The education world is obsessed with data. Data for your standards, data for your attendance, data for everything. It is overwhelming, especially when you required to post data. So what's really important? What will help kids learn?
Since I don't believe in giving children "rewards" such as food and prizes for doing well, my Giant Data Wall is the way I can show off classes doing well and group of kids doing great. The picture speak louder than words however here's the components: Left Side: In different colors, I have my six class hours Top Row Categories: Class Jobs: I am obsessed with class jobs (check out my post here). I post my lists on my data wall so my students and I can easily see who needs to do what during the class hour. Plus if jobs change throughout the year students can see their jobs posted all year! I use this for in class motivation if students need a push. Class Average: This is for students and I to see how the class is doing as a whole. Because it's an average, students can get an idea where their grade is. Quiz: I use my most recent average quiz score right here. I update as soon as I can so students can see how they have done. I can also visually tell what classes struggled the most on their quizzes. Homework: This is my favorite category. I grade my homework quizzes in class and post their scores almost immediately. It is really good feedback for the class to see how they did. Right now Hour 5 and Hour 6 have been in serious competition! Quarterly: My school is HUGE about our quarterly exams. When the quarterly exam is coming up, I will highlight how their scores will be up all quarter to push their goals! Group of the Week: Every Friday or Monday I choose a new Group of the Week. Students feel awesome when they realize their hard work pays off and their on my wall! Cost: Free-$5. If you have paper and clear binder covers... you're set! Preparation: This took me about 20 minutes to fully put up. I used tape to clear binder covers on my back wall. It has stayed up really well. I use wet erase markers on the clear binder covers. Maintainence: I make a huge effort to update this as soon as I have a new quiz and homework. I use dry erase markers to write (or wet erase) and wipes to remove old data. I only update the class average only 2-3 weeks when there are a lot of grades added. Whenever I add anything, I always put an arrow up or down. This is REALLY motivating for students and classes. For instance all my homework grades went down this week and my kids are motivated to do better. Ideas to Expand: In the future I am going to add an Attendance part of the data wall. If you have any significant things you collect such as Do Nows, Exit Tickets, etc. that is great to add too. This is super customizable for you! I hope this helps you on your quest to be the best data cruncher ever! ENJOY!
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Reviewing for a test or quiz can be boring, repetitive and unexciting for kids and teachers. I struggle with finding a review game I really enjoy and that my kids have never done before. Today I'm going to highlight one of my newest activities I totally stole from one of my teaching coaches.
Dominoes is played almost exactly like regular dominoes. The goal is to match the opposite sides to each other. Each group got a bag of Review dominoes. There is one domino labeled START. This is the first domino students lay down. There is definition on the same domino and students must find the vocabulary work to match. This continues all the way to the END domino. This is a challenging activity because if student's mess up one definition, the entire line of dominoes doesn't make any sense! My kids really enjoyed this activity and thinking skills it required. This can also be done with math and word problems, which I will be doing for this unit! Enjoy! Since I began teaching in 2014, I have regularly practiced yoga. Yoga is the reason I did not quit my first year teaching. Yoga is the reason I can breathe through hard situations during school. Yoga is the reason I find intention and purpose in the classroom.
This article from the Atlantic helped me realize how important it is for all students, especially those who suffer from trauma, unstable households and poverty, to have meditation and yoga in the classroom. I teach in the city of Detroit, where most of my students face poverty, violence and instability every day. After watching of my students suffer through their unstable lives, I realized how important that I make my classroom a stable place. During my mindful classroom series, I want to share insight and ideas for helping our students become more mindful in the classroom. This post is about how music can bring about a more stable classroom. I adore Pandora as a classroom management technique, however it also serves another purpose for me. Starting the second week of school, I play "Yoga Pandora" for the first 15-20 minutes of class. Yoga Pandora is all relaxing music you would here at a spa with no singing or speaking, just background noise. Here's why this type of music works in the classroom: 1) It sets the classroom mood. Students can feel a sense of calmness when they enter the classroom. It doesn't matter what classroom they came from before, this one feels different. 2) It helps students focus. Students can feel the relaxing tons of the music. I have yet for a student to complain about the music I play at the beginning of class. The mood set as they enter the classroom let's them focus on their studies and our classroom meeting. 3) It provides a different environment. Students are able to get out of their comfort zone. Since the music is associated with relaxing and calm, students can experience, for 50 minutes, something different than the rest of their day. 4) It gives students cues on what they should be doing. Since the music is quiet and calm, students know they need to also be quiet and calm. This is perfect to set the tone of the classroom from the first minute. I hope you are able to try yoga or relaxing music in the classroom to help student's focus on their work and start your classroom off right. This focusing can help our students bring mindfulness to their education and their inner selves. My very first blog post! I am passionate about sharing my resources with others who are also in the trenches teaching the next generation of learners.
Since I began my teacher training (I will discuss that more in depth later), my mentors and coaches PUSHED the importance of classroom jobs. During my first year of teaching, many of jobs were not useful and not helpful to the classroom. This year I have implemented six main class jobs into the classroom. Each one is extremely important to an urgent, peaceful classroom. They can be used for middle and high school students: Classroom Manager: Sits at the teacher’s desk at the beginning of class, clicks through Powerpoints, answers phone, signs out materials, extra tasks for the teacher Why: I am the type of teacher that enjoys walking around the classroom to make sure students are on task at the beginning of class (and to try to get to 10,000 steps a day). I cannot tell you how nice it is to have a student to give out the bathroom pass and click through my Google Slides every class! Who: A mature and responsible student or a student who already have had in class. Attendance Tracker: completes attendance at the beginning of class and enters on computer/iPad if needed Why: I cannot stand taking attendance at the beginning of class. Who really wants to? I typically choose a new student to the school or a shy student so they can learn names. I have received some push back for this because the state uses attendance for money. However, I ALWAYS double check when I am entering the attendance on my computer. Plus, 99/100 a student will be correct! Who: A shy student or new student so they can learn their classmates' names. Materials Manager: Passes back binders and papers when needed, collects papers Why: When I see teachers pass out their own papers, I can't help but think... you have thirty students to help you do that! Students know who is passing back papers and collecting them, so the routine is set Who: Really any student! I typically choose a quieter student so passing back papers doesn't end up with them talking to their friends. Clean up Coordinator- walks through class and makes sure all chairs, books, computers and other materials are put back, reminds groups to clean up the area around them Why: I am a clean freak. I am extremely organized. At the end of class, this student walks around and makes sure everyone has cleaned up their area. Who: An outgoing student who can easily tell their peers what to do! Class Greeter: Greets any guest who are in the classroom or enters the classroom during class Why: I saw this modeled when I taught at a Noble charter school in Chicago. I found that this is was extremely useful. Many guests to the classroom show up in the middle and don't exactly what is going on. This student greets them, tells them what we're working on and asks if they need handouts. (PS. I'm planning on writing another blog post about the importance of greeters in the classroom) Who: An outgoing student who isn't nervous about talking to adults. Do No Stamper: Stamps Do Now sheets at the beginning of each class Why: My school has a school wide Do Now (We call them KFCs, Knowledge for College) policy. To hold student's accountable, I have one student stamp the Do Now each day. They know to only stamp if the student has written down the question and answer. Who: This is a coveted job in the classroom. I typically choose a student who NEEDS responsibility in the classroom, such as an unruly student. I've attached the Class Jobs Application I use during the first week of school. Enjoy!! |