Sunday, November 16, 2014

Working Together vs Cheating; Noise Meters


Cougar Communication

Student and Teacher Conversations: Working Together vs Cheating
In one class conversation, a student lamented that collaboration is made difficult because teachers tell us to work by ourselves; otherwise it’s cheating. He continued, but in some classes it’s OK to work together and it’s not cheating.

Obviously, when I receive a cheating/copying referral, I often hear the same thing, “I was just checking an answer.” “I wasn’t sure how to do number 4, so I was looking at hers.” Sometimes these are probably excuses and at other times they’re probably legitimate.

Earlier in the year I had a conversation with a couple of teachers regarding students during formative assessments looking at what other students are doing or asking a classmate and then correcting their choices. To us it seemed like a beneficial practice (since it was ungraded) because when the teacher provides the correct answer, it simply reinforces what they’ve already learned just moments before.

What are your thoughts?

Just something to think about….

Technology for Your Classrooms: Noise Meters
Richard Byrne, who writes Free Technology for Teachers, shares two class noise meters that can be used to monitor classroom noise when students are working in your class. By using and projecting them, it might be a good way for students to monitor their own conversation levels.



Administrative Notes
Tomorrow is a flex day.

Next Tuesday will be the in-school performance of the talent show. The schedule will be 1-2-3-4 (no homeroom and the talent show will be during 1st period).

Positive Referral Link: http://goo.gl/s0KXRB

Work Order Request Form: http://goo.gl/H7hFwK



What I’m Reading



Quote of the Week:
Dylan Wiliam: “If students know where we’re headed, we’re more likely to reach the destination. As Yogi Berra says, ‘If you don't know where you are going,
you'll end up someplace else.’ But it’s a mistake to begin every lesson with a learning intention. Sometimes you don’t know, we engage students in rich lessons, but students learn different things…Sometimes it spoils the journey…Sometimes it’s just uninspired. Students aren’t motivated by content standards….Students are motivated by ideas, discussions, arguments. Skilled teachers take dry content standards and make them into lively discussions, debates and more.”

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Pre-Conferences and Thinglink

Excellence in Education: Pre-Conferencing
I’ve seen several teachers use “pre-conferencing” in a variety of ways. It’s simple and can be used to address behavioral or academic concerns. It’s a simple, yet effective, intervention.

It all begins with greeting students as they enter the classroom. It’s important that this is part of your normal routine so that the student doesn’t feel singled-out. Sometimes a handshake or another way of bringing the student close is helpful.

A couple of ways pre-conferencing can be used:
Offer a quick reflection of yesterday’s class and a reminder about what your behavioral expectations are. Example: Tyler, I appreciated your eagerness to participate in yesterday’s conversation. It’s important that we respect everyone’s opinion. Today we’re going to have another discussion, so be sure to respect everyone’s opinions. How are you going to make that happen?

For a student who struggles academically and has trouble completing class work, it may go something like this: Rachel, today we’re going to be working individually in our workbooks. I’m going to ask you to come to the board and show how you do question 5. I’ll check-in with you to make sure that you are good to go.

In both cases, the teacher establishes clear student expectations in a non-threatening manner; one that also shows that the teacher supports and believes in the students.

Ideas for the Classroom: Thinglink
A couple of years ago, I talked about Thinglink as a tool with seemingly countless uses. What is it?
A simple way of embellishing static images with pop-up descriptions or links
Tags can be added to Wikipedia, YouTube, SoundCloud, etc and countless other sites

How can it be used?
  • Create an interactive report
  • Interactive maps
  • Add text, audio, weblinks, video to Wordle
  • Portfolios
  • Flipping the classroom 

Some examples:
One I created:

Administrative Notes 

Positive Referral Link: http://goo.gl/s0KXRB

Work Order Request Form: http://goo.gl/H7hFwK



What I’m Reading

The Problem with Tests that Aren’t Standardized Honestly, I’m not sure what to make out of this Alfie Kohn piece in the Washington Post


The story of Lauren Hill, a dying basketball player and her first game Warning: you may not want to watch the video with anyone around (I cried).