Is it time yet? What happens on day 1 in your room?

Is it ever too early to think about the first day of school?

Taken this week, last year, the afternoon shower created a spectacular rainbow followed by a matching sunset over Buena Vista Colorado.

Its never too late, or too early, to think about teaching and reaching into the future.

 Day 1

What’s important at the beginning of school?  What are your plans for the first days of school?

Below are topics and routines I addressed in the early part of every course.  These are important to establishing high expectations for the entire year.  These lessons stem from study of Wong, Whitaker, Payne, Lemov, Hattie and others.  As most things in education, they were often modified to fit individual situations. We had procedures for everything and we discussed, learned and reviewed those procedures till they became natural and the way we did things.  Students enjoyed them, although they wanted to appear reluctant at the beginning.  By the end of the year, they were all invited to attend a field trip, five hours away to the big amusement park.  Paragraphs below describe the procedures, their explanations and implementation.

“You are in those seats because I love my wife.”

This was often the very first thing I said to my classes on the first day of any school year.  It always took students by surprise but maybe it made them wonder.  I would pause, then explain their assigned seats were in alphabetical order according to the overhead projector shining on the front board placing them in that position so we could pass in papers. Instructions were to “put your own paper on top!”  This allowed them to be in order when they were passed across the room and not back to front.  Back to front methods encouraged the person in the back to get the attention of the person in front, usually with some physical contact that could escalate. Placing the growing stack of papers on the adjacent desk sorted papers somewhat alphabetically thus diminishing my time spent grading and increasing the time I could spend with my wife.

"Procedures verses Rules"

Rules are “meant to be broken” but procedures are how we do things.  For example, the speed limit sign reads 55 and this “rule”  is often disobeyed.  Few signs are required however to keep drivers to the right side of the road.  The procedure suggests safer travels will be achieved with drivers all agreeing to stay to the right.  This simple example from the road reinforces a few of the outcomes and benefits when a teacher sets up procedures.  First off, it demonstrates to the students the importance of systems, structures and plans.  Later, students will expect routines, plans or other mnemonic devises and look to the teacher to provide those. Finally, the time invested early lays ground work for instructions later, such as field trips, assemblies and those out of the ordinary days that require group instructions  and “on the fly” decision making.

Parenthetic Note:

(Framework for these concepts grew from study into Harry Wong, Todd Whitaker, Ruby Payne, Teach like a Champion, Hattie and others.  Teachers can prepare their rooms as well as their minds for the upcoming school year by reviewing of any of these inspiring summer readings!)

Has a student said, "I have to come to school!"   
     In reality "You choose to come to school, and thank you!"

This is fairly close to the actual first few days I spent setting up my classrooms.  My students were typically reluctant learners dreading school, however a favorite anecdote stems from my principal asking me if a certain student, “Johnny” was “there yesterday.”  I replied with a "Yes, but why do you ask?”  The answer was astounding.  It seems little Johnny skipped every other class that day but showed up for my class alone!  I am not sure if that is good or bad.  I do know, he was there by choice.  

S: I have to come to school.

T: You GET to come to school.

S: My mom will get "locked up for educational neglect if I don't." *

T: So you are really saying, you choose to come school instead of the alternative."

   Pregnant pause while student ponders the options.

T: Thanks for being here.  Now that you understand consequences, let's learn."

 (*Some Students just prefer to say She'll be mad if I skip!)

Define Manners:  Making others around you feel comfortable.

I like to say my wife taught me that definition.  Maybe the real truth is I never really grasped the concept but am still trying to learn how to do that?!  Maybe she was trying to tell me something?  Maybe she was trying to let me down easy?  Maybe I made her uncomfortable?  In the classroom, we talked about manners, respect and being nice.  We were not to use sarcasm, put downs and verbal jabs but instead build each other up. Even Pink Floyd called out teachers using dark sarcasm in the classroom.  There is no room for sarcasm in the classroom.  We will be taking educational risks and nobody wants to be made fun of, or thought about being made fun of for making a mistake.   

 

A post 9-11view of Ground Zero.

"Entering and leaving the room"

What’s the tallest building you were ever in?  There's a lesson in that visit.  When teaching an Elements of Algebra class, a picture of the Twin Towers was in the book for the lesson that day. We looked into our book and there was a picture of them on the page I had planned to teach from that day.  I will always remember where I was on that day.  Tall buildings have elevators that work with buttons directing us to floors 1-55,  56-80, or 81-100.  When boarding the elevator, we have to let the people on the elevator get out of the way, clear the path and make room for new riders.  If there is no room, we just wait for the next car.  Similarly, when entering a room, allow those leaving to exit first, maybe even holding the door open for them (See manners above) and allow them to exit?  Thus preventing a log jam at the door, teaching manners, procedures and making those ready to leave feel comfortable and respected.

Stool Sheet: 2 Truths and a Lie and Attention Getting Mechanisms!

We often have students complete a data card that first day, claiming we need their number in-case "the computer goes down."  Students added a few things to this data card to round out the first day.  Two truths and one lie is a good mixer allowing folks a bit of self-reflection time, showing the importance of out of the box thinking and individuality.  But it was also good for the teacher to read out loud and let the students try and guess the authors.  Other included were other items such as their favorite meal at McDs (always listed as a number) would allow me to take a break, tally their attendance, allow them to talk and regain their attention with the signal of a raised hand.  No screaming, shouting, lights flipping or ruler slapping, but the simple act of raising a hand. They would be expected to get quiet and attentive within 5 seconds, or be kept after the bell for however long it took to get quiet. And after they shared with their neighbor their favorite meal, we would return to work refocused after the brief pause.

Finally, What is your EXPECTED GRADE!
Students often make a list of their course schedule.  Here we added a twist with the EXPECTED GRADE they wanted to earn in that class.  Students were asked up front to begin to think about the outcome, even before any assignments or coursework was done. They were allowed to enter a PASS if they wanted but none were allowed to not submit a grade.  This first step in visualization publicized and made conversations about grades, progress, effort and achievement the first steps in learning.  Students began to see themselves as that type of student.  YES, THEY WERE GOING TO PASS!  That's the beginning of Positive Psycho-Cybernetics. (Thanks Dr Maxwell Maltz) 

These things sometimes seemed basic, immature or even like something students should know when they enter a room.  THEY DO NOT.  We can't progress until students do know these routines. We must discuss, rehearse and reteach over and over again to teach.  One exposure to an idea, process, routine or discipline DOES NOT always ensure it is retained.  Note:  We still have not discussed rules of the class yet.

What important foundational events or procedures take place in your first day of class?
How would you like April and May to be different?  Plan things differently in September and see what happens.

Reference Me helped me assemble this citation page.

Clark, R. (2004) Essential 55: An Award-Winning Educator’s Rules for Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child. 1st edn. New York: Hyperion

Hattie, J. A. C. (2008) Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement. London: Routledge

Kagan, S., Rodriguez, C., Kagan, M. and Taylor, B. (1992) Cooperative Learning. United States: Kagan Cooperative Learning

Lemov, D. (2012) Teach like a champion field guide: practical techniques to master the art of teaching. 1st edn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Lemov, D. and Atkins, N. (2010) Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques That Put Students on the Path to College. 1st edn. San Francisco: Wiley, John & Sons

Payne, R. K. (1998) framework for understanding poverty. Baytown, TX: RFT Pub.

Sommers, W. A. and Payne, K. (2000) Living on a Tightrope: A Survival Handbook for Principals. Highlands, TX: Aha! Process

Urban, H. (2008) Lessons from the classroom: 20 things good teachers do. Redwood City, CA: Great Lessons Press

Whitaker, T. (2003) What Great Teachers Do Differently. Tandem Library

Wong, H. K. (2004) First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher. Tandem Library

No Logo?! ?

Does this look like enough red for a Cardinal Fan?

Now, It's hard to put a number or a scale on interest on a fan's enthusiasm.  But when a real baseball fan, player, coach and manager like @TonyLaRussa chooses to omit any single logo, we must all take note!  NO LOGO!?!

No Logo
By refusing any logo, he demonstrates his esteem for each organization and the contributions from those eras but endorses them all!  The White Sox and A's and even the Cardinals orginizations all fostered the environment necessary for the building of a true champion.  The question becomes, allegiance, picking favorites and ranking.  As the consummate coach, he always thinks of others.  Even listening to him talk reminds us to "tie for first." 

Brand Awareness
Conversely, organizations promote brand awareness, and loyalty fiercely and competitively as they struggle to get a piece of the pie.  Here we see the antithesis!

Assingment
Not to take anything, but it reminds me of a lesson I struggle with still.  In a training workshop we had a breakout session in our small group.  The challenge was to tell as story, but there was a twist!  It just wasn't any story but a personal story about what happened last night.  The task was to tell the story but leave out the personal pronoun "I." 

Me, Myself and I

We not allowed to say things such as:

I went out with friends.

After dinner, I watched the game.

or

I wanted to go skating.

 

We had to determine a "work around" like:

A bunch of us went out last night and...

Did you see the game last night?

or

Does anybody want to go do something?  We could go skating.

Try it and see what it feels like.  Personally, it is still a challenge! Is there a lesson in there?  What is important about Tony chosing No Logo?  Are we ready for that?

From Leading leaders to Teaching Teachers!

From “Leaders Leading Leaders” to “Teachers Teaching Teachers:”

Monday, October 28, school officials from Lincoln County, Warren County and St Charles County assembled a team of presenters, facilitators and a keynote speaker for a day of educational professionalism!  We called it the Three County Professional Development Day (#3CoPD for twitter folks).    Three breakout sessions began the day, with presenters as teachers, administrators and professionals right from our own districts.  Lunch and a national speaker supplied entertainment as well as education during the mid-day transition.  After lunch, we organized into teams of common interest, such as math teachers, SPED professionals or counselors to collaborate to exchange positive and effective techniques from their individual areas of emphasis. Finally, an optional discussion ended the day when representatives from our independently funded and managed retirement organization spoke about the benefits, procedures and stability of our teacher retirement program.  PSRS



When nearly 700 local teachers attend, an event like this are they better equipped, motivated and ready to return to class afterwards?  When they hear from a peer, is there additional credibility?  When they hear form a peer, do they weight words differently?  What does it take to make a presenter an authority or credible?





What follows is a list of feedback from attending teachers.  When asked to list three “take-aways” or lessons from the day, here is how they responded!  These responses begin to demonstrate, however anecdotally, the benefit of collaboration.  They show that teachers can, will and do learn from each other.  It shows teachers are conscientious and do want the best for their students.  Can teachers teach teachers?  This implies we can!

The staff is responding to the following prompt:  Would you email me 3 take-aways from the day?  They could be from the morning break-out sessions, the keynote speaker and/or the round table discussions.  They might be personal for you or classroom ideas or building ideas.

 

1.)    Some useful activities to use in the classroom when I start teaching them how to write arguments
2.)    An interesting way to introduce a new concept. This was shown and demonstrated in my last session. Concept Attainment
3.)    I enjoyed the speaker during lunch. He had a lot of information that was new to me.    He pretty much kept my attention the entire time and I was anxious to hear what he had to say next.

A.       Reading the same article, but from various perspectives.   (this seems so simple, yet I have never tried this!)
B.      Layering Texts-   Reading a short story, a poem and watching a video clip about the same topic.    (I think I do this a little, but it would be or effective to do this more often)
C.      Keynote speaker-  I really liked the positive message he had for teachers.  Sometimes it is too easy to let the negative press take hold.  It was refreshing to hear that our profession is making a difference!

1. I got great emergency sub-plans for days when we are doing projects that cannot be done with a sub.
2. The keynote speaker was very positive.

3. I got more confidence that I am where I need to be in the art room.

1. I found some cool new apps that can be used in the classroom
2. I learned a new way to track physical fitness test.

3. From the round table I learned that our physical education program here at the middle school goes above and beyond what other  middle schools and some high schools in the area do.  Wright City was amazed about the fact we get every kid to "move" with such large class sizes.

I liked the format and information from the Tri County PD Summit.  For me maybe the most useful professional development I've been to.

1.        In the model drawing for algebra, he used it to solve percent problems.  The book used it as a reference, but I understand the connection more, so I will stress that more for the students to understand it.

2.       Quizlet seemed like a good resource to study, and I will work on setting it up for my students.
3.       I am much more confident about the model drawing after yesterday, so I will incorporate it for word problems.  One the students understand it, I think they will be able to solve word problems much better.

A.  I learned about some great apps/website that I can try using in my class...socrative and polleverywhere are just a couple examples.
B.  I was given a great rubric for paragraphs that I can use when I have short answer questions.  It is a quick way to grade them and make sure that all the key components are in the paragraph.
C.  One of the big things I took away from the keynote speaker was that it is the small things that we do for students that can really make a difference.  We never know when there might be something we say or do that might change the life of a student forever.
1. Keynote speaker was really uplifting and informative

2. I was given some good reading strategies for Science.
3. There are many practical apps our students can use in class for free.

A change that I will use in the next 10 days in my classroom is to implement more of the Kagan strategies into my daily classroom.  Having the students work together to come up with answers and sharing with the classroom or with a partner will help those who are struggling and well as those who are not.  It will also make those students who normally are not focused to be held accountable while reading or discussing what we read.  I would also like to bring more technology into the classroom through the use of apps which the students can use from their smartphone or other devices. 

In the future I loved the idea of a 5 subject notebook for the science classroom. Each subject would be set aside for certain things such as notes, vocabulary, bell ringers, labs etc.  I feel that this will hopefully keep the students more organized in my classroom. 

Three take-aways…

a.       Little things can make a huge impact on students.
b.      Don’t believe everything you read.
c.       Radiate the positive and NEVER trash talk in public!!!!

To make our place a better place to work:
http://johndraper.org/uploads/Successory_Nomination_1_.pdf

1)      Everything I say and do has the potential to have an impact on someone.  The stories from the keynote speaker were a good reminder of the importance of our jobs day to day, hour to hour and all of the interactions we have with students.

2)      There were several useful APPS that I will refer back to whenever needed from the APP ATTACK session.  I believe embracing technology is important to keep up with a changing world and help give the best to our students.
3)      At the roundtable with other MS PE teachers there were some helpful ideas shared on how other schools do the MS PE/Health combination

a. need differentiation up in reading

b. understand icloud
c. we have it together more than we think in the area of spec ed

My favorite breakout session was the third one I attended about using the Concept Attainment method in lessons.  I remember learning about it in college, but it was a nice refresher.  The presenter had numerous entertaining examples and non-examples for us.

I also thought the speaker was both entertaining and uplifting.  Sometimes all we hear from society around us, is how terrible we are as teachers, and it was nice to see someone recognize reality.  Studies are easily skewed. 

I also really enjoyed meeting and talking with other foreign language teachers from other districts.  I got some really great ideas from them!
 

1. argumentative - pre essay writing, audience exercise
2. vocabulary work - connecting
3. kids need to read more complex text

Some staff even presented about various topics surrounding school issues.

Standards Based Grading (SBG) addresses the understanding a student has over a various topic.  Here is the Power-point link used by our team of presenters:  SBG in the Middle School  & Artifacts to document

Summer Academy -A High School Transition Tool:  Summer Academy Presentation

Details and schools planning the event:

Warrenton R3 School District - http://www.warrencor3.org/

Winfield School District - www.winfield.k12.mo.us

Wright City School District www.wrightcity.k12.mo.us

Orchard Farm School District www.ofsd.k12.mo.us

Guest Speaker www.johndraper.org

Venue http://stcharlesconventioncenter.com/

 

Assemblers comment: Identifying authors of the above responses was considered.  Two perspectives were debated.  On one hand, the authors should be proud of their thoughts but, just because they responded, that does not imply they will incorporate every feature into their classes.

On the other hand, the staff are trusted professionals.  The intent is not to force people but work with people to grow from within.  Therefore, names were removed but clues were left.      

The best teacher is___?

THE BEST TEACHER IS___?

Before

Later 

The best teacher is the best teacher. 

Just like this view changes over time, our students change as well. 

What and how we contribute to their learning defines good teaching.*

The best way to ensure learning is to put the best teacher in the classroom as possible.  The leader of the room that is devolving leaders as not just followers, manages risk, allows failure, prevents sarcasm and inspires others to go father then they expected!

 In a master teacher’s classroom, we find students talking and interacting with each other as well as the material.  This first component of articulation and alliteration ensures the students understand the material thoroughly enough to verbally navigate through the topic, and not just provide a yes or no answer.  (Think DOK 3 or 4)

 Master teachers are not afraid of students moving, activity or even motions.  Kinesthetic learners thrive when a teacher allows them this freedom of expression. Think learning styles, auditory, verbal, written, spoken or kinesthetically.

 Scaffolding, connecting to prior knowledge and building on the familiar is another trait of the best teachers.  Building and developing these connections allows students to relate to the topic.  These teachers know about their students, their needs, wants, fears and aspirations and use each to the student’s advantage.

 The best teachers always have a positive attitude, even if they do not have a positive attitude.  The material is the most important and interesting topic, anywhere!  Regardless!  This passion to teach flows through the topic, to the students.  This positive and contagious attitude is an attribute about ourselves that we choose.  Other characteristics we are born with, but our attitude is under our control.  Think locus of control.

 Finally, the best teachers have a purpose about everything.  Thoughts, actions and activities are all intentional, deliberate and planned, even the “random” ones have an underlying objective.  Nothing is really left to chance.  The topic becomes relevant, the ideas interesting and the activities stimulating. The best teacher does a better job of helping others learn, than any other method available.  Other things teach us lessons, like experience, trial and error or even just guessing and checking?  But the best teachers ensure effective learning every time!  Take the best teacher every time.

 These thoughts, comments and notes were abridged from breakout sessions and inspired by anecdotal evidence provided while observing events and activities demonstrated by our staff at WMS.  The powerful conference provided many “take-always” and are still relevant a year later.  This author receives nothing for this endorsement.

*Effective Schools Conference, Scottsdale AZ, March 7-9, 2012

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