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Another way to present the 9 types of intelligence as exemplified by my How Do We Measure Intelligence post.

The basic idea is that different people are good at different things. These 9 probably don’t cover the wide range of smarts we all possess, but it’s a start.

As Albert Einstein said, ”Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

How to get students to actually read your syllabus

High Schools all across the nation are starting school in just a couple of days. Most teachers are required to distribute a contractual syllabus to their students outlining everything under the kitchen sink. Often, these syllabi are detailed, long, and just flat out boring to read–but it’s got to be done!

Here are some interesting classroom and discussion strategies that you can use to get students to actually read your syllabus and turn it into an enjoyable worthwhile experience:

Don’t give out your syllabus on the first day of school

Unless you’re required to give out your syllabus right away by your department or administration, just don’t do it. Every teacher should want their syllabus to be a positive and memorable experience. Distance your syllabus from the six other syllabi already in your student’s backpacks and the “oh my god please not again” experience tied to them. Giving out your syllabus a day later also saves you the trouble of having to review rules and formalities in such great detail. If the bathroom, grading, and late work policy is the same for all of your student’s core classes, they really don’t need to hear it from top to bottom twenty times. Let them use their background knowledge with their other teachers to fill in the blanks.

Instead, use the first day of class to do a community bonding experience. Get to know each other. Make your classroom the least hated classroom for as long as you can.

Give your syllabus a voice

Serious syllabi suck so give yours a voice that matches your personality. Okay, maybe you’re a serious teacher but go ahead and pop a joke into that bad boy. Live a little. It pays to make your students laugh and I’m sure that even your parents will appreciate a bit of humor as they’re signing their life away in the mountain of first week of school forms.

Hit ‘em with a game: the syllabus quiz show

To start off the game have your students independently annotate your syllabus. This gives you the opportunity to observe their current note taking skills and how much scaffolding you need to build into your later lessons. You can give them clues as to what information you might be looking for if that makes you feel more comfortable. I like to be as hands off as possible during this time though.

Next split your class into two teams. I choose to name each side after the school’s mascot and then their class mascot; however, you can also let them pick their own team name to help boost the enthusiasm and spirit.

Finally, set some rules for the game play (who can talk, when can we talk, how do we communicate our side’s answer to you, etc.). I have detailed post on my quiz show’s set up here (coming soon), but try what you think will be fun for your students. If it doesn’t work out, call it plot twist and try something new.

Make your syllabus valuable

Put the essentials on your syllabus and then put a little something extra that makes it worthwhile to keep. Some teachers offer extra credit for cutting and returning the syllabus; I don’t necessarily think that’s optimal. What I like to do is offer opportunities that require a completed syllabus (i.e., having their parent’s email and signature) to get. Then, I send out an extra credit opportunity every so often through their parents email.

BAM! Instant parental involvement. If you don’t feel comfortable giving your student’s parent the assignment, give the parent a keyword and ask them to tell their child to come in tomorrow with that keyword. You will then give them the extra credit assignment but without it (or the wrong one), nothing.

tl;dr make your syllabus a part of your classroom community building process not a legal obligation for parents or students.

#education #syllabus #community #classroom #classroommanagement

Pinterest is one of my favorite sites—I nearly cried when it became an app on Android. It’s been called many things—a virtual bookmark, an online pin board, a virtual scrap book, etc. But it’s so much more than that. It’s an archive, a source for information sharing, a way to get inspired, and a learning tool.

So how do you use this in the classroom? Below are just a few ideas, but really, the possibilities are endless!

1. Create Your Dream Classroom

What if you had an unlimited budget? Or got offered a crazy shopping spree. Create the classroom of your dreams by pinning your wishful thoughts onto one board. And who knows, maybe there might be an amazing donor on the horizon who wants to know what’s on your wish list…

2. Event Planning

The DIY/Craft Board is one of my favorites to scroll through. Here you can find out how other people are putting on amazing events with a low budget and easily adapt it to an end of the year classroom party.

3. Get Organized

Students working on a research project? Have them pin the websites they’re using to create an online bibliography. Lost your flash drive? Save the picture on Pinterest, no download required! Found a website with great lesson plans? Pin it!

4. Be Creative

Your pin board can be a new presentation method! Check out #2 on this list and see how they've arranged a historical figures presentation using just pictures and captions.

5. Talk about Your Fails

Not all Pinterest ideas work out—so let others know about it. Share what worked for your classroom and what didn’t, and most importantly, why. The tip you send out might help another eager teacher.

These ideas and many more can apply to all ages. Happy pinning :)

Further Reading:

http://www.k12reader.com/the-read-aloud-component-of-balanced-literacy-instruction/

#Literacy #During Reading #vocabulary #education

Getting students to a place where they can write their own persuasive speech is difficult, especially with ELLs. This video is part of a complete unit designed to help Middle School students become comfortable with persuasive texts.

As teachers the best way for us to learn is through resources given to us by other faculty members and even websites. The teaching channel is great way to spark new ideas for lesson plans and in-class activities.

I have provided a link to a great lesson plan provided by Emily Park-Friend who is a middle school teacher at Bruce Randolph School in Denver, CO. This particular lesson deals with interacting with complex texts and helping students’ reading skills through scaffolding. As many classrooms in America there are students who are English language learners where reading and writing skills may be a challenge for them. As teachers we want to accommodate our lessons to our students as best as we can. This lesson helps students interact with texts in a multitude of ways. Student and teacher actions are met through reading, writing, discussing, and listening.

Emily uses a strategy known as “Jig-saw” which gives students different pieces of the same text and asked to organize it chronologically as a class or as groups. I have used this strategy as a student and as a teacher and find it very helpful to obtain different perceptions of a given text. My college professor here at the University of Hawai’i, uses this strategy within his education course. As a student I am able to comprehend texts better when I am able to hear other students’ opinions and views. As a teacher I have found this very helpful because it initiates a discussion between students where I am able to grasp what my students are thinking about a given text.

From teaching channel.org's resource handout.

Background knowledge is crucial for students to be able to learn and comprehend text. Before diving into the reading, Emily gave her students a short biography of Barbra Jordan to help her students better understand the civil rights movement. I think providing background information for any given reading will greatly increase students’ comprehension and understanding of any given text.

From teaching channel.org's resource handout.

Focus Question. Emily also provided her students with a focus question before directing them to read the given text. Some students have trouble comprehending what they have read because they are not sure what to focus on. Focus questions gives students a purpose for reading and helps students define the authors argument within the text.

Why I love the Teaching Channel!

The teaching channel is a great resource for all teachers. It is free and easy to sign up and provides all types of resources including lesson plans, strategies, and helpful tips for beginner teachers. It is easily accessible with resources conveniently listed on the right hand side of each lesson video.

#lessonplan #focus question #education #teachingchannel

Weekly Post Summary (March 9-15, 2014)

This week our Pandora in the Classroom post was featured in the Education tag! Thanks for the awesome discussion in the reblog comments.

Want dare2teach to write about a technology, strategy, or something specific? Send us an ask or better yet, write the post yourself as a guest author! Anyway, here's a compilation of everything that we have written this past week:

Technology

Visual Timers →

Discussion: "A Future Classroom" →

Using QuizUp to Expand Critical Vocabulary →

Pandora in the Classroom →

Literacy:

Anticipation Guides (Pre-Reading Strategy) →

Classroom Management

Negative Attitudes →

16 Tips to Handle Discipline →

Building Relationships →

Lesson Plans

ELA.RL.2: Theme →

#roundup #education

Technology: Visual Timers in the Classroom

Cassidy writes for The Art of Education, "A timer can be one of the best investments an art teacher can make in his or her classroom."

That's true! Timers are indeed useful tools teachers can use to help students manage work time, plan effectively, and move continually towards a common learning objective. In a practical sense visual timers also teach students to be accountable for their own learning. In other words, visual timers (countdown timers displayed to students to students visually through a projector) teach students that time is valuable!

When a visual timer is ticking down and students are aware of it, they are less likely to have a chat about Ke$ha's latest music video and more likely to actually engage in meaningful learning. When timers are used correctly students do not need to be "policed" by teachers to stay on task as they begin to "police" themselves and become independently responsible learners. The visual timer in some ways simulates the presence of a hovering teacher.

Here's a link to a great collection of visual timers in various designs: http://www.online-stopwatch.com/classroom-timers/

One (or perhaps a few words) of caution about timers. Just as visual timers can function as a motivational tool to keep students on track, visual timers can also serve as a distraction for students. The way you use the visual timer technology in your classroom matters.

Rather than continuing with why timers are so beneficial, here are some challenges that came up when I used visual timers in my classroom and what I did to address these concerns:

1. Students frequently asked for more time to work when the timer went off.

My Advice: Don't give in! When using a timer it is critical to correctly estimate the time needed to complete a task. You are setting a timer for a reason and you want students to treat the time they are being given with a certain kind of authority and respect. If you are consistently giving students more time because they're not done, having the timer in the first place is pointless; students will quickly learn that they don't have to use their time wisely because you don't have a problem with giving them more. But what if students were engaged in meaningful conversations? You will need a good method to differentiate between those who are working hard and those who just don't want to move on, those who genuinely need more time to tease out their ideas and those that want to doodle pictures of cats in the margin of their paper next to their name. Chances are, if you're concerned that you've "over engaged" your students (there's no such thing), it's time to turn that flourishing small group discussion into a larger teaching moment and towards class-wide discussion. Make it clear that the time for small group work is over, but we don't have to put a stop to our learning.

2. Students started to "count down" as the timer reached 0:00 / Students became more focused on the timer than the work.

My Advice: I believe this may be linked to the novelty of the visual timer experience. The visual timer might be something new to your students. Just like a new puppy your students will want to draw some unnecessary attention to it. Consider how you can help them become adjusted to its presence in your classroom. As the timer nears the end remove it from their direct view. Switch to verbal time cues, "1 minute left," "30 seconds," "great job, pencils down and eyes on me in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." As students become comfortable with the timer reintroduce it and continue to provide verbal cues. Then, finally just have the timer. Consider also that maybe timers just don't work well in that class period. Try it for a while and if you just can't get it to work, don't force it on your students just because the theory says it should work.

Discussion: I would love to hear about your experience with visual timers in the classroom especially if you have encountered challenges of your own and how you handled them. Reblog/visit dare2teach's blog (click here) to leave an experience in our disqus comments section.

Some helpful links to visual timers:

#visual timer #classroom #education #teaching #challenges #students #learning #management #technology

DISCUSSION: Technology In Education: A Future Classroom Created by Daniel Nemroff Officially chosen for the 2014 White House Student Film Festival

While Daniel Nemroff's film depicts an ideal future forward classroom a few questions come to mind. In a reblog or through our comments feature (click here), dare2teach would like to hear what you have to say about the future forward classroom.

Is this full classroom immersion in technological innovation and intervention practical and useful for students? Alternatively, to what extent is this technological immersion overwhelming and unnecessary?

Will technology integration in the classroom create a digital divide in the quality of education between school districts, or at the national level between states? Do we treat technological innovation as a privilege or a right?

How accessible and affordable should this kind of technology be? What are the implications?

How will our teaching "objectives" and/or teaching pedagogy be affected by the technology we employ?

How will the technology affect our students after graduation? Will the technology students use in the classroom compliment their lives beyond the school yard?

#technology #education #student film festival #daniel nemroff #classroom #discussion

Anticipation Guide - Pre-Reading Strategy

What Is It

An Anticipation Guide is a strategy that is used before reading to engage interest and activate students’ prior knowledge about a new text. Before reading a selection, students respond to several statements that challenge or support their preconceived ideas about key concepts in the text. Using this strategy stimulates students’ interest in a topic and sets a purpose for reading. Anticipation guides can be revisited after reading to evaluate how well students understood the material and to correct any misconceptions.

Why Use It

Anticipation Guides are quick and easy to integrate into your lesson. By priming students for the text, they improve comprehension and critical thinking skills.Anticipation Guides engage students in the exploration of new information by challenging them to critically think about what they know or think they know about a topic. In doing so, they set a purpose to the reading, even for those students who initially may not be engaged by the topic.

How It Works

Identify key concepts in the text and write four to six general statements as closed answer questions (agree/disagree, true/false, yes/know).

Have students complete the anticipation guide before diving into the text. They may work by themselves, in pairs, or small groups. Students should be prepared to discuss and debate their reactions to the statements on the anticipation guide after they have completed it. After students have finished the guide, encourage a class discussion of students’ reactions and justifications to the statements. Have students read the text immediately after the completion and discussion of the anticipation guide. Encourage students to mark or write down where the text supports their initial reaction to statements, or causes them to rethink those reactions. After reading, have a class discussion and revisit the Anticipation Guide. Encourage students to share how they reacted to the text, given their initial responses captured in the anticipation guide. Students should share examples from the text to explain points where their initial responses were either supported or challenged.

Possible Common Core Addressed

11-12.SL.6 - 1

11-12.RI.10 - 1

11-12.RL.1

11-12.RI.1

Resources

http://www.learningpt.org/literacy/adolescent/strategies/anticipation.php

http://www.adlit.org/strategies/19712/

http://www.readingeducator.com/strategies/anticipate.htm

http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/anticipation_guide

#Literacy #Pre-Reading

Negative Attitudes in the Classroom

This approach brings focus to the negative behavior of a student and recognizes that it is a behavior which has been in practice for many years in the student’s life. We must understand that these habits may stem from influences outside of the classroom.

A way to approach this behavior in the classroom can start with acknowledging a skill that the student have worked hard to develop, and then redirecting that skill in a positive way.

For example, approaching a student that has a bad attitude in the classroom could be redirected by giving the student positive recognition of the skill. However risky this approach may seem, most students respond positively to this approach, helping to build a relationship with their teacher and recognizing the sincerity of the approach.

On a similar topic, it is also important for the teacher to have the best perceived attitude in the classroom. Students are very good at reading teachers and identifying the negatives about them. To help with this, teachers must recognize the way they present themselves to the class.

Most importantly, teachers must be careful of how they respond to their students and how they carry themselves because being a teacher means being both authoritative and respected in the classroom. Students will lost respect for their teacher if they are to respond negatively to student contributions or even classroom disruptions.

One strategy to keep in mind is to check your own teacher’s ego. As a teacher we are the authority in the classroom. That title can often take over our actions and cause us to act without logic or moral, but simply with authority. By reexamining our perception of ourselves in the classroom we can work to gain more sympathy and respect from our classroom as a whole.

Remember, these strategies, though generally effective, are dependent on each individual classroom. Get to know their students and what they respond well to and cater your teaching and these strategies to your students.

#classroommanagement #behavior #attitudes

Technology: Using QuizUp to Expand Critical Vocabulary

Vocabulary acquisition is probably not the most "fun" thing you can think of to incorporate in your lesson plan but it is absolutely necessary for our students to have a large working vocabulary to express their ideas in writing. In fact, vocabulary acquisition skills are so important it has been integrated into the new common core state standards (CCSS-Literacy).

As teachers, I encourage you to think back to when you were a university student writing your mid-term essay on multicultural education practices. You can even think back to your high school years and sitting in your Language Arts classroom writing an essay on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. If you were like me, you often found yourself sitting at the computer wishing that you knew the right word to express your frustration of not knowing the right word to express exactly how frustrated you were. Instead, you would angrily text your teaching cohorts thoughts of your dissatisfaction.

Our students are just like us. They have so many creative ideas going on in their minds and it would be a shame to have them use any "substitute" words that simply lack the luster they intended. Quizup is a fun game that you can use to help build your students (and your) vocabulary empowering them with the choice of word. (Not to mention fulfilling the CCSS).

1. Quizup functions as an interactive thesaurus Quizup is better than a traditional thesaurus because it emphasizes fun and learning engagement. Have your students choose the "education" category and then the "thesaurus" subcategory. Your students will compete directly with people (not just students) around the word looking to acquire new ways to say old things. Consider using this: As "bellwork" at the start of class. Boot up quizup on your mobile device and play a round with your students. Then to apply to usage standards, have them write a short passage reacting to the experience or responding to the prompt using one of the seven new words that was brought up during the round. This is important to help students contextualize and integrate vocabulary beyond recitation and memorization.

2. Quizup helps students feel safe. It's okay NOT to know. The words that quizup has in its thesaurus section are no walk in the park. They are often challenging. What makes this awesome is that you can see the profile pictures of people playing Quizup from around the world. You can see that they're not always students and that even adults -- people who are supposed to know the answers, don't. Consider using this: As an engagement tool and confidence booster for second language learners or students reading lower than grade-level vocabulary. Stress that it's okay not to know the answer. Stress the "game" rather than the words, and the knowledge will come to the student naturally. Writing is an intimidating process that takes time to develop.

Encourage these students to play the game at home and during their down time. Gradually they will be exposed to a larger and more complex vocabulary that they had fun building.

3. Quizup creates community. Introduce your students to Quizup during class time and invite them to download it on their own mobile devices at home. There are many more "fun" categories to choose from like "quotes from Friends," "Pokemon Trivia," and of course the all-time favorite, "Grammar." You can also encourage your students to use Game Center / Facebook / Twitter Integration and challenge each other directly making for some friendly competition and in-the-halls conversation.

The Final Run Down: Okay, so the Common Core Standards (and quite a bit of teaching pedagogy books) argue that vocabulary and grammar cannot and should not be taught out of context. In other words, you can throw vocabulary words at students but they won't know how to apply their vocabulary or grammar rules unless in tandem with a related text. We believe this to be true as well. Quizup is a fun tool that's not intended to replace critical thinking. It's a front loading activity that students can take home and continue to use. It's an exposure tool. Remember, half the battle of knowing how to use a word is knowing that the word exists in the first place--that's where quizup is useful.

Get Quizup: iPhone, iPad, Android devices. This is not a paid endorsement by quizup--we actually like this app and think it could be useful in your classroom.

Discussion: We invite you to engage in a discussion on Quizup usage or report feedback on how quizup was used in your classroom. Reblog or visit dare2teach and add a comment to this article in our discussion section.

#education #quizup #technology #teaching #quiz #trivia #fun #engagement #vocabulary

16 Tips to Handle Discipline in the Classroom

Figuring out how you are going to handle discipline in your classroom ahead of time will put you ahead of the game for when you are thrown into your first classroom. Rules are just like other instructional activities. Here are some suggested ways to implement discipline courtesy of the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC: http://www.weac.org/):

Get to know your students. Learn their names quickly and recognize his or her individual qualities.

All teachers have discipline problems. Effective teachers match their strategy to suit the problems.

Be fair, positive, and consistent. Be the kind of person young people can like and trust – firm, fair, friendly, courteous, enthusiastic, and confident. Admit your mistakes and keep your sense of humor.

Know your school discipline policies.

Let the students know you care. Determine jointly with the class what is and isn’t acceptable in terms of behavior and achievement.

Provide a list of expectations to parents and students. Make sure they are consistent with district and building policies. Limit your rules to no more than five. Post the rules in the classroom.

Begin class on time and in a businesslike manner. Have routines to follow each day as students enter and leave your room.

Don’t threaten or use sarcasm. Never use threats to enforce discipline. Never humiliate a child.

Avoid arguing with students. Discussions about classwork are invaluable, but arguments can become emotional encounters.

Be mobile. Walk around the room as students work or respond to instruction.

Minimize administrative referrals. Establishing your own classroom management will help. Ask your mentor or colleagues for help if needed.

Let each student start each day with a clean slate.

Time can’t be saved; it is only spent. Although you can’t get any more hours from a day, you can develop habits that will make you more productive.

You may have already discovered that your teaching duties demand a great deal of time. You may feel that there’s no time left to manage after you schedule all your classes and assigned activities. Gaining control begins by discovering how you currently spend your time.

Determine which tasks must be accomplished early in the day when you have the most energy so you can avoid that frantic feeling throughout the day.

Procrastination is your number one enemy. Procrastination means performing low-priority activities rather than high-priority activities. It can result in more work, more pressure, the loss of self-esteem, and health problems.

Here are some coping strategies for each of the major reasons people procrastinate and avoid handling classroom discipline issues:

When dealing with an unpleasant task decide what to do and do it first.

Set a deadline (for you or the student).

Reward yourself after completing the task.

Use positive self-talk (focus on past accomplishments that turned out well).

Break the assignment into smaller tasks and complete those tasks each day.

Dealing with indecision (fear of failure) tell yourself or the student that nothing is perfect and that in the past your best has been pretty good.

Set up a schedule and a target date for project conclusion. Make your decision on that date.

Do the one thing you fear most and you will conquer your fear.

Learn to say NO

Your challenge is to make good choices in how you cope with the countless demands on your time.

#discipline #classroommanagement #classroom #education #student #management

Building Relationships in the Classroom

According to Wolk in an article titled Hearts and Minds (2003), “Teacher-student relationships permeate the classroom, with relationships both helping and hindering learning and affecting everything from curriculum to choice of teaching methods.” Building relationships within your class can serve as a means of managing your classroom. An article by Roger and Renard (1999) states that as teachers we should embrace the diversity in the classroom and use our relationships to implement strategies such as classroom intervention, classroom bonding, constructive punishment and inclusive building activities. Keeping both of these things in mind, we can surely agree that the dynamic of our classroom is molded by the connections that exist within it and thus we strive to create the most positive of outcomes from these relationships. Consider the following tips and strategies the next time you attempt to build closer interactions in your classroom:

Smaller Learning Communities:

We can't always control the size of our classrooms but we can alter the way we use groups in our activities to build more intimate relationships. Sometimes simply spiting the class up and encouraging group work can build a stronger connection between students.The teacher's involvement with each individual group can also be strengthened in this aspect. Learning strategies can be better organized within smaller groups of students and thus the teacher has more control of direction and a broader range of strategy implementation. The teacher may also focus certain other teaching and management strategies to the individual students per group allowing for personalized lesson planning and education.

Encouraging or Requiring Outside Classroom Interaction:

For some students, a classroom may be perceived as too large too be given individual attention in. For others, the student may enter with preconceived negative opinions of the classroom topics and thus neglect involvement in class activities and lectures. In this case, individual catering and inclusive style of teaching is crucial to developing relationships among students. One way to enforce classroom involvement and individual attention is by encouraging or requiring outside classroom interaction. Even meeting with each student just once a semester provides means for the student to feel valued as a student. The student may get a direct message that he or she's success and education is important to us as a teacher.

Using Other Means of Classroom Communication:

With technology rapidly growing and our resources as teachers broadening by the day, we can now more easily incorporate technology as a means of connecting with each of our students. Students that may be more introverted or aren't as comfortable speaking allowed in class may benefit from online classroom interaction and a platform in which they may excel as a student from home. Though we would encourage in person interactions between teachers and students, technological means of connection allow for more participation opportunity and ultimately encouraged participation in the classroom itself.

Using Appropriate and Effective Comedy in Teacher Presentation:

Use of comedy is often undervalued as an effective skill to use as teachers. Though comedy is certainly not a crucial skill for a quality teacher to have, humor can help a teacher connect as well as better assess their classroom. Humor eases tension, increases classroom creativity and create an overall more comfortable environment for students to approach their teacher and participate. When attempting to use humor in the classroom, the key thing to remember is to do what comfortable. By simply incorporating modern pop culture into class work can create humor or simply using exaggerated facial expressions. Even if its not the funniest of things, the attempt to bring humor is noticed by the classroom and thus students become more comfortable with their teacher. Remember, a student can fake paying attention in class, but its much more difficult to fake laughter.

Resources:

http://www.centerii.org/handbook/Resources/9_K_Strategies_the_Build_Relationships.pdf

Wolk, S. (2003). Hearts and minds. Educational Leadership, 61(1), 14–18.

Picture References:

http://digied.si/eng/slike/echo-eng.jpg

http://www.srividyalayaolympiad.com/images/pm.jpg

http://www.thetutorwhisperer.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/420_teacher_student.jpg

http://www.argentinaindependent.com/wp-content/uploads/students-in-class-laughing.jpg

#classroommanagement #buildingrelationships #classroom

Lesson Plan -- ELA Concept : Theme (ELA.RL.2)

For this lesson plan I focused on the ELA concept of theme. During this lesson my students were in the middle of reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This lesson however could be easily switched around to work with any given literature with multiple themes. This is one of the hardest concepts to teach so I encourage you to be patient and understand that sometimes your lesson may not go as planned. Just like our students, we must learn from our mistakes. Here I have provided a detailed lesson plan with teacher as well as student actions along with strengths and refinements located at the bottom.

Lesson Plan Link: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxfQSqZLYmS9X1B0ZFpJLXNNMVk/edit

Strengths:

Having a fixed routine by providing my students with the lesson objective for the day conveniently on a PowerPoint slide, “Students will understand the meaning of theme within text of “The Book Thief” and their own life

Had students write in their Mo’olelos (journals) to gather their thoughts during the first 10 mins of class. Notice how I used the term Mo’olelo, this is to acknowledge my students’ culture and making it apart of the classroom

As my students wrote in their journals, so did I. I thought this broke down barriers between myself and the students letting them know that if they put in the effort then I will too

Used a “Think/Pair/Share” strategy in order to promote collaborative critical thinking and appropriate discussion between students

Because this was my first lesson EVER, I think my best strength was having a calm and collective attitude. If a student feels overwhelmed with my lesson plan and actions they will mentally and emotionally check out of the classroom.

Refinements:

One refinement I could make to my lesson is have my Mo’olelo prompt reflect the ELA concept that I am teaching. Instead of providing a quote from The Book Thief, I could instead ask my students to define theme in their own words and give examples of theme in their own life. I think this would be a better way to begin the lesson and introduce the concept of theme.

I should have connected my students definitions of theme to the given academic definition of theme that I had provided. During my lesson demonstration I had my students first write down their own definition of theme on the graphic organizer that I had provided for them. I then had them write down my definition of theme afterwards. However, I did not connect these two ideas together. I feel this was a big mistake on my part. Instead of really braking down the critical attributes of theme with my students, I assumed that they understood the given theme and moved on. Next time I would like to have my students circle words in the given definition of theme that I provide for them. I then would break down this definition of theme with my students. I would write these word definitions within the definition of theme on a live PowerPoint slide where students could then write these definitions on their graphic organizer as well.

With regards to my graphic organizer, I feel I could have provided more space for my students to write. I wanted to provide my students with a better way to organize their thoughts of the definition of theme. Because I disregarded the discussion of the critical attributes of theme within my lesson, I had not provided space for my students write down their thoughts on this matter. I instead had my students write on the back side of the graphic organizer or around the text boxes. I feel this is an example of some of the improvisation that may occur while teaching.

#lessonplan #education #teaching #language arts

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