Teachers and Students Connect Online

An easy way for teachers, students, and parents to stay connected is through the teacher’s website. Teachers can post classroom information, homework assignments, school news; whatever the teacher wants parents and students to know. If a student is absent, that student can Read the rest of this entry »

I talk a lot about the value of music as a teaching strategy and, in most of my sessions, I discuss the effectiveness of music as a way to calm and focus students. A couple of teachers in my fall seminars offered the ideas outlined below for using music for classroom management. I would love to give credit to these teachers for their ideas, but they didn’t give their names with these great ideas.

One teacher explained that she taught her students the song, “What a Wonderful World,” by Louis Armstrong. One day, when everybody was wound up and excited, she started singing the song. The students stopped what they were doing and everyone joined in the singing. They loved the song, knew it well, and they were calmed.

An elementary aide taught her class “The Chicken Dance” during inside recess days. On a day when no one seemed to be listening during clean up time, she turned on “The Chicken Dance” and told the class they had until the end of the song to finish putting everything away. It worked so well that the dance became the song they played every time they had to clean up.

While the first idea supports my comments about the calming and focusing effects of appropriate music, the second strategy also illustrates the value of movement in the classroom. While the example comes from an elementary setting, giving students these little opportunities to move is essential to maintaining good order and discipline in the classroom.

One of the best ways to engage and motivate students is to apply learning to real-world situations or to associate the learning with something that students can identify with. The examples that follow have been used successfully in classrooms around the country and can be adapted for your subject and situation.

1. In social studies, history, or Government, hold a Party Convention to teach the principles of the democratic process. One teacher in Nebraska organizes a party convention with affiliation to any major party, and then breaks his class up into as many two or three student state delegations as possible. After appointing one student as “the candidate,” students research their state and attend the convention as delegates of their state.

1. Another social studies or history example is to reenact major events, such as the Battle of Bunker Hill, or the Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. As the teacher, you might dress up and set the stage before acting such things out yourself, or you might engage the class more deeply by including them in the process.

1. Math and science concepts lend themselves well to music. Put your students into groups and have them create a song or rap to help remember the concept being discussed. I’ve talked repeatedly about the value of music in remembering information and this strategy bears inclusion again here. Bringing students into the process and allowing them to use music they love motivates them to participate and remember. There are a variety of resources available on my website, but a new resource I discovered recently is http://mrduey.com. Another teacher tuning their love of music to the subjects they teach.

1. Teachers have been using animals like fish, reptiles, and amphibians in the classroom for years to teach students about life-cycle, habitat, and responsibility. The problem with this idea is that, over time, the process becomes more chore than treat for students. Another approach, and something that many communities offer, might be to have service animals brought in during specific days or times. These animals are specially trained for a variety of tasks and service organizations are always on the lookout for ways to help train these animals by offering them opportunities to interact with others. This is an especially good activity for involving students with special needs and can be adapted to a variety of subject areas.

1. Having a cook-off or using food examples is an excellent way for students to apply concepts like fractions, U.S to metric conversions, geometry. Teach fractions using a pizza or cake. Show how a sandwich is a square until you cut it in half and it becomes two triangles.

1. One life skills activity that reaches students can be applied to a variety of teaching moments. Give students an ‘entertainment budget’ and have them use their ‘money’ to purchase a new gaming system with games and extras. Make the budget small enough to be challenging. Many students have no concept of the skills involved in managing money, but they will apply critical thinking to the mathematics with this sort of challenge activity.

1. Hold a mock trial with lawyers, a judge, etc. to examine the judicial process, act out current or historical events, or to deter students from making poor life decision. Many high school criminal justice courses use this activity, sometimes including field trips to actual courtrooms, but the idea can be applied to a number of other courses and ideas as well.

Co-teaching Seminars This Week

Here in St. Louis (Clayton, actually). Checked in, shuttle driver took me to Whole foods – did groceries, going to polish my co-teaching presentation before bed. Tomorrow St. Louis, Tuesday: Springfield, MO, Wed: Kansas City, MO, Thurs: Minneapolis, MN, and Friday, FARGO!!!

Co-teaching Coaching Last Week

Last week I was working with Permian High School and Odessa High School in Odessa, TX. I love being in the classroom. Both high schools are making great gains in their co-teaching efforts. Not only did I get to work with some awesome teachers and administrators in Odessa, Texas, I attended a Permian High School Football ’send-off to the state championships’ bon-fire. I also attended an Odessa High Pep rally. They both made it to this past weekend championships in El Paso and they both won! Experiencing West Texas Football and West Texas friendly hospitality is truly delightful. The week flew by.

Movement is critical to enhancing a student’s educational experience! It keeps students alert and awake, increases the flow of blood to the brain, and creates a medium for memory associations.

Unfortunately, movement is often underutilized in the classroom. Why? There may be many reasons, including a lack of familiarity on the part of the teacher. Active educational activities, the idea that movement is ‘too disruptive’ for the students, and lack of time in a test-driven educational world are common challenges. To help overcome these and other obstacles, guest contributor Fritz Bell, includes 12 time efficient, easy-to-implement movement ideas that you can use in your classroom.

Many of the students in your class are Bodily-Kinesthetic learners.  They learn through their bodies and they need to move.  They wiggle and squirm.  The following ideas Read the rest of this entry »

Money Comics

Our students, even those as young as elementary age, are aware that our country’s economy is facing some important issues. The Federal Reserve is offering free comics to teachers (up to 35
copies per teacher) to help students understand economics, money and banking, and the importance of saving.

There are 12 different Read the rest of this entry »

Rochelle Middle School Teachers Working Hard to Engage Students

Today, I worked with two groups of teachers at Rochelle Middle School who are interested in learning more strategies to differentiate instruction and meet their students needs. We discussed behavior management strategies for working with groups and Four Corners activites, and quietly cueing kids to get on task or to receive Kudos for doing the right thing! We also discussed four powerful teaching tips, adaptation strategies for students reading below grade level, and … Read the rest of this entry »