Moving To A New Site

Hello everybody,

I have some good  news. I'm moving my blog, and eventually my entire site to a new site. I've discovered Wordpress, and now there's no going back. Thank you for subscribing here at Blogger, but I will no longer be posting here. I will, however, keep adding to my blog through my new site. I would appreciate if you would sign up to follow me there too.

Here is the new address: http://www.SuccessInTheClassroom.com

Thank you again,
See you on the other side.
Sam
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

When It's OK To Use Wordsearches In The Classroom

Recently, we had a staff meeting where the principal was "encouraging" the staff to use more higher-level, more engaging lessons with the students. She especially was concerned about the use of wordsearches in the classroom. Evidently she had found a wordsearch left in the copier.

I use wordsearches.

But wait! I don't use them like you may think. I totally agree that a wordsearch is a poor tool to use when trying to teach a concept or reinforce a lesson. They are basically a sit-down-and-don't-bother-me activity. Lazy teachers use them as part of their lesson. Yes, I said lazy teachers. They have no real instructional value past the first grade, when they can be used as a spelling tool, I guess.

So why do I use them?

I'm glad you asked.

I use wordsearches only on one occasion. That is when I'm giving a test.

Here's how I put these hated puzzles into action:

First, I give the test. It could be a class test or a state test or whatever, just one of those tests where some students may finish earlier than others, and you want to maintain the silence.

When a student finishes his/her test, the student will bring the test to me, and pick up a worsdearch which I have copied and placed on a chair in the front.

The student will then take the wordsearch and work on it while the rest of the class is taking the test.

Why don't you have the students read?

Again, thank you for asking.

The kids have the option of reading if they wish, but you'll learn that the students who will want to talk during the test are the ones who don't like to read. They're also the ones who normally finish earliest, because they didn't study.

I tell the students right up front that I don't grade the wordsearches. They're just to keep them quiet so they don't get in trouble for talking during the test.

It was interesting that after the principal spoke to us about not using wordsearches, I gave a test. I had to make copies of a wordsearch. I was worried that one of my wordsearches would find its way to her, and since I always include my name as one of the words to find, I decided to give it a special title.

I titled it: The Keep-The-Kids-Quiet-During-The-Test Worsearch. Pretty clever, huh?

Check out www.puzzlemaker.com to learn how to make your own hated wordsearches online.

Today's Tip For New Teachers: Paperclip Power - Always have a supply of paper clips up in the front of the classroom. Most teachers have them in their desk or in a cute container on top of their desk, which is OK, but you need some near the front of the room where you teach. You will always be collecting some kind of class work or homework, and having to go to your desk to get a paperclip takes time, not a lot, but still, it only takes a second of free time to allow Johnny to do something that costs you more time getting things back on track. I'm not into the cute paperclip container thing. I just rip the top off the box and leave it on my whiteboard tray. It works just as well.

Talk to you soon,

Here's to lots of success in the classroom!

Sam
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

Alphabet Soup - Understanding Teacher Abbreviations

Hello All,

Today I was part of a meeting called an IEP (Get used to being in a lot of meetings. I’m not a big fan of most meetings, but it’s part of the job.), and I noticed that there were a lot of abbreviations being thrown around. I thought it would be a little confusing for a new teacher, so I started writing some down. Here's the list. These are only a few of the abbreviations that new teachers will encounter. I'll add a more complete list in a later post.

FAPE - Free and Appropriate Education (This was new to me.)

IEP -  Individual Education Plan

SLP -  Speech and Language Program

BSP -  Behavior Support Plan

EL -  English Learner

ELD -  English Language Development

Stay tuned for more.

Thanks,

Sam

SuccessInTheClassroom.com

It's All About Communication - Communicating with Parents About At Risk Students

Hello again,
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I had an interesting situation occur. Today I collected projects from one of my groups, and what I do is call each student using my grade book, and I ask to see their project. I want to see that they did it, so I don't find out they didn't after I've finished grading, which for projects may take a while.

I got to this one student, called his name, and asked him to show me his project. He told me with almost a smirk, "I didn't do it." I assumed that he was like a few others who started late, and didn't have it ready today, but would bring it in tomorrow. So I asked him, "So I'll see it tomorrow?" He shook his head, no. I asked him again, and again he told me no. "You don't have anything?" I asked. I was a little surprised, because it didn't seem to me that he cared that he didn't have his project to turn in. "So you're going to fail my class?" I asked him. I was a bit taken aback by his response. He shrugged, as if to say, "I guess I will."

I moved on to the next student, but I made up my mind to call mom or dad after school.

So after school, I found his phone number, and called the house. Nobody was home, so I left a message. Then I found that a cell phone number was also listed in the computer, so I called that number. The father answered.

Right away I realized why the student didn't seem to be concerned that he didn't turn in his project. When the father spoke, he spoke in very broken English. This is what I've found often in my years of teaching. Many times, because the parents can't speak English, the teachers are hesitant to call home, because they know don't how to communicate with the parents. Likewise, because the parents can't speak the language of the teachers, they also are afraid or embarrassed to contact the teachers about their child, and because of this, the student can do whatever he/she wants to do, knowing that there is nothing that will happen. He/She will just tell the parents that everything is OK, and because the parents can't verify anything, by the time the report card gets home, it's too late.

In this case, however, the student miscalculated.

As soon as I recognized that the father was having difficulty with English, I asked, ¿Es mejor si hablamos en Español?" (Is it better that we speak in Spanish?)

You could almost see the relief in the fathers voice.

So we spent the next half hour discussing his child's progress - or lack of progress - in Spanish.

I've found that almost all parents want their child to succeed. They just need to find a way to work with the teachers in that effort.

I've even found that non-English speaking parents have an even greater desire for their child to succeed in school, because they themselves are experiencing the hardships that come with not knowing English. Their hope is that their children will be able to live a better life, a more successful life, and they know that only with a good education will they achieve that life. Unfortunately, because there is so little communication between the parents and the school, the child often falls through the cracks, and the cycle of poverty continues.

I've always believed that every school needs to have at least one administrator who speaks the language of the main subculture of the school. There has to be some kind of respected liaison between that community and the school. Too many times, the parents have to go through the secretary or the custodian to communicate with the teacher or administrator. That's not right. It's not fair.

I spent a few weeks as a substitute administrator at my school, and at another school just recently, and I found that every day, I was using my Spanish to communicate with a parent about his/her child. I would ask myself, what happens on a normal day, when Spanish-speaking parents need to find out about their child? It's a little disheartening.

Luckily for my student, (or unluckily for him), dad and I will be talking a lot, and I know that this year will be a successful one for him. It's all about communication.

That leads us to

Today's  Tip For New Teachers - Letter to the Parents. Create a generic letter that lets the parents know that you are concerned about the student's progress. Make a list of about 6 basic concerns such as: not doing homework, not studying for tests, not focused in class, talking too much, not bring supplies, etc. You have to think about the most pressing concerns that you have in your class. Create this document, but leave the name blank. Start it with: To the Parents of _________________. Then write a short paragraph saying something like, I am concerned with the progress of your child. The reason why is:
Then have the reasons in a column down the page with a small empty box next to each of the concerns. End it with a closing paragraph like: I hope that you can work with your child to improve in these areas. Please feel free to contact me....ect. Include a parent signature line. Now you can fill one of these out for any child that is not doing well, check the appropriate boxes and send it with the child. The child will then be required to give it to mom or dad to read, sign and return to you. If you don't get it back, then you'll have to call, but if you do get it back, it saves you a call home. The parents have been notified. The signature confirms it. Before you send it out, however, get someone at your school to do you the favor of translating it into the language of the dominant subculture at your school. Print it with English on one side, and the other language of the back. Make it as exact as you can, so even if you don't know the language, you know that box number three on one side is the same on the other. It's all about communication.

Thanks again,
Sam
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

Group Work

Hello everyone,

Today was group work day. We did something that I call Tic Tac KNOW. I divide the students into groups, and they create a poster using the Tic Tac Toe grid, displaying graphically images of what they have learned during the week. It's a test prep activity.

Now there are a few cool tips to get this done quickly and efficiently. I've noticed that when my student teachers have tried to do group work, they make a lot of rookie mistakes that take up a lot of class time, and by the time the students start their work, most of the period is over. Here is how I put the groups together:

1. I have their names on index cards already.
2. I tell them, "When I call your name, remember your number."
3. I shuffle the cards.
4. I begin pulling the cards out one at a time, calling the students' names, and giving them a number."Steven, you're number one. Jimmy, you're two. Jazmine, you're three," etc.
5. I write the number on the card somewhere. Someone always forgets what their number is.
6. Keep going until you reach the number of groups you want.
7. Once all the cards are numbered, then give the instructions on the assignment. If you do it before, then you'll have to repeat it after the groups are made. Kids don't remember things for too long.
8. Once all the instructions are given out, then I point to the areas of the room where the groups will gather. I'll say, "Group one is over there. Group two is here." etc.
9. Then I say, "Go."

Some teachers learn about grouping students based on ability level or different skills. That takes too much time, and I've found that in each randomly created group, there will always be a mix of learning levels. It just happens. There are those times, however, when you'll find a group that just can't be together. That's when you move kids around. The kids may complain, but who cares? You're the teacher. You do what you have to do to make things work. Group work is nice, because it gives you as a teacher a break, while still allowing students to learn. Since it's test prep, you don't have to grade it. Once they are done with the posters, they'll present it to the class, again giving students another review of what they need to know for the test.

Today's Tip For New Teachers: The Day After - I always schedule a group work day after a big project is due. Finding time to grade projects is always going to be tough. You have to spend more time on big projects since it's such a large part of their grade. Before, I would spend hours after school or during my prep grading those monsters projects. Now  what I do is grade during the time the students are working in groups. I can still monitor and help, but for the most part, I can use that time to grade. Creative use of time is a skill that every teacher needs to learn. If they don't they will burn out fast.

That's all for now.

Here's to lots of success in the classroom!

Sam
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

New Site for Teachers / TNT - Project Collection

Hello all,
I wanted to share a new site for teachers that I recently started. It's called ExtraIncomeForTeachers.com. I created this site to teach teachers how to combine their experience and expertise with the power of the Internet to make some extra income. I give step-by-step instructions on how teachers can create a website and then begin making some money. Don't get the wrong impression. It's not going to make you rich. It's just "extra" income. We all could use extra income, especially since the state is cutting back so much in education. Check it out. I think every teacher should have a website. I'll show you how to create one, then how to make some extra income with it.

Today's Tip for New Teachers: Project Collection - Today I collected one of the big projects from my students. This project is a large part of their grade, so I want to know who did it and who didn't. If I don't check, then I won't know until after I grade all the projects, and by that time it may be too late to get on the kids for not having their project in. It's an easy way for a student to fall through the cracks. So what I do is tell the kids to get their project on their desk. Then I call their names using my grade book. I ask them to show me their project. The students will show me their poster or flash drive (where their PowerPoint is stored) or whatever their project is. I write down in the grade book exactly what they have - a poster, a PowerPoint, a gameboard, a scrapbook, whatever they chose to do for the project. It give me a chance to scold the ones who don't have anything, and it protects me from a student coming and saying that they turned it in, but I lost it. (Yes, it happens.)

Thanks again,
Here's to lots of success in the classroom.
Sam
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

Transferring Student

Hello again everybody,

I wanted to share about a meeting our team had today. We were called in to what we call a "transition" meeting for a student who was moving from one track to another. According to the father, his son was "beat down" by the school system. The son no longer enjoyed coming to school, and was not feeling happy or successful, so the father thought that a change of track might help. At our school, we have 4 tracks. Each track has two sets of teachers - one for 7th and one for 8th. This father thought that moving his son to a new set of friends and a new set of teachers might be helpful. The student also has been diagnosed with ADHD, and the father blamed this condition for his son's discipline problems on the other track. We spent a good 15 minutes just listening to the father "warning" us about his son's behavior, and asking us to be patient with him.

Finally, I was asked by the resource teacher to explain to the father my classroom procedure and expectations. I was a little unprepared for that question. I began trying to give a description of my class rules and behavior guidelines, when I stopped and told the father, "We've been doing this (teaching middle school) for a long time. We've seen it all. Your son is going to be fine." The other teachers quickly chimed in their agreement. The behavior the father was describing is nothing new to me or my team. We've seen so much worse.

The father was seriously worried for his son, and wanted us to tell him that he was going to be OK. I saw this in the way he was almost pleading with us to be patient with his son.

The last think I told the father as we were leaving the room was, "Your son is going to be fine. In fact, this is going to be his best year ever."

The other teachers called it the Rangel Guarantee.

And I meant it. I'm proud that my team concentrates on the student first, and then on the other labels like ADHD.

I'll let you know how the change in track goes for this student.

Today's Tip For New Teachers: Be the Light. You are going to find yourself in many meetings where everyone will be talking about how bad a student is doing or how poorly the school system works or how ineffective the administration is. Don't fall into the darkness of the cynical (cool term). Be the positive voice in the crowd. They may call you naive or unaware, but who cares? I've seen too many young teachers lose their love of teaching, because they hang around the complaining teacher or the pessimistic teacher. New teachers bring that Save-The-World attitude to the school. I like hanging around with them, because it's contagious, and sometimes I need to be reminded of why I became a teacher. Be the light!

That's all for now,
Here's to lots of Success in the Classroom!

Sam

Personal Declaration of Independence

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share with you one of my new lessons that had a greater impact than I expected. I called it the Personal Declaration of Independence.

We have been studying the events leading up to the American Revolution, and we arrived at the part where the students learned about the document that announced that the colonies were going to become independent - The Declaration of Independence.  I was wanting to create a new lesson this year that connected the students to this important moment in history, so as I was thinking about it, I remembered something that one of my former student teachers had told me before she left my class to start her teaching fellowship at another school. She had planned on teaching the Declaration of Independence to my students in July, but she never got to it. She had mentioned to me that she was going to ask the students to write their own personal Declaration of Independence as one of the assignments. We never got to talk about any details of the lesson, but I do remember her mentioning it to me, and that short discussion came back to me when I was thinking of a lesson to present to my kids.

What I did was create a short worksheet that the kids had to fill out. Then they were to take that worksheet and create a final draft Declaration of Independence. I told the students that the American Colonies had big plans for the future, but that their connection with England was keeping them from fulfilling those plans. Then I connected it to their lives. I told them that we all have goals in life. Some of us have a goal of getting straight A's or a goal of meeting more friends or a goal of becoming a better soccer player. "Sometimes," I said, " we have big plans or goals in life that we never reach because of some kind of obstacle that gets in the way. Sometimes it's  fear of failing or it's laziness or it's peer pressure." That's when I passed out the worksheet. I told them that it's time to declare our independence from whatever it is that is keeping us from our goal. The worksheet asked them to answer basic questions like 1. What is your current goal in life? 2.What is keeping you from that goal? 3. What is an obvious truth about you? 4.What is a talent or gift that you have? 5. What does that talent or gift allow you to do?

I gave them about 15 minutes to fill this out, and I assigned a final draft of the declaration for homework. Today, they came back with their declarations. I offered extra credit to those who wanted to present their declaration in front of the class. Many presented.

There were many great declarations, but I want to mention two of them.  One was written by a boy who obviously does not like school. He hardly turns in any work. He's failing all his classes, but I've made promise to myself that this will be his best year ever - even if it kills me. Here is his Personal Declaration of Independence:

Today I declare my independence from not doing my work. It is self-evident that I'm smart enough to do homework. I have been endowed with the gift of a good brain. This gift gives me the ability to do homework, and to do smart things, and to impress my family. In the past, not doing my homework has kept me from reaching my goal of getting better grades, but today I declare my independence.

What's more amazing is that he presented his declaration in front of the class. It was probably his first time ever.

Another student who presented today that had me shaking my head in amazement was a girl who has a physical disability. Here is her Personal Declaration of  Independence:

Today I declare my independence from worrying about my own needs and health. It is self-evident that I'm an inspiration to others. I have been endowed with the gift of making others feel special. This gift gives me the ability to understand and advise kids and to love them. In the past, worrying about my own needs and health has kept me from reaching my goal of helping other handicapped kids, but today I declare my independence!!

These are the days I love being a teacher.

To my former student teacher, Kim, thanks for the inspiration. You're going to be an amazing teacher.

Today's Tip for New Teacher - Using Peer Pressure in the Classroom.  Use competition between classes to increase your volunteer participation. Today, I had allocated a certain amount of time for presentations. I found, however, that I wasn't getting enough volunteers to present. I started thinking that I may have too much time left over, and with 8th graders, that is asking for trouble. I began counting out loud how many students had volunteered. I told them that the other class might have more volunteers, but I also told them that it wasn't a competition. They didn't believe me. All of a sudden, students began to pressure other students to raise their hand to present. I ended up having too many presenters, and I had to cut one of the activities from the agenda. Sometimes peer pressure can be a teacher's friend.

Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to sign up for my newsletter, so I can let you know when I'm posting a new blog or a  podcast.

Oh, and join our forum. It's getting a little lonely in there. : )

Sam
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

Eighth Grade Freedom

Today I wanted to talk about a parent meeting I had today. I received an email letting me know that there was a meeting scheduled for our team today, because the progress reports had arrived in the mail. We are required to notify parents by mail within the first few weeks of a trimester if their child is in danger of failing, and these parents had received such a letter.

I arrived at the meeting along with the other members of the team, and basically, the child was not turning in his homework, so the parents wanted to know what could be done to help the child get back on track.

We talked about normal strategies – check the website, which has the homework updated daily, have the child write down the homework in the agenda, and have it signed by the teachers, and for the parents to email the teachers any time they had a concern about a homework assignment.

Then the parents said something that we had heard so often in the past, and unfortunately, it’s probably one of the biggest mistakes that parents of 8^th grade students make. They told us that, now that their child was in 8^th grade, they wanted to give him some liberties when it came to school. They wanted to let  the child take responsibility for his education, to the point that the parents weren’t even going to ask about homework or upcoming assignments like they did all through 7^th grade.

We all cringed.

Over 20 years of experience with 8^th graders has taught us many lessons about the 8^th grade child. Probably the most important lesson is that 8^th graders cannot be given such liberties or responsibility. Students at this age have so many distractions that their education is not that high on their list of priorities. They are too busy thinking about girls or boys or what they are wearing or what people are saying about them, Facebook, Myspace, the new song by the hot band… you know what I mean. Turning in homework is not what they have on their mind. There are exceptions, of course. There are those student who so very responsible at this age, that they are ready to run their own company. The rule, however, is that 8^th graders need to be watched and held accountable by parents. The child won’t like it at all. They’ll complain and make a big fuss about lack of freedom and wanting their independence, but parents cannot let up. Someday, the child will thank them.

Some day the moment will come when they will realize the importance of their education, and they’ll re-prioritize what’s in their life, and their education will reach the top of the list. That will happen probably in 10^th or 11^th grade, but until then, I always tell the parents of my students to stay on them. Keep checking their homework. Look into their binders. Verify that they are doing their class work. Get to know their friends. It will pay off in the end.

Today’s Tip for New Teachers – Include your hobbies or passion into your lessons. If you are into horses or sewing or hot rod cars, try and incorporate that into your lessons.  For example, I have always liked writing poems. I can also play the piano and guitar, so what I’ve done is write little silly songs about my content – history. I just finished writing a rap about the events leading up to the American Revolution. It was a little hokey and undignified, but the kids loved it. It made the lesson stand out in their minds. What happens is that the passion you feel about a hobby shows in your lesson, and that excitement is contagious. The kids will get excited about the lesson. Plus, you will enjoy it a lot more as well.

Don’t forget to stop by the site – SuccessInTheClassroom.com. Find more tips and practical strategies to have more success in the classroom.

By the way, if you’re interested in seeing my rap video – Go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g54kspj5KiE

Until next time, this is Sam. Here’s to lots more Success in the Classroom!

How To Let Parents Know What's For Homework On A Daily Basis

Hello again.

I've been working on adding video to my site, and I was wanting to make my first video about something that has really made an impact on the success of my students, and I decided to talk about the way I have found to let parents know what the homework is every night. Parents are often in the dark when it comes to what the homework is for their child. The student may come home and tell the parent that there is no homework, when in fact there is. Parents often times have no other option but to believe the student. Wouldn't it be great if the parent could go online and see if their child is telling the truth? The problem is that for many teachers, daily updating the homework page is impossible. Here is a nice and easy strategy to make everybody happy - except of course, the student.

I have always had problems with parents telling us that they never know if their child has homework or not. Students aren't always forthcoming about what assignments they have to do that night. I knew that most of the parents of my students had access to the Internet, so I thought of creating a web page that had the homework listed on it. I found, however, that I could never find the time to update it on a daily basis. With all the other tasks that had to be done in the class or after school, it just wasn't getting done. That's when I stumbled upon the perfect way of notifying parents what homework their child was expected to complete each day. Here it is:


1. Create a Blog. There are many sites that offer free blogs. I use Blogger.com of course. If you're not tech savvy, then have a student create it. It's easy. Trust me.

2. After creating an account, select TWO responsible students to be in charge of it. These students should have good spelling and grammar skills. We all have those awesome students who write like they're in college. Select two of these students. You will need two, so that in case one is absent, the other can handle the job. Very rarely do I have a day when both students are absent.
3. Once you have selected you two students, give them the username and password to the blog. I would use a password that is different from the password you have for your personal email account. It should be something that is easy to remember, such as the name of the school, the name of the mascot, etc.


4. Select a specific time of the day when these students will update the blog. I use a time just before lunch. If you tell them to update it "whenever," you're going to find that "whenever" never shows up on some days. Make sure it's a specific time every day. These students will then sit at your computer and update the blog. At my school, we work in teams, so my students will go to each teacher on the team to get their homework, and then they will add it to the blog post. After the first week, I have the students take turns updating the blog. It doesn't take two students to do this job.

5. Finally, I give the web address of the blog to the parents, so they can confirm that their child is not lying to them when they say that they have no homework. Yeah right.


It's worked great for me and my team. Parent love it. Teachers love it. Students are not that crazy about it, but it is a great communication tool that we use to keep the students on track, and the best part of it is that I don't have to do any work after the initial set up.
I have a YouTube video that explains this visually.Here it is:



Here's to your Success in the Classroom!


Sam Rangel
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

Which One Doesn't Belong - An Activity to Help Students Remember Information.

Well, I'm back. At my school, as I've stated earlier, we are year round. Every three months, we go on our month-long vacation. Well, today is my first day back. It's a little tough every time we come back, because the students have a hard time remembering what they learned a month earlier. I normally do a review activity the first day just to get their brains back in the game. Today I'm trying something new. I went to an inservice where a teacher/lecturer/author named John Antonetti gave a class on engaging the student. I must say it was one of the best inservices I had ever been to. He was hilarious, but more than that, he reminded us how students learn. You can  find his website at: http://www.colleaguesoncall.com/index.html. Today,  I'm going to use one of the activities he had us do. I'm going to have the students get into groups and create a poster about some of the laws that the British imposed on the colonies back before the Revolution. The students learned about this before they went on vacation, but they won't remember much. They will be choosing four out of the five possible laws that I will have posted on the wall to use for their poster. They will create a poster that illustrates the law and describe it. Then, I will have them as a group come up with the one law on their poster that doesn't belong. They will have to explain why it doesn't belong. This is the Antonetti part. They will have to come up with an explanation to justify their decision in choosing the one law that doesn't belong. For example, if they have the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, the Declaratory Act, and the Townshend Act, they may say that the Townshend Act doesn't belong because it is the one law that didn't impose a tax on the colonies. Or they may choose the Townshend Act, because it was an law that was named after a person. Or they may choose the Stamp Act, because it was the only law that was repealed. This activity forces the students to consider and discuss all of the laws, forcing their brains to actually process information about ALL of the laws. This will help them actually KNOW the information. I'll let you know how it goes.
Thanks,
Sam
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

How To Create Tests

Hello all,
In my last post, I shared some of the suggestions I offered my student teachers concerning the use of PowerPoint notes. Today I wanted to talk about test creation. When I create a test, I normally just pull out a previous year's test and modify it to suit this year's lecture. What I learned early on, again by trial and error, was that test creation is an important skill that each teacher needs to learn.

First of all, I never use the tests from the book. I have found that the book's tests were created for the typical student, and every teacher knows that there is no such thing. That is why I always create my own. I also encourage my student teachers to do the same.

What we found was that the tests they created were tests based on the tests they remember from college, which really aren't adequate for 8th graders. Also, what my student teachers didn't take into account was the time necessary to grade the tests. The tests were too complicated for 8th graders to figure out, and there were too many questions that required more than one answer. Also, there were too many questions that required short essay answers.

These are really great questions which will more accurately assess the knowledge of the student, but when you have over 150 students, you will be spending hours grading them. This is what one of my previous student teachers found out the hard way. Time is on commodity that is too valuable to spend on grading tests.

These are the suggestion I offered to my student teachers concerning test creation for middle schoolers:

1. Have only one correct answer for each question. If there are more than one correct answer, offer extra credit if they can name them all. For example: Name 1 of the three main tribes who were asked to move from their land during Indian Removal.

2. Unless you have a small class, I would limit your essay questions to 1 or 2 per test. Essay questions take a long time to grade. You have to read it, then determine if the information is complete, then figure out how many points to give. Believe it or not, this can be very time consuming, especially if you have to do this for 150 tests like I do.

3. Add a freebie question. I like to add what's called a brain teaser at the end of the test. It has nothing to do with the subject, but if the student gets it right, they get another point. If they get it wrong, and most of them do, it doesn't hurt them. Here's an example: Johnny's mother had four children. The first was named April, the second was named May, the third was named June. What was the fourth child's name? Email me for the answer. : ) I find these brain teasers on the web.

4. Have  your first question always be: What is your name? Enough said.

5. Try and have a quiet activity for students to do should they finish the test early, because many will. My student teachers had the students copy a quote from the board and then write a little bit about it once they finished the test, and that is fine. The way I see it, however, is that the students have just racked their brains for the last 20-25 minutes answering questions on a test - let's give them a brain break. What I do is print out wordsearches and once the student is finished with the test, they will bring it to me and pick up a wordsearch. I find that everybody, even my resource students, know how to do a wordsearch. It keeps them quiet so those who are not yet finished won't be disturbed. A good site where you can create your own wordsearches is Puzzlemaker.com.

These are just a few quick test creation tips that I offer my student teachers. I'm not a big fan of tests, but since life is full of them, we have to prepare our students for them. We want the tests to be challenging, but not confusing, and at the same time we want to make it easy for us to grade them.

I welcome your comments.

Thanks,

Sam
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

Student Teachers in the Room

Hello again,
It's been a while since I've posted, but as new teachers will find out, you will be the most busy at the start of the year.

As I mentioned earlier, I have been given the opportunity to have two student teachers in my class this month. I enjoy having student teachers, because I find their enthusiasm and their save-the-world attitude refreshing. After 22 years of teaching, I often times get frustrated with the politics of education, the lack of support from society at large, and the apathy of some parents. These new teachers, however, always seem to remind me of why I entered this profession. 

I am lucky to have been assigned two young ladies who are both passionate about teaching and have chosen this career for the right reasons. I have had student teachers in the past who were looking for a career that was in their opinion "easier" than their last job. That opinion gets changed right away. This year, however, I have been fortunate to have two great student teachers.

This last week, I have seen my two student teachers learn some basic, yet essential lessons about running a class, making lesson plans, giving a lecture, creating a test, etc. I want to use the next few posts discussing some of these lessons. When I did my student teaching, I learned these lessons by trial and error. My master teacher left me in the room alone on the second day, and then she went to  help out in the office. Those were fun times.

Here's one of the first lessons we learned this week: When giving a lecture using a PowerPoint presentation, and you want students to copy down what is on the screen, you want to set up your slide show to reveal one sentence or one bullet at a time. What happened in class was that the entire page was revealed and the students were told to copy it down, but we learned that the students were too busy copying down all the notes to listen to the lecture. What I do is talk about the information, then I reveal it for the students to copy.

Also, only put the important information on the screen. You can't  give the students the option to paraphrase or decide which information is note-worthy. What I told my student teachers was to tell the kids to write down everything that is on the screen word-for-word. The teacher, and not the student decides what is essential. I told them to also keep it short, sweet, and to the point. Give them basic fact, and let your lecture elaborate. Don't put your elaboration on the screen. It will be too much for the kids to write.
Thanks,
More to come.

Sam
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

Student Teachers

Hello all,

I guess the powers that be have seen me fit enough to be a Master teacher for a couple of student teachers this month. I've never had two student teachers in my class at the same time. It's especially complicated, because I happen to be in one of the smallest classrooms on campus. Our first challenge was trying to find a place for all of us to sit. This week, they are just observing, but next week they begin giving lessons. I gave them the opportunity to introduce themselves to the class, and right away I noticed that they had the confidence and presence to do well in front of a bunch of 8th graders. I want to document their progress in this blog. I always learn something new when I have student teachers in my class. Their energy and enthusiasm is so refreshing. I can't wait to see what they do. Stay tuned.

Today's Tip for New Teachers: When lecturing or giving information to the class, ask questions like, "Has anybody here...?", "How many here have...?" etc. My student teachers did this when they gave their introduction speeches. They talked about their travels, then asked the question, "How many have been...?" It engaged the students and included them in the talk. I would keep my questions to those that can be answered with just a raising of the hands. Otherwise, you may have a question answered with a long time-consuming story, and most students are that good at telling stories.

Talk to you soon.

Sam Rangel
www.SuccessInTheClassroom.com

End of the Year Gift

Hello again,
Every year my students bring me gifts of appreciation, and I am very grateful to those parents who go and spend  their hard earned money to say thank you to me. It means a lot. I normally get a lot of Starbucks gift cards, which I use throughout the year. This year, however, perhaps a sign of the times, I only received three gifts. One was a gift of homemade chocolate chip cookies, which were delicious. Another student gave me a Starbucks gift card, and my last gift came from a student who was in my Newspaper class, so I was able to spend more time with him. During the year, we were able to talk about topics other than school, and I was able to offer a little advice and apparently he was listening. Along with a gift card to Barnes and Noble, was this note from his mother: (I'm omitting the student's name to protect his privacy.)

Mr. Rangel, I just wanted to tell you how much you are appreciated as a teacher and mentor to D! You made Jr. High so much easier for him, which made D enjoy all his other accomplishments. After losing his dad, he felt so alone and when he realized how much he looked up to you (he would everyday come home and say how much he liked you.) for guidance he began to feel like he could accomplish anything he put his mind to - it was your positive attitude toward him and your compliments that fueled his desire to learn and please others. I have so much respect for you and can't thank you enough! You will always be a cherished name in our home. Thank you.

This was the best end-of-the-year gift I have ever received. It served to remind me of why I became a teacher.

The End of the Year

Well, we've finally come to the end of another year. It's been a good year. After doing this for over 20 years, I would think that I had it all figured out,  but every year I learn something new. Maybe when it's time to retire I'll get it down. : )

Spending a year with these students, you really get to know them and when it's time to say good-bye, it's not that easy. There are those students who you are happy to see leave, but I didn't have that many this year. This year has been tough for a lot of my students, and I worry about them as they enter the busy drama-filled life of high school.  I had students who have lost a parent due to illness. Other students had to deal with parents going through divorce. Just recently, one of my students received the news that cancer will be taking his brother within the month. This was especially tough, since I know the family. When we hear news like this, I find the stress that I feel when my students don't turn in their work or when parents blame you for their student's lack of progress so insignificant. I have no problems when compared to some of what my students are dealing with. It's in these times when I have to rededicate myself to my primary job as care-giver to these students. Whether they understand the concept of Manifest Destiny or remember the names of the generals at the Battle of Gettysburg is secondary to the lesson that I must teach them that there is a future for them that is better than the negative present that they are experiencing, and if they can't find someone in their immediate circle who will show them compassion or sincere concern for their well being, I must. I will - especially to those students who I previously stated was happy to see leave.

Today's Tip for New Teachers: Make sure you have something busy for the students to do during the last week. Kids normally check out a week before school ends. If you're trying to give a last test or a major project, you may find students who are absent or not really into school anymore. I know you are taught to teach to the very end, but you can't get too much across to kids on the last day of school. I use that day for my End-Of-The-Year speech, where I encourage them to do their best and to ignore the negative influences in their life. I also like showing an End-Of-The-Year slide show of the students. That's always fun.

See you next year.

Sam
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

Build a Civil War Soldier

Hello again,
It's been a while since my last post. All of a sudden, you'll find as a teacher, things just pile up on you and you have no extra time.  Your prep periods are taken with grading an important project or meeting with parents, etc. Well, now that I have time to post, I wanted to tell you about a project I tried for the first time. A good teacher is always looking for new ways to teach the old subjects. You know you're ready for retirement when you are doing the same projects that you've been doing for the last ten years. I never want to get that predictable.

I wanted to have my class learn about what life was for a Civil War soldier, but instead of just lecturing or giving them book work, I created a project that I call "Build a Civil War Soldier." Next year, I'll probably call it something more clever, but this was almost an experiment for me. What I had the students do was watch a video on life as a Civil War soldier - It's Discovery.com video called, "Foot Soldiers - the Yankees."
As they were watching the video, they were supposed to write down important facts about the soldier's life.

Once the video was over, I divided them up into groups. (I've tried different ways to group my students, but the best way that I've found is randomly. I'll discuss grouping in a later post - maybe.) Once they were in their groups, I passed out long sheets of white butcher paper (about 6 feet). Then, each groups was to select one student to lay down on the butcher paper while someone else traced their silhouette. (This, I found was a lot more difficult that it sounds.)

Once the form of the student was on the paper, the group then proceeded to draw a face, a uniform, guns, etc. They even gave their soldier a name. Then they would write the facts that they took from the video all around the soldier. They then took turns presenting it to the class.

I was a little nervous that this project was going to be a flop. (Yes, I've had projects that have flopped. Every teacher has lessons that bomb. Don't stress about it. It's part of the learning process.) This project, however, worked pretty good. I even posted the better soldiers around the hallway by my class. I told the kids that our hallway was being guarded by Civil War soldiers. The kids enjoyed it. It got them out of their chairs, and they actually learned a lot. I've uploaded a picture for you to see. You could probably do this with almost any topic - characters in a story (Language Arts), a famous mathemetician or scientist, etc.

I'm sure I'll be doing this project again in the future.

Today's Tip for New Teachers: If you're doing a new project, try and do it with your highest achieving class first, that is your Honors or Upper Level class. The reason I say this is that they will most often give you the best work. Students in those classes seem to compete with each other for quality and creativity, so they will give you the best "sample" work for you to show to your other classes. You want to show the best examples for the other classes to shoot for. This is what I did with the Build a Soldier project. I had my non-honors classes see samples from my honors students before they started working. It gave them something to aspire to.

That's all for today,

Thanks,

Sam
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

Testing is Over

Hello again,
Testing is finally over. Every year, we give these state tests to see if we can hit the magic API number for the school. I'm lucky enough to be working at a school that consistently earns the highest scores in the district. I used to stress out about these tests - after all, our names are posted along with the scores. I have since stopped worring about them, however. I just do  my best to cover the material and let the scored fall where  they may. I used to find myself teaching to the test, and I didn't find that rewarding at all. The students were bored. I was bored. Teaching wasn't fun anymore. After 20 years of teaching, I know what kind of material the test will cover, so I make sure to incorporate that into my teaching, but I refuse to let the tests run my class. I want my kids to enjoy American History. It's interesting and there are so many connections to their own lives, so filling their brains with a bunch of dates and places and events just to do well on a test takes away the heart of history.

Today's Tip for New Teachers: Don't let the state tests stress you out. At the beginning of the year, ask a veteran teacher to tell you what topics are most likely going to be on the test. Not all the State Standards are on the test. This will allow you to plan your lessons better. For example, if you have a great two-week lesson on Lewis and Clark,  you may want to modify that, since only ONE question in the entire test asks about Lewis and Clark - at least that's the lesson I learned. Which is sad, because the Lewis and Clark expedition is so amazing, and the kids love learning about it. (I spend a lot of time on it anyway. Shhhh.)
Thanks,
Sam
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

Cool Website for Teachers Who Need Stuff

Hello again,
Still testing. Getting a lot of stuff done, but not too much teaching. One of my teacher friends told me about a website for teachers who are looking to get stuff donated. It's called Donors Choose. This website allows teachers to post their project online, and then people can donate money to fund the project. It's really cool, and I'm already signed up. My team and I will be sitting down and discussing our needs for this next year. With all the cuts in our budgets, it's going to be increasingly difficult to get the supplies we need to teach. There are people out there who understand the needs of teachers, and will open up their pocket books to help. Donors Choose is a good way to help them do this. Here's the link: http://www.donorschoose.org/teachers

I figure once we have a project for the team, I'll promote it among our parents, and give them the opportunity to help out. Stay posted. I'll let you know how it goes.

Today's Tip for New Teachers: Avoid getting into a "Burn" contest with your students. A "burn" contest is a conversation where with the use of sarcasm, you "burn" each other with funny insults. You have to remember that they are kids, and although they may be good at dishing it out, they may not be able to take it,and eventually, because they don't want to lose this contest in front of their peers, they'll resort to using insults that may cross the line. I like having fun with my students. They are funny and we get along well, but I always have to keep that line between teacher and student visible. If you do get into one of these sarcasm contests, let them win early. My response is, "Good one." Then I walk away.

Thanks,
Sam
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

State Testing

Hello all,
Well, today was our first day of CST exams. I like these tests because I use the time to catch up on stuff (while I'm monitoring the students, of course). I'm not too crazy about the History section of the exam, mainly because my students are not just tested on what they have learned this year, but also on the previous two years. The 8th grade exam has questions from 6th, 7th and 8th grade standards.  It's hard enough to find the time to reach all the 8th grade standards, but to be responsible for 6th and 7th also is too much. The kids complain every year about how they don't remember the information from the previous years, and I don't blame them. I tell them to do their best and to try and pick the most logical answer. Unfortunately, when the results of the History test are posted, my  name is right there. I used to stress about this, but not anymore. I do my best to make sure they know the 8th grade section of the test, and if I do this, I'll be O.K.

Today's Tip for New Teachers: Always have some kind of quiet activity ready for those students who finish their tests early. Today, I gave students an option to either read a book or work on a wordsearch that I created. Without this, students will start talking  and making noise while other students are still testing. They need something specific to do. Wordsearches are easy and you can create them online for free.  Go to http://www.puzzlemaker.com/ and create your own puzzle. I like to use interesting topics and words to give the students a little more motivation to choose the puzzle. Today's topic was, "What You Find in Students' Lockers". I know that reading is more "educational," but the students who are most prone to finish early and talk are those students who probably won't choose to read a book. That is why I always have this other option.

Thanks,
Sam
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

Name That Slide

Hello again,

Today we played a game called, "Name That Slide." I have the students come up and give clues to another student until that student guesses what is on the slide behind him/her. I have a full description on the website. Here's the address: http://www.SuccessInTheClassroom.com/namethatslide.html. The first time I played this game with the students, it was great. After a couple of times, however, the novelty wore off, and I had a tougher time trying to keep the rest of the class quiet. So, what I do now is that I will give the class an assignment to work on while the game goes on. Today I had the students create a Treasure Hunt. Basically, they had to use specific pages from the text and create a test (notice I gave a normally boring assignment a cool name. This helps make it not so boring.) While they were doing this, I called up the students to play the game. Once their turn with the game was up, they went back to working on the assignment. Today I had Taylor Lautner and Megan Fox on the slide show. I had to Photoshop some appropriate clothes for them, however. See.

Today's Tip for New Teachers: Keep up with who and what is popular on TV, music, or movies, and include them in your activies somehow. I never would have guessed that Taylor Lautner was so popular, but the kids really pay attention when his name is mentioned. Right now I have to find pictures of some singer named Justin Bieber. He's supposed to be the next big thing.

Thanks,

Sam

SuccessInTheClassroom.com

Video Notes

Hello all,
One thing about teaching History is that you have a lot of videos that you can show to enhance the lesson. Today I showed a clip of Ken Burns' Civil War Mini Series. I don't like showing videos too much, because it seems too easy. I have heard of a few teachers who show videos every day, and spend most of their time just sitting in their chair. Videos are what you leave for a sub. Today, however, I gave my lecture, then I showed about fifteen minutes of the video to let the kids see what I was teaching about. I had them take what I call, "IDK" notes. IDK stands for "I Didn't Know." I told them that I wanted them to write down anything that they learned that they didn't know before. So anything they got in the lecture could not be in their video notes.  After the fifteen minutes, I still had about 5 minutes left in the class, so to occupy that time, I had them first circle the one fact on their page that made them say, "Wow!" Then I have them find 5 other students and write down their, "Wow Fact" on their paper. So the kids are spending that last five minutes walking around learning new facts that perhaps didn't get on their paper. It gets kind of loud, but it's a good loud.

Today's Tip for New Teachers: Try and give cute/cool names to your assignments. Instead of just calling them "video notes," I called them "IDK" notes. Even if the assignment is one of those boring find-the-answer-in-the-book activities, you give a cool name like, "History Treasure Hunt," the students will view it as more than just boring seat work - well most students will. Kids will perceive school work how you present it. If you say, "Here's a worksheet to review state standards," the kids will respond with groans. However, if you tell them it's a "TITE" sheet, they're going to say, "a what sheet?" Then you can tell them, "It's a 'This-Is-To-Easy sheet.'" You'll get a different reaction from your students based on how you present the activity. Trust me. It works.
Thanks,
Sam
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

Choosing Project Topics

Hello again,
Today I handed out topics for the Civil War in a Can project. This time it was for my other two groups of students. At my school, we block schedule. I will have one particular group of two classes on Mondays, Tuesdays, and every other Wednesdays, then another group of two classes on Thursdays, Fridays, and every other Wedensday. It's still confusing to me too. Today, I did something different. I normally just have the topics in a can, and then I go up and down the rows allowing the students to randomly pull their topic out. This time, I modified it a little. Along with the topics, I added a couple of early lunch passes into the can. This made it a little bit more interesting. Also, once everybody had a topic, I gave them a quick summary of each topic, then I allowed them to trade topics with someone in the class. I gave them only one minute to trade. Once that was finished, I gave them another opportunity to change topics by letting anybody who wanted to, to come up and take a chance with the remaining topics in the can. They had to give up their topic and choose again at the random topics left in the can. Finally, if there were any students who still were not happy with the topic they  had chosen, they had to opportunity to choose another topic about the Civil War, just as long as it was not on my list of topics. They also had to get it approved by me first. It got a little loud while they were selecting topics, but that was O.K. It took about 25 minutes from start to finish. Tomorrow, I'm giving a pop quiz. : )

Today's Tip For New Teachers: Use the countdown method. Any time you give an activity, give the students a time limit, and as the clock ticks away, keep reminding them of the time remaining. Students who are wasting  time will normally get back on task when reminded of the shortening time. Today, I gave the students one minute to trade topics. I yelled out, "1 minute. Go!" At the 45 second point, I let them know also. At the 30 and 15 second stage also. Finally, at 10 seconds, I started counting down. By the time I got to "one," all the students were in their chairs. Students need time limits. They like time limits. They love time limits.

Thanks,
Sam
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

Write a Letter to a Friend

Hello again,

Today I came into class with a nice lesson plan, but I was short about 10 minutes. I never like to have the class sit around with nothing to do, because that leads to them talking, then getting loud, and it's harder to get them back on task, so I had to come up with a 10 minute activity. I could have shown a 10 minute video clip, but I wanted something more interesting. That's when I came up with a pretty good idea - go figure. After my incredibly exciting lecture (Yes it is.) I had the students pull out a sheet of paper and told them to choose a student who is not in the class and write them a quick letter about what they learned today in History class. I told them that it needed a intro sentence like, "Dear friend, I have to tell you about what I learned today in Mr. Rangel's class." Then they had to include at least five important facts in the body of their letter and finish it off with a closing sentence. To get credit for the assignment, the students had to have the friend to whom they wrote the letter write a sentence about  what they read and then sign it at the bottom. Once it is signed, the student has to return it to me within the week.  This way, the student is forced to re-read the notes they took during the incredibly exciting lecture and it allows them share what they learned with their friends. It also filled my 10 minute time slot.

Here's Today's Tip for New Teachers: Don't yell. I learned early in my career that yelling doesn't work. It only serves to show your students that you can be flustered. When you raise your voice in anger, the students win.  I have had many problem students in my class. I have some now, but I never raise my voice in frustration. If the class is too loud, I cross my arms and wait. Once the class settles down, I continue. There will be times when the students will take longer than I expect to settle down. It's in those times when I'll start calling individual names. I'll say, "Johnny," and wait till I get his attention, "We're waiting for you." Most of the time the students will notice me waiting, and they'll start with the "shhhhhh." There will be, however,  those rare times when I will raise my voice, but they are what I call "Strategic Detonations." I, and not the students, determine when I will yell, and when I yell, it is to make a very important point. It happens maybe twice the whole year - sometimes never. If a teacher raises his/her voice on a regular basis, eventually the students become numb to it, and it will no longer have an effect. There will be times when the students will cause you to be flustered. Do everything you can to keep from raising your voice. Wait till the students leave,  - then scream.
Thanks,
Sam
SuccessintheClassroom.com

I Hate Boring Reports

Hey all,
Today I passed out my Civil War in a Can project direction sheet. This is my big end of the year project. I saw another teacher using this with her English class, and I modified it for the Civil War. I really got tired of hearing boring reports read by the students, so with this project, there are no reports required. What the student has to do is research a person, event, or feature of the Civil War (Abraham Lincoln, Battle of Gettysburg, Women in the Civil War). Then they use an ordinary tin can, about the size of a paint can to demonstrate their expertise in their topic. I have a list of about 21 topics. I place the topics in a can, and the students randomly choose what they will research. I make it random, because I don't want 20 projects on Abrahm Lincoln. The students are required to decorate their can to reflect their topic. Then they are to find at least 5 objects to place into their can. On presentation day, they will pull out each object one at a time to help them talk about their topic. For example, a student can  pull out a rock, and say, "This is a rock that was found at the Battle of Gettysburg. The Battle of Gettysburg took place...." The object are just something that they can use to open up their presentation. To do this project, they will have to become experts on their topic. They will not be handing in a report of any kind. I grade them as they present. I have my own list of information that they should know if they did basic research. If they don't mention what I have on my list, I ask them about it, and most of the time, they will say, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that." and they'll tell me what they remember. Some kids go all out and really give great presentations. Others don't, and they know it. It makes my end of the year easier, because I don't have a mountain of reports to grade, and the kids leave my class being experts on at least one aspect of the Civil War. There is a lot more to this project, and I'll be posting it on the website soon.

Today's Advice for New Teachers: Don't make your tests so serious. On every test, I always include a "freebie." This is a question that has nothing to do with the subject matter. If the student gets it right, it's an extra point. If they get it wrong, it doesn't hurt their grade. Mostly, I use brain teaser questions, like: Johnny's mother had four children. One was named April; the other was named May, and another was named, June. What was the name of the fourth child? Most kids will figure it out and answer, Johnny, but some won't, and they'll feel worse about missing the freebie that they do about missing the real questions. You can find these questions on the web. Just Google, brain teasers. Anything you can do to take away some of the "stress" from the test, will help your students do better.

Thanks,
Sam
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

Who's On My Back?

Today I had the students play a game I call, "Who's On My Back?" I had the student create a trading card (see previous post) for homework. I had them pull it out and place it on their desk. Those that didn't do the homework could not participate. I placed little pieces of Scotch tape on the edges of my overhead cart. Then I told them what they were going to do. I recruited a volunteer from the class. I told the class that they were to get a piece of tape from the cart and place it on their card with some of the tape exposed on top. Then they were to stick their card on the back of another person. This is where I told the students, "If you didn't do the homework,  you can't participate. If someone tries to stick a card to your back, make sure you tell them that you can't participate because you didn't do your homework and that you know that you disappointed Mr. Rangel and that because you didn't do what was required last night, you demonstrated that your education is not that important, but you have learned your lesson, and you will never forget to do your homework again." They laughed a little. Once someone places a card on their back, the student has to go around and ask someone, "Who's on my back?" Then that person will look at that card and the game will begin. The person with the card will try and guess who is on the card by asking yes/no questions of the other student - "Is it a person? Is it a general? Did he fight for the South? These questions will continue until the person guesses correctly who is on the card. Once the student gets it right, he/she will sit down. It takes about 10 minutes from start to finish. It's one of those "Get-The-Kids-Out-Of-Their-Chair" assignments. I then explained the big Civil War in a Can Project. I'll talk about that in later posts.

Today's Advice: Get the little things ready ahead of time. With 8th graders, you have to be efficient with time. Too much free time will lead to the students getting noisy and it will be harder to get them back on task. Even little things like strips of Scotch tape can cause your activity to become less fun.  I made sure that I had the little pieces of tape already for them to just pull off the cart and stick it on the card.  It would have been hard to control the activity if I had to cut pieces of tape as they were walking around. Anything you can do ahead of time will make things easier for you.

Thanks,
Sam
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

Vacation is Over

Today I returned back to school. It was tough waking up, since I was not used to waking up so early. Today I gave a lecture using my Powerpoint presentation on the Civil War. After the notes, I was going to show a video, but I remembered an old activity that I used to do a few years ago - History Trading Cards. What I did was pass out a blank 3X5 card to each student. On the front of the card, the students were to draw a picture of a person or event that we have studied. They were to include the name and a description of the person or event. For example: U.S. Grant - Union General. On the back, the students needed to pull 7-10 facts from their notes and write them neatly. I told them that it has to be quality work - no pencil and no white space. The students spent about 25 minutes working on it. I assigned a second trading card for homework. Some finished early, but the majority of the students took the whole time. Those that finished early could either sit quietly or start working on their other card. I will use that card for another fun activity that I'll post tomorrow. Today's cards are already stapled to the bulletin board.

Today's advice: It's OK to change your plans at the last minute. Sometimes you get to school, and the plan you had prepared all night just won't work for one reason or another. Don't feel bad if you have to throw something together at the last minute. If this happens too often, however, it may be time to re-evaluate your planning sessions. : ) I came to school today with one plan, and ended up modifying it when I got to school. It worked out OK. See you tomorrow.
Sam
SuccessInTheClassroom.com

More Great Advice

Hello all,

I added some more good advice for new teachers. I found these on a forum that I joined. Check it out here:

http://www.successintheclassroom.com/bestadvicefornewteachers.html

Still on my vacation, but I'll be back in the classroom next week. That month just flew by. Once I'm back in school, I'll be updating the blog more regularly.

Today's advice: Celebrate your students' birthday. It's a small thing, but it's something my kids look forward to. In my class, I start each day with a sponge activity called, "Today in American History." I have important events that happened in our history on that particular day projected on my Power point, and the students have to copy it down. I go over the events and their importance. I always check my birthday list in the morning, and if there is a student who has a birthday on that day, I add it to the important historical events. I always come up with a story about how I'll always remember that day. The earth shook. The birds sang extra loud, etc. Then I tell them how since that day the world has never been the same. (I clarify that it has been better.) Kids appreciate it. Stay tuned for my next post.

The 3X5 Card

Hello all,

I'm about four days into my vacation. Being a teacher in a year-round school, I get three months off each year, and April is one of my OFF months. Not being in the classroom, I didn't have anything to discuss in this blog, so I thought I would tell you about an experience I had recently with a student of mine. We'll call her Jackie. She's a great kid who does well, and I don't know too much about her home life, but one day she came up to me and asked me, "So Mr. Rangel, what did you get me for my birthday?" I thought quickly, and reached down on my desk and handed her a blank 3X5 index card. "Here," I said, "Happy Birthday!" I expected her to get mad or walk away, but she reached out and took it, saying "Thank you," as she walked away. Then she turned back and asked me to sign it, so I did, and she placed it in the front of her binder for all to see. That struck me as kind of odd, but I learned that even that little time I took for her was important.

The next day, I called her up to my desk and said, "I have another gift for you." I handed her another card. On the front of the card it was blank, but I had taken the time in the morning to write her a little note that read, "Jackie. You are a wonderful young lady. I know you are going to do great things in your future. I am very proud of you." I signed it.

I walked away after giving it to her, but I heard her say, "Thank you Mr. Rangel." I later saw that she had replaced the first card with the new one on the cover of her binder.

Again, I don't know what her home life is like, but if she is a lot of my students, that note card may be the only words of encouragement she hears. This is what makes teaching worthwhile. I plan on giving out more 3X5 cards.

Here's my advice for today: Assume that each student has a terrible home life and that school is the only safe place for them. Be that one positive influence in your students' lives. Assume that their poor behavior is a result of that terrible home life. That assumption will make it easier to deal with . It may not be true for most of your students, but if you assume that it is, your encouraging words and welcoming smile will make a world of difference for that one or two students for whom that terrible home life is a reality.

That's all.

Tracking Off

Hey all,
Today was Off Track Day. At my school, the teachers rotate into a new room every three months. I look forward to Off Track Day because now I go on vacation for one month. We're a year-round school (Did I not mention that before?) We work three months and take one month off. Today I gave a test. The kids are already hyped up because they're going on vacation too, so I like to plan a test on the last day to keep their "hyperness" in check.

This last week I spent taking down posters, clearing off shelves, and emptying my desk. I have to leave the room empty for the incoming teachers.

I hate rotating. I mentioned that already in a previous post, but I felt like saying it again.

The good thing is, that is the only thing I really hate about teaching. Everything else is good.

Here's my advice for this post - I actually got this from a teacher friend of mine while we were eating lunch today: If you're a new teacher, don't make the mistake of telling your kids about any of your faults - for example, my friend's son's teacher told the class that she has ADD. Kids will go home and tell their parents that, and right off the bat, your respect level drops. Give your students the impression that you are perfect - you know everything - and that they are lucky to have been enrolled in the class of such an amazing teacher. If this is your first year of teaching, don't let your kids know that. They will naturally lose a bit of respect for you. You don't have to lie. When they ask, just tell them that this is your first year at THAT particular school, then change the subject. Respect is everything in a class. Don't give your students the opportunity to lose any respect for you. It will make things easier for you. I've got a lot to say about respect, but that will have to wait for later.
That's all for today. Thanks.

Create A Game Board Activity

Well today I tried a new activity to help my students prep for the test tomorrow. What I did was divide the students into groups of 3 and 4 and told them to create a game board using the notes that they had to study for tomorrow's test. I posted the directions here.

The kid had a good time with it. Getting them started is always the toughest part of any group activity. Once they knew what to do, they were fine.

Here's my advice for the day: Always assume that there are some students who are not listening when you give your oral instructions. Always have the directions written somewhere - either on the white board or on a handout. If not, you're going to get frustrated having to repeat the instructions over and over again. In this lesson, I had the requirements for the game written on the board. When a student was confused, I just referred him/her to the board.

See you all later.

Sam

Who I Am

Hello all,
My name is Sam Rangel, and I've been a middle school teacher for about 21 years now. I've decided to create a blog to document my thoughts and hopefully offer some insight to new teachers or prospective teachers about what they can expect once they jump into their new career.

Teaching is a great profession, and I consider myself blessed to have spent so many years in the classroom. There are always those days when you wish you had a job that paid more, offered more benefits, maybe some kind of bonus that other professions offer, but when I think of the times that former students have come back and thanked me for the difference I made in their lives, it all seems worth it.

I've been a teacher at Corona Fundamental Intermediate School for the last 13 years. I teach American History to 8th graders. Every time I mention what I do to people, I always get a, "Wow!" Like I deserve a medal or something. I actually love my job. The kids sometimes can be a little tough to deal with, because they're going through that time in their lives when everything is changing. They're discovering their identity, and that causes them to act a little unpredictable. But I still love my job. To be able to help these kids in their journey through adolescence, having a little influence on their life decisions, giving them a little encouragement as they figure out just who they are make my job so rewarding. You can't put a price tag on that. I heard someone say, teachers don't make a lot of money, but they do make a difference.

Last night we had Open House. Open House is a night when we invite parents to come and walk through our classrooms to see work that we have posted. Hopefully, at least in my case, their child's work was good enough to hang on the wall. We have Open House in the evening, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. I was tired. I had stayed at school after the last bell to finish fixing up my room. I don't normally have my room decorated with a lot of student work. I used to, but at my school, we have to rotate classrooms every three months, so the less I have up, the less I have to take down. I hate rotating classrooms. I don't hate too much about my job, but I hate rotating rooms. Anyway, I had one parent tell me something that no matter how many times I've heard it, it still makes me smile. This mom told me that her son hated history until he took my class. Now he loves it. She thanked me for making her son love history. That was nice.

I want to try and give at least one word of advice in my posts to new teachers or teachers who are looking for advice from a teacher who has pretty much seen it all. You are welcome to take it or ignore it, but here's my first one:

Sam's Advice for New Teachers: When you find yourself in a confrontation with a student, he/she says one thing or wants to do something that you don't want them to do, don't back them in to a corner by trying to get your way or nothing. "My way or the highway" should never be your stance. Always give them a way to save face with their friends. Students will take the consequence regardless of how severe to save face. For example, you want the student to move to another seat. He doesn't want to move. Don't give him the choice - either move or go to the office. This will lead to more drama. Instead, give him the choice of seats. "You can sit in this front seat or you can sit in that front seat. You choose." Trust me. This will make your life easier. That's all. See you next time. - Sam