I recently stumbled upon a voice who is new to me, and I wanted to share his most recent blog post that I read this morning and was encouraged by.
Dave Stuart, Jr. is a high school teacher who seems to do quite a bit of writing about connecting with students. He has created a "Student Motivation Checklist" that I really like (and I'll put a copy of it in your mailboxes today), and he seems to focus on intentional strategies that teachers can use to help build that connection and credibility with students. But he also seems very real in his understanding and ideas. If you get a chance, you may check out the short blog post below. I love the idea he shares called "moments of genuine connection" - it's a strategy that pops up in several of his posts, and it's super basic: get a clipboard and start tracking those personal connections with students :) I hope you'll like it. I'll continue exploring his resources, and as I find helpful things, you may see some of his work around. This tends to be a pretty reflective week for lots of us. If you're in that mode and want to reflect on this semester and think about next semester -- goals you may have for your classrooms, struggles that you'd like to alleviate, or ideas you may have floating around in your mind -- I'd love to be a partner in your processing!! I'm here for YOU, and I'm so thankful for that!!
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Hi guys!
Over the last few days, I've been thinking about lots of things, but 2 topics keep coming to the surface in my mind and findings: - ways to get students' voices involved in class - ways to help students record what they're learning so they can process it and hopefully remember it (so...notetaking) I've read a few really good resources....one article was a whole list of great strategies for helping kids take notes. I've attached that whole article here if you want to check it out. It included this video about combining Cornell notes and sketchnoting....I thought it was really cool so I definitely wanted to share it at least: If you want to chat more, let's do it! Just in case you hadn't heard.....we have TWO great things going on today: Pajama Day (which we all love) AND International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
Just for fun, here's a look at some piratey vocabulary to spice up your Wednesday. And for a little teacher talk -- you've probably heard of the book by Dave Burgess called Teach Like a PIRATE that discusses 6 traits of passionate and engaging teachers: Passion, Immersion, Rapport, Asking and Analyzing, Transformation, and Enthusiasm. Linked here is a short reflective piece from a teacher who sailed into the world of Dave Burgess by challenging himself to a 30-day PIRATE challenge. One strategy that is highly suggested in the book is that of developing lesson "hooks" to get students immediately interested in the lesson, topic, or unit of study. Burgess talks about various types of hooks, and has categorized them in the following ways, including questions for each category to help teachers determine what their hook for that lesson or unit may be. For your perusal pleasure, here is a resource that has all of Burgess's hook categories and his brainstorming questions. Here are some of his categories: - The Kinesthetic Hook - The Picasso Hook - The Mozart Hook - The Craft Store Hook - The Real-World Application Hook - The Props Hook - The Mystery Bag Hook - The Storytelling Hook We're, of course, always thinking about content knowledge, and we'll always have some students who are intrinsically interested in the subjects that we're discussing. But for those students who may not be so interested, the idea of intentionally "hooking" them before diving into the learning is likely to produce gains in their content knowledge that may not happen without that initial connection. And even for those who are interested, an outside connection will help them remember the material....and it's just a fun way to start a unit :) Enjoy, matey!! Woot! Woot! For Friday of Labor Day Weekend! I just wanted to share some quick thoughts with you this morning....(cue the music).... There's lots of talk in our world of education right now about helping kids feel prepared and safe (physically, mentally, and emotionally) as they walk into our classrooms - a focus on Social-Emotional-Learning, brain research, mindfulness, stress management, balance, and the list seems to go on and on. Several of us watched a webinar on Tuesday, and two things that were said really struck me because they resonated with these same ideas: "Before the brain can attend to cognitive learning, students must feel physically safe and emotionally secure. Emotion is a strong force, and when learners experience strong negative emotions [even in the hallway on their way to class], the limbic system kicks in and shuts down cognitive processing." ...and... "A positive learning environment increases endorphins in the bloodstream which generates a positive feeling and stimulates the brain's frontal lobe to support memory of both the learning objective and the positive situation." Thinking of this reality made me think of a lot of things but especially our beginning-of-class routines -- how we help kids transition from the craziness of the hallway into our safe learning environments....the emotional piece really struck me because it's something I've been thinking about these past few years - something that seems so much more tied to the learning piece than I've probably ever thought about. I just shared with Shawn Sanders this morning how I always appreciate seeing his beginning routine -- his kids all get a chance to share what they've been up to, what they did over the weekend, or answer some question that he poses. It always feels like everyone knows each other (how hard is that to make happen sometimes!?) and that kids are ready to get into the material once it's time to. Pretty neat. AND THEN I saw this graphic this morning!! I wanted to share it with you because sometimes it's hard to think of new routines and new ideas just out of the blue. And we all have different styles and personalities. **I have the game that's mentioned in #4 -- I purchased it as part of my Ed Foundation grant, and you're welcome to use it anytime! Joe Siderewicz shared this with me this morning, and it totally fits also! Lots of things to think about -- thanks for letting me think about them with you! You guys are so awesome!! It has been so fun to hear about and see the ways you are already implementing what we learned and were reminded of at last Wednesday's training! Thank you for sharing with me :) :) In September I'll host a follow-up conversation based on our training, and those who come will have a chance to share experiences, results, hesitations, celebrations, and more. But let's keep talking before that "official" follow-up - individually, in PLCs, however! Check out the visual representation of just SOME of the things you're doing. I know there's more! If you're practicing a new strategy, please share -- with me, your department peeps, your evaluator, your colleagues, everyone. One way to share what you are doing in your classroom is by participating in our Pineapple Chart. Check out this 2-minute video to see more! This is a physical calendar outside the teacher workroom and a virtual calendar linked here that you can access for two reasons: 1. You can write on it listing strategies, practices, or activities that you're doing which other teachers may find helpful to watch. 2. You can look at it to see what your colleagues are doing and then visit their classrooms to see someone else's practice in action, possibly getting ideas for your own class. Let's start filling up our Pineapple Chart and "pineappling" around the building! Snap a pic and Tweet it using #cgpineapple to earn PGPs - once you visit 6 classrooms, you'll earn 1 PGP. The pineapples that you see posted outside some classrooms are indicators that visitors are welcome in that room. Feel free to post your pineapple anytime -- whether you've remembered to include your activity on the chart or not. If you need a new pineapple, let me know and I'll put one in your mailbox. New teachers -- you'll have one in your mailboxes soon! |
AuthorsLindsay Hardin and Kara Heichelbech are the Instructional Coaches at Center Grove High School. They use this blog to communicate, support and celebrate the amazing teachers in their building!
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