Leading through Example and From Mistakes

 I have been moving towards educational leadership in my career.  Right now I consider myself a 'teacher leader,' and I am applying to administration jobs.  

In this journey, I have realized that a lot of our work as leaders in buildings stems from us leading by example.  I care deeply about students, and I had a situation last week that I learned from, so I want to share it with you.  

I teach mostly 8th grade classes.  I have a student who is perpetually tardy for my class period two.  I have worked with him one-on-one to help him prioritize getting to class on-time.  His period one class is only two doors down, so he is capable of making it!  When quarter four started, I re-set my tardy log.  And in the first week of the quarter he was tardy one time.  Then we had spring break.  Upon our return on Tuesday, he was late.  Then he was late again on Wednesday, but only by about 10 seconds, which really is better than usual.

In all of this, I felt frustration.  It is hard not to take things personally sometimes.  People are emotional beings.  Yet, my mom sometimes reminds me that we own our reactions.  In the moment, I was not doing a good job of this.  

My Mistake:

When he got to the door, it was already closed because the bell had rung.  He knocked and I opened it, but only long enough to tell him that he was tardy and to go get a pass from the tardy table.  He threw his backpack down outside the door and huffed-off.  

About five minutes later he came back to class.  But he was very frustrated.  He asked to leave because he "couldn't work in this room."  So I called the office to see if he could go sit there.  The AP said she would come get him.  But here's the thing...phone calls are not private.  The phone is not anywhere near the door, so we can't even step out to make them more private.  Meanwhile, the whole class was reading quietly.  His business was a bit public, which was like putting salt on the wound.  

So he left.  He had enough and he walked out.  

I called the office back and let them know, and continued with class.  

My Learning and Next Steps

In the few minutes that he was gone, I was thinking to myself that I was being very immature.  I was not acting like an adult who cared for my students, even though this is what I try to embody.  Part of me might have been telling myself that I was holding him to high standards, yet the reality is that him being 10 seconds late today could have been met with grace.  Grace from an adult who should be able to control emotional impulses.  

In those few minutes, I made a decision.  I would take steps to repair and restore.  I am a proponent of restorative justice in education.  I am in a book study for The Little Book of Restorative Justice in Education by Katherine Evans and Dorothy Vaandering.  On page 32, the core values of restorative justice are defined.  Respect is defined in the text as: "Respect (re: again; spect: to look) 'To look again' from the point of view of the other; to put one's self in the other's shoes and then respond" (Evans and Vaandering).  In this quick self reflection, I was looking again, and offering respect to the student. 

When the student returned, I started the conversation immediately with an apology.  I explained to the student that I could have given grace today, and I was sorry that I did not show respect earlier.  I validated his feelings.  Then we had a brief heart to heart about him prioritizing getting to class on time.  He said he would come straight to class.  We shook hands, and he came back in ready to work.  

It was such a major transformation from the beginning when he said he could not work in the room. He was welcomed, and he felt it.  

Future Expectations

One of the things that we all need to remember is that students are a work in progress.  They are not going to necessarily have the same priorities that the teachers have.  And honestly, their priorities may change day-to-day.  In this case, the student's desire to be with peers generally trumps being on time to class.  But working to maintain the dignity of students, respect them, and show mutual concern for each other will create a stronger more cohesive classroom (Restorative Justice Core Values p. 32).  Perhaps it will be the classroom that students are working to get to on time, most of the time! 

There may still be days that this student does not come directly to class.  But, there is also an opportunity for me to be his champion.  I can help by looking out for him while on hall duty, cheering for him to make it to class on time, and celebrating the victories.  

Distance Learning- A Quick and Dirty Review

Distance Learning has been underway for a couple of weeks.  I have seen each of my classes twice on Google Meet.  Here are my thoughts.

1.  The students still crave being with their friends.  They are eager to have side chats and bring back a sense of normalcy in any way they can.  This mimics hallway and lunch room conversation.  Our school is going to plan lunch bunches to create space for students to have regular social interactions with their peers.

2. The students generally are not interested in showing their faces or letting us hear their voices.  About 10% of the students present in the class that show faces and share voices.  This may become more natural as we get more into the virtual classroom.  Based on the article I read about Videoclassism by Taharee Jackson, I am being very aware of requests that I make of my students.  I personally want to see their faces, but I want them to feel safe above all. 

3. Students are willing to ask about their work!  Yay!  The work that I have been giving to students is supposed to take 1.5 to 2 hours.  I usually have three or four activities.  Last week, students asked about the assignment related to the essential questions. They needed clarification and we were able to work through the material together.  I am so glad that they feel safe in this space. 

I think that overall, given the circumstances, this is all going pretty well.  I do want to see my students.  I miss them so much.  Currently, Maryland has only cancelled school until May 15th, but with 42/50 states being closed to the end of the year, it is likely that it's coming. 

The next thing that we need to figure out is how we will honor our 8th graders.  We are planning a slide show and maybe we'll show it during a virtual ceremony. 

Until next time!

Virtual Curriculum Planning- Romeo and Juliet

Our eighth-graders are about to begin the Love and Friendship unit, but they will do it at home. This unit is anchored around Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. A classic text that is also in the public domain...this is a no-brainer, right? Wrong.

This would have been my first time teaching Romeo and Juliet, and I was looking forward to it when it was going to be taught in a classroom with my students. Now that we are learning virtually, it feels very different. It feels overwhelming (sensing a theme in my recent posts?). It feels like I won't do the text justice (because there is no way I could). So does that mean we don't attempt it?

My content partner and I have been on video planning sessions for the past few days, and we have been grappling with this decision. Here's where we landed- we will do the iconic balcony scene and a couple of sonnets. Let me tell you our thinking, and as always, you can share your thoughts!

We are pushing work out to our students on a virtual platform on Mondays at 9 a.m. We can utilize a flipped model and provide videos and readings for instruction. Then we have one Google Meet session per class each week. The Google Meets are not mandatory. Students are to be given no more than 1.5 to 2 hours of work per class. In two hours a week of at-home, independent work, we think covering a scene and some sonnets is logical. I do NOT want my eighth-graders to leave middle school without experiencing Shakespeare. However, I also do NOT want to turn my students off by requiring that they tackle too much without in-person support. Shakespeare is intimidating, and we want to create a positive first experience. We know that they will get more exposure in high school, so we are seeing this as a way to generate some excitement.

I am getting ready to plan the first lessons in a four (or five) week mini-unit. The idea is to give a bit of background information about Shakespeare, The Globe Theatre, and any other pertinent context to appreciate and understand the text and time-period. The good news is that there are lots of virtual tools available. My first exciting find is the virtual tour of The Globe. And I'm sure that is just the beginning of a long list of resources that students can utilize.

Remember, our students need to be engaged now more than ever. A great way to engage is by offering choice. Create some parameters, but then let the students go down whatever rabbit hole they find most interesting. Let them become experts and come to the virtual sessions with information to share. It will be infectious and exciting. I hope it all works out the way it looks in my head, with rainbows and unicorns! Just kidding, I'm sure there will be bumps along the way, and I plan on updating you as I continue to experience them.

Stay well and comment below!

Virtual Learning Take One

Today we started virtual learning with our students.  We posted assignments; they went onto Canvas and completed assignments.  Our model has students receiving assignments at the beginning of the week and submitting them by 10 a.m. on Fridays.  Today, within 12 hours, there were over sixty posts on multiple discussion boards.  Next week is when we start Google Meet sessions.  I will meet with each of my classes one time per week.  I can't wait to see their faces, but for now, this will have to suffice. 

Our county decided to put a hold on grading for the moment.  We will close out the third quarter and give the students opportunities to improve upon their grades from previously submitted work, but this new stuff is currently not being graded. 

The students are learning for the sake of learning.  

My job right now is to create the assignments and provide feedback to enhance the learning, but not to provide grades.  This sounds okay in theory, but I ran into a problem today.  I did some math that I failed to do earlier.  I have over 100 students.  I created two discussion boards and two assignments, and that's over 400 assignment submissions.  And my students are obviously eager for this situation, based on all the "hits" I had today to the website.  I am happy that they are ready to learn and participate, but I need to make this more manageable pronto.

So, here's the new plan.  Next week I will provide four activities, but I will only collect and review two of them.  I don't need to check on their guided notes.  I will give them the structure, but they can be responsible for completing notes on their own.  The reality is that virtual school is NOT going to look the same as a brick and mortar school.  In the school building, I would be walking around the room monitoring the students during guided notes.  That is not feasible for a virtual setting. 

Teachers, set yourselves up for success!

Right now we are in the trial and error period.  We are all figuring out what is going to work.  How will we manage the stacks of paperwork that are piling up in our inboxes?  When we see something that isn't working, how are we going to attempt to fix it?  Don't get discouraged by this unfamiliar situation.  Channel High School Musical: "We're all in this together."  Give yourself grace and learn from your mistakes.  Figure out what works and what does not.  Implement change.  And of course, don't forget to maintain your connections and relationships with your students, because that really should be the focus!

In This Weird World, Write it Down!

I read an interesting article by Anne Bromley (UVA) back on March 20th about writing things down.  In this weird world...during this pandemic...write down your thoughts, feelings, joys, and troubles. 

It struck me as such an important idea and one that I have only halfheartedly followed.  

So today I tried something, and I wanted to share it with all of you.  I wrote a letter to my future self!  I actually did this earlier this year as part of a leadership professional development.  We wrote letters to ourselves in September and then read them and reflected on them in March.  This is an extended version of that idea.  You could do this for yourself by writing a letter and sealing it for a designated period of time, or you could utilize a website to help facilitate it.  I used the website https://www.futureme.org/.  On this site, you can write a letter and have it emailed to yourself in 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, or on a specific date of your choice.  I love this activity because it allows you to write and reflect on your present life and then read it at some point in the future.  I chose to send my letter to myself on June 13th of next year, which should be around when next school year ends.  Who knows what the next year will bring in terms of how education "looks."  We are about to start virtual learning, and it is possible that virtual learning will return in some way even into the fall of 2020.  This pandemic is turning our world on its side.  

I am also writing and reflecting by using an app to journal and write my thoughts.  I like the iOS app Day One.  It syncs between my devices and pulls in my Facebook posts, too.  

I want to remember this time.  

This situation is slightly reminiscent of one of my favorite books- Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl.  She was a teenager experiencing something unique and scary.  She had to hide while growing up and living in very close quarters with seven other people.  I know that what we are experiencing is a cakewalk compared to what people all over this world have experienced, but it doesn't make our stories less important to tell.  Write it down now so that in 100 years your grandchildren will have a record of it to share with their children.  You are in charge today of the primary documents of the future.  

So go write.  Share your joys, frustrations, thoughts, feelings.  Share what school looks like.  Share how much TV you're watching or how you are getting your groceries.  

Your story matters!  

In This Weird World, Let's Focus on Relationships and Engagement

We are living in a weird world right now.  It is a world characterized by staying home and covering our faces when we have to go out for essential purposes.  It is also a world that is transitioning to online learning experiences.  My county is calling it the Continuity of Learning model.  We are utilizing Google Meet in order to connect with our students.  We are posting modules containing assignments and discussions on Canvas.  There is so much that I don't understand about this world.

So what am I doing with all of that?

I am supporting my teachers and loving on my students.  

I have been the Teacher Development Liaison since the beginning of this year.  I absolutely LOVE this position because I get to support teachers.  This position specifically works with new/non-tenured teachers, but I have a personal love of technology, so the Covid-19 closure is allowing me to work with ALL teachers!  I have had one-on-one Google Meet sessions with teachers and walked them through their technology woes.  I am helping to solve problems, and it is so much fun!  The trick is how to do this at home while I am with my two littles (2 and 4 years old!).

How are you all handling teaching with your littles?  Give me your tips and tricks.  

I am also sending my students ALL THE LOVE!  I miss them.  I miss the smiles, the laughter, the tears.  I miss the go, go, go of being in a middle school all day, every day.  When will we return to normal?  My father-in-law said something profound the other day.  He said that this is not a "new normal." That is how I am getting through each day.  We do not need to live with this reality forever.  This will never be normal.  I WILL get back to my students and my school, someday!

I have our first module ready- I am currently teaching 8th grade ELA- and we are going to focus on self-care for week-one.  This idea stemmed from the fact that the students are also dealing with this crazy reality in this moment. They need an outlet to talk about what they are experiencing.  They need a safe place to say, "Here's what I've been doing for the past three weeks, and these are the things that are working and not working about it."  Self-reflection will help all of us...especially me!  We are having them make their own memes and then brainstorm some positive "self-care" practices through collaborative discussion boards.  I have high hopes for week-one.  I know that the students are craving time together, and so am I.

Teachers, I implore you to remember this time needs to be about relationships and engagement.  Let's bring our students in as a family and give them an opportunity to re-connect in a safe space.  Show them the LOVE.

Just for fun...here's the meme I created as an example for the assignment:

On another note, my professional life may change soon.  I am interviewing to be an administrator! I will likely be an assistant principal at the middle school level.  I am owning and believing that it will occur next year.  I know that working from home and supporting teachers in these new ways will only make me a stronger administrator, when that day comes.

And until that day comes, I will continue to live in this WEIRD REALITY by supporting my teachers and loving on my students.

Gearing up for a New School Year

I am getting excited about planning for the new school year. I have had my baby (she's 10 days old and absolutely perfect!), and now I'm ready to get back to work. The way my maternity leave is going to work, I am taking off just six weeks from my daughter's DOB. This means that I am missing most of teacher work week, but I'll still be there for the first day of school. I am thankful about not losing any time with my "work kids" because this will help us build relationships and momentum. This also means that I am looking to take advantage of my evenings through August when both kids happen to be sleeping at the same time (like right now!).

The first thing that I want to plan out is week one. I love some of the things that I did last year, so I want to start getting those things organized and edited.  Here's one of the things I did--

Since one of the main areas of English class is writing, I decided to do a writing activity to begin the year and get to know my students. This activity had multiple purposes: to show me their writing skills, to help me learn their names, to help them value each other and be culturally sensitive to unique names, and to teach them a little bit about me. I printed a front/back worksheet for a name tag. This worksheet also doubled as a name tag tent. When it was folded, there was a front and a back of the name tag tent. The front had a spot for the student to write his or her name and draw three visual representations of his or her interests. The back (the part facing the student), allowed for students to write three things about themselves, two questions about the class, and one academic goal or concern.

The back of the worksheet was a space to write about their names.

 On day one, they did the name tag part of the worksheet (front and back of the name tag tent). Then I read them a children’s book about a student who had a unique name and felt it made it difficult to fit in (Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes).

 We used this to discuss the need to value one another. On day two, I modeled for students by writing my own “name” story. This helped them get to know me a little bit better. Then students wrote about their names. They got to choose to write about one of three things: 1) share why your parents picked your name 2) share history about your name or what it means or 3) write a fictional tale inspired by your name (like Chrysanthemum). This name tag tent activity, both the day one and day two parts, helped me to get to know student interests, writing capabilities, and cultural backgrounds. It opened up dialogue between students and with me and helped to build a positive class culture from the very beginning of the year.

Here's the PPT that I used on day one to introduce this to students.

Reading in the Middle Grades

As much as I love blogging, I have found over and over again that life happens and blogging is the first thing to go.  I like to use blogging as a way to reflect on my teaching and make my teaching practices better.  This is why I really should make blogging one of my priorities.

Since my last blog post, my life has changed dramatically.  I got a new job at a public school, and I'm also expecting my second baby in July.  It has been an unforgettable school-year, and with just over six weeks to go, I think I should get back to blogging!

So let's talk today about reading in the middle grades.  My current position is as a sixth grade English teacher.  This seems to be one of the hardest grades to find books for.  The problem is that the students are still interested in the books that were popular in elementary school, but they are actually ready for some more advanced reading material, if they would just take a risk.  When we take trips to the library, my students often gravitate towards graphic novels and books in the Wimpy Kid or Dork Diaries Series.  I encourage them to (or force them to) pick chapter books, and most of the time these end of being forgotten in the classroom.  When the students aren't invested, they just don't seem to read the books.  For all these reasons, and more, if you can find a GREAT book for students in the middle grades, you take note.  I want to have a long list of recommendations that students can draw from so that when they pick up a "chapter book," they keep on reading it.  With that being said, check out a book review for a middle grades book that I recently read.

I recently read The Kingdom of Oceana by Mitchell Charles.  From the first pages it was clear that this book would be full of action and adventure.  There is a strong theme of sibling rivalry which is evident through quests that the brothers take in the historic Hawaiian setting.  With such a setting, it is no surprise that the reader is drawn into the story with magic, spirit animals, and a mysterious (and cursed) tiki.   For lovers of Disney’s Moana, there are many similarities in Charles’s adventure tale.  Thankfully, his tale is more developed, with a wider range of conflicts and characters than the Disney movie that shares a similar setting.  Charles also has a writing style that I appreciate as an English teacher.  It is fluid and descriptive and ultimately enjoyable.  However, I did feel that the book was a bit of a slow read.  The book felt very authentic, which translated to a lot of unfamiliar vocabulary that personally slowed me down.  I think this would also be true for a reader who is in the middle grades. Due to the wide range of characters, you should also be wary about putting the book down for any extended period of time.  Even over a week or two, you may easily forget significant people that will come back in the end of the story.  This is a plus for the Kindle version, because you can easily search for a character’s name and find out when and where you met that person.  I feel that this book is well suited to a school-age reader, but due to the complexities that I mentioned above, they may find it a frustrating read.  If they stick with it, I think your students will find that it is well worth the time and effort.  It is an unforgettable story!  And stay tuned because it appears that Charles is also writing a sequel!  Want more information about The Kingdom of Oceana?  Check out Charles’s website- http://kingdomofoceana.com/  

*Disclaimer- I received a complementary copy of the book for my honest review. 

The First Day is Coming---- more on procedures

It is time to make some serious decisions regarding your classroom management plan.  Start the year strong with tips from Michael Linsin.

The Best Articles on Classroom Management https://t.co/gArwRpKjtu via @davestuartjr

— Brynn Allison (@literarymaven) August 2, 2016

After seeing this tweet from Brynn Allison @literarymaven, I went back to a great website that I discovered at the beginning of the summer: Smart Classroom Management.  I have spent hours reading Michael Linsin's ideas on this site.  He has very clear ways to help you learn classroom management.

My discipline system for the past couple years has been to give one warning and then to give a consequence.  Yet, through Linsin, I have gotten concrete tips for making that even better.  Here are some key take aways---

1.  Your classroom should be a fun, inviting place where students enjoy learning (and this is by far the most important point!).

2.  Your rules should be clear and to the point.  He suggests--

    I am not yet sure that these are going to be my rules, but this gives you an idea.  Previously my rules were--

In choosing my rules this year, I want to make sure that I can clearly see if the rule has been broken.  With that being said, rule number one may be the one that needs adjusting.  If a student is blatantly not trying their best, that could fall under not respecting themselves.  In many ways, I like Michael's rules better for that reason.  They are very clear.  Where I am not sure I agree is with the "Raise your hand before speaking."  I see my classroom as one where a lot of collaboration occurs, so I don't know that I want to tell them they can't talk.  Of course, the reality is that in teaching procedures to your class, you can teach them when talking is permitted (and even encouraged).  Then at "all other times" they are expected to raise their hands to speak.   

3.  Your consequences should be clear and to the point, too.  He suggests--

His site also goes into detail about how to do each of these steps, including samples.  

4.  You should be following your management plan like a referee refs a game.  No lecturing, no negativity or anger.  You are just delivering the facts.  This may be the hardest one, but it is also a VERY important point.  Students need to be given the space to self-reflect, and it will be harder for them to do that if they are harboring resentment over something that you did or said.  

5. Teach every procedure in a very detailed way.  This is another important one.  Teach your students how to come into your classroom and begin their bell-ringer.  Teach them how to get into groups or get supplies.  Teach them what it will look like when they get a warning or a time-out.  Nothing should be surprising when it comes to how your classroom runs.  Then when you follow your classroom management plan, the students will be thankful that you are consistent and stuck to the procedures that you taught them at the beginning of the year.  

All of this and so much more can be found on Michael Linsin's website.  If you are a new teacher (or any teacher, really), you should also spend hours on his site.  I have only skimmed the surface of what he has to offer.  

Happy Planning!

Writing and Rubrics

Today I want to talk more about how I teach and assess writing.  This past year, I worked on increasing the amount of writing by using a modified writers' workshop and having my students write in a writer's notebook.  Basically, this just meant that we wrote more often and we did a lot more writing activities to prepare for major pieces.  I found a lot of great ideas from this blog post by Jenna at Musings in the Middle-

This is an image from her blog that shows one page of a writer's notebook.  It is also TOTALLY worth it to watch her video, which I inserted below.  Please be clear that both of these resources, the image and video, are Jenna Smith's...not my own.



So, now that you have spent a little time with Jenna, let's get back to my classroom.  This year with my sixth graders, I made a lot of the brainstorming pages for narrative writing, including the one shown above.  This falls into the category of "list making" in the writer's notebook, and it is so helpful for the students.  I then would say something like, "Turn to your heart map and pick one topic to write about today."  We might write three different "quick-writes" from our heart maps, which we could later pull inspiration from for a longer narrative.  In this way, students get practice developing a number of ideas for the different types of writing- narrative, expository, and argumentative.

Once it is time to develop one topic for a full length essay, I have students refer to their quick writes, but I also have them do more traditional planning.  One example of this is to create an outline.  Again, I teach this step by step with an example from my own writing.  I go through the steps and then I have the students go through the steps.  I do...you do.   I model for each step of the writing process.  Just like Jenna recommends, I write in front of the students.  It is worth it to be vulnerable and show them the process.  I also share rubrics with the students throughout the process.  I teach and grade based on the six traits of writing.  I often focus on a few of the traits in the rubric.

One of my favorite essays to teach is the literary analysis.  I do this essay with my 8th graders after their summer reading book, Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry by Mildred Taylor.  I have them compare literary elements between Roll of Thunder and a supplementary text (like "Sympathy" by Paul Laurence Dunbar or "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" by Richard Wright).  Here is the rubric from that essay-

As you can see, this example of a rubric focuses more on the structure of the essay and lays out exactly what students should have in each paragraph.  

In contrast, here is a rubric for a narrative essay.  This one has three of the six traits highlighted- Ideas, Organization, and Word Choice.  I also almost always grade for conventions.  

I hope that this post helps to clarify how I teach and assess writing.  I'm also continuing to dig into Lucy Calkins's Writing Pathways which I got last year.  The rubrics are very specific and show multiple grade level expectations.  Here is a glimpse of the rubric for a sixth grade information writing assignment from that book.

Keep the conversation going by commenting below.  How do you use rubrics?  What methods do you prefer for teaching writing?  As always, happy planning!

Letters to New English Teachers Post #3-- Beginning of the Year-- Assessment

Today we will be discussing how to assess your students at the beginning of the year.  Letter number three, Beginning the Year, was split up into three sections.  Please click the following links if you missed either of the previous two posts on procedures or building relationships.

3. Assessing Students' Skills
When you think about the first week(s) of school, much of what you plan is going to fall into the first two categories above.  You will find that without spending time teaching the procedures and building relationships, more time later will be spent "putting out unnecessary fires."  However, as an English teacher, I also feel the need to bring in literature and writing during the beginning of the year.  This comes back to having balance within your class.  Most teachers will have at least 45 minutes a day with their students.  You should be able to infuse literature and writing into the previous two categories (procedures and building relationships) as a way of getting to know where your students are academically, without sacrificing anything.

One method of bringing in literature at the beginning of the year is to do read alouds.  There is something special about bringing in children's books and reading them to your middle school students.  If you have a document camera, you can easily show them the pages as you read.  You can even fashion a document camera out of an iPhone, tripod, and the AirScanner app (which I did last year).  One of my favorite read alouds is The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.  I use this as a jumping off point for discussing literary devices and elements.  It is also important to have vulnerable moments discussing the plot of stories, and The Giving Tree has a great plot for that, too.  Talking about the characters and the choices that they make allows the students to connect their lives to the story and to each other.  This helps them to feel more comfortable with the other students in the class, thus you are building relationships at the same time.

Another way to bring in literature during the beginning of the year is to have the students do a project with their summer reading book.  Each school has different summer reading requirements, but hopefully your students have read at least one book for fun over the summer.  The project that I did last year involved students working in groups to find similarities between the literary elements within their books.  The end result was four sheets of construction paper put together with string.  I wish I had taken a picture of the finished product because they turned out really great.  Here is a link to the project description and a view of the project from the assignment document.

It is also important to set the precedent for free choice reading at the beginning of the year.  One way to do this is through reading time at the beginning of class.  Students should be encouraged to bring the book they are reading for fun and then the first 10 minutes of class is designated for silent reading.  If students don't have a book they are reading, you should have articles/short stories ready to provide to them.  Then, conference with those students individually to help them find a meaningful book to start reading.  I usually had one day a week set aside for bell ringer reading, but you could increase that.  In fact, some teaching models designate as much as 15 minutes a day.  I would definitely recommend reading The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller.  She has great ideas for how to infuse a love of reading within your students through independent reading.

I also ensure that there is writing in my classroom on a daily basis.  This could be something simple such as a paragraph reflection or exit ticket; however, the beginning of the year is also the time to see your students' skills on "meatier" writing assignments.  One teacher author that has inspired me is Lucy Calkins.  In her Units of Study program, I learned about the on-demand writing assignment.  At the beginning of the year, have students write a multi-paragraph piece for each type of writing: informational, argumentative, and narrative.  This will show you (and them) what they remember from past years.  It is recommended that you do all three on-demands at the beginning of the year, but you might prefer to do each type directly prior to teaching that type of writing during the year.  This year, I invested in the book Writing Pathways by Calkins, and it provided me with a wealth of rubrics and checklists to help students on their writing journeys.  The day before the on-demand assessment, you should inform your students that they will be writing with a speech like this one-

"Think of a topic that you've studied or that you know a lot about.  Tomorrow, you will have all of class to write an informational (or all-about) text that teaches others interesting and important information and ideas about that topic.  Please keep in mind that you'll have only 40 minutes to complete this, so you'll need to plan, draft, revise, and edit in one sitting.  Write in a way that shows all that you know about information writing."

Here is a glimpse of one of the checklists from Writing Pathways.  When you purchase the book, you get the checklists within the book and you get them on a disk for your computer as well.  This is ideal for convenience.

After students write the piece, they can start looking at the checklists to see where they think they fall on the spectrum-- not yet, starting to, or yes.  Of course, you should also assess the pieces using the checklists.  Then when teaching your writing units, you can refer back to the original on-demand piece to gauge progress.  At the end of the writing units, students should do another on-demand piece to show their growth on that type of writing.

On another day, I will go into more depth about writing and rubrics to help Jamie out, as per a previous request.  Any other questions or comments regarding beginning the school year, let me know with a comment.  Happy planning!

Letters to New English Teachers Post #3-- Beginning of the Year Relationships

Today we will be focusing on building relationships with your students.  If you missed section one of letter 3 "PROCEDURES," you can find that post here.  

2.  Building Relationships
In addition to setting strong limits, teaching procedures, and having rules and consequences (see section one), you need to build rapport with your students.  Your classroom should be one that they are excited to come to, both because you have high standards for what they will be learning AND because you care about them.  The beginning of the year is your first opportunity to get to know the students, and by investing some effort from the start, they will know that you care about them.

My first recommendation is to start by writing an introduction letter to your new students.  This can be a little bit more challenging depending on how many students you have, but ideally, you will mail this letter home to the student before the start of the school year.  In this letter, tell the students a little bit about yourself and your plans for the school year.  It doesn't hurt to show the students how excited you are to start the school year with them.  Your excitement will start to build their excitement.

When the students arrive on the first day of school, you have a few important jobs.  First, make sure that you are on hall duty.  Every time there are students in the halls, you should be too.  Say hello to the students, introduce yourself, shake hands or high five the students.  You can already be getting to know your students during these informal times.  Ask about their interests or what they did over the summer.  Show them that you care!  When students begin to enter your classroom, remember from post number one that you should have clear work expectations.  They need to be put to work immediately with "bell work."  This is the trickiest part because you are juggling between getting the students who are in your room off to a productive start (while showing them that how they behave matters), and continuing to "work the hallway and build those relationships."  [I would just like to note that being over planned for the first day will help you to have the confidence necessary to be in the hall and not in your classroom.  And you can also straddle the doorway to help you "be" in both places.]

In considering first day (and week) activities, I personally put priority on teaching procedures and routines.  With that being said, I think there are always opportunities for getting to know your students.  This past year, the bell ringer on the first day of school was a drawing activity.  It included the choice for the students to draw whatever they wanted and then they were tasked with writing a little blurb explaining what they drew.  When the timer rang, we spent a little more time on the bell ringer by sharing our drawings.  This showed the students that I cared about hearing from them.   Plus, many of the drawings related to who the students are, so it was multifunctional.  Here's what it looked like.

As the first week continues, I would recommend that you continue to do little activities that have multiple functions.  Get to know the students (and help them to get to know one another) while also getting to know their skill levels and letting them have fun and express themselves.  Another quick activity that I enjoy doing in the first week of school is the signature scavenger hunt.  There are many versions of this online, but here is a small clip of my version.  

In the next section of this letter I will be talking more specifically about getting to know your students academically and setting the stage for your high work expectations.  However, if you work to get to know your students in the first days and weeks of the school year, your life (and theirs) will be much more enjoyable.  I would also recommend that you continue to get to know the students and show them that you care about them all throughout the year.  This could involve bringing movement into the classroom with a scavenger hunt or a four corners multiple choice activity.  In the four corners activity you put up signs in the four corners of the room, one for A, B, C, and D.  During this activity I like to have the students answer the questions on paper first, that way they don't just follow their friends around the room.  Then during review of the questions, you read each question and students physically go to the corner that stands for the letter choice of their answer.  It gets them moving and having fun while still doing review.  Or you could play the online game Kahoot.  This game requires students to have a device (either one per person or one per team).  There are many, many on the website that other teachers have already created.  You can easily find and edit one of those OR you can make your own (which is super easy).  This online game basically becomes an every student response system, and in my experience, works best with multiple choice questions as well.  A final tip is to incorporate music into your classroom.  This could be using music to help you teach lessons or playing classical music in the background.  MSKCPotter talks about both of those things.  She has great references in her TPT store for using video and music clips in the classroom.  Check that out here.  She also recently wrote a blog post about playing classical versions of pop songs that you can read here.  I have also had great success with this technique of background music, and I usually use the Pandora station "Classical Music Medley" for my tunes.  A final thought is that if you have a few extra minutes of class, you can play a fun song for the students.  I like to take requests (clean songs only, of course).  This is like a reward if they have worked really hard during the lesson, and we end up with a little bit of extra time, and it is a nice way to send them out.  One note of warning, though, is to make sure that you have wrapped up your lesson.  This should never replace part of your lesson.  The learning objective most definitely comes first.  

One last reference that I want to give you is on the blog Smart Classroom Management by Michael Linsin.  He wrote a post all about building rapport on the first day of school.  His main words of advice are to greet, smile, share, laugh, and promise.  Read his original post here.  

This post has a lot of ideas for things that you can start doing right now, so happy planning, and as always shout out with any questions or comments!