Three wonderful teachers shared their strategies for getting to know their students, and all three are worthy contest winners. I hope you will enjoy reading what they do to develop a stronger understanding of who their students are as individuals. I am, as always, amazed by the brilliance and dedication of our teachers.

Tracey Moore

It is hard to get to know my students by teaching them math. I’ve always admired english teachers because they get to know their students through their writings.

The first day of class I give out a student information sheet. On the first page is all of the normal information…parent’s names, schedule, phone numbers, etc. On the back, however, I ask questions like:

What would you do if you were given a million dollars?
Who is someone you admire and why?
What do you think are the characteristics of a good teacher…a bad teacher?
Do you consider math to be something you are good at or a difficulty?

That night, my husband and I go through all of the sheets. We learn which of my students come from single parent homes (this year I have 5 students total that live with both mom and dad!). I learn who is self centered and who is giving (from their answer to the $1,000,000 question). I learn who is already defeated by math before they walk in the door Keep reading »

One role of an instructional coach is to help teachers reflect on how they deliver instruction and how students receive it. Such reflection can be facilitated in several ways, the most telling of which is data–data about student behavior, questioning techniques, student engagement, teacher movement.
Consider inviting me to your classroom to gather data and reflect with you. Here are a few ideas:

• High-level Questioning: What questions are you asking your students? Where do they fall on Marzano’s taxonomy?
• Reinforcement ratios: How are you reinforcing student effort and performance? To what extent is your feedback positive or negative? Keep reading »

I ended my last blog with observations about some of the collaboration that occurs between our biology teachers. Before Spring Break our Spanish teachers (Luisa Haynes, Ashley Watson, and Sara Dunham) allowed me the pleasure of observing collaboration in their department.

They learned together.
My involvement began with an hour-long training CPS training session the entire department, including Walt Spencer and Mike Lupo, scheduled with me. This training led to some consensus on the usefulness of the device and to an agreement about building a database of review questions using Exam View software.

They planned together.
On our recent work day, the three Spanish teachers spent several hours tackling a common problem. Keep reading »

Flinchicus jaundicus

The first thing I did after I put my two-year-old son to bed a couple weeks ago was draw an alien. I had been waiting to start my drawing since observing Jed Smith’s alien DNA activity earlier that day. For me, drawing the alien was everything. I’m guessing it was for many of his students as well.

Before beginning this cooperative activity with his students, Smith taught them the process for transcribing DNA (a series of A’s, G’s, C’s and T’s) into mRNA (a series of A’s, G’s, C’s and U’s), and translating mRNA into proteins. These proteins are determined by a sequence of amino acids, which in turn tell something about the genetic trait. In this case, the genetic traits included alien features—2 antennae or 4, 4 eyes or 8, blue skin or yellow.

Why It Worked
The process itself is easy to follow. It’s also one of those processes that is easy to forget a few minutes later. That’s why, for me, the alien was going to be everything: Keep reading »

Rebecca Price. Congratulations Rebecca!

Thanks to everyone for the amazing contest submissions. Check out the brilliance…

Rebecca Price
I wanted my students to understand the concept of how temperature of a solvent and surface area of a solute affect the dissolving rate in a solution. So, on Thursday I gave my students a list of materials that they would have access to during their lab activity. Then I gave them two objectives: 1) Find the relationship between temperature of a solvent and the dissolving rate of a solvent in solution. Keep reading »

I will never pretend that technology can do what we do. Teaching is best left to teachers. But learning? That belongs to students. Study Island, although it cannot teach a student on its own, can help students learn the skills and knowledge we teach. In my conversations with teachers about online tools like Study Island, I have encountered two strategies that seem particularly effective.

The Kujawski Plan
Geometry teacher Zina Kujawski—in every way a mathematical thinker—has such an elaborate Study Island plan for her students that it deserves a name: The Kujawski Plan. Here’s what she does: Keep reading »

Check out what’s going on at Rose High. The following paragraphs are teachers’ responses to the question: what was your best teaching experience today? They were accumulated over only a few hours.

My first period class (I’m sooooooooo proud of them) have learned how to love and affirm a particular student in the class and, as a result, have developed a higher level of tolerance and understanding for one another…. (I believe, too, that it’s part of because of how I treat the particular student)… D— has become very dear to our hearts…. his theatre nickname is “D-fresh”….  and; when he comes in the room the entire class heartily greats him (he comes in a little late each day, and we’ve usually started)… they cheer, call his name and applaud…. You should SEE his face light up!!!!!  It’s awesome!!!!!   And it has really helped his self-esteem and his willingness and ability to participate!!!!!  What more can we ask for?  Everybody wins!!! Keep reading »

90%
Ninety percent is a solid B if you’re a student, but if you are a teacher in Pitt County School, 90% is A+ territory.

Last year the county began training all teachers in Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol. Within the SIOP initiative, they identified two particular goals: SIOP objectives (content and language objectives) in every classroom and 90% student engagement.

What it’s not
Ninety percent student engagement might be difficult to define, so let’s start with an antonym. Keep reading »

 

Ukraine\’s Got Talent 2009

Yesterday I watched this amazing You Tube video of the winning performance on Ukraine’s Got Talent 2009—that’s right, Ukraine—and immediately thought of art teachers Steve Donald, Mary Tucker, and Randall Leach. I wondered how our art teachers might use the video with their students; however, the video IS on You Tube and, therefore, NOT accessible at school. Of course, if you are at school and clicked the link above, you already know that. Not only could they not show the video to their students, but I couldn’t even show it to them without sending them a link to watch at home. No fun.

The same has probably happened to many of you. You find some cute, clever, inspiring video to introduce a concept or add humor to your instruction, and, what do you know, you have no ability to show it to your students. Proxy programs get blocked. You Tube has no download feature. You’ve got nothing. Keep reading »

The study referenced in this article indicates that binge drinking–and not even the scary binge drinking in which some of our students engage–hinders normal neural development in teens.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122765890

No wonder Alg. II is so hard!