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
Friday, May 21, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
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
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
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
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
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
Monday, May 10, 2010
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
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
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
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
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
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
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
Monday, May 3, 2010
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
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
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