The Kids that Need You the Most are the Ones that Show it the Least...

I hope everyone has had a refreshing and re-energizing summer.  I started the summer off by completing my first 100-kilometer run.  After that, I spent June helping out around my school and then July was spent at Camp Mary Orton playing on the outdoor challenge ropes course with various campers and adult groups.

Also spent some time 30 feet in the air with my son. Great bonding experience!

As I have been reflecting on starting my twenty-first year of teaching, I make sure to focus on the students. We just had Meet The Teacher on Friday and since I am moving from a sixth grade classroom to a grade 7/8 classroom, I know nearly all of my students and families already.  That will be an incredibly powerful way to start the year.  I have really strong, positive relationships with nearly all of the students and families, and look forward to getting to know them even better this year.

Lots of teachers have an opinion on moving up (looping) with their students. Chalkbeat.org recently published an article linking this practice to higher test scores, especially for minority students and students with lower test scores.

Even so, I think back on teachers that I have worked with in the past that dislike this idea.  "What if you get ... THAT... student?" they ask. The difficult one. The one that is the troublemaker. The one that always tries to RUIN the class.

I've always been bothered by that thinking. No student shows up to school thinking about how to get thrown out of class.  They aren't sitting at home plotting ways to be sent to the principal or get written up for another detention.  Or if they are, there is a reason for it... And the reason isn't one you want to hear.

The first few days of school are all about relationship building.  You have to take care of the Maslow stuff before you can start the Blooms stuff.  My challenge to you is to build a positive relationship with each of your students in the first three days.  Greet them in the hallway. Tell them you are so excited that they are there today.

LEARN.THEIR.NAME.  Seriously.  My goal is to learn all of my students' names by the end of the second day. As they enter the school or classroom on the third I force myself to greet them by name. If I can't, I ask them their name or I tell them to correct me. I have them call me out if I don't use their name in class (or call them by their wrong name.) So many students will say, "it's ok," when you say the wrong name, but it isn't.

Eat lunch with them. Go out to recess with them (should you be fortunate enough to work at a school that still practices this 'archaic' ritual.) Find out two non-academic interests of theirs. Share your non-academic interests with them.  It doesn't take as long as you may think, and you'll reap the benefits in the classroom.

You are expecting them to learn so many things from you this year. You start that process by learning about them.  If you are looking for ways to do this, message me below or on twitter (@TeacherRunner42) for some ideas!

Get in the Game!

I love board and card games.  They are incredibly fun and social. They get me to think.  They give me an excuse to hang out with friends.  And, best of all, they get me off of the screens!

Board and card games also give me an opportunity to learn by playing - a part of education that seems to be frowned upon in today's world.

This year I have used games in the classroom as often as I can.  There are a few games I regularly use in my classroom. This blog will explain two of them: Settlers of Catan and Blokus.

Settlers of Catan
This game is great for math and social studies integration.  Students begin by exploring the map which represents different geographical features and resources.  I explain that the number value represents the die roll needed to produce a resource from that land.  Each land tile produces a specific resource.  Recalling their knowledge of dice and probability, they have to determine what are the best locations to settle.

During this game students are faced with many challenges that early explorers faced - acquiring resources, controlling trade routes, and finding quality places to settle.  They quickly learn that the 'best' settlement areas are quickly claimed by rivals.  If their settlements aren't productive, they need to come up with creative ways to meet their resource needs, either through diplomacy or settling less desirable areas.

Students also learn that as the game goes on, the relative value of a resource changes.    

Four students start - only one will win.

After the game students reflect on their play.  Yes, I said reflect.  As is true in any learning activity, the learning occurs in the reflection aspect of the lesson.

What resources, number values, or trade routes did they control?  How did they start and finish the game? Was there a missed opportunity or a great play by an opponent? This is a great way to tie students back into tracing settlement over periods of time, the randomness of probability in short experiments, and long term goal planning.

Blokus
The Boston Globe recently published an article about Why the US is falling behind in Math.  In it the author discusses the lack of logic curricula as a key reason.

Blokus is a chess-type game (abstract strategy - no luck, all information is given) so players constantly need to think ahead.  It develops a student's geometric and spacial reasoning - being able to see how certain pieces fit in the negative space - as well as developing logic with tactical thinking and strategies.  The students learn what pieces are most important to play early, mid, and during the end game.

Students also just take their pieces to 'fill the space' to make a perfect square or rectangle.  They all do this - I'm convinced that it is built into their DNA.

This is my favorite game to watch the learning happen. Games are relatively quick so they get to play multiple times.  Students go through specific learning stages with similar reflections after each time they play the game.  These reflections include where to play, what pieces to play early, and how to recognize and build "escape routes."

You can't stop red, you can only hope to contain her. (They didn't)

After the game has concluded, students also tally the size of each piece they have remaining and the total percent of 'bloks' they have left.  They then reflect on the board, their game play, and what strategies or lessons they have learned to improve their gameplay.

With all this reflection, students think I'm trying to build master players.  The truth is that many of these reflections tie right back into our 'regular' curriculum.  Did you use your resources wisely?  Did you take your time?  Were you thinking and planning ahead, or were you just making decisions in the moment?  How did these decisions work out for you?

I really enjoy these games because of their multiple tie backs to different learning standards, but also due to the fact there is not just "one way" to win. You can't memorize the 'answer' because there isn't one solution.  This ties back into The Globe's article - students need to think creatively, logically, and two-steps ahead to achieve victory.

There are other games I use on a regular basis in the classroom as well including Dominion, Dixit, and Ticket to Ride.  What games have you used and how have you successfully implemented them in your classroom?

Thanksgiving Leftovers Have NOTHING on This Protocol!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!  My family got to host Thanksgiving this year - the first time in quite some time - and while it was great to stay at home and skip the nine~ish hour drive to North Carolina, I did miss seeing my parents, sister, and all of my other crazy family members!  Still, we got to see some great friends, have plenty of food in the house, and I'm super charged to get back to my classroom!

This week's authentic student engagement activity is called back to back, face to face.  It involves students getting into and working in groups of two, so I figured I'd start this blog with some ways I create groups in my class.

Disclaimer: I feel one of the worst phrases uttered in a classroom is

(this may or may not have been me as a student)

In my experience this leads to management issues from groups of people you'd never want together, students feeling excluded, arguments of who asked whom first, and other emotional distresses.  To prevent this, There are a few tools I use to make partnerships a little more random.  If I'm looking to make groups quickly, I use a website called Instant Classroom.  This site allows you to have the computer generate groups, seating charts, or even pick on a student randomly.   I currently have one set up for each of my classes, and when I need groups or want to put students in the hot seat, I just project the site onto the white board and let the computer be the target of the students' ire.

Of course with any group or partner work, students have to have the classroom expectation of emotional safety.  I spend much of the beginning of the year setting up the protocols for getting into groups in both physically and emotionally safe ways.  We talk about how important it is to be a good partner and specifically how to be a good partner.  We talk about how partnerships are important and the purposes of partnerships.

Sometimes, of course, I want to avoid the randomness.  Other techniques I have used involve calling students up by birth month, the last digit of their phone number, handing students playing cards, or using clock buddies.   I've also done the popsicle stick draw, making groups as I go, editing as necessary :)

Hopefully your students are happier than these two are...

Back to Back, Face to Face

Quick summary: This activity has students discuss open ended questions.

Materials needed: None

Procedure:

1. Put students in partner groups
2. Have students stand back to back.  Be mindful of personal space.
3. Explain you will ask a question and to stay silent while you are thinking of your response.  Ask or post a question to the students.  Open ended questions work best.  These questions open up the student's curiousity about a topic.  It is also important that these questions use words that encourage thought and not competition - the goal is for students to learn from each other!

• What is the most important piece of technology in existence today?
• It is three years from today.  How is the main character's life different?
• Are teachers heroes? 

4. Have students think about the answer - give wait time as is appropriate for your class or grade.
5. Tell students that they will turn 'face to face'.  Again, remind students of personal space and to be mindful.  Give a prompt so they know who will go first randomly.  Some ways I have decided who goes first:

• Who has more siblings
• Who lives further from the school
• Who's birthday is the smallest number (the 4th is lower than the 9th)
• Who's favorite color has the most letters 
• How many Ohio State football games you've attended - most wins!

6. After the prompt is given, say 'face to face'.  Students should figure out who is first.  The first student talks for 45 seconds (again depending on the topic, age of students, and maturity.)  While this happens, the listener:

• Must look at his/her partner
• May only smile and/or nod
• May NOT speak at all until the signal is given to switch roles.  This could mean that both people are standing silently at the same time.  

7. Give the signal to switch roles.  Repeat step six.

Depending on the student's abilities, I process in multiple ways.  In any case I start by having the words "I agree", "I disagree", "I'd like to add on",  "I partially agree", and similar I-phrases on the board.  Sometimes I give the students a third round where they can talk back and forth to process.  Sometimes I have them summarize their own ideas for the class.  Sometimes I have them introduce their partner, their answer to part 5,  and have them summarize their partner's words.  In any case, I refer them back to the phrases on the board to help them formulate their response.  

Kids won't take risks if they don't feel safe

Besides getting students to think about answers, another reason I use this protocol is to help build classroom culture.  Notice what I did in step five.  I could have said "whoever is taller" or "number yourself one and two", but by adding that prompt I got students to make a small, personal connection. Emotional safety is huge in my classroom, and helping students build those relationships leads to that emotional safety.  Again, in step six I want students working on those soft skills - listening while others are talking, and being polite, even if you disagree.  I will stop the procedure if students are being obnoxious with eye contact or while nodding.  We review what listening looks and sounds like.  These soft skills are crucial for relationship building in the classroom.  As a teacher, I can't get to the higher levels of thinking and learning if students aren't willing to share their ideas, and if they think their idea will get mocked, ridiculed, or ignored by others, then they won't take the risk.  

To finish this protocol (and any partner work they do), I always have them thank each other for being a great partner.  They shake hands (or fist bump, or do one of many goofy hand shakes we've developed), and I have them say things like, "It was a pleasure to see you again", "I'll have my people call your people", or "Let's do lunch!"

Or maybe Thanksgiving dinner...