Mind Over Math

Mind Over Math

Each morning my classroom starts the day with math exercises. Over the years I have developed a way to deliver broad range activities that cover what I consider to be practical math applications. Time, money, weight and calendar questions are covered on a daily basis. The way the lessons are constructed leaves room for adapting and modifying for different learning modalities and ability levels. The materials needed are minimal and easily gathered. The instruction delivery is a combination of teacher-led, whole class participation, partner or table group work and individual application. And the whole program is portable, too!

As the students enter the classroom, they are issued a template for their first daily math work. Cues for their lessons are displayed (either on a smart/interactive board, white board or a paper display board. The first order of the day is to write their name and the date. The date needs to be noted two ways (e.g. November 3, 2013, 11/03/13).There is a large posted calendar for reference. Next, the time is filled in, first by illustrating a blank clock face, then noting the analog and digital form. As the students work individually and silently, I move through the room and issue small amounts of plastic coins (available online or at teacher supply stores). The students then sort and name the coins (how many pennies, dimes, etc.) and get a coin total. Then they add the value of the coins and note that total two ways (65 cents, or .65 for example).

All this is done independently and without talking. It should take only 5 to 10 minutes. All students can accomplish these tasks with practice, and I can modify the lesson by handing out smaller or greater amounts of coins, according to student ability. When most of the class is nearing completion of these initial activities, I go to the front of the room and welcome the class. I ask for the date, and write it on the board. I ask for the time, and write what the majority agreed was the beginning time. This is an opportunity for students to ‘self-correct’ what they have on their templates. I then write out two word problems, reading out loud as I go. The first will have to do with time or date, such as: What time was it one hour and ten minutes ago? Or: What will the date be in five days? The next will have to do with money, such as, “I you were given two more dimes, how much money would you have? I give the class a few minutes to answer the word problems and complete their beginning activities.

On display I have a skip count ‘rule’ posted (odd numbers starting with 33, for instance) and the next step on the template is to fill in the count on a number line. This is a good last step activity for students who are quick to solve the time/money word problems. For students who are taking longer, they will be given opportunities later in the day to complete their number counting line.

The initial exercises are set aside after 15 or 20 minutes, and we move into table or team activities. The quiet and methodical activities of daily math seem to set a positive tone at the day’s outset. Often I will play classical music during this morning math work.  The students get right to the tasks at hand, and I have time to take roll.

http://www.math-aids.com/

Pumpkin Pi

Math with Produce!

Fall is a fun time to do some hands on math activities. If you are fortunate enough to work close to a farm or produce stand and you can wrangle a field trip - great! Students can choose their own pumkins for math activities. Here's where you can find some ideas:

http://themes.atozteacherstuff.com/230/pumpkins-lesson-plans-activities-printables-and-teaching-ideas/
http://teachingheart.net/apumpkinunit.html
http://math.about.com/od/themeworksheets/ss/pumpkin.htm

There's even homework assignments for pumpkins! http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/math/activities/first-second-grade/pumpkin-math/

Funny Farms

Fall Field Trips!

Go to a farm. Buy pumpkins. Look up pumpkin math activities (http://mathwire.com/themes/themepumpkin.html) or art activities http://www.theimaginationtree.com/2012/10/pumpkin-activities-for-kids-from-its.html
or everything activities http://urbanext.illinois.edu/pumpkins/education.cfm.
Students don't need spending money on a farm, or nice clothes, or good 'sit-still' skills. They can walk and rund run and touch stuff. They can see where food comes from. They can get a little bit dirty and a lot happy. There's always a way to make a farm field trip fit into the standards, so you can relax :)

If you can't get to a farm, make one. Straw bales cost about $6.00. Stores might donate funny looking squash and gourds to your cause. Have the students run around outside picking up leaves. Create a fall backdrop for seasonal lessons. So many students are hungry for nature, for hands on learning, for lessons hidden in play. Let the kids be kids for even 15 minutes a day. I promise the class will run more smoothly with the inclusion of some organic materials in the curriculum! Happy Fall!!

Perspective

Fall is a great time to incorporate art into the curriculum. One activity I introduce in the fall is still life drawing. As a class we collect an assortment of leaves, branches, seeds and seasonal veggies. These I arrange on a high table or stool in the center of the room. I then issue paper and pens or pencils to the class and instruct them to draw what they see from where they are seated. (I think pens are better than pencils for this, because kids will spend too much time erasing otherwise.) They must fill up the WHOLE PAGE with their drawing. (So many students are ingrained to respect borders on paper - it cramps their style!)  When the sketches are done we all compare pictures and talk about the way we all see EVERYTHING from our own perspective. Same still life - different views.

Online

Most of the schools I have taught at in the last decade have computer labs that enable the whole class to be online at the same time. My students REALLY look forward to computer time; it's the highlight of the week! I allow the kids time to just play. They know great sites for games, such as Fun Brain, Math Games, Yahoo Kids, Safe Kid Games and Club Penguin. There are dozens more. I of course monitor the students to make sure they don't stray into inappropriate territory, but I try to interfere little with their gaming, as it engages, entertains and relaxes them.

In order to play (there's always a catch, right?) they must accomplish some tasks first. At the beginning of the year simply signing on is difficult for a number of my learning disabled students. Once that can be done with ease I give keyboarding challenges to each individual student. For some it might be to type their name and phone number into a word document. For others it might be name, number and address. For more advanced, name number, address and description of their housing. Spelling practice, for words and sentences, is great practice. Later in the year there are research projects centered on the science fair, book reports, personal naratives and fictional writing assignments that are modified for each students learning abilities.

If there is no lab, students can rotate time at the comuters in class. I always have each child do the 'hard' work first (for no more than 15 minutes) and then they get to play. If the children know the parameters of their assignments ahead of Computer Class and feel prepared, there isn't much sulking or balking. The class dynamic helps those who may be struggling, as do mentor students (great activity for Big Buddy class helpers!).

Stretch It.

Dogs bite.

Birds sing.

We write.

These are complete two word sentences, with subjects and predicates. In order to help my students develop their writing skills, I present the class with a sample two, three or four word sentence, and then challenge them to add on descriptors to make the sentence more interesting.

Some dogs bite a lot.

Birds sing pretty songs in the morning.

We write longer and longer sentences in class and add adverbs and adjectives in order to develop an interesting mental picture with our words for our readers.

This model has served me well. It is like a game, and has been well received by various age and ability groups. I can construct a list of choices (such as articles and pronouns) to jump start the writing. Or the class might brainstorm verbs together - even acting them out before writing them on the board. We might draw pictures of places or events in order to lead the descriptive writing. Students can work individually, and using a Thesaurus can help. Pairing students or allowing table groups to work on sentences together is fun. There are numbers of ways to build on this writing task so that it is accessible to all and refreshing each time we tackle the Sentence Stretch Challenge.

This works.

Try it.

Holi-Daze

Holidays. A loaded word.

I have worked on campuses that do celebrate holidays and campuses that don't celebrate holidays. I have put Christmas trees in the classroom, held Easter Egg hunts on the playground, and directed Thanksgiving plays on the auditorium stage - all bound to traditional Christian beliefs. Then again, I have participated in harvest celebrations and run booths for spring flings and decorated for winter festivals that were non-secular and strictly seasonal get-togethers for the school.

I have to say the latter works better for me and my personal beliefs. I enjoy hosting and participating in events that encourage families to meet on campus for the pure purpose of meeting and mingling. There is no emphasis on gifts, religions, belief systems or past practices. Just kids and their parents and families, coming to classrooms, enjoying the students' class projects or art work, maybe some music, and the staff's cooking. Kids still are involved in decorating, baking or dressing up, but there's less chance of offending or alienating families. Having worked my entire career at schools that served a low-income population, I feel it is less stress on the families. And less stress for me, if truth be told. There, I said it. Holidays are too hard to coordinate into curriculum, and teaching is my main focus - way above the bunnies and the skeletons. You may call me 'Ms. Scrooge'.

Scrappy Stuff

Collages are a great and inexpensive way to help students communicate and express their thoughts. I use collage projects across the board of subjects -  for math, science, social studies and language lessons. Materials are accessible and cheap, skill sets required are minimal, and results are tangible and creative.

Recent projects in my class include collages of domesticated vs. wild animals and arid vs. riparian land for science lessons, and historic vs. present state images for social studies. Students also create collages for non-fiction book reports. Last year for a math project the students made collages of a favorite meal, then accessed newspaper ads to price the meals and set a budget, before going to the neighborhood grocery store to 'shop' the meal on  field trip.

Collages are a great way for students who struggle with writing to express themselves. My students make a collage of their inner-life at the beginning of the year, cutting out pictures of what they deem as important goals and values. They can share this as a means of getting to know one another.

For many of my students collages offer an opportunity to interpret and analyze lessons while they hone fine motor skills in the process of selecting and cutting out pictures. I provide a diverse selection of magazines from local public libraries, which range in price from a quarter to FREE! I set time limits, because the class can get so engrossed going through the magazines HOURS can pass! When the pictures are chosen, trimmed, glued on construction paper and labeled, great class discussions can follow, further helping the class synthetize and evaluate their work.

First Day Jitters

First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg is a delightful children's book. I start out each school year with this read-aloud story, no matter what grade I teach. It reminds students of all ages that they are NOT the only one to be nervous about starting school. Whether it's a new class or a whole new school, EVERYONE is likely to feel fear, dread, trepidation - and to get a case of the 'jitters'.

My dad had reoccurring nightmares, even into his 70's, about arriving on campus confused as to where his classes were, stumped by locker combos, and hopelessly underdressed (as in no pants!). To the best of my knowledge these were real memories (with the exception of sans-pants) replayed over and over again due to their intense nature. Horrid to think we can be so scarred by something as common place as 'School: Day One'. But there you have it. I imagine that all of us have similar recollections of stresses and struggles assimilating to a new campus, teacher, grade or classroom.

How to alleviate such nerve-wracking emotions at the beginning of the year has been a goal of mine since I began teaching. When I read Julie Danneberg's story to the class they are reminded that even teachers are nervous on the first day. It's a natural feeling, and it can be quickly calmed.

I meet the kids at the bus drop off on Day One. I put a big sign around my neck with my name on it. I go to the cafeteria, too, and hang out while they eat and mingle. I take everyone on a tour of the campus that morning, and we play a scavenger hunt game in the class to familiarize ourselves with the lay-out. We do a myriad of ice-breakers. Also, as soon as possible during the first week, we meet with our 'Little Buddy' class, so my intermediate aged students become mentors to early ed. students. Nothing seems to bring more empowerment to the 4th - 6th graders than being a Big Buddy to a little first grade student. My students help the younger kids at lunch and recess. They love being responsible and respected!

My goal on Day One is to have each child be able to report back to parents, when asked "How was school today, this quote:  "Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.”  Dr. Suess

Make 'em Laugh!

I love humor. I enjoy silliness. I need laughter - especially at work. I know teaching is serious business. But geez, it helps me AND the students to employ some fun throughout the day!

Things that are fun and funny in my classroom include: Groucho glasses w/ moustaches, red clown noses, tiaras and crowns, Sponge Bob cartoons, you tube animal videos, Garfield and Peanuts comics, Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants books, games (Twister is a favorite), hula hoops, squeaky pet toys, whistles, magic wands, and dance music. I try to tap into these supplies on a daily basis. It relieves pressure, re-energizes spirit and lifts moods.

Some of the best times to interject humor are during the stress times. Testing is tough for any student, and in special ed., even tougher. It helps to ease the classroom climate when the children can take a stretch break, grab a comic book, crash on some pillows, snack and giggle. Everybody feels better. I find this prevents many outbursts and melt-downs during standardized testing weeks.

Food For Thought

Many of the students I teach are transported to school. They take the 'short bus', which is a term for special education busing. A majority live far from the school that provides services, as many neighborhood school don't have special education teachers, speech therapists, O.T.s or school psychologists on site. The routes can take considerable time, and might necessitate a child to be picked up quite early in the morning. If school starts at 8 a.m., a student might have to leave home by 6:30 a.m. in order to attend. This means there are some mighty hungry kids at my door when the bell rings.

I started providing snacks for students early on in my career. I don't get reimbursed for the expenditure, but it is SO worth it. If I don't give the kids something to eat during the day their energy flags, they grow listless and inattentive or irritable and even irrational. Well placed mini-meals throughout the day make a big difference in classroom behaviors. I also use snacks as enticements (okay - bribes) for testing. Special ed. kids HATE standardized tests! The tests are mandated to be at grade level, even though the students’ ability levels are two to four years below level in my learning handicapped class. This keeps them at a level of frustration and discomfort for all the days of testing. Well timed snacks help bring some comfort and self-care to the children.

Never assume the students have enough to eat at home, or that the cafeteria will take care of their hunger. The days are long and arduous for all students. Kids deserve treats - and it helps their brains as well as their attitudes.

Show Me The Money!

When I first started teaching, I was shocked to discover many of my students didn't know the worth of coins, or the number of coins it took to make a dollar. Years later, I find the students still don’t come to school with this info. It doesn’t seem to be a focus at school, or a habit at home. It still shocks me, but now I'm doing something about it. Every morning I give my class 'Money Math' activities to do. I hand out handfuls of plastic coins and have them sort and count them. Then they add the coins together to get the total amount. The first month or two of school this requires a great deal of teacher assistance, but the students love it when they learn it. Some individuals need desk top coin charts to remind them a quarter is 25 cents, a dime is ten, etc., and I keep posters in place throughout the year with the coin faces, values and a break-down of coins per dollar (4 quarters = one dollars, 10 dimes = one dollar, and so on). This is a bell-work or morning warm-up activity that the class can, after some time, so independently. I also put time problems for them to solve ("What time would it be 40 minutes from now?") and there are plastic clocks available for assistance. The students answer the time problems in analog and digital fashion. The class learns how many minutes are in an hour and how many hours are in a day. I require the class to learn the days of the week, months of the year, the years in a decade, as well. Wall calendars, personal agendas with calendars and posted reminders help keep this information accessible. No matter what grade the students are in, I find these activities to be relevant, and necessary to know, so each child can function with ease in society at large. Plus, they find it fun.

Work Smarter, Not Harder.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

I did my time. I carted home bags and boxes of reports to read. I covered my dining table with papers to grade. I spent my lunch breaks marking homework pages. I cancelled plans on Sundays so I could prep for the upcoming week in class.

One afternoon my daughter came by to tell me about her pay raise at the job she had for a fast food chain. She asked me how much money I made per hour. I had never tried to compute that before, so I sat down and took an honest look at how many hours I was not only AT school (including staff trainings, bus duties, open houses, IEP meetings, etc.), but also all the hours I spent AWAY from campus doing school work. I did the math - and discovered my young high school grad assistant manager girl was earning MORE PER HOUR than I was!!

Well, things changed. Of course I kept the meetings, duties, training and after-school events. But after that eye-opening calculator total glowed in my vision, I no longer took work home. I kept my job at my job. That meant going into work half an hour earlier, and staying a couple hours later - but it freed my nights and weekends. I became more organized, more focused. I was a better planner and a quicker executer of plans. I didn't delay or procrastinate (as much). And I was happier, more relaxed, and sane.

Try it. It is freeing, and I promise, the students will not suffer for it. A balanced teacher is a good teacher.

TV OR NOT TV II

My career in broadcasting ended when I became a certified educator. After I became an elementary school teacher, I continued to utilize media in my instruction, although I struggle still to convince most principals and administrators of the merits of television in the classroom. An example would be the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama, which was televised on January 9th. I was the only teacher who allowed the students to watch this live, ground-breaking event during class, and I admit I did this covertly. There is such a push to stick to the pacing schedule of mandated curriculum, any divergence away from the routine is a hard sell. But I could not let this pivotal moment in history go by without being witnessed by my small citizens. Plus, I wanted to see it, too! The class loved the coverage, and discussed the whole proceedings with interest. (The favorite single aspect of the whole broadcast, according to my class, was the size of Aretha Franklin's hat! Kids will be kids.) As we analyzed the coverage afterward the students had great questions,  which lead to further research and fact finding on the internet during computer time during the week. 

I have also tuned into pertinent newscasts, recaps of Olympics games, and recorded  videos that related to subjects we were studying. (When I read Make Way For Ducklings to my primary students, I showed the clip from July, 2009 "Washington Banker Saves a Dozen Ducklings".) I believe the difference between education with television media and mind-numbing television viewing is demonstrated in the pause. If I am familiar with the clips I show, and I have intent and direction with the lesson I am teaching, the t.v. is a great resource.  

In the days of VHS tapes, I learned the "Power of Pause". I discovered that by simply pausing the tape, I could produce a number of responses and interactions with the class. The first response is always, "No! Don't stop!", which is a good sign they are engaged. Then there can be questions and conversations, such as "What happened?", "Why do you think that happened?", and "What will happen next?". This deepens the experience of whatever movie or show is being presented. It taps into Bloom's taxonomy of cognition in a subtle, accessible way. And it keeps the process of watching television controlled and purposeful.

T.V., or Not T.V. ? That Is The Question.

Television in the classroom, part one. 


The long standing debate about the merits and curse of using television in schools has been of personal interest for decades. My background and my professional focus, prior to teaching, was communications and media. It was my major in college during the '70's. My interest in this field lead to numerous radio station jobs as a D.J. for jazz, rock and easy-listening music, and there was a period of time I enjoyed hosting a radio talk show focused on Women's Rights. I also was employed as a news reporter, for both radio and television, where I was allowed to 'pull' my news reports*. I especially relished my years on a small independent t.v. network as a talk-of-the-town host. The small staff and limited funding pushed me to try camera work, editing, sound mixing, production and marketing.  I was given free range to book my choice of talent for every show, and the format / message was mine to determine. All this experience gave me deep respect for the power of media.


When I started working in education I wanted to bring my media background into the classroom. While still enrolled in coursework for my teaching certification, I began working as a classified aide in a rural school. The campus had just received a grant for technology, and the principal was inspired to develop an on site television station. I became the school's media director. We had t.v. monitors installed in every class that linked to the main hub of cameras, desks, computers and editing technology purchased. What a blast it was to begin a project and get to see it take hold! The staff was accepting and the students were thrilled to have the morning announcements televised each day, starring classmates and guest speakers. Field trips, science fairs, assemblies and special presentations were taped and archived. Spelling bees were held in the studio and televised to the classrooms, which kept the nerves of the participants less jangled and allowed the viewers free range to cheer and 'assist' without shushing. Every student had their time on camera, as staff became accustomed to incorporating media into their lessons. One memorable film was a 2nd grade class production of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" (Laura Joffe Numeroff), starring several students and the class pet rat! Every family was encouraged to bring in a blank VHS tape, and it was then my job to produce a record of every student's filmed history as a kind of Video Year Book. It was a big commitment, and a daunting learning curve for all of us, but it paid off. Thanks to the vision from a forward thinking principal, the school was recognized state wide as innovative and successful for the media work we accomplished, and I was able to blend my long time love of media with my new inspiration to work with children in education.

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*This was back in the day when news information was sent to stations via teletype to a staff announcer, who would “rip and read” reports offered by the news service Associated Press.

What I Did Last Summer....

I have a number of practices for the beginning of each new school year. Before a new class comes into the room, I cover their work areas* with large sheets of paper, and put out buckets of markers. When the kids come in, Day One, they are given time to draw pictures of 3 or 4 highlights of their summer break. This is a calming activity, as there is no need to talk, nor is there a right or wrong way to do the work. The kids settle in, relax, and by drawing, display their personality, while at the same time they make themselves 'at home' in the class. Their drawing = their space.

There is additional time given throughout the first week to add more memories of add detail to the events they chose. At the close of week one, we tour the room and the artists describe their summer break. It is a great way for ALL of us to learn what interests the individual child, as well as some of their family structure, members and dynamics, and their general background. It is also another way to get the students accustomed to 'public' speaking. I believe the ability to talk in front of groups is an important social skill, and I weave opportunities for public addresses into my classwork as often as possible.

*I tend to teach with students seated at tables, not desks. Large work tables that seat at least four children per grouping work best. I think the tables afford greater work space and better practice with group interaction. Sharing, conversing, assisting, and creating happen in table groups with a more natural ease. It is a quick way to form hetero or homogenous groupings for lessons. Plus, it keeps kids from hoarding and clinging to 'their' stuff and space. It is communal and effective, in my experience. Oh, and it's much easier to keep clean and tidy!

Here's Looking At You, Kid.

During the first week of school I have the students create a number of art projects and renderings. One of the first tasks is a portrait of a neighbor. I pair up the students with someone they don't know, when possible. I give each student a pen (no pencils - they spend too much time erasing), and some crayons. I demonstrate the sketch on the white board, drawing an oval (no Charlie Brown heads!) and dividing that in quadrants to show placement of features. I talk them through a rough drawing, and then give them time to color and add details. These 'buddy portraits are a great ice breaker, in and of themselves, but I follow it up with a 'carpet time' talk, giving each student an opportunity to show off their work and introduce their 'subject'. We keep the portraits posted until our first Open House. A very fun activity, with benefits of connecting with and accepting peers for the year.

D.E.A.R.

Drop Everything And Read.

D.E.A.R. stands for Drop Everything and Read. National D.E.A.R. Day is a special reading celebration to remind and encourage families to make reading together on a daily basis a family priority. Harper Collins Publishing helps sponsor this event every April, in conjunction with Beverly Cleary’s birthday. Check it out:

http://dropeverythingandread.com/NationalDEARday.html

In my class, I schedule DEAR time a couple of days every week. The students are provided ability level books from the school or public library. I also purchase books at the Scholastic warehouse, usually in pairs so they can have a reading buddy. For 15 or 20 minutes, the class gets to grab some pillows, stretch out on the floor, and read semi-silently for FUN! While I attempt to keep a log of books and page counts, I don't require book reports. I learned over time reporting squashes the pleasure of reading for my class. And I want reading to be a positive, relaxing and entertaining time!

Silly Break

I kept this cartoon posted in my class to remind me that sometimes everyone just need to get silly. When the doldrums set into the classroom, or there's tension building between students, or frustration hits me during a lesson, or standardized tests are dragging on and on and on... interjecting some fun helps everyone rebound.

Silly can be music slipped into the CD player. "I Like To Move It" by wii.i.am from Madagascar’s sound track is one of the favorites, or "Bang The Drum All Day" by Todd Rundgren works well to get the class up shaking and jumping. Silly can be a SpongeBob SquarePants video break. Twenty some minutes at the Krusty Krab Shack with Patrick and Gary lightens everyone’s mood. Silly can be reading time on the floor with pillows - as long as it's fun reading (Captain Underpants RULES). Silly can be chalk drawing on the sidewalk outside the class, or a Simon Says walk around the blacktop, or a hula hoop showdown on the lawn. In 10 to 30 minutes, the students (and their teacher) will be able to return to class work refreshed and relaxed. Thanks, Garfield!

To Bee or Not to Bee.

School is a competitive climate. Grades and tests and scores and awards are all designed to show who's best and who's not. My self-appointed challenge is to keep my class as competition free as possible while still grading, testing, scoring, and awarding.  

To stress personal successes over class or school scores, I manufacture individualized assignments and assessments. I develop rubric grading scales that are tailored for the ability levels of the particular child. I have portfolios of each child's work throughout the year so progress can be mapped and achievements concretely demonstrated. I also manipulate the lessons I give 'whole class', so that students with varied learning strengths have opportunities to comprehend the concepts being addressed. This is NOT as time-consuming or unwieldy as it might sound.  

I am mandated to use specific curriculum in my classroom that the district provides. These materials are often out of reach for my special needs students, who might be 3 or 4 grade levels below the texts and worksheets supplied. Adapting lessons has become second nature, as it is the only way I can deliver the information required and address the state's age-level standards for testing. I create my own supplemental materials, as well as employing games as part of instructional delivery.

Games and sports at school are competitive the same way grades are, as there are winner and losers. Over the years I have manufactured ways to present and score games so each child is a winner. Working together as groups is one way I can assist their success. I place students in teams so that their individual strengths can build their group strength. I want the students to experience team-building, not player eliminations!

There are weekly word searches with concept or vocabulary words I have chosen (see the blog titled SPELL IT OUT). I arrange the students in table groups with a mixed ability level, and let them help each other find and highlight the hidden words. Each member of the table group needs to have all the words crossed out in order to be finished. This gives students experience with helping and being helped. There are weekly hang-man games with the same words, and I pair up students for those games with mixed abilities - supplying struggling spellers with their word list so they may better play the game. There is also a weekly spelling bee in my class. For the bee, I will choose students with closely matched abilities for the rounds so there is not blatant disparity in their levels. I start with the smallest, most easily spelled words and move into the more difficult ones. The class is so accustomed to playing while learning, and helping as well as receiving help, that competition does not pose a threat or cast a cloud over the classroom. After days of playing with their weekly words, the students are assured and confident by their test dates on Friday. It's a WIN/WIN situation!

S.T.A.R.

Rules, rules and more rules. The beginning of each school year is a marathon of jumping into classroom rules. The school and the district have mandated behavior regulations and the consequences for not following protocol. Then there are specific expectations for individual teachers and their students. Many rules, district, school or teacher created, end up being posted, and most often rules are led by 'DON'T' ! Don't talk, don't leave your seat, don't hit, don't steal, don't curse, don't cheat, don't disrupt.....

Ew. I find this method too punitive, distracting and meaningless.  When I first started teaching, I encouraged the class to develop their own set of rules. Man, were they tough on themselves! And picky and downright mean. One student might suggest there should be no littering, and the consequence for littering should be no recesses for the whole week. Or another would say gum chewing shouldn't be allowed, and if the student gets caught with gum they should have detention for a week. In one middle school class I taught, the students came up with a list of twenty classroom rules! It was exhaustive and labor intensive to try and track and modify so many 'don’ts'.

Over the years, with trial and error, my students and I have utilized a system for behavior modification that seems to work. There are just four things to track, and these values are wrapped up in what we call our STAR system. STAR stands for Stop, Think, Act and Reflect. If 'googled', this STAR system will yield a ton of information, texts, charts and videos. I didn't invent it - I just adopted and adapted it for my class.

We post a traffic light in the room, and I have smaller handouts of traffic lights I give to each student. I also have overheads or other graphics I can use for whole class discussions. The red light symbolizes STOP. The yellow represents THINK, and the green is for ACT! Reflect or review is our discussion time. The students determine the STOP actions, which primarily are any actions that can cause harm, physical or emotional, to another person or themselves. Any such act is an immediate RED LIGHT STOP! The THINK behaviors are actions that distract or derail the learning process in class, such as talking out, moving about or being inattentive. These are YELLOW LIGHT THINK behaviors. Green is go - and together as a class we decide what actions and behaviors represent a readiness to be a good citizen and student in the class. The list of positive traits include attitudes such as willingness, kindness, or perseverance. We might also list actions such as getting enough sleep, eating breakfast and being prepared.

Once or twice a week we reflect on how we are doing as a class. There are also daily check-ins. And if there is a problem, we immediately refer to the stop light and review what has happened in class. I have a chart by the door that places students’ names in either red, yellow or green. Every morning the class starts out in green for GO. If there are minor disturbances, a student’s name will be moved to yellow and a conference with the teacher will occur. If the student continues to act out or distract, they will move to red and receive consequences. If there is any threat of danger or injury, the student is removed from the class and disciplinary actions are taken. The STAR system is a simple, easily understood, and graphically displayed way to modify behaviors in the classroom.

Judgement Day

“Reproof should not exhaust its power upon petty failings.” -Samuel Johnson

Who would want to go to work if they were called a failure each day? Not me!

Why would a student want to go to school if they were given poor grades each day? Students who are struggling is school, who are at risk, who have learning disabilities or emotional issues that prevent them from performing at grade level are subjected to grades that label them as ‘disappointments’. No wonder there are so many disciplinary problems on campus! How could a child continue to feel worthwhile when presented by  red-marked, low-grade, records of their failings.

In order to provide a sense of accomplishment and pride for my students, I modify and individualize their tests and assessments. For a comprehension check, some students are allowed to give an oral report. Others may be presented sentence frames where they can ‘fill in the blank’, and they may even be provided a word bank. Some students have only 3 questions to answer, while others have 10. The rest of the class may be asked to research answers from the text, or write short paragraphs from their notes. What form the assessment takes is based on what the student is capable of, based on teacher observation and student work (from their current portfolio – not their previous scores or, heaven-forbid, their standardized tests).

Grading on a sliding scale like this guarantees student success. It provides a process of growing and garnering knowledge. A child might start with sentence frames, and move into self-authored writing over the course of the semester. This creates a feeling of accomplishment and pride. If grades are used to show what a student knows, rather than what they do not know, the grades become gifts to the learners.

In all the years I have tailored tests in this manner there has NEVER – as in not a single time ever - been a complaint from a student. Teachers predict the children that receive the more labor intensive, long form tests will belly ache and whine and ask why so-and-so only has half as much to do. But I conference with the class, and explain the different assessments, and therefore each child knows why they get the test they get. My experience has been that once I present a test that appears harder to one than the test of a neighbor, with a simple aside of, “I know you can do this, you have really improved in your work” , the recipient of the tough test goes right to work without a grudge. And the students who get the abbreviated tests then seem compelled to progress to the higher, harder levels of testing.

I like to be challenged on the job almost as much as I like to be appreciated for the work I do. I assume students like the same blend of challenge and appreciation. Carefully tailored testing can provide this combo, and lay a foundation for success in the classroom.

Spell It Out

My personal spelling guru can be found at: http://www.timrasinski.com/

In order to reach a diversity of learning styles and ability levels I implement individualized lessons. With spelling lessons I usually give the class a list of 12 words. These words might be based on vowel sound rules, or particular diphthongs, or they might be pragmatic, vocabulary words or academic language examples. Recently I gave a list of math terms for weekly review, starting with smaller words such as add and sum, and increasing the letters and difficulty through product to multiplication. The students work with these words for an entire school week, with word search and crossword activities, a Bingo game, hangman, and more traditional spelling sentences and definition work. All students get and study all 12 words, even though some students might not be expected to spell them all correctly by the end of the week. Some students start out the year focused on the beginning letter sounds for their spelling list, and that is all I assess. Some students are only assessed for three or six words. Many get phonemic pronuciation for individual letters  as the oral exam is given on Friday. What continues to surprise and please me is the students who come in with pre-kindergarten level letter and word recognition start to write and remember their spelling words. By Friday's test time, the majority of the class, even those who struggle with self-authored writing, can score 80 to 100 percent on their assessments. Creating thesespelling assignments takes some planning and time, but it's worth the work when those high scores are handed to beaming students.

Making the Grade

Grades are relative and subjective. Yes, it is black and white that 2 + 2 = 4, but grades are based on so many factors - or I believe they should be.

I am a special education teacher. My students range in age from 10 to 13. The 4th, 5th and 6th graders have reading ranges from above grade level to pre-kindergarten. How can I accurately grade their reading fluency, decoding or comprehension? It doesn't make sense to have a one-size-fits-all text, because each individual student is at a markedly different level of ability.

In the majority of districts I have worked with, the curriculum is purchased for instruction of mandated grade level standards. The language arts, math, social studies and science texts cover specific targeted content. * The reading levels and interest levels are marketed and developed for a homogenous grouping of learners, though who these learners are remains a mystery. Fact is, text books are big business, and that business is to ‘sell’ success on standardized tests across the U.S. *http://www.teachersmind.com/Textbooks.html

Presented with materials they can't access can be debilitating to struggling learners. Modifying and individualizing the curriculum is a task that presents itself daily. I will go into some detail on how I have adapted lessons over the years, starting with spelling.

Bribes

Another area of cost I incur as I teach is the price of the prize. I drop dough on stickers, suckers, and Sponge Bob books as a means of motivation and behavior management.  I bribe, I admit it.

Intrinsic motivation is a beautiful thing. According to Wikipedia (the source of all knowledge), “Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself”. Wouldn’t it be spectacular if 4^th grade students were drawn to fractions like they are to  pizza, or if 6^th graders enjoyed writing spelling sentences as much as they did texting their friends? But my experience has been the state standards for education in math and language arts do not entice, engage or even enter the consciousness of my student body unless there is an external motivator in place – be it a grade or a gummy worm.

 “Students are likely to be intrinsically motivated if they believe they have the skill that will allow them to be effective agents in reaching desired goals.” (wiki again) I teach special education. My students face a plethora of challenges that stand in the way of their academic success. Hearing and vision problems, processing disorders, specific learning disabilities, other health impairments and behavioral disorders all impede their progress. During the weeks of Standardized Testing, my class is a pitiful collection of frustrated, angry and depressed children, acting out or slipping into apathy as the days drag on and their spirits get deflated. I can’t afford to bank on intrinsic motivation.  I need to pay it forward with cookies and cartoons. A well placed KitKat can alleviate a looming tantrum.


During the course of the day I provide snacks. Pretzels, carrot sticks, cubes of cheese, and chunks of watermelon are distributed and devoured around 10am. Most of my student body is bussed to school. They leave home before 7am, and might have time for some cafeteria food prior to school starting at 8am. Two hours into the day, shoulders start to slump, quarrels start to rise and attention goes out the proverbial and literal window. Snack Time! Popcorn breaks help us all get back to a place of peace. This buys some time to teach – at least until the next food crisis at noon when it’s time to break for lunch.

Grades are tricky in special ed. The students may make great gains during the school year, say, gaining two grade levels in reading fluency. But if they are 5^th graders who started at a first grade reading level and progressed to a third grade level, they will still score far below basic according to their peers. This is disheartening, to say the least. Classroom certificates and awards help. Stickers and prizes also help. I tell them it’s their ‘paycheck’. I mean, I love teaching, but I want to get a salary. So if my students are working toward their goals I believe a ‘token economy’ is a good way for them to get ‘paid'. So there is always a stash of stuff read to distribute in my classroom. I shop gladly for these ‘teaching’ supplies. I consider the cost of such treats as money well spent… although I wouldn’t mind getting reimbursed.
Maybe a tax write-off?

Pretty Is As Pretty Does.

It costs hundreds of dollars – out of pocket – to decorate and maintain my classroom every year. I believe it’s a sound investment. My classroom is cleaner, more decorative and better appointed than the majority of homes my students live in. I know this to be true because the schools I teach at usually participate in Home Visit Programs. These H.V. programs support staff attempts to meet with families in their home at least once a year. This is a great way for teachers to forge a deeper social connection with their student’s families. For some parents who might have transportation or mobility issues, it’s the ONLY way to connect and meet in person. Going on a Home Visit is a great way to experience family dynamics and to create a bond with the family. It also allows me to state with assurance that my classroom most often exceeds the home in presenting an attractive, temperate and safe environment.

This matters: the students need to feel supported, honored and secure. A classroom that is clutter-free, spacious, comfortable and well-appointed lets the learner know this is our special space, our home for learning, our nurturing nest. And it works. I have the anecdotal records and staff input to support my belief that class room environment dictates student behavior and attitudes. I say, “Happy classrooms beget happy students.”

 “Just as it’s important to define our beliefs and align our practices, it’s important to create classroom environments that reflect our beliefs.” http://blog.stenhouse.com/

Pack Rat

There are NO BACKPACKS allowed in my classroom. This is something I explain to students and their parents from day one. I write it out, send it home, and have kids and their folks sign off on it every year. And every year, it makes all the students grumpy and some of the parents angry. I forewarn the front office, and I set time aside to conference about this classroom policy. Invariably by the second week of school it is no longer issue.

The origins of my anti-backpack policy started as a grass-roots campaign. During the first years I worked as a teacher I was also the parent of several school aged children. We had back pack issues in our house. The boys in particular were infamous for losing homework, gaining other pals’ toys and secreting trash in the pack that qualified as hazardous waste. I would do a weekly purge of crumpled papers, broken pencils and pens, misc. school supplies, stinky socks and petrified food stuffs (a hot dog from Tuesday? GROSS!). Something had to give, and it was my patience.

So, starting at home, I began my STAMP OUT BACK PACKS agenda. I sent notes to teachers, asking for a lighter load to be instituted. I went to the school and voiced my complaint against back packs to administrators. I confiscated my children’s packs, and replaced them with plastic grocery bags. All of these actions disenfranchised me from the school staff, and mortified my own kids. Plus, nothing changed. The books were still assigned as daily homework, my children still stuffed and mangled and misplaced what they were given and the bags tore or broke, necessitating rides from me to and from school, because the messy, heavy loads made walking too difficult. The backpacks were redistributed at home, and I increased my backpack cleansing ritual from weekly to daily. This helped quite a bit, and my kids became lighter packers and more conscience carriers. Except for my youngest son, who continues to be a most industrious and committed, as well as beloved, pack rat.

When I first began teaching at a middle school in Arizona. I watched a daily parade of students hunched over like a Sherpa, bearing the weight of their packs as they trudged across campus. I took to weighing some of their packs, and found a few that topped 30 pounds. I called in a friend, a chiropractor by trade, who gave a presentation on the potential harm and injury hauling such loads could befall a young skeletal system. There was exactly no change in the student body after receiving this information. They seemed to take some perverse pride in competing with one another as to who could manage schlepping the biggest load.

Over the next few years, I also came to realize how much the staff contributed to the tonnage of materials the students carried. The average math, language arts of social studies book weighs two or three pounds. Drop a few of those in a back pack, add the proverbial three ring binder, agenda, Phys. Ed. supplies, water bottle and smuggled trading cards, and kids that weigh 115 pounds soaking wet are lugging a quarter of their body weight across the campus. Why, I wondered, should the students need to tote their texts back and forth daily? Why not a worksheet or a couple of pages of notes or even a zeroxed section of the book, rather than the book itself? It would save backs, and money, too (How many of those texts disappeared as the year wore on? Quite a few. Who had to pay for them at the close of the year? If the parents didn’t, the school had to.)

Also, there continued to be the problem of storage; where would these backpacks reside at school? Most campus lockers had been torn out (due to drug and weapon issues), and so the packs came to class and sat about in hulking masses, making foot traffic in between desks nigh impossible. The couldn't be stored outside due to theft, and if they were relegated to the back of the class there was a constant stream of students moving from desk to pack and back with items they 'had to have' in the middle of instruction. Oh, and all that stuff that had been stashed in lockers, causing threat to limb and law? That stuff was now in the classroom! I confiscated dozen of electronic games and gizmos, but more troublesome were matches, cigars, porn magazines, pipe bomb supplies, stolen prescription drugs, pipes for crack and a baggie of pot - in a sixth grade class!

Finding no good purpose to the use of backpacks and my subsequent banishment of them may cause a ruffle of irritation at the outset of the school year, but I feel it pretty much guarantees a safer, cleaner, healthier classroom and student body - literally.

No Nest is Good Nest

The view from here.

When I sit down at my desk, which is .... well, never, but if I were to sit down at my desk I would want to see a well-organized, brightly lit, colorful and inviting space. Rather than having the room filled with junk and STUFF, I want to have it filled with music, plants, art and students who are engrossed in projects. Some pets would be nice, too. To this end I am a ruthless 'cleaner, straightener and thrower away of things' person. I also have some quirky methods to keep crap from encroaching into class.

Clutter = Children. Since kids are well oiled machines for producing chaos and waste, how does a teacher keep up a clean working space? One method I have found most effective is to banish desks. This seems counter-intuitive; if you take away a storage area for student materials and supplies, the materials and supplies will overtake the room! That has not been my experience.

I initially replaced desks with work tables in the 1990’s, when I worked at a charter school that focused on whole group and co-operative learning. We clumped kids and emphasized team-building. I couldn’t help but notice how much more readily students shared resources using this model. Cubbies in the back of the class housed the texts, extra paper and worksheets. There were table supplies in baskets, and every one had equal access to all the necessary materials. Students didn’t hoard or vandalize supplies as readily. There was more space to work and less trash to pick up. This became my classroom set up of choice, and most administrators have been very supportive. All custodians LOVE it!

Desks remain the bane of my class climate. Whether it is a student or teacher desk, they represent a trap - of mess, proprietorship, isolation and bad housekeeping. An awful lot of STUFF can fit into a small desk – hiding what's needed, spilling out at the most inconvenient of times. Nix ‘em.

Rat's Nest

Organization is good for the soul. I am genetically pre-determined to be a de-clutter fiend. It is essential to my very spirit that my surrounds are neat and tidy, with a place for everything and everything in its place. Of course, the fewer ‘everythings’ there are, the easier the job of clearing clutter is. This flies in the face of the average classroom, which is filled to overflowing with backpacks, sweatshirts, folders, texts, teacher’s manuals, charts, graphs, posters, science equipment, student work, art supplies, worksheets to be done, worksheets to be graded, worksheets to be posted…

You get the idea. Most teachers’ rooms look like segments of the A&E television show, Hoarders. Seriously, I get anxious just walking in the door. I have been placed in rooms where there are no surfaces untouched; every counter and desk and each wall from ceiling to floor covered with STUFF. On the floor, boxes and bags and crates and stacks of STUFF! On the teacher’s desk, months of ungraded papers, piles of tardy slips and attendances notes that should have been turned in, even half eaten lunches. STUFF!!

I can’t think straight with all that stuff in the way, and I figure that there’s a population of students that feel the same way. So my first task in any room I work in is to un-stuff the heck out of the space we will be working in. If the teacher is coming back, I box up everything and tuck it away. If I have inherited the room, the dumpster is my friend. I will stay for hours clearing and cleaning the classroom so that, when I am done, there will be space in which to think and breathe and be. Ahhhh.

My Nightmare. Twitch...

A Fish Bowl

One of the ways I insure I will be happy to go to work each day is by creating an inviting, attractive classroom in which to teach. Clean and tidy, bright and spacious, uncluttered and comforting are qualities I strive to maintain in my class space. I also find it soothes the students to keep things 'status quo'; it can be upsetting to certain students when changes in lay-out, furniture placement and focus points are altered.

BUT! Sometimes discomfort is a necessary aspect of classroom management.

Years ago I learned a great behavior modification technique for student behavior from the most unlikely source years. I was at a pet store, holding a baggy with the remains of an expensive fish, and asking for help at the aquarium station. I explained to the employee of the pet store that every time I introduced a new fish into the tank at home, the current tank residents set upon it, attaching and molesting it - to death. What could be done, I asked. This is the advice I received in a brochure.

"Rearrange decorations in the aquarium before the introduction to distract existing fish and remove established territories. This will help the new fish by putting it on equal ground as new territories are developed by all tank-mates."

I bought a new fish, took it home, rearranged the heck out of my aquarium, put the new fish in .... and, no problem. All the fish swam about, checking out their 'new' digs, and existing in perfect harmony.

TA DA!!

A few months later, I was told by the office staff a new student was being enrolled in my class. It was late in the year, and the rest of my students had been together for months, establishing their turf and pecking order. My heart sank. I knew the new addition would disrupt the class dynamics and create tension. I also was pretty sure the new student would be uncomfortable, nervous and most of all picked on by their peers. While I never saw a new student literally bit, as a new fish in an aquarium would be, I had witnessed students chewing up the newcomer's self-esteem and gnawing on their self-doubts.

Why not? I stayed late after school that day and rearranged the room. I moved the teacher's desk, the plants, the music center, the reading area and the bulletin board. I changed the seating chart. I even put new music on the CD player. The next morning all the students filed in. It was a brand new class for one, and a different class for the rest. The day went, well, swimmingly!

I swear, it worked! No assimilation problem day one. I have kept at this practice for over a decade, and it always yields positive results. It keeps the 'old' fish just unsettled enough to let the 'new' fish catch up.

Who knew?