Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Three Brain Based Strategies Every Teacher Should Use

I just came across a wonderful blog post titled "3 Brain Based Strategies Every Teacher Should Use." It is by an Arizona blogger/teacher named Karri over at "One Sassy Teacher". You can read her post here!



I liked it because it was SHORT, but informative! She includes a nice review of brain researcher and educator Susan Kovalik's ideas. She explains in simple language how human brains work and what separates humans from other mammals - our ability to access our cerebrum, or center of logic.

Karri then provides three implications for the classroom, with practical details. They are simple, but powerful!

      1. Create a welcoming and calm environment.
      2. Keep students out of their brain stem.
      3. Use the body-brain connection.

Perhaps you'd like to do more planning and reflecting with one of these topics? If so, please let me know. I would love to have a coaching conversation with you!

Terri

Friday, April 22, 2016

Re-engaging Students



Spring can sure be a tricky time of year. As the weather warms up, students are playing outside more after school and their weekends are full of activities. Many arrive to school tired. It's also testing season - ITBS, NWEA, FAST - yikes! Students are expected to sit for extended periods of time and work really hard in isolation. It's no wonder many teachers are looking for ways to re-engage their students.

I just came across a fantastic SHORT blog post by Pernille Ripp. You can read it HERE. Pernille is currently a middle school English teacher, but has taught 4th and 5th grades. She has written a few books on student engagement. You may also recognize her name as the creator of the Global Read Aloud.

Her blog post lists several easy things teachers can do to re-engage students. None of them are amazingly new ideas, for the list includes some oldies, but goodies such as changing locations or adding movement. But I had forgotten about the power of music to re-engage (or if needed, the opposite, calm an excited class!) It's simply a great refresher list. After you check it out, please let me know if you'd like to chat about incorporating any of the ideas in your classroom.
I'm happy to help out anyway I can!  
~Terri

Monday, March 7, 2016

Eight Minutes

I recently came across a neat, SHORT, blog post by Brian Sztabnik called "The 8 Minutes That Matter Most". Click HERE to read it! In it, Sztabnik reminds us of the importance of engaging students in a lesson right off the bat - these first 4 minutes matter most. He also reminds us of the importance of checking for understanding at the conclusion of a lesson - the next 4 minutes that matter most. Sztabnik then provided 8 easy, practical examples of how to do this, giving 4 ideas on how to begin a lesson and 4 ideas on how to end a lesson. 

START A LESSON:
1. You Tube: Hook students with short, appropriate You Tube videos! I know many teachers have collections of videos they already share with students. Does anyone have a great way to save or curate these? To share with teammates?

2. Good News: Sztabnik's description sounded like many morning classroom meetings I have seen. What a nice way to set a positive, "we are in this together" community feeling!

3. Cross Discipline: Sztabnik reminds us to incorporate movement, songs, and art whenever we can. The brain loves this!

4. Writing: Sztabnik suggests start by writing for 5 minutes, asking students to respond to an essential  question or a related prompt. Great review of previous learning or springboard for discussion!

WRAP UP A LESSON:
5. Level Up: Building on students' love of gaming and achieving levels, have students reflect where they are on proficiency standards. Are you at the Beginner Level or Heroic? Are you a Legend yet? Reflecting this way could be very motivating for some students!

6. Exit Tickets: Marzano and Wiggins & Tighe have been telling us about exit tickets for years! Sztabnik links us to more resources and examples if needed!

7. Social Media: I had not thought of this one before - ask students to compose a tweet or find an image that captures that day's learning!

8. Post - it Note: :Lots of teachers end a lesson by asking students to jot down something on a post-it note, place it on the board as they exit. Slight twist here, "One new thing I learned from someone else in class today is___". Start the next day's lesson with a summary or review of ideas shared!

Perhaps some of these ideas are new to you, and others are refreshers. All can be done in just a few minutes! If you would like to have a planning conversation about incorporating any of these things in your classroom, please let me know!

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

11 Rules For Engaging Students' Brains

We have been talking a lot about student engagement at Bowman Woods Elementary. One recent staff meeting was dedicated to exploring what that meant, and this Wordle captured all the staff members ideas.

So now, we are left with our building goal of increasing student engagement in our classrooms. How do we start doing that? One way is to keep thinking about it, talking about, learning about it... from each other. I will post things on this blog that I hope will help facilitate that dialogue. Please feel free to leave comments and/or reach out in person to continue these conversations.

For today, I will leave you with this neat little poster, "My 11 Rules for Engaging Students' Brains". It's the kind of thing I would stick in my lesson plan book, to keep these ideas in the forefront of my mind as I created lesson plans. I think it is a nice summary of things already being done in our classrooms or things we can easily implement to increase engagement. It comes from the blog "Light Bulbs and Laughter". The poster is FREE on the gal's Teachers Pay Teachers site! Click HERE to go directly there!

I look forward to exploring these ideas, and others, in more depth with you!
~Terri

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Hook 'em with Humor

Looking for an easy, quick way to grab student's attention at the beginning of a lesson? Hook 'em with a funny photo! I like to have pictures, such as the ones below, projected on the screen as students walk in the room. It sets a positive tone for the class and piques the students' interest as to "What are we going to learn today?" I have found Pinterest to be a great way to search for and store my favorite funny finds.








Do you have any funny favorite images you use with students? 
~Terri

Friday, September 11, 2015

Off To A Great Start!

I used to sorta hate the beginning of the school year - going over expectations and routines, activities for getting to know each other's names, and all the beginning of the year assessments. UGH! I always wanted to fast forward a few weeks, when we'd be into the curriculum, and I could just TEACH. I wanted to get going, there are pacing guides, for goodness sakes!

But, watching you all at BW, I feel differently. I see how you are taking your time to explicitly teach procedures, and explaining not just what to do, but why. You know time invested now will save instructional time later. You are building stamina with students in everything from reading quietly, writing continually, and frankly, sitting up straight at a desk in a hard chair, too! You are getting to know your students, building relationships, and making connections. Is there anything more important thing than that?

I will start sharing tips and strategies in my next blog. Right now, I simply wanted to say kudos to you all. We're off to a great start at Bowman Woods.




Saturday, October 18, 2014

Emergency Sub Plans - Are You Ready?

It's coming...you know it is...flu season. UGH!



When you or your child gets sick in the middle of the night, the last thing you want to do is sit down at the computer to type sub plans. Even worse, driving to school in your pajamas at 5:00 am to put out materials for the next day! While it would be fantastic to always have our lesson plans and materials perfectly laid out for teaching the next day, the reality is we have meetings after school and other commitments. We often need our time in the morning before school, and our planning time, to put finishing touches on our day's plans. Creating an EMERGENCY SUB PLAN system will give you peace of mind.

Click HERE to read about this short blog post about one teacher's easy idea to create a SUB TUB using materials she did not get to in previous weeks. Don't want to use a tub? How about a binder instead?

Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers are full of FREE resources to start gathering as well. One of the biggest jackpots I have come across is right HERE. This blog has an entire day's worth of activities for each grade based on just one picture book! (except Grade 4 is "Coming Soon", sorry!)

If I can assist you in gathering meaningful activities to be used in your emergency sub plans, just let me know! I'd love to hear what other great resources you and your team have as well. Feel free to leave a comment below!