One of the easiest ways to make your classroom more fun is with music! I let students wear headphones during independent work, but it's great to give students some music to listen to when they are working in groups or by themselves. Music is also a great way to build in transitions. For instance, students usually have music playing when they come into the classroom. When it's time for me to get started I stop the music and the classroom instantly calms down.
Here's six of my favorite Spotify playlists for the classroom! P.S. I generally pick playlists that have a minimal of explicit songs however I teach high school and a little swearing doesn't really bother me.
What are your favorite Spotify playlists to play in the classroom? Share below or connect with me on IG!
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I often get asked about where my teaching inspiration came from and how I make my classroom my own. Here are my top ten favorite teacher reads and why they are so important to me. Click on the pictures to find the book on Amazon! #1: The First Days of SchoolI'm not going to lie, when I was handed this book I thought it was straight out of the 80s. But after reading it in one day and now rereading it before every school year, it is a life changing book for pre-service teachers all the way to seasoned veterans. Harry Wong takes you through the first week of school and how it is so crucial to the success of your classroom for the rest of the year. #2: Teach Like a PirateI was lucky enough to attend a session by Dave Burgess and I was blown away. When I started teaching I hated hooks and other "gimmicks" to get students interested. Students should just be interested in school! Right???? Well let's be real, that's not how it actually happens. Dave Bugress' approach to learning is fantastic and contagious. His book is the perfect way to spice up everything in your classroom and make everything a little bit more exciting. Oh yeah, sign up for his emails too. You will not be disappointed! #3: Embedding Formative AssessmentWell this looks like an exciting book! Formative assessment? I bet we've all heard that about 300 times and still only think of exit tickets. Well formative assessment is WAY more than that and so crucial to the success of your classroom. This book is a great tool to dive into how we assess students in the moment and change our instruction. This book is great for any teacher who wants to get past quizzes and tests and focus on day to day interactions with students. #4: MindsetStudents (and adults) are often stuck in the mindset that if I'm not good at something, I can never improve. Carol Dweck's book will change the way you and your students think about learning. Growth mindset is a hot word in education right now and I see lots of cool bulletin boards up about it. However, it's hard to teach and even harder to embrace yourself. This book will not only help you transform your classroom, but your own life. #5: Never Work Harder Than Your StudentsI often talk to colleagues about not having enough time in the classroom. Usually that conversion ends with "Well, why don't you just have your students do that?". Yeah, sometimes we make life harder for ourselves because we forget about the 30 kiddos in the class who need a job to do. This is the most recent book I've read and I love how it focuses on students and teachers working together to create an automatous classroom that makes life easier for everyone. #6: For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood... and the Rest of Ya'll TooShout out to this list (10 Books I Wish My White Teacher Had Read) which got me into this book. I taught in Detroit for two years where my classroom was 99% black and now I teach in a very diverse school in the suburbs of Detroit. The messages in this book will stick with you forever. Christopher Edmin draws on his own experiences in school to give teachers advice on how to make students of color more included. Don't think you should read it because you don't teach in the hood? You're wrong. You owe it to your kids to read it! #7: Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?When I read this book, it changed my perspective on how I treat every student. I honestly think it should be mandatory reading for any teacher who works in a racially diverse high school. Beverly Tatum answers hard questions about race and discusses how we need to have straight forward talks about race if we expect communication between races to improve. This book is stark reminder that what we do as teachers deeply affects our students' lives. #8: The Teacher WarsReady for a serious history lesson? The Teacher Wars is an in depth dive into how teaching in America began, evolved and is what it is now. Not only does it discuss teaching, but segregation and how schools played a pivotal role over the last 200 years. This book opened up my eyes to the realities of teaching and how we got to where we are now. This book is great for anyone interested in education in America, especially those who want to change how our current public education system is ran. #9: NGSS for All StudentsHere's an amazing book for all of my science teachers out there! Yes it is pricey but 100% worth it. NSTA Press puts out amazing books every year with up to date NGSS and science teaching practices. This book goes through how NGSS can be applied to different groups such as special education students, at risk students and gifted students. Transitioning into NGSS is hard, but this book makes it seem a little more doable! #10: Teacher MiseryI won this book on Instagram a couple years ago because the author liked my profile picture of my dog and I. First, stop and go follow Teacher Misery on Instagram. Okay, now onto this book. We deal with crazy things... administration that has no idea what classroom like is like, students drawing weird doodles on their papers and some serious Apache helicopter parents. I feel blessed that Jane Morris wrote this book because we can all laugh together at the crazy things we deal with every day. Any other books you would add to this list? A few honorable mentions here, here and here. Enjoy!
Edit: I forget one my favorites, The Natty Professor by Tim Gunn. An amazing man who has been a teacher and mentor for thirty years. If you haven't sat through a boring lecture at one point in your life, I'm not sure if your human. I remember sitting through a lecture in 11th grade physics. I don't remember what it was on, but I remember thinking "I get it. He's just saying the same thing over and over. Can I just do some practice problems?" I started to doodle on my page, zoning out.
In 2009, in the final weeks of my junior year of college, my dad drove me to from Wooster, Ohio to Chicago on a Thursday afternoon for my final TFA interview. I was in the second batch of juniors who applied early for Teach for America. I taught a lesson on eclipses, talked about my experience as a leader at my college and was overwhelmed with the caliber of people I was interviewing with. They went to Northwestern and interned at the Department of Education and had a laundry list of societies and activities. I was immediately convinced I didn't make the cut.
A few weeks later, sitting in my living room with my parents I got the email. I got into Teach for America as a junior, with only a handful of juniors across the country. I was placed in most high need region in the country- Detroit. When I applied for the corps you selected the regions you wanted and I mainly focused on high need regions in the Midwest. I was in shock I made it. Hell yes, I wanted to do this. I wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to change lives. I shared it with the world. My mom's friend had a response that still sticks with me- "She got into TFA? That's harder to get into to than Ivy League schools". Senior year of college passed in a blur. Near the end of the blur, the reality of next year set in. I was moving to a brand new place, a city I knew nothing about and had no one nearby. I went to Detroit twice to first take the MTTC, the state test for teachers and to interview at TFA schools. I passed my tests and got hired at a charter high school. A month after college graduation I arrived in Detroit, in my brand new, light blue Nissan, bright eyed and bushy tailed, with a car packed with The Limited pencil skirts and H&M cardigans. I met my Detroit Teach for America Corps members, all 200 of us that weekend in June. Once again, the sweeping feeling of not being good enough consumed me. Some people bragged about their lives at their Ivy League colleges and spewed off opinions of education reform and internships at prestigious charter schools. I was completely overwhelmed. I didn't even know what education reform meant. Why were these people talking about themselves so much? What was going on? I went to small liberal arts college. Everyone knew each other, everyone studied together, went to class together, ate in the only dining hall together, partied together... there was no bragging or gloating. We constantly lifted each other up, helped each other on exams, labs, papers, and life problems. It was normal fo rme. I was all of a sudden in a different world. Most people in the corps went to competitive colleges. I was around people with more impressive resumes than my college friends. I immediately felt like I didn't fit in. I was out of my element. Induction in Detroit was a blur of three-ish days. Buses to random places in Detroit, people talking about neighborhoods in Detroit, talk about poverty in Detroit. Detroit, Detroit, Detroit. Suddenly, I was off to Chicago for the dreaded and insane Teach for America Institute. I won't go into details about this experience, but Institute is where you are taught to teach in five weeks. 1 week of instruction on how to teach which included hours of professional development and practice lessons. Then it is followed by 4 weeks of teaching summer school. Basically you learn how to teach by teaching. It sounds awesome and useful, however I found it brutal. Not much sleep, constant PD sessions when you aren't teaching: stress, stress stress. I was lucky to have amazing mentors and to work at an amazing charter school in Chicago, but I was burnt out by the end. I thought I learned how to teach. I thought I knew my strengths and weaknesses. But boy, did I have a lot to learn. All of a sudden I was moving out of my parent's house, into my first real apartment and about to start my first real job. A common misconception about Teach for America is that we are not school district employees. This is not true. We are placed by TFA into school districts and the districts are paying TFA for us to be there. My school began the year with a month long professional development (I know insane right). I walked into my classroom realizing I had nothing for my walls. We were required to cover every wall. I spent that month attempting to start my curriculum focusing on amazing goals and ideas. I won't dwell on my first year of teaching. It was okay- ups and downs every day. I cried for the better half of the final quarter of the school year. I felt like a failure most of the time. The only reason I didn't quit was some of my co-workers, our dean of students and my now husband. I decided that my second year would not be like that. My classroom management was a disaster and my students were not at the academic level I expected. I spent the summer revising everything from procedures to the structure of my classroom. I created a choice based classroom for my students that helped with my wide variety of learner needs, high absenteeism and lack of consistent classroom management in other classrooms. My second year was so much better. I did what I wanted to do. Not how TFA told me how to teach, not how my co-workers taught, how I wanted to teach. My classroom management was amazing and my classroom ran like clockwork. I was becoming a good teacher. I will save the details but despite having my classroom be an amazing learning environment I could no longer ignore what was happening outside my doors. My administration. I knew that I could not thrive at my school specifically. I considered leaving the classroom, applying for jobs outside of education. I wanted to feel free. On a whim, I started to apply to suburban schools across the metro Detroit area. Maybe the administration would be better. I wanted teach in a public school desperately. I wanted a union. Maybe I wouldn't have to do as much classroom management. I had been told "Teach for America teachers cannot get hired in any other schools but charter or urban schools". But I interviewed and I got the job. I couldn't believe it. I took it. I now work in a public school in suburban Detroit. I left urban teaching. I left my students who desperately needed a consistent teacher because of the estimated 50% teacher turnover every year. I needed to leave for myself and my sanity. I truly believe if I would have stayed at my placement school one more year I would have quit teaching. Perhaps I did the one thing Teach for America no one talks about. We talk about the teachers that have stayed in their placement school for 15 years, teachers who become administrators in urban charter schools, TFA alumni who run for office or become education reformers in DC. But I became a suburban teacher. But still a teacher. Was this okay? I still am reaching students and creating a world where "One day, all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education" as Teach for America says on their website. Right? Am I? But am I doing that the "TFA" way? I don't know. I feel guilty about leaving my placement school often. Why did I leave my students? I didn't leave them- I got new students. All students need great, caring teachers. It doesn't matter what school the go to, where they grow up, what zip code they live in. ALL students need amazing teachers, no matter where those teachers got their start. Teach for America was the best thing for my teaching career that has and will ever happen. I was able to learn how to be a teacher through teaching, not wading through years of education lectures and observations. I learned classroom management, how to take a failing student to a B student who is self-motivated and enjoys school, how to interact with administration and juggle one million things at the same time. I went out of my comfort zone and met people I never would have interacted with otherwise, met educators who are still on the front lines today and found the roots as an educator that will stick with me forever. But still I feel like sell out. Sure, I stayed in teaching but did I do it the TFA way? Am I still impacting the students need it the most? I am. But am I a TFA sell out? I am. Flipping my own classroom has been a journey of teaching self-discovery. I feel like myself in my classroom and I am helping my students learn inside and outside the classroom (literally). I recently gave a presentation about my flipped classroom, but I also want to share it through my bog. Here is my journey: What caused me to change my teaching mindset?- Wide range of students learning at different levels. Some of my students were at a 3rd grade math level and others were above grade level. In class, this caused a lot of difficulties. - High absentee rates and difficulty of students making up work. I work in a low SES community and students are frequently missing school. Students would come back to school behind and not make up work. - Taking effective in class notes: students were falling behind, not paying attention, and I hated giving notes. - Too much time spent on notes (15+ minutes) in class and going through guided practice in class practice (15+ minutes). I felt like class was dragging and I just wanted to have kids practice! - Not enough time for students to practice on their own and get individual help from the teacher in class. More practice time meant that I was falling behind on curriculum. - Students were not doing homework = no practice outside of class. My district requires us to give homework and I felt like a lot of it was busy work. Let's be real here. I wasn't very happy. I didn't feel like myself. What is flipped learning?Flipped learning is an inversion of traditional teaching practice. The traditional method of teaching is Lecture/Modeling in class, Guided practice and independent practice through homework. In flipped learning students watch their lectures at home and then work on labs, practice, activities and projects in class which are on the topics of their video lectures. There is no lecture in class, just students and teachers collaborating on the content. One-on-one time happens every single day. In class students and teachers focus on high level Bloom's and low level Bloom's happens at home through video lectures. Check out some links with some visuals and research here, here and here. Here is a high school in the suburbs of Detroit which is 100% flipped, every single class. They have amazing results. All of their video lectures are online as well! Jackpot! Post Flip: What I see in my classroom- More time to practice in class. 80-90% on a given day (unless we are testing or reviewing) is spent with the students practicing through practice problems, learning stations, labs, application activities, reading activities, projects... basically anything you can think of. - Ahead of schedule for curriculum- more time for more content and units. This is one of the best parts. I'm not rushing and leaving out cool content because I don't have time. - Better relationships with students (one-on-one time). I make a point to meet with every student every single day. Some of them hate it, some of them love it. But the one-on-one time helps me to get to know my kids. - Students are not bored in class listening to a lecture and I'm not bored giving a lecture. - Students are more independent and self sufficient. Students have to take their learning into their own hands and watch lectures at home. - I don’t lose my voice from lecturing all day. HECK YEAH - I feel like myself as a teacher Steps to Flip your ClassroomStep 1: Teach students and parents what flipping is. Explain to them the research behind it and why it works. Invest everyone! Step 2: Find out what technology is at home. If you are in a low SES community this can be more challenging, but very possible! Step 3: Write and record your lectures or find your own lectures to use. Here is a link to my YouTube channel. I record using Explain Everything on my iPad, however there are tons of other options such as PowerPoint. It's really up to you want you want to use. I recommend starting out with lectures that are already done and then when you're ready, make your own! Step 4: Give your video to your students 2+ before the day it is due. This gives students a few days to watch the video and take notes. Students should come to class with notes the day the flipped lesson is due Step 5: Review, collect notes and/or quiz on the lesson. This helps students have responsibility for the lesson. Step 6: Start applying the lecture to activities, labs, projects... anything. Pros and ConsSo did you read this and think "Wow this could be for me!"? Or did you think "Uh, this sounds so crazy"? Whatever you think, I hope you think about how you could fit this into your classroom. Before you jump in, here are some pros and cons of flipped learning. Pros: - No longer struggle with concepts outside of class (in homework) and come to class with nothing done - Students can skip parts of lesson or re-watch at student’s leisure - All applied learning in the classroom... no more in class notes! - Students have ownership of learning and come to class prepared - Teacher can explain and understand material better Cons: - You need to find more activities, projects and labs for the students. - Units and lessons must be planned ahead of time (more than a week) - All students with Internet access outside of school -“Buy In” by students and understanding of flipped learning -Creating or finding videos to use My Closing ThoughtsFlipped learning has changed me as a teacher and how I view the future of education. My students have more access to information and material. My class time is spent working with my students 100%. This has changed my teaching and I hope it change yours too.
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! |