Every Student, Evey Day!

A few years ago, I started reflecting at the end of the school day where my attention had been on that particular day.  I realized that some kids got more than their fair share of my time- as I corrected behaviors, re-taught, and signed passes.  Some students got more appropriate attention- the outgoing kids who were fun to talk to, who volunteered answers, who asked thought-provoking questions.  But in every class, there was a ghost student.  You know the one- he or she does the work, doesn't bother anybody, doesn't ask questions.  At the end of the year, you wonder how it is that you went a full year and don't really know this kid.  There were also several students who weren't quiet and shy, they just didn't want to engage with the teacher or the class.  Talking in front of other kids is risky; pre-teens don't want to be wrong in front of their friends.  Some don't want to chance being rejected, for example, by raising a hand, but not getting picked.  In some classes, there were days when I didn't personally interact with half the class!  It bothered me.

I made it my mission to make contact with every student in my class, every day.  With class sizes of 24 kids, give or take, you would think this would be easy.  And it is easy, but it is also extremely easy to overlook those quiet kids.  You, the teacher, have to realize those ghost kids are there and make the effort to engage them.  You have to somehow keep track of who you engage with.  I have come up with a few strategies that work for my class (6th grade science!)

1.  Use name sticks!

This seems like an elementary idea, but it works for  middle school too.  For each class, write every student's name on a popsicle stick.  Decorate an empty can for each class, and you're ready to go.  I pull out names almost every time that I ask a question, need a helper, or want a "volunteer".  3 - 4 names come out for the warm-up or bellringer question, a few more as we read, a couple to help pass out papers, a few to give examples of answers, connections, a few for the exit ticket, and at the end of class, I have called on every student for one thing or another. 

2.  Use all-class response cards.
I got this idea from reality tv.  In the four corners of a piece of paper, I wrote the answers A, B, C, D.  On another paper, I wrote True, False, Yes, No.  I copied these back-to-back, cut them out, hole punched them, and tied them together.  I made 30.  They are quick and easy to use with power point questions, verbal questions, questions in a book.  Make sure that you tell students not to reveal their answer until you say to!  This system gets everybody involved in answering, and you can see right away if most of the class is getting what you taught.

3.  Use a dice to pick volunteers. 
My lab desks are pushed together to make tables of four, and my tables are numbered.  Each table also has each seat numbered 1 - 4, so I can roll the dice to pick a particular seat after the table is chosen.  I love rolling the dice (I know, "number cube") to pick tables for various things.  Lining up for lunch, reporting out to the class, getting supplies.  The kids love being chosen, because then they get to roll the dice for the next selection.  It's such a small thing, but they love rolling the dice too.

4.  Confer with kids weekly; track it!
Our district is heavily into the workshop model, which encourages daily conferring with the students.  Conferring looks like different things to different teachers, but what it boils down to is talking to kids about what they know.  You can print off a spreadsheet with each student's name, and write the date in a box each time you talk one-on-one with them about their learning.  If you do this weekly, you're doing better than me!  Meeting with each kid every two weeks is more doable for me right now, although ideally, I'd meet more.  I still have those high maintenance kids taking up more than their share of time, but this way, I can at least see when it's been a while since I've given personal attention to somebody.  I have a colleague that uses the free app Evernote to keep track of her conferring.  She loves it and is able to type in notes, take pictures, and all kinds of cool things with it.  I prefer the paper-pencil tracking, but Evernote is a great option for people who prefer technology.

5.  Pick helpers of the week.
I have on the left side of my white board each class listed with two helpers for the week chosen by randomly pulling out their sticks, of course.  I only fill out the calendar for as many kids as I have at a time, so if a new student moves in, they are added the next go-round.  You would think that middle schoolers wouldn't care so much about this, but they surprised me again by loving this idea.  They check the semester calendar all the time to find out when they are the weekly helper.  They are the ones who get to return things to the library, sharpen and keep track of my pencils (see my January 3, 2015 post!), take make-up work to the office, make emergency copies, and anything else special that pops up.  They really look forward to their week.  

 These ideas aren't earth shattering, but just having them in mind helps me make sure to involve every kid, every day.  There are still days when a kid walks out and I think, "Wow, I didn't even talk to him or her!"  But those days are fewer now than they were a few years ago, and that's progress.  
 

I Resolve to... My Attempts at Better Teaching

New Year's Teacher's Resolutions... we've all got them, whether we articulate them, write them down, or immortalize them in a blog. 


Sometimes our "resolutions" come from the admin, or are the action point take-away from a graduate class.  My resolutions are neither; they are simply things that I have mulled over and think I want to try to incorporate to be a better teacher.




1.  I resolve to begin class with time for students to review notes, re-read from the text, study flash cards, or converse with a neighbor about what we are studying.  I have been doing bellringers since the beginning of the year.  It's a battle I'm tired of losing.  The A+ kids do the bellringers, with no prompting, and that's why they have A+s.  Other students drag out the allotted 5 minutes with pencil sharpening, looking for the bellringer page, sitting in their seats doing nothing because they don't know or care to find answers, or engaging in general goofing off behavior.  I'm excited to try something different.  It will take modeling, consistency, and patience to get my 6th graders in the habit of doing the bellringer alternative, but I'm up for the challenge!




2.  I resolve to give my students time during class to interact with peers.  6th graders are mostly social creatures.  Even my quiet kids quietly like to talk to their friends when given the chance.  We all know the think-pair-share technique.  I forget to use it!  So I'm going to try to do better.  I have a game I use called "Talk a Mile a Minute."  It's similar to the $250,00 Pyramid game show, where you try to get a person to guess a word or phrase by describing the word.  I broke that out before Christmas, and the kids begged to play.  Why not give them more of what they like so that they will learn?




3.  I resolve to give students more choice in their assignments.  I know, this can be a pain.  Uniformity is so much easier than choice.  But I can manage to give them a choice every once in a while.  Crossword puzzle or draw a cartoon?  Design a poster or write a personified story?  I like having choices, so I need to offer different assignments from time to time.  Not every day, not every assignment, but I think I can manage once a unit!




4.  I resolve to explain, at least once per unit, how what students are learning relates to real life: a job, their health, the economy, whatever I can find in the news.  This is easier said than done with some units.  Studying cells?  Easy- we're all made of cells, and you can pull in lots of illnesses or diseases to make a connection.  Plate tectonics?  A bit more difficult if you live in the Midwest, but still doable.  There is the New Madrid seismic zone out there.  The differences between homogeneous and heterogeneous mixtures?  Harder, but you'll have to get past the hilarity of the word "homogeneous" first.  I am up for this challenge!




5.  I resolve not to lose my cool when students tell me they don't have a pencil 15 minutes after we have started class, and already done two writing activities.  I will bite the bullet and buy $20 worth of pencils before I go back to school, and mark them with duct tape flags.  I will have a bucket of ten sharpened pencils.  I will have another bucket for dull pencils to go into.  There will be no disruptive pencil sharpening as I teach my mini-lessons!  I will have my two daily helpers make sure all pencils are returned at the end of class, and they alone can sharpen the dull pencils.  I will win the war on pencillessness! 

That's the plan anyway!  And if I've learned anything in my 16 years of teaching, it's always have a plan.

To view a compilation of FREE teaching resources, check out this board on my Pinterest account!
https://www.pinterest.com/kaichar/middle-school-freebies/


~C.


UPDATE:  Three weeks into the new semester, I am happy to report that my new pencil-checking-out system has been a HUGE SUCCESS!  I started with a dozen pencils, and as of today, I still have...a dozen!  Not one lost or stolen!  The erasers are pretty much gone; one was broken and is now taped together; a kid almost took off with a pencil, but remembered to bring it back when he got to his next class.  It's these little successes that make my day!

The First Step in Any Race

The first thing you do in any race is taking that first step.  Whether you're lacing up for your first run, or waiting for the starting pistol at a marathon, the beginning looks the same- one step. 


And yet...It's so easy to get caught up in inertia.  Sitting at the computer, reading about others' successes instead of pursuing your own.  Hearing about somebody's accomplishments on the news, while your bucket list hasn't even made it onto paper.  Clicking likes and updating statuses, but not really doing anything.  My intention is to break up the inertia in my life.  It only takes one step- one force that isn't counterbalanced- to undo inertia. 


Today, I'm taking one step.  I can't accomplish a dream in one day, but I can do at least one thing toward it.  And I can do one thing tomorrow, and the next day.  Soon, my singular steps will have gotten me a mile closer to my dream.  This blog is my first step...the dream is beginning.