So the carols were kinda successful. We did get to go caroling but of course the kids didn't get into it very much. I had 3 total kids who brought Santa hats... outta 92!!!! Most of the songs had nothing to do with geology because one person in the group ended up doing them at the alst minute. The best excuse came when I asked what Chevrolets (from the song that Jingle Rocks to the tune of Jingle bells that said "Oh what fun it is to ride in my brand new Chevrolet) had to do with rocks or geology and the boys told me it was cuz the commercials say "Chevy... like a rock!" I just grinned and praised them for being creative while on the inside I rolled my eyes.
Here is the best song BY FAR!!! (i'm typing exactly how they typed it)
Joy to the Earth (to the tune of Joy to the World)
Joy to the Earth! Its made of rocks,
And rocks are made of minerals,
They come in different sizes, and many,
Different colors, like yellow, red, brown, &
Black, like yellow, red, brown & black like
Yellow, red, brown, & black!
Joy to the Earth! Its full of gems,
Gems are shiny & hard they come in,
Many colors and many different,
Forms like ruby, sapphire, & diamonds,
Like ruby, sapphire, &diamonds, like ruby,
Sapphire and diamonds!
Joy to the Earth! Its filled with magma,
And magma helps make crystals. They,
Also form from minerals as water evaporated,
And they have many uses, and they have many uses, and they have
many uses!
Joy to the Earth! Its got lots of rocks,
They're mostly metamorphic. They're classified by composition,
And also by their texture, they're changed by pressure and,
Temperature, they're changed by pressure and temperature,
they're, Changed by pressure and temperature!
Ok, so you can tell that whoever typed it doesn't really understand how to put the words on the correct line, but if you just ignore all the punctuation errors and just sing it to the tune... then it actually ends up being a fairly informative song.
I had fun, they had fun and the other classes that we got to interrupt cracked a few smiles also... good times had by all!! -coach b!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Once upon a Crazy Christmas
I love Christmas time! Obviously you know I love Christmas carols. But I really do love all the hustle and bustle about it... to a point.... a planned point.
You may know that I work in retail on the weekends at a great company with wonderful people... and benefits. I love that most guests of the store come in with lists and problems to solve. But then others come in with these crazy demands. They would prefer if we catered directly to them. We have a website that customers can shop from but they don't. We have a number that they can call so they don't have to drive all the way from Kalamazoo to find a tiny 5 dollar item that we are sold out of... but they don't. I haven't really started my Christmas shopping either but I do know that when I go to a store and they don't have something, I shouldn't get mad and throw a fit. Some advice from a woman in retail... if you go shopping, don't get feisty with the sales associates. Remember, its their Christmas time too!
This wouldn't be such a huge issue except that today I got to school with plans for my kids to learn their Geology carols and had a teacher tell me that all the science classes were being interrupted to have a Christmas party from the PTO. Well, I thought this was sarcastically fabulous because I already had plans. I tried to tell the parents in my room that my kids were going to learn the lyrics that each group had written and could have snacks and stuff during that time and then afterwards they could play their games, but one lady got so huffy that 2... yes 2 assistant principals came down telling me that the Christmas party was mandatory for everyone and I didn't have a choice. WHAT?!! Of course everything was better once I explained that they were having a party, but they were sharing lyrics at the same time.... but still. I felt like we were in pre-k and Susie Q had just tattled on me for calling her the B word... you know "baby." Besides... I should have said something about the admin not really telling us that our classes would be invaded by boisterous PTO moms until this morning... but I decided to not fight that battle.
Again, I am all for the hustle and bustle of this time of year, but just give me a heads up.... and moms should think about not being the type of class mom that isn't invited back. Meanwhile, D lunch teachers are having a true pot luck where NO one knows what anyone is bringing... so it will probably be a chocolate/candy sugar rush for the rest of the day!!! YEA!!!
haha... oh by golly, have a holly jolly... unplanned, whiny, crazy, geology carol filled, sugar high, too many moms in the room, all the APs visiting, totally not organized Christmas this year!!!!
-coach b!
You may know that I work in retail on the weekends at a great company with wonderful people... and benefits. I love that most guests of the store come in with lists and problems to solve. But then others come in with these crazy demands. They would prefer if we catered directly to them. We have a website that customers can shop from but they don't. We have a number that they can call so they don't have to drive all the way from Kalamazoo to find a tiny 5 dollar item that we are sold out of... but they don't. I haven't really started my Christmas shopping either but I do know that when I go to a store and they don't have something, I shouldn't get mad and throw a fit. Some advice from a woman in retail... if you go shopping, don't get feisty with the sales associates. Remember, its their Christmas time too!
This wouldn't be such a huge issue except that today I got to school with plans for my kids to learn their Geology carols and had a teacher tell me that all the science classes were being interrupted to have a Christmas party from the PTO. Well, I thought this was sarcastically fabulous because I already had plans. I tried to tell the parents in my room that my kids were going to learn the lyrics that each group had written and could have snacks and stuff during that time and then afterwards they could play their games, but one lady got so huffy that 2... yes 2 assistant principals came down telling me that the Christmas party was mandatory for everyone and I didn't have a choice. WHAT?!! Of course everything was better once I explained that they were having a party, but they were sharing lyrics at the same time.... but still. I felt like we were in pre-k and Susie Q had just tattled on me for calling her the B word... you know "baby." Besides... I should have said something about the admin not really telling us that our classes would be invaded by boisterous PTO moms until this morning... but I decided to not fight that battle.
Again, I am all for the hustle and bustle of this time of year, but just give me a heads up.... and moms should think about not being the type of class mom that isn't invited back. Meanwhile, D lunch teachers are having a true pot luck where NO one knows what anyone is bringing... so it will probably be a chocolate/candy sugar rush for the rest of the day!!! YEA!!!
haha... oh by golly, have a holly jolly... unplanned, whiny, crazy, geology carol filled, sugar high, too many moms in the room, all the APs visiting, totally not organized Christmas this year!!!!
-coach b!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
ROCKS Around the Christmas Tree
I had this thought the other day of a fun way to incorporate music (that everyone knows and can sing) into the classroom. We are now learning about geology and I am having my students change the lyrics of common Christmas carols to something about geology. Then, next week, the day before we get out for break, we are going to sing our geology carols to the other science classes... and anyone else that wants to know.
Why did I think of this? Well, geology (to me) is extremely boring... and Christmas music is my favorite... so combining them has to make it at least somewhat decent... right? Well, I don't know, but we will sooooon find out. My classes did seem excited about it though!
Geology ROCKS! -coach b!
Why did I think of this? Well, geology (to me) is extremely boring... and Christmas music is my favorite... so combining them has to make it at least somewhat decent... right? Well, I don't know, but we will sooooon find out. My classes did seem excited about it though!
Geology ROCKS! -coach b!
Friday, December 7, 2007
High School Dropouts
Today I shared with my classes these statistics about high school dropouts.
*Dropouts earn about $200,000 less than high school graduates.
*50 kids dropout every hour.
*Dropouts are 72% more likely to be unemployed.
*Our Texas state prison is host to 2/3 of state dropouts.
*90% of Texas' state prison inmates are dropouts at a cost of approximately $25,000 per year, per inmate.
*Dropouts make up nearly half of the head-of-households on welfare.
I didn't research these statistics. I received them from my training the other day and thought it would make a nice warm up. For each class but one we ended up taking the whole class to discuss them. I actually asked them 5 questions about the material and we kinda used that as our starting ground.
1. What is your first thought after reading this?
2. Why do you think the dropout rate is so large?
3. What do you think the lawmakers, school officials, state and city officials, and teachers can do to help reduce the numbers?
4. What can you as a student do to help yourself and your classmates graduate from high school?
5. Why do you think I shared these facts with you?
It was a very interesting conversation and I hope that I sparked at least one kid to understand that they have the power to make the decision to stay in school. I also told them a story about one of my friends from high school who dropped out senior year and decided to go back and then started doing the same things again and died in a car wreck almost half way through the second semester of his repeat senior year. The class went silent and some of those kids got the AH HA! look on their faces. Others talked about how getting involved helps and that if someone cares it helps. I also shared my mother's wisdom about making "wise choices. You can never go backwards, you can only go forwards."
I would like to say that it was a successful lesson/class discussion, but unfortunately my 7th period class.... my "awful" class.... couldn't get control of themselves and wouldn't be serious long enough for anyone to hear anyone elses ideas. I feel like they are the class that needs to know the most that someone cares and that they can do it and they won't even open up their minds to it. These are the students that I have a mission to reach... even if it is an impossible one.
*Dropouts earn about $200,000 less than high school graduates.
*50 kids dropout every hour.
*Dropouts are 72% more likely to be unemployed.
*Our Texas state prison is host to 2/3 of state dropouts.
*90% of Texas' state prison inmates are dropouts at a cost of approximately $25,000 per year, per inmate.
*Dropouts make up nearly half of the head-of-households on welfare.
I didn't research these statistics. I received them from my training the other day and thought it would make a nice warm up. For each class but one we ended up taking the whole class to discuss them. I actually asked them 5 questions about the material and we kinda used that as our starting ground.
1. What is your first thought after reading this?
2. Why do you think the dropout rate is so large?
3. What do you think the lawmakers, school officials, state and city officials, and teachers can do to help reduce the numbers?
4. What can you as a student do to help yourself and your classmates graduate from high school?
5. Why do you think I shared these facts with you?
It was a very interesting conversation and I hope that I sparked at least one kid to understand that they have the power to make the decision to stay in school. I also told them a story about one of my friends from high school who dropped out senior year and decided to go back and then started doing the same things again and died in a car wreck almost half way through the second semester of his repeat senior year. The class went silent and some of those kids got the AH HA! look on their faces. Others talked about how getting involved helps and that if someone cares it helps. I also shared my mother's wisdom about making "wise choices. You can never go backwards, you can only go forwards."
I would like to say that it was a successful lesson/class discussion, but unfortunately my 7th period class.... my "awful" class.... couldn't get control of themselves and wouldn't be serious long enough for anyone to hear anyone elses ideas. I feel like they are the class that needs to know the most that someone cares and that they can do it and they won't even open up their minds to it. These are the students that I have a mission to reach... even if it is an impossible one.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Emotional Paychecks
I had a talk with another coach today about how there are teachers who teach only for the summer vacation. She has 2 young kids and said that she would hate to find out someone important like her daughter's reading teacher only wanted to be a teacher for the free summers. This was discussed after we talked about how real teachers don't come to school for real paychecks but instead for what should be called emotional paychecks.
There is a girl on my basketball team. She is going through a really rough time. Her dad signed her up for basketball and now her parents are divorced. She feels like she can't do it without him and also hasn't seen him since the whole thing began. I think its been about 2 months from what I can tell. Her mom works a whole lot so she has to drop her off at 6:45 in the morning for 7:30 practice. The poor thing freezes out there. They don't have a lot of money so she is never adequately dressed for cold weather. Recently her attitude has changed at school and she has had a lot of emotional outbursts with other teachers and coaches.
She comes to me to talk and quiet down, but sometimes I feel like I just can't help her. I know mostly it is just that she is a needy kid who wants some attention. I tried to help her understand that her dad still loves her and its not her fault... which I know personally will take years to sink in. She wants to quit basketball sometimes because she feels like no one cares. She is someone who I would be worried about if she were to quit. Who would her friends be and what trouble would they be causing? I tried to help her understand that she has a talent with basketball and how great it would be to tell her dad all the cool things she had been doing on and with the team. I also explained that being at school is a lot like living a second life.... not to say that its not included in home life but that sometimes you have to put other things aside and focus on the task at hand. This was not easy to put in 7th grade terms and again, from personal experience I know its a hard thing to master.... I know I surely haven't yet.
The other day after coming late to practice and having a horrible attitude I suspended her from the game, but I sat down with her and explained all of these things over again. She cried the whole time because I guess no one really has ever talked to her like this. The other coach who was in and out of the office looked over and said the only reason you (basketball player) are even in here is because she (me) cares about you which pretty much caused the flood gates to open more. This of course brought tears to my eyes... which is not a difficult thing to do, but I was trying my hardest to push them back inside. Anyhow we talked for a while and I helped her figure out how to apologize to another coach. I also talked about putting her on probation... because I felt like this technique would give her a kick in the right direction. She agreed and said she would try hard.
This morning she came to the locker room early for practice as usual and handed me a Christmas themed bag. I know it was used previously. There was a fuzzy little bear inside. I know it was hers at one time. Instead of tissue paper there were 2 white copy papers crinkled like you would for real tissue paper. There was also a note. Inside she wrote it like a 12 year old would to a close friend. At the bottom of the note it read " I just want you to know something. I will do my best in basketball. Thank you."
That's not even the best part. The best part is that she smiled during practice and played harder than ever... just because she heard the words "I care about you."
So that is the story of how I received one of the greatest emotional paychecks of all times. And even though I need to pay for my rent, car and other various items... I am never going to forget that this is the reason I wanted to be a teacher. Not for the holidays. Not for the weekends. Definitely not for the pay.... but for the chance to touch a child in hopes that she will one day pass it on.
There is a girl on my basketball team. She is going through a really rough time. Her dad signed her up for basketball and now her parents are divorced. She feels like she can't do it without him and also hasn't seen him since the whole thing began. I think its been about 2 months from what I can tell. Her mom works a whole lot so she has to drop her off at 6:45 in the morning for 7:30 practice. The poor thing freezes out there. They don't have a lot of money so she is never adequately dressed for cold weather. Recently her attitude has changed at school and she has had a lot of emotional outbursts with other teachers and coaches.
She comes to me to talk and quiet down, but sometimes I feel like I just can't help her. I know mostly it is just that she is a needy kid who wants some attention. I tried to help her understand that her dad still loves her and its not her fault... which I know personally will take years to sink in. She wants to quit basketball sometimes because she feels like no one cares. She is someone who I would be worried about if she were to quit. Who would her friends be and what trouble would they be causing? I tried to help her understand that she has a talent with basketball and how great it would be to tell her dad all the cool things she had been doing on and with the team. I also explained that being at school is a lot like living a second life.... not to say that its not included in home life but that sometimes you have to put other things aside and focus on the task at hand. This was not easy to put in 7th grade terms and again, from personal experience I know its a hard thing to master.... I know I surely haven't yet.
The other day after coming late to practice and having a horrible attitude I suspended her from the game, but I sat down with her and explained all of these things over again. She cried the whole time because I guess no one really has ever talked to her like this. The other coach who was in and out of the office looked over and said the only reason you (basketball player) are even in here is because she (me) cares about you which pretty much caused the flood gates to open more. This of course brought tears to my eyes... which is not a difficult thing to do, but I was trying my hardest to push them back inside. Anyhow we talked for a while and I helped her figure out how to apologize to another coach. I also talked about putting her on probation... because I felt like this technique would give her a kick in the right direction. She agreed and said she would try hard.
This morning she came to the locker room early for practice as usual and handed me a Christmas themed bag. I know it was used previously. There was a fuzzy little bear inside. I know it was hers at one time. Instead of tissue paper there were 2 white copy papers crinkled like you would for real tissue paper. There was also a note. Inside she wrote it like a 12 year old would to a close friend. At the bottom of the note it read " I just want you to know something. I will do my best in basketball. Thank you."
That's not even the best part. The best part is that she smiled during practice and played harder than ever... just because she heard the words "I care about you."
So that is the story of how I received one of the greatest emotional paychecks of all times. And even though I need to pay for my rent, car and other various items... I am never going to forget that this is the reason I wanted to be a teacher. Not for the holidays. Not for the weekends. Definitely not for the pay.... but for the chance to touch a child in hopes that she will one day pass it on.
Physics Lab
Today was a TAKS day but was really a make up Physics day. We did a physics lab called "Physics is Phun." There are different stations and the students get to work in groups of 3-4 to play with simple machines, mirrors, lights, and all other things physics includes. I think everyone had a good time and got a lot of hands on information for how physics really is involved in our lives.
I don't know if the humor will come across in writing but the best part of today came in explaining the lab. I had all classes turn to a new page in their spirals and write the title (that I had written out on the board) "Physics is Phun."
One kid asked, "Do we have to misspell it like you did?"
I replied, "You have to spell it like I did."
Then I got a whole bunch of whiny WHY?'s to which I responded by writing in huge letters on the board.... "cuz its PHUNNY!"
Half the class smiled and the other half rolled their eyes. One girl who always rolls her eyes and sighs at things that are corny (as she calls them) shouted above everyone. "That ain't funny... with an F!"
I couldn't help but laugh a little.
I love being a teacher. -coach b!
I don't know if the humor will come across in writing but the best part of today came in explaining the lab. I had all classes turn to a new page in their spirals and write the title (that I had written out on the board) "Physics is Phun."
One kid asked, "Do we have to misspell it like you did?"
I replied, "You have to spell it like I did."
Then I got a whole bunch of whiny WHY?'s to which I responded by writing in huge letters on the board.... "cuz its PHUNNY!"
Half the class smiled and the other half rolled their eyes. One girl who always rolls her eyes and sighs at things that are corny (as she calls them) shouted above everyone. "That ain't funny... with an F!"
I couldn't help but laugh a little.
I love being a teacher. -coach b!
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Answers to Questioning
Today I had to go to an all day training because I am still in getting-my-certification mode. The first part was about mental health stigmas in school, which I found interesting, but repetitive (mainly because I was a psych major and I know way more about these mental health disorders than I ever wanted. Plus, this class today just scratched the surface.) The second part was about how to use effective questions while teaching and it really piqued my interest.
I had no idea how bad I was at using questions to help my students become higher level thinkers. Let me tell you, I'm awful. I have learned about the extended wait time 15-20 seconds and the Bloom's taxonomy.... but that is nothing compared to the world I saw today. Plus, the words "Bloom's taxonomy" give me mental images of taxidermy that incorporates flowers and I get side tracked.
Here's a few answers to questions that you may or may not be asking.
1. Sure, we all know about wait time, but did you know there are actually 2, yes 2 wait times? Well, there are and the second one comes after a student has answered a question. You should wait 3-5 seconds before moving on so that the class has time to process the answer. It seems that sometimes slowing down is the only way to speed up.
2. My mom and I have been in heated debates about the need for a lesson plan. I say they are a waste of time because I actually write them after the fact because I usually don't know enough about my subject matter until the night before. Therefore it is more of a lesson reflection than a plan. I realize this is mostly due to the fact that as a first year teacher who isn't a science guru I have to learn the lesson myself before I teach it to my students. This will pass in a few years I am sure. When I questioned our facilitator on how to plan questions that you would ask during your lesson, she told me to ask myself what I would want to know about the subject matter. "Well, DUH!!!!" I thought. This was a big light bulb moment for me because she's exactly right and not that this helps my mom's case any, but maybe not neccessarily writing a lesson plan but simply writing down some questions from low to high level thinking that would keep my lessons focused and educational. They would be questions that I want to know the answers to before even teaching the lessons and therefore would probably mean more to me while I am listening to students' comments during class.
3. Socratic questioning... never really paid attention to this before but it seems like it would be very helpful. It really does develop a whole lesson from engaging students all the way through elaboration and evaluation. You can use THINK to remember it.
T- Take a look at the task. Ask questions about all parts, elements and tasks to be done. Keep this going until all observations are discussed.
H- How about comparisons? Ask them to compare it to anything else they know. How is different from other things.Find relationships
I- Is the information organized? Make it organized with tables, charts, concept maps... pull it all together.
N- Now, do it right! Develop a plan for how to do accomplish the task. Ask students why their answer is right or wrong.
K- Know anything? Know how it applies. Ask if it can be applied to other lessons/tasks. Sum up what you have learned. Refer to main idea. Ask students to take a position on the issue if there is one.
This seems like a great technique to teach students to have them help assess their own learning.
4. A big issue that I struggle with is not knowing an answer. While I do know that I do not have to know, I sometimes don't want some of my AP students to know I do not know for fear that they really know that I don't know anything. Ok, sorry but I couldn't help writing an "I know you know I know" statement. That's what I really feel like though. You know!? Ok, I'll stop now. I've really gotten good at putting the question back on them with a "What do you think?" or "Why don't we look it up?" or plain ole "I'm not sure, I'll ask and get back to you."
5. Verbally process questions that arise when reading. Modeling how to ask a question and having questions can be beneficial for students who are nervous about asking or just don't feel comfortable doing so in a class setting. I never thought of this before today.
6. Did you know that if the question begins with WHY then it is a higher level thinking question? So from now on I'm going to try to do at least 1 "WHY" question per day so that I can open the door to a flood of possibilities.
7. Saved my favorite for last.... Question Cubes. You make an actual cube (out of card stock or whatever you like) and you put questions related to your subject matter on each side. We are essentially finished with our physics unit but I made one of these cubes today that I could use for next year while teaching how to solve the different word problems using the physics formulas we have learned. Let's pretend there is a problem up on the board. I think it would be really fun to have students come up and roll the cube and have to answer what it says. (Ok, so mine technically doesn't have an actual question on it, but you can probably see how it relates to higher level thinking and these ideas were all formed from questions but the cube is too small to write out the whole thing. I would surely prompt my students with what is expected of them.) This would also be reinforcing different learning styles as the students had to do the sometimes silly stunts that the cube states.
1. Draw a picture (of the word problem.)
2. Describe (what is happening in your own words.)
3. Action! (Act it out for us... this actually came from a jeopardy game we did for our test review. One of the topics was action and they had to act out the word for their team to guess. We wouldn't have to guess the problem because it would be in front of us, but I like this side of the cube because it adds the element of play to the lesson.)
4. Form a similar word problem. (Student would have to think of something else that you would use the same formula to solve.)
5. Give an example. (Student tells class how this relates to real life or talks about a personal experience dealing with the problem.)
6. Solve it. (Student would have to select the correct formula and plug in the given parts to solve the equation. The cool thing is that this doesn't have to happen last because it would be effective at any time during the exercise. Also, isn't solving the equation what you wanted to have them do anyway?)
I realize this whole 6 different tasks for one problem could become a time issue, so I have thought about switching out "Solve it" for "Find the formula" and then maybe just rolling once or twice before solving the problem.
Ok, that is enough. Today is the earliest I will go home since Thanksgiving. I really did learn a whole bunch though and look forward to using these strategies for the rest of the year. These are the kinds of trainings that should be done for new teachers not the boring stuff that they keep repeating over and over and over!!!
goodnight- coach b!
I had no idea how bad I was at using questions to help my students become higher level thinkers. Let me tell you, I'm awful. I have learned about the extended wait time 15-20 seconds and the Bloom's taxonomy.... but that is nothing compared to the world I saw today. Plus, the words "Bloom's taxonomy" give me mental images of taxidermy that incorporates flowers and I get side tracked.
Here's a few answers to questions that you may or may not be asking.
1. Sure, we all know about wait time, but did you know there are actually 2, yes 2 wait times? Well, there are and the second one comes after a student has answered a question. You should wait 3-5 seconds before moving on so that the class has time to process the answer. It seems that sometimes slowing down is the only way to speed up.
2. My mom and I have been in heated debates about the need for a lesson plan. I say they are a waste of time because I actually write them after the fact because I usually don't know enough about my subject matter until the night before. Therefore it is more of a lesson reflection than a plan. I realize this is mostly due to the fact that as a first year teacher who isn't a science guru I have to learn the lesson myself before I teach it to my students. This will pass in a few years I am sure. When I questioned our facilitator on how to plan questions that you would ask during your lesson, she told me to ask myself what I would want to know about the subject matter. "Well, DUH!!!!" I thought. This was a big light bulb moment for me because she's exactly right and not that this helps my mom's case any, but maybe not neccessarily writing a lesson plan but simply writing down some questions from low to high level thinking that would keep my lessons focused and educational. They would be questions that I want to know the answers to before even teaching the lessons and therefore would probably mean more to me while I am listening to students' comments during class.
3. Socratic questioning... never really paid attention to this before but it seems like it would be very helpful. It really does develop a whole lesson from engaging students all the way through elaboration and evaluation. You can use THINK to remember it.
T- Take a look at the task. Ask questions about all parts, elements and tasks to be done. Keep this going until all observations are discussed.
H- How about comparisons? Ask them to compare it to anything else they know. How is different from other things.Find relationships
I- Is the information organized? Make it organized with tables, charts, concept maps... pull it all together.
N- Now, do it right! Develop a plan for how to do accomplish the task. Ask students why their answer is right or wrong.
K- Know anything? Know how it applies. Ask if it can be applied to other lessons/tasks. Sum up what you have learned. Refer to main idea. Ask students to take a position on the issue if there is one.
This seems like a great technique to teach students to have them help assess their own learning.
4. A big issue that I struggle with is not knowing an answer. While I do know that I do not have to know, I sometimes don't want some of my AP students to know I do not know for fear that they really know that I don't know anything. Ok, sorry but I couldn't help writing an "I know you know I know" statement. That's what I really feel like though. You know!? Ok, I'll stop now. I've really gotten good at putting the question back on them with a "What do you think?" or "Why don't we look it up?" or plain ole "I'm not sure, I'll ask and get back to you."
5. Verbally process questions that arise when reading. Modeling how to ask a question and having questions can be beneficial for students who are nervous about asking or just don't feel comfortable doing so in a class setting. I never thought of this before today.
6. Did you know that if the question begins with WHY then it is a higher level thinking question? So from now on I'm going to try to do at least 1 "WHY" question per day so that I can open the door to a flood of possibilities.
7. Saved my favorite for last.... Question Cubes. You make an actual cube (out of card stock or whatever you like) and you put questions related to your subject matter on each side. We are essentially finished with our physics unit but I made one of these cubes today that I could use for next year while teaching how to solve the different word problems using the physics formulas we have learned. Let's pretend there is a problem up on the board. I think it would be really fun to have students come up and roll the cube and have to answer what it says. (Ok, so mine technically doesn't have an actual question on it, but you can probably see how it relates to higher level thinking and these ideas were all formed from questions but the cube is too small to write out the whole thing. I would surely prompt my students with what is expected of them.) This would also be reinforcing different learning styles as the students had to do the sometimes silly stunts that the cube states.
1. Draw a picture (of the word problem.)
2. Describe (what is happening in your own words.)
3. Action! (Act it out for us... this actually came from a jeopardy game we did for our test review. One of the topics was action and they had to act out the word for their team to guess. We wouldn't have to guess the problem because it would be in front of us, but I like this side of the cube because it adds the element of play to the lesson.)
4. Form a similar word problem. (Student would have to think of something else that you would use the same formula to solve.)
5. Give an example. (Student tells class how this relates to real life or talks about a personal experience dealing with the problem.)
6. Solve it. (Student would have to select the correct formula and plug in the given parts to solve the equation. The cool thing is that this doesn't have to happen last because it would be effective at any time during the exercise. Also, isn't solving the equation what you wanted to have them do anyway?)
I realize this whole 6 different tasks for one problem could become a time issue, so I have thought about switching out "Solve it" for "Find the formula" and then maybe just rolling once or twice before solving the problem.
Ok, that is enough. Today is the earliest I will go home since Thanksgiving. I really did learn a whole bunch though and look forward to using these strategies for the rest of the year. These are the kinds of trainings that should be done for new teachers not the boring stuff that they keep repeating over and over and over!!!
goodnight- coach b!
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