacher does her/her job their group gets a happy face and when reach 10 happy faces you can reward them. Like by giving them 5 minutes free time, a small gift etc…

You can draw this table on the board so they can see it at all times. They love it and kids love responsibility trust me! However don’t stick to the same mini teacher you should change the teacher every 2 weeks so everyone can get a turn. I usually like to give an award to the winner of the group to the mini teacher because he /she was responsible. Try it this works with a class that is very active!

Baggy Pants in the Classroom

howtobehappyif — Fri, 14 May 2010 22:23:00 GMT

Baggy Pants – pants that loosely hug the hips or drop below the butt are calculated to display the wearer’s underwear allegiance to ghetto culture. I’ve heard that the fashion originates in prison (where inmates are not allowed belts). There seems to be some debate about whether baggy pants should be legal or whether schools have a right to impose dress codes that forbid them.

I don’t really care about all that. But I do care about respect in my classroom.

When BP, a male student who is chronically late or absent, sauntered up to me with his pants dropping below his butt and dropped his practice ACT Exam on my desk, he clearly expected me to correct it. This ACT Exam is an important gateway exam allowing students to pass from remedial to regular college accredited work. Today is the second to last day I can prepare my students for the ACT exam.

Now I am normally an understanding, kind, humorous teacher. But today was just not my day to take to take any guff.

I looked at BP and said, “Pull up your pants.”

The class stopped whatever they were doing and looked at what promised to be an entertaining scene.

BP dropped into the seat next to my desk – his pants dropped with him.

I folded my arms and said, “If you want me to correct your paper, pull up your pants.”

One of the other students called out, “You go, professor!”

BP shrugged and tugged just a tad on the front of his pants.

A student in the back said, “His rear is still hanging out.”

I asked, “Does anyone else need a paper corrected?”

Quick as bunny, another student slid into the other seat by my desk. I ignored BP and corrected the other paper.

At last, tired of waiting and unwilling to do what? lose face? lose butt? BP stood up, put his paper in my folder, and walked out.

I corrected the other student’s paper. A few minutes later, since it was clear I wasn’t about to correct his paper as my personal homework, BP came back for his paper and left.

And that was that…at least for today. Tomorrow, the last day before the exam, I plan to offer the same deal.

Pull up your pants or don’t expect me to help you with your work.

As far as I’m concerned, this has nothing to do his culture vs. my culture. I don’t find a display of his drawers attractive, but the target audience for his underwear is not his English professor. Fine. I don’t care about debating his legal rights or the school dress code.

I care about my own right to have my feelings respected in the classroom – and elsewhere. If someone cannot manage to do that, then I cannot manage to offer my skills and knowledge – or whatever else someone wants from me. Professors are not educated slaves. Neither are other members of the college community (educated or not) – from custodians to security guards to cafeteria service workers to classmates to college presidents. Just because someone has an overgrown sense of entitlement doesn’t mean the rest of us have to go along with it. It’s nice to be be nice – and it feels nice to set limits. As the great Aretha Franklin sings, it’s all about R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Respect!

Happiness Habits:

Just say no. Trust your gut. You know when you feel disrespected or exploited – and you don’t have to go along with it.
Arguments and accusations are often unnecessary. Stick to the behavior – pull up your pants if you want your paper corrected. (If I were his mom, wife, or girlfriend, I’d stop making dinner unless he did household chores or contributed the equivalent.)
If you win the battle, drop the subject. If he pulls up his pants tomorrow, I will correct his paper with no comment. As a matter of fact, I don’t dislike BP. He’s just an immature young man feeling his oats – that’s no reason for me to hold a grudge. If he doesn’t drop his pants, I will drop the subject.

Life is a story book – a collection of many stories – each one with a plot, characters, and the theme or message we take from it. Each story presents an opportunity to learn and practice Happiness Habits.

What’s your question? What’s your comment? What’s your story?

For more humorous, helpful stories, please visit my blog:

How to Be Happy If: www.howtobehappyif.com