Task 5 instruction

I read an article, How to Keep Kids Engaged in Class on the edutopia website. It gave 10 suggestions. A couple of those suggestions I already implement such as picking popsicle sticks with their names on it from a cup (the fairness cup). I always say that I'm going to let God choose since I teach in a Catholic School. This is especially effective when I don't have enough questions for everyone to answer. I notice that the students don't seem as disappointed when I pick from the cup. To get my students' attentions, I state "Give me three" which means to STOP, LOOK, AND LISTEN. This has worked very well for me. I don't raise my voice, I just state it. If the class has become noisy, such as inside recess, I either ring my bell on my desk or I clap three times. I also once observed a teacher who did a "tone check." When the class was noisy, she would say "tone check" at the same level, and they'd repeat it. Then she'd lower her voice and say it again and they'd lower theirs to copy. She'd continue until she brought them back down to where she expected them to be. I think I may try that when we go back to school tomorrow.
I also read a blog about the 10 most ineffective things and the #1 was inconsistency. I know that is my number one problem. I use the green, yellow, red light system and what usually happens is that I end up reminding them of the rules over and over again until I "get tired of it" and then move them to yellow. They end up having several warnings instead of just one. I think this is probably my number one reason why misbehavior continues to happen. I do this with my own children as well and wonder why they don't listen to me!! Why do I feel like the bad guy when I have to punish them for their misbehaviors??????
I watched all four of the videos and there were a couple I really liked. I like the sign language one. We are doing Everybody Counts this year which is a program about people with disabilities. Each grade focuses on a different disability and my grade (second) has hearing disabilities. It would be so awesome to incorporate some sign language as classroom management. I had never thought of that. I also like the handshake question and answer because of the one-to-one. I think I need to do more of that with my students because so many articles say that having rapport is the best way to overcome discipline problems. Harry Wong (First Days of School) also says to stand at the door and greet the students. I think I need to do this more often if not every day. If you haven't read Dr. Wong's book or watched the videos (they will have them at the steely library once I return them!) you need to!!
As far as my inquiry plan, I'm still not quite sure where to put my energy. Maybe improving consistency. Keeping voice level down, especially while in groups, is something my principal wants me to focus on and is paying particular attention to in my classroom. Feel free to share your thoughts when you read my blog about what you think I should do. Sometimes I feel like I'm too close to the forest to see through the trees.

Task 4 Domains of Professional Practice

The domain I have chosen to focus on is #2--classroom environment. I chose this in response to my teacher evaluation at the end of last year. I don't mind sharing that my principal thinks I'm too loud. I speak too loud, so my students speak loudly (most of the time.) In fact, she said that this is my probationary year for "voice control." Other teachers tell me not to worry about it too much, they don't notice my room to be any different than anyone else's. However, if that is something I'm going to be evaluated on more strongly, it is something I need to improve if I want to keep my job! She also said that my classroom is chaotic. I think that is just a normal byproduct of living with 7 children, four cats, fish, and a turtle. I can tolerate a little chaos as long as there is learning going on. For example, she came to my room to observe once. I planned a pair activity with three centers using area, volume, and perimeter with third graders. With 24 students, despite the fact that the students were highly engaged and working hard, she said it was too loud and she couldn't wait to get out of the room because it gave her a headache. She said that many students need it quiet to think and that the noise level was detrimental to their learning. It took about 40 minutes to rotate to the three centers and she felt that they were out of their seats too long which contributed to the chaos. I only had two rules--be safe and be respectful--which was probably too broad for third graders despite all the time I took at the beginning of the year to discuss with them what positives and negative behaviors would fall into those categories.
I definitely feel that respect and rapport if what I'm most comfortable with. My students already know that I love them. I often tell them, "I love you but I don't like it when you (shout out answers, kick others, etc.)

I spent a great deal of time over the summer reading Harry Wong's book First Days of School as well as watching the videos to develop better rules and procedures. I spent the first week of school teaching and modeling those procedures. I review them when I see that the students are getting lax. I introduce procedures and model for new activities as they come about in my planning.

I think that the one that most closely impacts instruction is Establishing a Culture for Learning. I really struggle with motivating students to do their best work and take pride in a job well done. Personally, I think this a common societal problem--work ethic. Getting them to see the importance of what their learning is difficult for me. I can tell them that they need to know this to be able to do their work in third grade but that has not proven to be very motivational! This is where I would like to focus on in this portion of the class.

My question--How do you get kids to value learning and hard work?


My classroom--this year I only have 18 students (a plus!) I just had a smartboard installed so I have a carpet in front of the smartboard which is smack dab in the middle of my dry erase board in the front of the room. I have two small tables in the back of the room that I can pull together for my advanced reading group and pull apart for my smaller reading groups. I have a reading corner with all my books that they can either take to their seats, sit at the tables, or pull a chair over. The chairs are very light weight so easily moveable for all sorts of activities. My desk is in the back corner facing my students. There's also two large areas of open space for them to do group work. I had the desks in a U shape around the carpet but I had to move the students on the right side of the U to face forward in two sets of three because they couldn't handle the distractions and need to face the board. They each sit next to a "reading buddy" that they ask first for assistance, and then me if neither know the answer. This has really helped me to focus on helping those that genuinely need my help rather than be interupted by questions that a friend could answer. I reward 100's with an M&M. If they "stay on green" all day, they get a sticker for their behavior card. If they get all green days (kept track of in their student planner), they get Hubba Bubba bubble gum. After 20 behavior stickers, they turn in their card for a trip to the treasure chest.