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Mike Beetham Before School Starts, Classroom Management, First Week Reflections, Learning About Your Students, Learning in a Real Life Context, Students as Teachers

What’s For Lunch?

One of the best team building activities and diagnostic tools that I use is eating lunch with my students during the first month of school. During this precious time, I am able to discover so much about the uniqueness of each and every one of my students as people and students. Bonus content comes in the form of what I learn about the  social climate of the classroom (and school).  Over the course of a week I make sure that I move around the room and sit in a variety of groupings to ensure that I have 1:1 contact with every student.

Of course the reciprocal scenario also unfolds as I am able to reveal myself as a real person right before their eyes. I soon am not just their teacher! It is that critical beginning where I am able to send them the message they are important, they are special and that together we will accomplish great things and overcome challenging struggles.

For any teacher new to a school you must always balance this with the need to connect and become a part of the professional team at your site. The critical concept is that this is a planned event with a specific target outcome and can’t just be left to happen haphazardly.

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Mike Beetham Before School Starts, Classroom Management, General, Learning About Your Students, Learning in a Real Life Context, Student Ownership, Students as Teachers

When Does A Classroom Agreement, Become A Classroom Agreement?

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!

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Mike Beetham Anti-bullying, Building Inclusion, Celebrating Success, Classroom Management, Learning About Your Students, Learning in a Real Life Context, Student Ownership, Students as Teachers

A Great Classroom Is Created When…

I had to share this with someone, so I felt this blog was the best way. At a recent class meeting we all sat down and started to talk about what makes a classroom great. This topic generated a myriad of ideas, discussion and debate. I am sharing with you the final product that came from this amazing group of students.

– when everyone works as a team

– you celebrate when people do something right

– every student is a success

– tell the teacher how you care for them and they will tell you the same way

– teachers teach us how to share, cooperate and work as a team

– we have fitness in the morning

– we do different kinds of things like planting

– you don’t give too many chances

– you take the time to get to know each other

– don’t be too easy, don’t be too hard

– we set goals

– when students can be taught and entertained at the same time

– teachers discipline

– you take risks with each other

– students and teacher communicate to each other

– we give lots of smiles

– students are allowed to teach teachers

– students are allowed to learn from their mistakes

Needless to say, my students have once again taught me how valuable an asset to our classroom they are. Their collective voice has demonstrated the power of our class motto ‘Together Everyone Achieves More Success’. I hope you can read my happiness and pride!

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Mike Beetham Anti-bullying, Building Inclusion, Celebrating Success, Classroom Management, Diverse Learning Needs

Update on J

When I last shared (September), J had arrived  in a foreign school, classroom and community. After three months of focussed work to help J realize his potential, celebrate his uniqueness and work through his challenges, I am ecstatic to report on a young boy who has blossomed. He comes to school each and every day with a smile on his face (and most importantly) a belief that he is a capable learner who now views school as a safe place to be.

Our journey is not over, but rather just beginning. J is now in an emotionally safe  place where the academic and social gaps that will help him return to a regular classroom can be addressed. As with all good instruction, the front loading work established the foundation that was necessary to build the bridge to allow J to join the learning community that awaited him.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and that you are able to enjoy it with family and friends.

 

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Mike Beetham Anti-bullying, Building Inclusion, Celebrating Success, Classroom Management, Differentiated Instruction, Year End Activities

Celebrations

“If it is worth doing, it is worth celebrating”. That component is a significant part of every classroom agreement that I am a part of. As my classroom community evolves it becomes a priority that best effort is all that can be asked of the students and the teacher. As such, we do not celebrate grades, we celebrate best effort. Each and every child in the room knows and understands that as long as they are working as hard as they can, the result is always worth celebrating.

That belief began to evolve in my teaching about twenty years ago when I first began to understand the role of diagnostic assessment and how important it is to start where my students are and not be driven by grade expectations. I can best sum it up by saying, it is the juncture in my career where I began to teach children and not deliver curriculae.  My students (and classroom) began to lose the competitive edge and shifted toward a cooperative learning environment with a focus on helping everyone be successful. A significant aspect to that change was the need to redesign what celebrations looked like.

C– classroom community social events (Thanksgiving lunch, special days)

E– everyone gets to share their work in a public forum

L – lots of trips to connect learning to real life scenarios

E– extra high fives, fist pumps, sunshine calls home, notes and oral praise

B – board filled with weekly awards

R– regular positive visits from principal, parents and other staff

A – always asking for input from classroom advisors on new ways to celebrate

T – teacher models and then a gradual release of responsibility

E– every effort big or small is worth celebrating

How do you celebrate the efforts of your students? I encourage you to post your ideas for others to read.

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Mike Beetham Anti-bullying, Building Inclusion, Challenging Topics, Classroom Management

Conflict or Bullying

  • Bullying or Conflict?

Bullying is a reality in schools, but misplaced reactions to the day-to-day conflicts that occur in life will also not serve to help our students become problem solvers. I have noticed in my classroom (and around the school hallways) that any situation that involves one student disagreeing with another is being referred to as bullying. I had to really reflect on how to handle this scenario to ensure that the right approach is being taken to benefit all. I searched out information I could use to help clarify the misconceptions that were being developed by my students and came across an amazing resource entitled ‘We All Belong – A Multimedia Toolkit For Parents and Schools’. It was developed by the Centre Ontarien De Prevention Des Agressions (COPA). It is a very comprehensive tool for schools, teachers, parent councils and families to use as they work to develop a culture of inclusiveness within their community.

This resource helped me frame a strategy on how to move my students forward in their thinking. The Bullying Prevention Guide in the kit clearly explained that conflict is a disagreement or difference of opinion between two parties who are relatively equal in social status and thus there are two sides to a story. Bullying is not a natural part of daily life and is a targeted and planned act by a person or group of people in a position of power or social status and is often carried out over a period of time. If a bullying scenario is dealt with using conflict resolution strategies I have added to the harm done by the bully because I have now forced the victim to spend more time face-to-face working it out and have concluded that he/she is part of the problem.

The kit is a very rich resource that includes a Bullying Prevention Guide, The Capsule Families Get Involved and a DVD of short entertaining vignettes to be used. There are two volumes to the DVD with one targeting Parent Engagement and the other Bullying Prevention. The versatility of the kit has made it an option that can help bring families and schools closer in their battle against bullying. I am currently spending more time familiarizing myself with the resource as there are other options on how I may use it.

COPA – 457 Danforth Ave, Toronto, ON M4K 1P1
(416) 466-8975 or infocopa.com

 

 

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Mike Beetham Making a Difference Through Education, Professional Learning and Growth, Social Justice

The Heart of Teaching

Teachers supporting teachers is one of the most powerful forms of professional learning that exists in education. In my twenty-sixth year of teaching I was able to witness first hand the heart of teaching when I spent six weeks working with educators in Sierra Leone as a delegate from ETFO (in partnership with the Canadian Teachers’ Federation). Despite the country being just over a decade past their horrific civil war, the aftermath of that human tragedy lives on in the daily lives of every citizen of that country. My work focused on helping teachers develop peaceful classrooms and schools. Little did I know how much my life was going to be impacted by my experience with those amazingly courageous individuals.

When I arrived in Sierra Leone, I was instantly overwhelmed by the overcrowded classrooms (up to 100 students to one teacher), no professional resources or curriculum and nonexistent basic supplies for students. My initial thoughts were ‘”How could anyone teach in these conditions?” But what I was most taken back with, was the level of commitment, professionalism, courage and absolute pure desire to turn their country around through education. A quote from the Sierra Leone Teachers Union states “We Educate To Liberate”. There was no complaining, no frustration and no giving up. Despite extremely low wages (or not being paid at all), horrendous working conditions, daily struggles for their basic needs, these teachers‘ only desire was to learn and improve their teaching.

I have been humbled by both the dedication and resiliency of the teachers in Sierra Leone. I have become a better teacher and global citizen as a result of my work with these everyday heroes. I think about my friends and colleagues in Sierra Leone and take courage from them every morning prior to starting my day.

 

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Mike Beetham Building Inclusion, Celebrating Success, Classroom Management, First Week Reflections, Learning About Your Students, Making a Difference Through Education

The Power of Believing

It is not found in a curriculum, at an educational supply store or in a university course outline. But yet it is one of the most powerful tools that a teacher has. It is the belief in yourself to handle the varying demands of the teaching role, to have confidence in your professional expertise to help students and to instill that belief in each and every one of your students. As my students arrive in my classroom in September the one common element they have (besides a multitude of at risk behaviours) is the belief that they are not smart and that school is not a setting where they will do well. My target priority becomes the mission of helping my students be successful and to believe that school is a place where they will thrive and be triumphant.  This is easy said,  but experience has taught me that it does not occur in a few lessons or a unit of study but rather exists in my teaching philosophy and must be embedded in my talk, my instructional practices and my way of life in the school. I have developed a set of teaching eyes that focus on what students can do rather than what they can’t do. That is a contagious approach that will spread quickly from adults to children.

I would like to introduce you to J who arrived in my classroom with a very closed attitude toward school despite not knowing me, the school or the classroom he has been forced to attend. Before I could begin to help him I had to get to know him as a person and not a student. What are his interests, his talents and his challenges? Our journey of learning is now underway and it will have its ups and downs, joyous moments and sad times but we are coming together with the understanding that he will be successful, he is smart and that school is a not so bad place to be. I will keep you updated on our progress.

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Mike Beetham Before School Starts, Building Inclusion, Diverse Learning Needs, Learning About Your Students

Begin With The End In Mind

Welcome to another school year and no matter whether this is your first year or your 29th year of teaching (that is me), the beginning of September brings forth both the anticipation of thrills and chills.  I have spent the last 29 Augusts anxiously preparing, planning and remodeling my classroom to create just the right start for my classroom. A start that will engage my students, a start that will let them experience what a fun and active learning environment they are entering into and most of all, a start that will make them believe that they will be valued, challenged and will work together to help everyone reach their potential.

Together Everyone Achieves More Success

My name is Mike Beetham and I am starting my 29th year of teaching. I have the amazing opportunity to teach an area behaviour class in the Waterloo Region District School Board. I work with some of the most complex Junior age students in our board.

There are five things that I attempt to accomplish with each start to my classroom.

First and foremost is to make a connection with my students as people first and then as students.

Secondly, I set a tone of fun, hands on learning.

Thirdly, I dive headlong into academics by selecting a starting unit that will engage my audience. This year I am starting with a theme of  ‘Then and Now’. We will examine a variety of items or trends about the year they were born and compare them to our current year. Items will include, popular video games, winning sport teams, popular movies, and cost of items. I will be learning along with them as I model the task using my year of birth (1959). Did you know that a postage stamp only cost 4 cents back then? I am aging myself.

The fourth is that our classroom is community whereby everyone has a responsibility to make it work. I start this process through the development of a classroom agreement that is worked out by the end of the first week and the sharing of the expertise within the room. I do not nor do I need to know everything about everything. I will capitalize on the talents and skills within the class.

Finally, I demonstrate to my students that this room is going to be a safe place physically, emotionally and intellectually. The message is sent often, consistently and in a calm and straight forward way to students that in no way, shape or form will disrespect toward each other be allowed.

The plan for the above five items are a proactive approach rather than a reactive response. They are all carefully thought out, planned and put in place based on my understanding of the grade level, individual student needs and setting that I will be working in. Good luck with your start!