Summer 2015
We thought summer was...
... and ran it through www.worditout.com. This is our "word cloud."
Dream to Reality:
What will we say about
the upcoming school year? Think five more words. When students think of the
upcoming school year, what will they say?
Thinking about the
upcoming year, consider those first few days. I am considering those 144
slides. Honestly, you know I love going through that, but I wonder if I am
doing that for me, or for us???
Let's retink those first
few PD days when we come back and the students are not here yet. Let's think of
what would make that time valuable, memorable and even inspiring. What would
that look like for us?
We should be getting a
district wide agenda from Central Office shortly.
Let's see what we can do with that time!
Catch up with each other
Welcome the new staff
Plan the Back to School Night
Plan our first days of class
Set up rooms
Mandatory Meetings
Building Time
Directions:
I would like to start
this year off differently than my past years. Feedback, input and participation
from any and all is welcome, even expected. Share with me, please. Regardless
we will NOT attempt to cover everything during our "back to school"
meetings. We are NOT going to try and get through 144 slides.
So, here is the
expectation for Day 1. We all don't need to use the exact same formats,
activities and handouts but some themes will stand out as important for creating
a culture of purpose and intent. We will rehearse this during our PD time,
Monday or Tuesday.
In classes, on Day 1, I
have submitted a lesson plan. It begins building wide high expectations through
routines, establishes teachers as masters of the classrooms, makes students
feel safe, valued and important, and allows enough interpretation for teacher
personalization and individualization.
First impressions are lasting
impressions:
Lesson Plan-School Day 1: Outside the box (We might even do it ourselves!)
SWBAT - Connect with others, share expectations for
school, class and leaving wanting to return tomorrow.
TWBAT - Connect and build relationships, classroom
norms and procedures using activities.
Minutes: When the bell rings, begin talking as soon
as possible. Have a seating chart on the board, for them to find their seats (I
can help with the graphics if necessary) and the student survey to begin
working on directly.
5-10 Go bell to bell with engaging activities,
stories, your vision and perspective on Middle School, success and hints.
10-15 Consider your best Educational Adventure or
lesson or interesting thing for your class. Time here for embellishment. MOBIUS
strip, Mind Puzzlers, Logic Questions, etc.
5-10 Hand out your Syllabus to collect Friday. An actual syllabus sample from my classroom Not
all components will apply but this actual example is where we will begin. To
practice handing out papers, develop a procedure to hand out the papers in your
room.
5-10 Reduce and limit lecture Procedures &
Rules to Emergency and Classroom Attention Getting Mechanism
Build a 60 - 90
second break in the MIDDLE of class. Use this time to let kids talk about
their favorite meal at McDs. Then regain their attention using the mechanism
you favor and continue working.
5-10 Hand out or ask the questions from a Student Interest Survey like this one or of your own with
Names, Numbers, Schedules and on the back their EXPECTED GRADES IN THOSE CLASSES. Dictate this last portion without having the chart complete.
5-10 Learning Styles Sample you could use Here is a sample I like. We probably all don't
need to do the same one, nor the monster 50 question one we tried last year.
Use this as a guide but DO COMPLETE A LEARNING STYLE SHEET DAY 1 / 2)
LAST 5 minutes - Two truths and a lie to the bottom of the
student interest sheet- These will be read by you whenever there are a few
moments of time, like right before the bell or ???
LAST 2 minutes - THIS IS IMPORTANT: Begin talking as soon as
the bell rings at the beginning AND begin talking a minute or two before the
dismissal bell rings. When the bell tings you will be the ones that dismiss the students, not the bell. If
the bell catches you off guard, have them stop, halt and share something
important, like ask them an exit survey question or two to summarize the lesson
and we don’t leave till we get it...
In fishing, timing is everything
Mid-day trout fishing for rainbows in this Colorado
stream , while waiting for the hatch, did not work.
Once the sun went down and shade hit the water,
things began to pick up.
In the heat of the day, fishing was not going to
work. When things were right, it happened.
What about our efforts?
DAY #2, is Day #1, continued...
Day #2 of school: Friday - (Think outside the box with this approach!)
SWBAT: Continue to articulate the difference between
rules and procedures.
Tasks: Complete unfinished work from Day 1: Learning
Styles, Interest Survey, Get-to-Know-You activities, Mind Benders, Introduce Course
Pre-Test for possibility Monday/Tuesday. Gather student work for Binder Team
meeting Monday.
TWBAT: Continue building a safe environment where risk,
trying till they fail and effort are endorsed and encouraged. This day could
include class discussions on topics below, conclude Learning Styles survey and
collection of Syllabus and other important papers from Day #1. Again, begin
speaking as soon as bell stops and right before or after it rings. (15 seconds
is maximum to keep talking)
Procedures to review
Emergency Procedures and
anything not yet addressed.
Fire, Lock down, Intruder,
Tornado, Earthquake, Medical, etc.
Allow those leaving a room to exit before entering
Allow those leaving a room to exit before entering
Not prepared for class –
borrowing a pencil, paper or other materials
Absentee Procedures
Teacher out- Sub
expectations and Student Folders in the room
Student out – Make up
work, yesterday’s assignment - on the Weekly SWBAT Board
Teacher mistakes
Student mistakes (no dark
sarcasm!)
PBiS
Asking questions, manners,
making people feel comfortable and interrupting each other.
Intercom/visitors and
other interruptions
Continue C.I.T.E. Learning Style
or another Learning style assessment. This may take a day or two. I would like
to see these results on all your students during our Binder time on Monday.
Assignment: Collect, record and tally Syllabus,
Documents/Verifications/AUP/Paperwork, etc. from Students.
Possible Resources
At Monday's Binder Team Meetings we will examine the student work completed so far. You may find or choose other documents but ensure they address similar concerns. Pintrest, Internet, Teachers pay Teachers, peers in our building, etc.
Worditout.com will turn any sample into a word cloud, like this blog post.
Copy and Paste, Download, Save and Post.
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