I'm sitting in an EL training right now, and as I'm thinking about EL strategies I learned in my credential program and other training days like these it occurs to me how well Power Teaching works for English Learners. My view on English Learner teaching strategies has always been that "differentiating" instruction for ELs more often than not doesn't mean we actually have to do something different for these students. The more I learn about SDAIE strategies and other EL teaching techniques, the more these techniques sound like good teaching practices for all students.
A great example is gestures (especially mirroring). In addition to providing context for learning new language for ELs, mirroring keeps all students engaged, allows them to think about concepts with multiple parts of their brain simultaneously. As a result of this, students can remember the material presented more effectively. This second benefit applies equally to all populations of students, so no modification has to be made especially for some. I believe this kind of thinking creates a classroom that is more equitable, and easier on the teacher to boot!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
A Light Friday
First off, after an email from Chris Biffle I decided to start calling on students that I choose rather than having them raise hands or using sticks, and it worked pretty well for the most part today. Math was rocky again, but I blame that more on poor lesson planning than any management issues. I was teaching extended form with decimals, and for some reason that concept is just really hard to teach. I'll have to keep looking for better methods.
Anyway, I wanted to end the week on a light note. Here is a top ten list of different voices I've used for Class-Yes, Oh Yeah, etc. this week:
10. Loud
9. Whisper
8. Pinocchio
7. Raising volume (like you're annoyed)
6. Lowering volume (like you're bored)
5. Robot
4. Old hag
3. Growl
2. Snake
and the number one voice (this one was Eduardo's idea):
1. The Kool-Aid OH YEAH! (remember the commercials in the eighties when he would bust through the wall? well, for some reason my third-grader does)
Have a great weekend. I'll do a reflection on the first week sometime during it.
Anyway, I wanted to end the week on a light note. Here is a top ten list of different voices I've used for Class-Yes, Oh Yeah, etc. this week:
10. Loud
9. Whisper
8. Pinocchio
7. Raising volume (like you're annoyed)
6. Lowering volume (like you're bored)
5. Robot
4. Old hag
3. Growl
2. Snake
and the number one voice (this one was Eduardo's idea):
1. The Kool-Aid OH YEAH! (remember the commercials in the eighties when he would bust through the wall? well, for some reason my third-grader does)
Have a great weekend. I'll do a reflection on the first week sometime during it.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Class Discussions
OK, Teacher Heaven moment of the day: the look on my kids faces when I explained that they get to SKIP FIVE WORDS every time they get a zinger in Superspeed 1000. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the game, this just means they have to read more words in the list (because skipping five moves them farther down), but they bought it hook line and sinker that they got to CHEAT every time they got a zinger. This game rocks.
One habit that I'm having trouble breaking is taking answers from students by having them raise their hands. It's not that I don't see the argument against this, but there are some situations where I just can't find a better solution yet. For things where any student should have the answer, like a warmup or math assignment, or repeating what was just shared with their partner, I use sticks with the students' numbers on them, and that is working fine.
However, one of my biggest strengths as a teacher is my questioning. I'm pretty good at working through something with the students and getting them to figure out the answer for themselves. The thing is, I don't really know how to do this without asking questions and taking answers from hands raised. I can't call on a random student, because these questions are difficult and intended to be so (I want them figuring it out for themselves, so they won't all have the answer right away). I'm pretty good at not just picking the smart kids, but I still can't get away from choosing a volunteer.
I'll have to keep exploring this.
Oh, by the way, math went really well today. I kept it much faster paced, using lots of Class-Yes and Teach-OK, and the students were more engaged. I was able to get through two lessons!
One habit that I'm having trouble breaking is taking answers from students by having them raise their hands. It's not that I don't see the argument against this, but there are some situations where I just can't find a better solution yet. For things where any student should have the answer, like a warmup or math assignment, or repeating what was just shared with their partner, I use sticks with the students' numbers on them, and that is working fine.
However, one of my biggest strengths as a teacher is my questioning. I'm pretty good at working through something with the students and getting them to figure out the answer for themselves. The thing is, I don't really know how to do this without asking questions and taking answers from hands raised. I can't call on a random student, because these questions are difficult and intended to be so (I want them figuring it out for themselves, so they won't all have the answer right away). I'm pretty good at not just picking the smart kids, but I still can't get away from choosing a volunteer.
I'll have to keep exploring this.
Oh, by the way, math went really well today. I kept it much faster paced, using lots of Class-Yes and Teach-OK, and the students were more engaged. I was able to get through two lessons!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Rocky Math
Today was generally another successful day. I let the kids win their scoreboard today (I rigged it against them yesterday), and they got to play Beat the Teacher for the last ten minutes or so of the day. We had a rocky time during math today though.
I was really tired before and during lunch, and this probably contributed to general grumpiness on my part during math (which is right after lunch). Power Teaching-wise, I think I could have increased the pace of the lesson a little bit to decrease the talking that was bugging me during it, and this would have been easier if I had thought the lesson through more thoroughly before teaching it. I haven't successfully used much Teach-OK during math yet, though it has been extremely successful in language arts and science.
After reflecting some, I think I just needed to use Class-Yes more often too during the lesson, rather than getting frustrated with a kid that was talking to his neighbor. The beautiful thing about Class-Yes is it takes literally a second and you don't need to target it at all, it refocuses everyone. I also find that if I do it and then still hear some talking, I just quickly do it again (maybe with a different voice), and after the second I've got everyone without having to comment at all on the fact that I didn't get everyone the first time.
On a side note, I have a great story. Several other teachers from my site (in fact all of them, though there are only seven) have adopted Power Teaching this week too. I was just chatting with one of them on Facebook who happens to have two of her children at our school, one (Adrian) in my class, and the other (Lindsay) in first grade. She says that as we speak, Lindsay and Adrian are down the hall "playing Power Teaching;" of course, first grade Lindsay is the teacher. Thanks, Lindsay, for training my student when I'm not even around!
Seriously, though, I've heard all kinds of stuff like that from kids around the school. It speaks to the real magic of Power Teaching: kids think it is a game!
I was really tired before and during lunch, and this probably contributed to general grumpiness on my part during math (which is right after lunch). Power Teaching-wise, I think I could have increased the pace of the lesson a little bit to decrease the talking that was bugging me during it, and this would have been easier if I had thought the lesson through more thoroughly before teaching it. I haven't successfully used much Teach-OK during math yet, though it has been extremely successful in language arts and science.
After reflecting some, I think I just needed to use Class-Yes more often too during the lesson, rather than getting frustrated with a kid that was talking to his neighbor. The beautiful thing about Class-Yes is it takes literally a second and you don't need to target it at all, it refocuses everyone. I also find that if I do it and then still hear some talking, I just quickly do it again (maybe with a different voice), and after the second I've got everyone without having to comment at all on the fact that I didn't get everyone the first time.
On a side note, I have a great story. Several other teachers from my site (in fact all of them, though there are only seven) have adopted Power Teaching this week too. I was just chatting with one of them on Facebook who happens to have two of her children at our school, one (Adrian) in my class, and the other (Lindsay) in first grade. She says that as we speak, Lindsay and Adrian are down the hall "playing Power Teaching;" of course, first grade Lindsay is the teacher. Thanks, Lindsay, for training my student when I'm not even around!
Seriously, though, I've heard all kinds of stuff like that from kids around the school. It speaks to the real magic of Power Teaching: kids think it is a game!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Day One
My first day with power teaching was awesome! I stayed on the strategies, kicked a few old bad habits (like repeating myself), and my kids had fun. Teach-OK was a little rough at the beginning, but we reviewed the expectations, and by the end of the day almost all the students were doing well with it. I even did a few gesture mirroring exercises, which I hadn't intended to attempt at first.
Looking back at the plan I made, I actually did everything from Tuesday and Wednesday, and I didn't feel overwhelmed or like I was overwhelming the kids at all. It all was actually pretty easy. I found teaching from the board came pretty easily, and the times that I was still in the back by the computer/document camera I was able to keep up the power teaching just fine (though I was always losing my stupid white board marker; "It's Cool").
My biggest challenge in this class is a student named Eduardo (not really, I'm not using real student names in the blog of course). Eduardo had been home-schooled for a few years before joining my class this year, and has great difficulty following routines and listening to directions. He still had many issues today (he held up the speed of most of the routines, and had to be reminded individually of what to do sometimes, though I tried to avoid this; the kids reminded him pretty well), but I'm pretty sure I saw some improvements. I have high hopes for him. He's very smart, and not at all rude or disrespectful, just difficult to keep focused on class activities.
Looking back at the plan I made, I actually did everything from Tuesday and Wednesday, and I didn't feel overwhelmed or like I was overwhelming the kids at all. It all was actually pretty easy. I found teaching from the board came pretty easily, and the times that I was still in the back by the computer/document camera I was able to keep up the power teaching just fine (though I was always losing my stupid white board marker; "It's Cool").
My biggest challenge in this class is a student named Eduardo (not really, I'm not using real student names in the blog of course). Eduardo had been home-schooled for a few years before joining my class this year, and has great difficulty following routines and listening to directions. He still had many issues today (he held up the speed of most of the routines, and had to be reminded individually of what to do sometimes, though I tried to avoid this; the kids reminded him pretty well), but I'm pretty sure I saw some improvements. I have high hopes for him. He's very smart, and not at all rude or disrespectful, just difficult to keep focused on class activities.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Anticipated Difficulties
1. I teach from a document camera and LCD projector a lot, and my room is currently set up so that I sit or stand in the back of the room a lot of the time. I don't want to put the scoreboard in the back (kids need to be able to see it), but I also need to be able to get to it very frequently for it to work. I'm thinking I will reorganize the classroom so that I can get to the board more easily, and change my habits some so that I am in the front of the room more often.
2. I'm worried that I will have difficulty remembering to use the strategies. I got a dog recently, and learned a lot about dog training. In dog training, you realize quickly that you aren't really training the dog, but rather training yourself. I think this will be similar, and I'm trying to look at it that way.
3. I like the idea of "rigging" the scoreboard so that there is never more difference than three points, but I will probably find this hard. I'm not used to thinking about giving points this way. Currently, I use table points, and give them as they are deserved, not as I want to give them.
2. I'm worried that I will have difficulty remembering to use the strategies. I got a dog recently, and learned a lot about dog training. In dog training, you realize quickly that you aren't really training the dog, but rather training yourself. I think this will be similar, and I'm trying to look at it that way.
3. I like the idea of "rigging" the scoreboard so that there is never more difference than three points, but I will probably find this hard. I'm not used to thinking about giving points this way. Currently, I use table points, and give them as they are deserved, not as I want to give them.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
The Plan
Here is a rough idea of when and how I plan to implement Power Teaching during my first week. I'm not including explanations of what all the jargon means, as I don't want to be redundant. I've put links on the sidebar that describe Power Teaching in detail.
Monday (no students): Print signs, reorganize room.
Tuesday: Change seats, intro Power Teaching (I'm selling it as a more advanced behavior system that I think they are ready for and that will prepare them for fourth grade), teach Class-Yes, Rules, Teach-OK, Scoreboard (I will do one scoreboard for the day to begin with, and the prize will start out as Beat the Teacher, a math game that the kids already know and like). Start using Teach-OK during academics, such as introducing weekly vocab words. Try to work It's Cool (I'm bound to screw up plenty of times) and Hands and Eyes.
Wednesday: Review all content form Tuesday, intro several routines (papers, line, desks, seats), tell them their numbers (1, 2), and teach them Switch. Teach It's Cool and Hands and Eyes if I didn't have time the day before.
Thursday: Review, intro Superspeed 1000.
Friday: Review.
Monday (no students): Print signs, reorganize room.
Tuesday: Change seats, intro Power Teaching (I'm selling it as a more advanced behavior system that I think they are ready for and that will prepare them for fourth grade), teach Class-Yes, Rules, Teach-OK, Scoreboard (I will do one scoreboard for the day to begin with, and the prize will start out as Beat the Teacher, a math game that the kids already know and like). Start using Teach-OK during academics, such as introducing weekly vocab words. Try to work It's Cool (I'm bound to screw up plenty of times) and Hands and Eyes.
Wednesday: Review all content form Tuesday, intro several routines (papers, line, desks, seats), tell them their numbers (1, 2), and teach them Switch. Teach It's Cool and Hands and Eyes if I didn't have time the day before.
Thursday: Review, intro Superspeed 1000.
Friday: Review.
My First Power Teaching Conference
I've drunk the Kool-Aid.
Today I attended a short (3 hour) Power Teaching conference at Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa, CA with four of my colleagues. I'm a third-grade teacher at a small charter school in San Bernardino, CA. I haven't had a lot of difficulty with my class this year (certainly not compared to last year), but I was inspired by what I saw today. I'm going to start using some Power Teaching strategies and games in my class next week, and am really excited about it.
If you haven't heard of it, Power Teaching consists of a suite of classroom management strategies and educational games designed to create fast-paced, engaging, and of course educational classroom environments for students of any age. What I am so impressed with is the robustness of the approach. It starts with a basic management plan that is easy to wrap your head around, and then adds more and more "levels" as time progresses and as challenging students present themselves.
If you want to learn more about the specifics, the website gives just about anything you would ever want to know about Power Teaching. The folks that run the program don't consider themselves a business, and don't charge anything for use of the website or for attending the trainings, so it's not just like a taste; everything is there.
At any rate, as I said I've swallowed the Kool-Aid and intend to implement a lot of these strategies next week. I thought it might be a good idea to blog about it. There are case studies and testimonials available, but I didn't see any accounts of teachers recording their experience as they go, so I thought this might help others, in addition to giving me an outlet to reflect.
My first step is going to be to make a plan for when to implement which pieces, and what order and how often I will explain them to my students. I'll be working on that tomorrow, so hopefully that will be a post up then.
Should any experienced Power Teachers stumble upon this blog, I would welcome any suggestions you have; likewise any teachers thinking about Power Teaching themselves can ask me any questions about how things work out for me that I don't answer in my entries. Please comment! That is the blogger's lifeblood.
Today I attended a short (3 hour) Power Teaching conference at Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa, CA with four of my colleagues. I'm a third-grade teacher at a small charter school in San Bernardino, CA. I haven't had a lot of difficulty with my class this year (certainly not compared to last year), but I was inspired by what I saw today. I'm going to start using some Power Teaching strategies and games in my class next week, and am really excited about it.
If you haven't heard of it, Power Teaching consists of a suite of classroom management strategies and educational games designed to create fast-paced, engaging, and of course educational classroom environments for students of any age. What I am so impressed with is the robustness of the approach. It starts with a basic management plan that is easy to wrap your head around, and then adds more and more "levels" as time progresses and as challenging students present themselves.
If you want to learn more about the specifics, the website gives just about anything you would ever want to know about Power Teaching. The folks that run the program don't consider themselves a business, and don't charge anything for use of the website or for attending the trainings, so it's not just like a taste; everything is there.
At any rate, as I said I've swallowed the Kool-Aid and intend to implement a lot of these strategies next week. I thought it might be a good idea to blog about it. There are case studies and testimonials available, but I didn't see any accounts of teachers recording their experience as they go, so I thought this might help others, in addition to giving me an outlet to reflect.
My first step is going to be to make a plan for when to implement which pieces, and what order and how often I will explain them to my students. I'll be working on that tomorrow, so hopefully that will be a post up then.
Should any experienced Power Teachers stumble upon this blog, I would welcome any suggestions you have; likewise any teachers thinking about Power Teaching themselves can ask me any questions about how things work out for me that I don't answer in my entries. Please comment! That is the blogger's lifeblood.
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