If I had a dollar for every time I heard ‘I lost my pencil. I don’t have an eraser.” I would, well I wouldn’t be blogging about it. This is just one of many ways that off task time takes away from instructional focus. Over the last several years I have experimented with a communal focus in terms of supplies and materials. My intent was to reduce the energy spent and ultimately time lost looking for basic working tools. I started by having containers that held pencils and containers that held erasers and they were placed on work areas. The idea was the students just had to get their book out and the writing tools would be there right in front of them. The students would just return it to the container where they borrowed it from. This produced immediate results in that as a group we seemed to be organized and ready to go sooner. This routine had to be taught and consistently applied. Of course students were allowed to use their own tools, but quick access was just an arm’s reach away.
As this plan evolved I had to figure out how to keep the pencils sharpened, rotation of old pencils out and new pencils and erasers in. Well, that ended being a great job for a team of students (student helpers). The current edition of this strategy is where I create complete tool kits (pencils, erasers, glue, scissors, rulers and highlighters) and each team is responsible for caring for their work materials. This shift in thinking from individual to communal supplies also assisted with students who have difficulty supplying their own tools, it eliminates the competition in having the most creative or expensive pencils or pens and puts the students on task earlier and for longer periods of time.
I am very interested in other suggestions around this topic. Please add your experiences.
Please turn to page 134 in your Mathematics text and complete questions 1 -5. Students comply with smiling faces, complete the work, take up the solutions and then move on. Next day when you revisit a topic, it almost seems like they had forgotten everything that had been done the previous day. This is not a rare occurrence in classrooms of all ages. Research clearly points out how important the role of emotion is in learning. One of the most critical tools for a teacher is the strategy of context. I always ask myself prior to developing a unit of study what would this concept or skill look like in the everyday life of my students. That helps me frame the context for the learning task.
When I am able to make connections to the everyday lives of my students and the focus of instruction in the classroom I find that the learning is more likely to be consolidated and accessed by the student in future related tasks. Here is an example of how I used context in February. I took my class to camp for 3 days. Prior to going to camp we had to look at what the total costs would be per person as well as for the group. The level of engagement was extremely high as they explored a real life task that required them to access prior mathematical knowledge. While at camp they took photographs and filmed a specific activity they took part in. When we returned to school we did a recount of our experience that was to be shared with their families. It was some of the best writing they had done all year and it allowed me to see a transfer of the skills we had been working on since September. There was no reluctance, no hesitation as the task was real for them.
I have been using the concept of the group collectively coming up with the behaviour and work standards they would like to live with for their time together as a team for over a decade. But on one fateful day in the winter of 2013 I was able to be a part of an experience that was a profound learning opportunity for me. Students have always enjoyed and valued being asked about the type of classroom they want to create. They have generated ideas, held dialogue on their and other’s ideas, compromised and come to an agreement in which they sign and live by. At that point the class moves forward and the journey begins.
This year we went through the same process I had for many years and came up with a wonderful classroom agreement that everyone was proud of. As always, about a month into the year I purposely broke the classroom agreement and needed to be held accountable for my actions just like everyone else who signed the agreement. That usually means that I have to go through the problem solving model we use, take ownership for my choices and deal with the appropriate consequences for my actions. Needless to say, there is never a shortage of students who are willing to give up their free time to monitor their teacher as he sits in a detention. Thus the lesson passed on is that this agreement is truly for everyone in the room and not just for students. What made this year different was how my students reacted to it. They were completely silent and unsure of what to say or do when I put myself in the solution zone. A follow-up debrief revealed that teachers have always said that they were part of the agreement, but usually just said sorry when they did something wrong and moved on. They had never been held accountable as the students are. This experience provided me with me a lot to think about!
My one grade 8 class is challenging in a couple of ways – very chatty, various social dynamics at play and perhaps most importantly, a disparaging degree of ability and motivation. Up to now, I have always ended up spending most of my energy on those students needing the most help and attention. As I’ve discussed several times in my blogs, I have used this approach ultimately as a means of classroom management. This may not sound politically correct, but for some time now, I have always felt guilty that my higher achieving students tend to come second place in terms of my priorities. That is not to say that they are totally ignored but I do tend to pay closer attention to them once the others are settled. In this particular class, there are four students who consistently achieve the higher end of the level 4 spectrum (one who has always attended a francophone school, and 3 others who are gifted for all intensive purposes).
I finally decided that as they are high functioning, it didn’t seem necessary to have them wait patiently for the others to settle and sit through oft repeated explanations/instructions. I thought of giving them the opportunity to embark on an ISU (Independent Study Unit) like the higher grades do in high school. That being said, we were at point in the unit where this was feasible – basic vocab and grammar had been covered in depth and several diagnostic and formative assessments had also been completed. I explained what the rest of the class would be working on (CD cover design with reviews on the back) and gave them a couple of ideas (press release package for a new band, newspaper article comparing the music of the 80’s with the music of today) and welcomed their own suggestions. Once they had decided on a format, I basically release them each period to work in the library or at the back of the classroom. We have set up goals and deadlines for different phases of the project and at the beginning and at the end of each class, we meet to review expectations and to check on the work they managed to complete.
At this point it seems to be a win-win situation. For me, I no longer feel guilty or as stretched. It allows me that much more time to work with the others who I have since subdivided into their own ability groupings (those who can work independently after explanations have been given and those who work with me in another group for additional support or “task management” assistance). For my higher level students, they are thrilled with the sense of responsibility and independence. I think they also appreciated how I acknowledged their patience and their need to work unencumbered so to speak. Perhaps the best bonus of all? That kind of earned independence is now sought after by lots of other students as well.
At the beginning of the year, I remember writing about my new strategy of getting students to speak more French during class. Brimming with hope and optimism, I had implemented “chat sessions” where kids would casually discuss with a partner/group various topics related to what we had been studying. There were times when I provided structure (specific question to discuss/specific structure to use) and others where it was more casual and focused on just speaking in French for the duration. I was pleasantly surprised by the relative “enthusiasm” and commitment with which these activities were met. By mid to late October though, both were in short supply. Instead I was forced to reckon with the all too familiar resistance and lethargy known to many Core French teachers. When I could no longer deny this fact, I mustered up the willpower and energy to once again confront the issue. Upon further reflection, I am ready to acknowledge the following:
#1: Be Consistent With Routines
This seems self evident but for me, I tend to easily get sidetracked and let it slide (a bad trait but at least I can admit it). I think a five minute window is adequate and it’s a good way to start the class – every class!
#2: Provide Variety to Activities
I still think my discussion topics are a good idea and posting some support vocabulary is helpful and sometimes crucial to the success of the conversation. Perhaps a more innovative approach is to have a pairs of students generate the topic/question/sentence starters. Getting them directly involved this way is a means of having them more implicated in your lesson. Something else I tried is the French version of 4 corners (Quatre coins) where I would read a statement and once in their corner, students would have to discuss the topic (and in my case, practise forming an opinion statement). Games are always a favourite and, when structured properly, can really provide an opportunity to work in a lot of conversational French.
#3: Recognize those students who really make an effort
Find a way to somehow give credit where credit is due. I myself use a star card where I sign a certain number of times and once they reach a corner, they can redeem a prize (usually a small chocolate bar). I also have something called “Les points de participation” which the accumulated total counts towards their speaking mark at the end of the term.
Whatever the challenges, it is nonetheless rewarding to see (hear) what your students are capable of without inhibition and doubt. Take the opportunity to share what is working for you. It’s great to have new ideas to try.
This year, my goal is to get my students speaking a lot more French and sound better doing so. If it were me, I would like to have something more to show after learning French for four or five years. I suppose this is what is really behind the focus of the (soon to be released?) new curriculum.
As for me, I’m going to vary my approach this year. In the past, a lot of the French speaking came from short daily activities, questions/answers and summative oral presentations that focused on integrated targeted vocabulary and grammar structures. The summative activities were always creative and students responded well to them, however, they were perhaps not the most practical (cooking show, blind date, etc). Based on feedback to some written response questions and from parents, it is surprising to me to find out that students seem to really want to learn French. I know, shocking isn’t it? My challenge this year is how to balance out the practical but still make it interesting and most importantly fun.
For September with my grade eight classes, I have begun with the basics. I mean the real basics like greetings, variations of how are you and trading contact information. I’ve been using the resource and provided them with current lingo/slang in order to make their interactions more authentic. A typical lesson includes some explanation/questioning by me followed by 5 to 10 min of guided conversation with “freestyle elaborating”. We have already tried a short skit with a partner whereby they had to incorporate “Comment vas-tu?” and trade contact information but they were free to come up with their own context. The end product was okay but I found that they were more carried away by adding in all this extra detail to support the scenario which distracted and in some cases derailed them entirely. In the end, I decided that I would follow up with a one-on-one “examen oral” based on the same content. I think that an actual conversation will give me a better idea of how they are really able to communicate. Will keep you posted as to their progress. In the meantime, please let everyone know about anything that has been working for you.
One of my colleagues does The Daily 5 in her classroom. In my Board, this is an initiative that we are all currently working towards. When I used the Daily 5 in my classroom, I sometimes found it hard to constantly keep my students engaged in the Work on Writing aspect of this program. After looking around her room, I just fell in love with her Work on Writing centre. In her class, she has a separate area for her Work on Writing. Students all choose which centres to go to for that day (choice is always important).
At her writing centre, she set up one of the three-fold bulletin boards, filled with information about different types of texts, and some examples of what students could write about for each text type (i.e. letter, story, etc). This is a great idea for students as they can be immersed in their writing, and THEY can choose what to write about using whatever text type they choose. Below I have included a picture for you to observe (and perhaps steal) for your own classroom if you wish!
I recently created an account on Bitstrips for Schools. Bitstrips is a free website where students can create comics or other graphic texts. Creating an account is easy. Bitstrips provides you with an access code that you share with your students. Students simply log in with the access code and they immediately have access to the different activities you create. Their first task (and yours) is to create an avatar. Students can then begin to work on the activities you create.
My Avatar
My initial activity was an introductory activity where students were asked to create a comic introducing themselves to the class. The learning goal for this activity was for students to become familiar with the comic building tools. After a week of in class work, Bitstrips is now an activity students have an option to go to when other work has been completed or they can work on activities from their home computers. Now, most of my students are completing the graphic text activities at home for ‘homework’. Parents appreciate that their children are using the Internet to complete school activities rather than to play games and watch videos on YouTube.
A quick and simple activity to help students become familiar with the tools.
What I appreciate most about this website is that all students, regardless of abilities, can navigate the tools and create a piece of writing. Once students complete an activity, it must be submitted to me for review before it can be published. I can access student writing from anywhere; smart phone, tablet, at home, or school and I can give them timely specific feedback on their written submission. I am using Bitstrips to reinforce punctuation and spelling with my third grade students. I spend a few minutes each evening sending students feedback on their submissions. The next time students log in to Bitstrips they will see my feedback and they can immediately edit and/or revise their work and resend it to me for another review.
Below are some sample comments I have submitted to students:
Hi Charlie,
This is a fun comic! Please make sure you begin each sentence with a capital and end with a period.
Hi Krisandrew,
I really like how you ended your comic! I am impressed with all your slides. Please review for punctuation. For example, sentences must begin with a capital. Example “Me too.” You missed a period in one of your thought bubbles. It is movies not movie. Otherwise, great effort! Please correct and resubmit.
Below are two activities I have assigned on Bitstrips.com:
Turning Narratives Into Graphic Texts
You are to select one of your personal narratives and create a Bitstrip.
You are to use speech bubbles for your dialogue sentences.
You are to use thought bubbles for your thinking and feeling sentences.
You are to use captions for your action sentences.
Your bitstrip should meet the success criteria for personal narratives!
Silly Story Comic
You are to write a silly story!
You are to use the success criteria for a personal narrative. That is,
-Action, dialogue and thought sentences;
-Beginning, Middle and End;
-Correct punctuation and spelling;
But your story must also include the characteristics of a silly story:
-Strange and impossible events take place;
– Characters act as if everything is normal;
-You leave the reader with a smile on their face.
Your story should be a at least 5 frames long.
Dialogue sentences must be in speech bubbles.
Thinking/Feeling sentences are in thought bubbles.
Action sentences must be in captions a the top or bottom of the frame.
I am fortunate to have unlimited access to computers throughout the school day, but you can do this in a one computer classroom. As I mentioned in a prior blog post, it is important to know what access your students have to the Internet from home before you encourage Bitstrips as a homework activity. Bitstrips has helped me engage students in the writing process. It forces them pay attention to writing conventions and it provides me with a manageable way to provide timely feedback to students.
Differentiated instruction can be challenging for a teacher, new or ‘not so’ new. There are so many ways we can differentiate our instruction that it can be overwhelming trying to get the “differentiated” ball (or should I say cube?:)) rolling. Where do we start? I suggest that if you are just beginning to explore ways to differentiate your program that you take it one step at a time. For me, I feel that the self directed and open-ended nature of my writing program helps me to differentiate student learning in many ways. Guided reading is another example of how we differentiate content to meet the different interests and readiness of our students. What I need to explore further are ways I can differentiate the learning environment. This has been one of my professional learning goals for this year.
I believe that all students need experiences to work independently and collaboratively regardless of their learning preference. However, in order for students to be successful, we must provide for their learning needs by giving them the structure and opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in ways that best suit them.
Over the winter break I purchased a dozen privacy panels for my third grade classroom. They were not too expensive… about twenty dollars. When we returned from the holidays I introduced the panels to the students. Everyone liked the idea of the panels and wanted to use them ALL the time. At first, it was a distraction. My students sit in groups of 4 and every student in a group wanted to use a panel. I had to explain on more than one occasion that if one or two used a panel in each group then the other students in the group wouldn’t need the panels. There were times when I had to say, “No panels! Get to work!”
By the time we returned from March Break the novelty of the panels finally wore off. Now, whenever the need arises, some students will get up from their groups to get a privacy panel and it doesn’t start a “stampede” for the remaining panels! Students go on with there work indifferent to the colourful cardboard that pops up at different groups throughout the classroom. I am glad that I didn’t give up on the panels. I had patience, well… most of the time, and trusted my intuition and the process. Whenever we introduce something new to the classroom there is usually some excitement and then it just becomes part of the routine.
I have managed to find another way to address the different learning needs in the class. It is interesting to observe which students decide to use the panels and when. Jamie, for example, tends to set up a privacy panel when she is writing a reading response in her journal. Jennifer, on the other hand, needs the panel when we are working on problem solving in math.
It is important for me to create a learning environment where students have as much choice and control of their learning as they can handle at such a young age. When students are working on an independent activity, I encourage students to support each other in their groups. As long as they are using small voices and staying on task, I encourage the collaboration. However, not all students can learn this way. Some students need to limit the distractions in the environment in order to learn. These students may choose to work at a desk away from their group, on the carpet or simply put up a privacy panel. The goal is to teach students to independently decide what learning environment they need in order to be successful in the classroom. Privacy panels are one way we can offer students choice and control of their learning environment.
As it is April, I always feel that this time of year is when you really start to see the growth/progress in our students, especially in Kindergarten. Since taking over my current Kindergarten class in February, I am really starting to see the growth in my students and their learning, Shortly after obtaining this LTO, I put up a word wall in my classroom, created an interactive popcorn word word wall, as well as incorporating the Sight Word Caterpillar in our classroom (see below).
I have worked really hard with my students about what the word wall is for, and how we can use all these resources when we are writing. Each week, my students get an opportunity to write in their Writing Journals. To differentiate for my learners, I encourage ALL students to use at least 5 different colours in their pictures to add more detail. I encourage my SK students to write the sounds/letters they hear. I encourage my SKs to stretch the words so they can hear/write all sounds they hear. We have talked a lot about the use of the Writer’s Rainbow (see my previous post about this), and have modelled for students the various stages of the Writer’s Rainbow.
This past week, some of my students have really started to use what I have taught them and have started to use the word wall, popcorn words and our sight word caterpillar to help them in their writing. All my efforts have finally paid off. There is nothing better than seeing your students use the tools you have provided for them in our classroom! Such joy!
