Sep

1

School starts next week so it’s time to dust off my Web 2.0 tool kit.

Filed Under "At-risk" students, Behaviour Management, Blogging in and out of the Classroom, Computers In The Classroom, Engaging Assignments and Activities for Students, Learning Strategies, Reading, Special Education, Web 2.0 tools and technologies, motivating students, underachieving students | 1 Comment

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School starts next week, and it’s time to dust off my tool kit I use to engage my reluctant and struggling readers and writers. I need to remind myself that there are lots of reasons why my students are reluctant to read and write- learning disabilities, competition from other activities, lack of interest, school not valued. Some of my students have told me they don’t read and write outside of school. Of course they do. They just don’t realize it. I have to make them aware that they read and write outside of school everyday. I need to help my students make a paradigm shift and so they can realize when they text message, email, surf the net or are on YouTube they are reading and writing all the time. My students are very comfortable online. they spend hours and hours on line. I try to use that to my advantage when trying to engage my more struggling and reluctant students.

Good pedagogy states that I should start where our students are. Where are my students? The BBC reported recently that today the average kid spends 44.5 hours a week on-line. Imagine. I can hardly believe that, but when I asked my students whether they thought the statistic was accurate they seemed to think it was pretty accurate.
given that my students practically live online, I decided to build a Web 2.0 tool kit to use in class.

I’m going to share with you a slide show I used at a presentation last year to introduce the Web 2.0 tools I use and why I use them. I also give an example of how I used them. Hope you find the slide show useful.

View more presentations from Elona Hartjes.

Jul

23

The world wide web may be detrimental to students in a way that you might not have thought of.

Filed Under "At-risk" students, Behaviour Management, Blogging in and out of the Classroom, Computers In The Classroom, Digital toys, Engaging Assignments and Activities for Students, motivating students, underachieving students | 2 Comments

It just dawned on me recently that the internet enables students to spoil themselves. This is definitely not a good thing. I know my contention sounds weird, but let me explain. More and more students are acting like over indulged children. They feel like doing what they want to do and when they want to do it.  When I talk to parents about this attitude,they seem baffled by it too. They see a similar attitude at home despite trying their best to combat it. What’s going on?

What’s going on? Here’s my theory. John Dewey (1938) maintained

The effect of over-indulging a child is a continuous one. It sets up an attitude which operates as an automatic demand that persons or objects cater to his desires and caprice in the future. It makes him seek the kind of situation that will enable him to do what he feels like doing at the time, It renders him adverse to and comparatively incompetent in situations which require effort and perseverance in overcoming obstacles

I think that the internet enables students to choose what they want to do when they want to do it. That is one of the Internet’s greatest strengths- differentiation to the nth degree. If students  go to a site that does not engage them  immediately, in a nanosecond they can escape boredom with a click of a mouse. Over time, this expectation of being able to do what   when they want transfers to other aspects of their lives- my classroom for instance. So when I’m teaching something to my students, and they aren’t the least bit interested in that topic, they would like to be able to “click” me away and go to YouTube or FaceBook or wherever. But, they can’t. They are stuck in my site classroom.

Success in life depends on, among other things, perseverance in over coming obstacles.   Even though students  might not like what I’m teaching them because it is part of the curriculum I have to teach it (I might like it either, but that’s a topic for another time) , and they are expected to learn it if they want to earn that credit toward graduation.   My class might be an obstacle preventing them from doing what they want when they want to. I don’t want to think of my class as an obstacle my students have to overcome, but you get the idea.  The good thing about students not being interested in my class is that they get the opportunity to practice overcoming the obstacle of not being engaged by my class. This requires repeated effort and provides  an opportunity to develop the life skill of perseverance. They need my credit to graduate therefore they have to stick it out even if they don’t like it. I’m sure the 21st century will test their perseverance many times as adults.

School is more than about learning content, it’s also about learning attitudes.  The fact that the internet enables students to over indulge themselves by letting them control what they want to do whenever they want to do it may not be a good thing.  That expectation of being able to control what you want do to whenever you want to do it may become problematic for some students in their adult lives. Life isn’t all about “me”.

OK, so that’s my theory.  What do you think?   How can we ameliorate the negative effect of this over indulgence?

Jul

22

Most popular blog about asking students questions on first day of school to help build relationships

Filed Under Learning Strategies, Special Education, The way I see it, maintaining a safe, motivating students, positive climate | 6 Comments

I have found that developing relationships with students facilitates their learning. I start building relationships with my students on the first day of class.I would like to share with you one of my most popular posts on developing relationships with students.

Nine questions I ask my student on the first day of school.

You’ve probably heard that expression that goes something like “you only get one chance to make a good first impression”. The first impression, that’s what concerns me about the first day of school. I want, no make that I need my students’ first impression of me and my classroom to be a positive one because I know that if for some reason things don’t get off to a good start it’s going to be an uphill battle for a long time.
As a Special Education teacher, I teach students who need extra support in some way or another to help them be as successful as they can be. Some of my students are so disconnected from teachers and school that they are at-risk of failing classes and even dropping out all together. I certainly don’t want that to happen ,so I need to engage these kids right from the first bell.

What do I do to try to make a good impression on the first day? You know part of me thinks it’s amazing that I’m even talking about the teacher making a good first impression. That part of me is thinking isn’t making a good impression something the student needs to be concerned with? The other part of me realizes that of course times have changed since the days back when, and I know from experience that it is important to set the right tone on the first day. I’ve had kids come and tell me they hate their teachers after just one class. There’s that first impression. We all do it. We make our first impression within seconds of meeting someone. Well maybe it’s longer than a few seconds. Don’t quote me on that one. I do remember reading some statistic about the length of time it takes us to make a first impression , but I’ve forgotten exactly how long that was but was an astonishing short amount of time. Maybe someone can remind me.

Now my challenge is that the students who come to my math class on the first day are specifically placed in my class because they haven’t enjoyed very much success in math thus far. Most of them come hating math and hating my class because , as so many of them keep telling me , it’s a class for losers. So you can appreciate why I’m a bit concerned about making a positive impression on the first day. If they already hate math, and if if they already hate the idea of coming to my class because they perceive it as a class for losers , if they decide to hate me too how much am I going to be able to teach them? How much are they going to be able to learn?

So, what do I do the first day of class. Well, for one thing I want them to leave that first class respecting me. How do I do that? Demonstrating competence never hurts. So I’ll start by be organized. Me, being organized is so crucial on the first day because the first day of school is so confusing for my students, especially the grade nines who are new to the school. Oh sure, they have been to orientation activities but still their heads will be spinning. Since they probably won’t be organized, I’ll have to be organized for them. I’ll have extra supplies for them to use. I’ll have an outline on the board of what we are going to be doing for that class, and I’ll greet them at the door and welcome them and introduce myself. That sets the stage.

One of things I ‘ll do that first class is get to know my students better by having them answer nine questions about themselves. I tell them that I would really appreciate it if they could answer some questions about themselves because their answers will help me plan the lessons and the activities we’ll do in class. I really do use their answers. The questions are

1. When have you felt particularly successful in school?

2. When have you been the most proud of learning something?

3. What is the easiest part of school?

I ask these questions first because I want the first thing they write for me to be about something positive. I want them to remember that they have been successful at something in the past because I want them to be open to being successful in the future in my class. Remember these kids think of themselves as “losers’. I want them to remember they have been winners.

Then I go on to ask about challenges they have at school because the sooner I know about the challenges, the sooner I can teach kids strategies and give them support so that they can help themselves cope with whatever. So I ask

4. What is the hardest part of school?

Next, I get subject specific. When I teach a math class, I ask about math. When I teach a literacy class, I ask about reading and writing. so because I’m teaching math the questions are

5. What do you like about math?

6. When is math easy or fun for you?

7. When is math difficult for you?

Believe me, the kids like having the opportunity to tell me what they like and don’t like about the subject.

Then, I go on to ask the following questions. I want my students to realize that we are a team. We each have our part to do in the learning that goes on in class. I need to know what I can do to help my students be more successful, and my students need to know what they can do to help themselves be more successful. These questions focus on the team aspect of the student/teacher relationship , and I discuss this with them.

8. What three things can I as the teacher do to help you become more successful as a student in this class?
9. What three things can you do as a student to help yourself be more successful this year?

Usually I get good cooperation. Sometimes, not often, a student will answer all questions in a negative way. That, in itself speaks volumes about that kid, and I respect his answers, and I don’t ask him to change them to positive ones. At the end of the semester, I’lll have the kids answer these questions again, and we’ll discuss the second set of answers vis-a-vis the first set of answers.

After completing this activity, I’ll tell my students that since they are in grade nine, by now, they are experts at knowing what makes a classroom work so that it is respectful and learning can go on. Given this, I want us to come up with some rules for the classroom that are stated in a positive way. For example, “come to class on time” and not “don’t be late for class”. Once we have decided on the rules for the classroom , we’ll create posters and post them around the room to remind us of what we need to do. The posters in the classroom are like the signs along the highway. They tell us what the appropriate thing to do is. In my last post , I talked about my theory about rules for the classroom. I don’t want to repeat myself here.

I just want to say in closing that I hope by the end of the first class the students realize the following:

1. The students and I are a team

2. They have their job to do

3. I have my job to do

4. Certain behaviours are conducive to learning and these are to be encouraged

5. Certain behavior in the classroom are not conducive to learning and these are to be discouraged

6. Their input is valued

At least the way I see it.

At this point I’d like to thank Mathew, Sarah, Tracy, Emily, Peggy, and Ron for their insightful comments about my last post Nine things my students taught me about classroom management and teaching. Please keep those comments coming. It’s important to hear other points of view on a topic, not just mine. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me. I’m not always right. I’m open to other points of view. So please, don’t hesitate to make a comment. Discussion is healthy. I’d also like to thank three feet up and the podsafe music network for my theme music.

Jul

18

Most popular blog about classroom management

Filed Under "At-risk" students, Behaviour Management, SOS for Teachers, Special Education, motivating students, underachieving students | 3 Comments

I originally decided to take a break from blogging until September, but then I thought I can take a break from blogging and still share some of my most popular posts since August 2006 when I started writing Teachers at Risk.

This post is one of my most popular posts about classroom management. I first wrote it August 2007 and everyday since someone comes to my blog to read it. I read it from time to time to remind myself what works.

School is about to start again and of course I’m wondering what challenges I’ll be facing teaching the kids I do. I’m sure lots of other teachers are wondering what’s in store for them, too. I’ve been thinking about all that I have learned over the years about classroom management and teaching . Some of it I’ve learned the hard way believe me.

1. I’ve learned that students need me to be a teacher and not their friend.

Almost every year students complain to me about teachers trying to be their friend. They don’t want teachers to be their friends, but of course they do want teachers to be friendly and to treat them fairly and with respect. Kids want us to be the good adult role models they need in their lives. I work hard to make sure that they realize that although I’m friendly, I am not their friend. If kids think teachers are their friends, then when teachers have to do the tough things like call home because of something, the kids feel betrayed because they thought the teacher was a friend and friends don’t snitch on one another. Once a kid feels betrayed by their teacher , that’s it. Some kids will stop learning just to spite the teacher, and the teacher has lost the opportunity to be that positive adult influence kids need.
Over the years, I’ve had kids try to black mail me emotionally by saying that if I call home about some issue , they won’t be my friend. It’s that relational aggression thing. They are trying to bully me into not calling home or whatever I was going to do that they don’t like. That’s when I tell them that while I have a friendly teaching style, I’m not their friend. I’m their teacher. There’s a big difference. As their teacher, I have an obligation to let their parents know how things are going. I have an obligation to see that they learn as much as possible while in my class and out of respect for them , I have to call home. Kids understand that. They don’t like it, but they understand it.

2. I’ve learned that it’s better to catch students doing good rather than catching them misbehaving.

I’ve learned that students respond better when I catch them doing good and comment on it. I say things like oh, good, you’re on time for class, or you’re sitting in your seat with your work open or you’ve remembered your pencil etc. I make sure that my comments are authentic. Kids can detect it if I’m not.

I’ve also learned that I’m happier catching my students doing good instead of catching them misbehaving.

I ‘ve use different reward systems for kids who I catch being good. One I particularly like is giving kids Hartjes dollars. How does this work ? First, I designed a dollar bill using my name as part of the design and made lots of photocopies of it using green paper. Then whenever I catch my students doing good, I give them a Hartjes dollar and congratulated them for being on time, getting their work done or whatever and shake their hands. Students really liked getting their Hartjes dollars and put them in their wallets right next to their real dollars. What can kids buy with their Hartjes dollars? They can buy any of a number of things. I usually ask the class what they would like to buy. They make all kinds of suggestions, and we choose some appropriate ones like having free time to play dominoes, having free time to draw, not having to do a quiz , getting out of class three minutes early etc. We also set the price of these things. I’ve even been able to get some really cool things that kids like from local business like CDs, movie passes, movie rentals, etc . For these more valuable items, we’ll have an auction at the end of a month or a certain time period. The auction generates lots of excitement, as you can imagine.

I’ve shared the idea of Hartjes Dollars and catching kids being good with other teachers, and they’ve created their own dollars with their classes and have found that the idea worked with their students too . It seems to work with all ages from grades three to grade twelve.

I also really like using stickers to motivate kids. My students will be more likely to hand in their work if I put stickers on them. I go to my local dollar type store and stock up on stickers that appeal to my students- even my grade 12 students like stickers. I’ve noticed it’s a bit harder to find stickers that appeal to boys. I’ve used racing car stickers , motorcycle stickers , Halloween type stickers with skulls and guitar stickers for them but they are harder to find so my advice is if you see any of these stock up. I’ve even used heart stickers on their work, come to think of it. I put the bigger stickers on the level 3 and 4 work so that the kids will continue to do a good job. It’s amazing to see the great big 18 year old guys comparing the size of their car stickers or looking at my collection of car stickers to see which one they would like next. It adds an element of fun to the class and a bit of harmless competition. Sometimes if I forget to put a sticker on someone’s work, he or she will come and tell me that I forgot the sticker and present their work for me to put a sticker on. Sometimes , my students even want to renegotiate the size of sticker I put on their work. Stickers are fun.

I’ve also learned that no matter how good a strategy is, it doesn’t work all the time. That’s why it’s important to have an assortment of strategies so that when one goes stale you can quickly pull out another one. Usually though, I don’t need any special strategies the few weeks before report cards go home. Gee, I wonder why?

Since I first wrote this, I’ve been trying more and more to get my students to be more self-motivated and not dependent upon extrinsic rewards.  Some students still love the extrinsic rewards though. It’s a struggle.

3. I’ve learned that class rules need to be developed by the class and the teacher and then posted on the wall for all to see

I tell my students on the first day that because they’ve been going to school for such a long time, they are experts at knowing what makes a classroom work or not work. So, I want them to help me come up with classroom rules so that our classroom can work. I get them to share their ideas ideas about what a classroom that works looks like and sounds like and what students need to be doing so that learning goes on. I make sure that school rules are included in the list. I try not to have too many rules , so we work at reducing the list to include only the really important rules. Also, I’ve learned that the classroom rules should be stated in a positive not negative way-, for example be on time, not don’t be late. Then, I get the kids to make posters listing the rules and then we put them up in the classroom in several spots. I usually ask for someone to volunteer to have his or her poster displayed. There are always volunteers.

Displaying the classroom rules in several places , usually on each wall somewhere, is really important. The posters are like signs along the highway that and tell drivers what to do while traveling on the road. The posters in the classroom remind kids what to do while in the classroom on their road to learning. If someone is having a problem behaving in class, I can catch their eye and just point to the poster and they get the message. We all need reminders.

4. I’ve learned that teachers are human beings first and teachers secondly.

I’ve learned not to take myself too seriously. I make mistakes like anyone else because like everyone else I’m human. I tell my students that teachers are human beings first and teachers second so once in a while they do make a mistake too, and it’s no big deal. Everyone makes mistakes. What’s important is that we learn form our mistakes.

5. I’ve learned to remember tomorrow is another day

Some days when nothing seems to go right, I try to remind myself tomorrow is another day, and I’ll have another chance to do it right.


6. I’ve learned to be prepared because my students might not be

I have a few containers with pencils, pens, markers, paper, erasers etc available for students to use when they forget their supplies. I refuse to get bent out of shape because they’ve come to class unprepared. That’s what at-risk students do. That’s why they are at-risk. I swear they arrive to class, not just my class by the way, like rock stars expecting their handlers to take care of every little detail. I used to get annoyed, but now I save my energy for more important things and simply ask them to return whatever they’ve borrowed to me at the end of class so I can lend it to someone else who needs it. This actually works most of the time. I do label things with masking tape. I put my name on everything. If my students think the school supplied it, they sometimes don’t care about returning things, but if they think it’s mine they will return it.

I’ve also learned to be prepared in yet another way. Sometimes the lesson I’ve planned for the day goes over like a lead balloon. Why? Who knows. It doesn’t take much to distract these kids . I keep emergency lesson plans on hand for just such a time. Usually my emergency lesson plans involve a review of skills that I have already taught. It can take the form of puzzles, word searchers, crossword puzzles for math as well as English. I have a nice thick file of activities that I have collected over the years. The internet is a wonderful source . Just google whatever you are looking for and you will have a good choice. I personally like edhelper.com. It’s just gotten better and better over the years and the activities from there have saved my sanity on many occasions.

7. I’ve learned to call home when things are going well

Calling home to talk to parents about their kids when their kids are doing well is very important. It just takes a few moments and makes all the difference in the world. You don’t have to do the entire class at once. Spread the calls out over a week. Of course my at-risk classes usually have less than 15 students in them so calling home doesn’t take forever. Parents who get these calls are usually delighted, and the kids are surprised that I’ve called home telling their parents that they did something good. They’re used to the opposite. Since I’m catching my students being good, it isn’t hard to find something good to share with their parents. Calling home with good news buys all kinds of goodwill because it tells parents that you care about their kid. Parents of at-risk kids need good news.
8. I’ve learned to ask for help when I need it

If I’m having serious problems with a student in my class, I’ll go and talk to his guidance counselor, his vice-principal and his other teachers to see if they know something that can help me reach this kid or if something happened at home that the kid is having problems dealing with. Then I’ll call home. I used to call home first, but then a few times something had happened and the parent told the school but the message hadn’t got to me yet. The parent was annoyed, and I felt stupid so now for serious problems I ask at school first and then call home.

9. I’ve learned that my students have different learning styles and different multiple intelligences and this is important to keep in mind when I’m planning my lessons.

If I take into account the fact that my students have different learning styles and different multiple intelligences and plan my lessons accordingly, I will have more success engaging the kids. It’s quite easy to determine what a student’s learning style and multiple intelligences are through different inventories. For example, last semester I determined that the kids in my math class were strong visual learners and very weak auditory learners so there was little point in me standing up at the front of the class telling them what they needed to learn and what I wanted them to do because they weren’t going to get it. So I used a lot of activities that involved graphic organizers and that worked. It pays off big time for a teacher to know what strategies work for each of the learning styles and each of the multiple intelligences. Kids learn better if a teachers teaching style and their learning style is the same. Kids who complain about teachers not teaching them are often really complaining about a clash between the teacher’s teaching style and the kids learning style. Teachers really need to teach to all the different learning styles using different multiple intelligences and allow students to demonstrate their learning using their strong multiple intelligences. That skill takes time to learn, but there lots of PD on learning styles, multiple intelligences and graphic organizers. There’s lots of information on line as well. I’m forever googling to see what’s new and works.

Now, I’ve shared nine things that I’ve learned about teaching. I invite you to share what you have learned. Please keep those comments and questions coming. I really appreciate them because they challenge me to think.

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