Teacherfessions

First Day Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 20:07:00 +0000

I know it is October, and all of the good "What to do on the First Day" blog posts rolled out in August so that teachers could use them for ideas in September! But . . . I'm coming in late this year as I picked up some late-start classes. I met two classes for the first time last week, and had another first day of class yesterday. After teaching for over 20 years, I have my first day of class pretty down pat, but it might go against the grain. I stopped reading my syllabus aloud a long time ago. I don't lecture about myself. I don't read a long list of punishments if a cell phone rings in class. I also don't give a lengthy diagnostic test!

Here's my First Day Recipe, tried and tested:

1. Scope the room out early.
This is important because you don't want to get lost, and you want to know if there is something weird going on in there logistically. I've been assigned to teach my college ESL classes in science labs, mini-auditoriums with immovable lecture-style seats, computer labs, and trailers. I check things out because I have to be able to figure out how to factor in group work, walk-in-talk activities, and so on. I can also do a test run of technology and any other Smart-class tools (or find out that there are NO tech options), so that I can plan accordingly.

2. Give students something to do as they come in.
Students walk in nervous on the first day and are not sure what to expect. ESL students are often not just new to the school, but brand new to the country and to the educational system here. Even students who are familiar with the college could be rushing in just on time or even a bit late after getting lost or walking into the wrong building or room elsewhere. Most likely there is another class right before mine that is just getting out as I arrive. I need to get set up, turn on any equipment, take out handouts, and so on. So instead of having students stare at me in silence while this is all going on, I like to have something for students to do right away. I have them complete a short questionnaire and survey about themselves. It's one way I can walk away having their email address, and also a chance for me to get to know their nickname if they have one, their technology tools at home, something about their interests and hobbies, and any questions they have. It's also something that eases them in because they can usually complete it without problem and gives them something to focus on. While they are doing this, I can take the time to set up, help any students coming in, and walk around a bit.

3. Get students up and moving and talking right away.
As soon as I can, I like to get them out of their chairs and talking with each other. There are many ways to do this, but one activity that always works is a Find Someone Who activity. Students have to walk around and talk to each other and write their names down on a handout that includes boxes with descriptions they have to find matches for. I like to include spaces for things where they have to find people who have things in common with them such as, someone who was born in the same month as them or someone they have another class with. I also include things about the class such as, find someone who loves writing essays, or someone who has used Voicethread before. In this way, students get to meet each other without the formality of a forced pair interview and get to practice their listening and speaking skills. I love that during this time it's loud and chaotic in the room! (Students also get to ask me questions). Because everyone is busy and engaged, then I can monitor and welcome any really late stragglers that come in at this point.

4. Give students a little information about yourself. Make them guess!
Students are always curious about their teacher! They get to watch my welcome video for homework, but for in class, I give them a quiz about me. We talk about first impressions, and then they answer True/False questions. I include statements such as, "Denise is a vegetarian. Denise loves to get up early." This is a great way for students to learn a bit about me without me having to bore them with a lecture or introduction spiel. If I have student teachers or other volunteers helping me in class, I prepare a quiz about them as well. We go over the answers, and then students write three sentences about themselves. They write two truths and a lie, and it always seems to be a hit. I have them share their three sentences with their group and then guess the lie.

5. Give students a taste of what they'll do in class.
Although a big part of the first day of class, especially in an ESL class, is about building class community and getting to know each other, I want students to do something that relates to the course content. A short activity or exercise related to the level and skills gets everyone on the same page. In a reading class I usually give them a fun short reading that I may do timed to get a sense of reading speed. In vocabulary class we learn a few silly words or try to figure out a word of the day. In a pronunciation class we do some tongue twisters. Something that gets them interested in the content and gives them a little taste of what's to come sets the stage for the semester.

6. Get a diagnostic before students walk out the door.
This comes along the heels of number 5 above. Especially in a writing class, it's great to have something for me to take home that gives me an idea of where they stand on day 1. I have had students do a fun cell phone picture share to get to know a group, but then I'll have them write about the picture so that I can see their sentence structure, grammar, and vocabulary level. In a listening class I've had students listen to a dictation about something interesting happening on campus so that I can take a look at how well their skills are. A short diagnostic is good for me to have in hand right away so that if a student is clearly misplaced they can get into the correct level class as soon as possible.

7. Finally, go over class information - just a tease. Give students the nitty gritty to go over for homework.
Though I do not read the syllabus aloud page by page, I do (finally, after all the fun stuff) go over vital class information. I pass out a hard copy, and let them know there is more information online at our class LMS. I point out really important information about how to reach me, and class goals, any attendance policies, and so on. I really spend less than 10 minutes on this part. Then I send them home along with a Syllabus Scavenger Hunt worksheet that they fill out. This means they will actively read it, and be able to ask questions when they come back to the next class.

8. Give students a take-away.
Instead of having the students walk away empty-handed, I usually give them something related to the class. A bookmark with a quote for a reading class, or a promise of an email I'll send with a silly video of a grammar song they should watch online before the next class. Call it homework or a "to-do," but basically it's a way for students to start being invested in the class and know that there is something they need to do before the next class besides just show up.

Lesson Learned: On the first day, build a class community, give students a taste of what's to come, get everyone up and moving . . . and hope they can't wait to come to the next class!

Friday Finds 10/17/14

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 14:48:00 +0000

First week back to teaching and here are a few Friday Finds:

image via icanread

I used to have students use Animoto for Movie Trailers as a book project. Then I saw these cool templates in iMovie Trailers.

As I copied my syllabi for my new classes this week, this article about Syllabus Tyrannus made me pause.

I may be late to the game, but I just discovered Haiku Deck.

Your Rubric Is a Hot Mess got a lot of traction on Twitter this week.

Lastly, I work a lot in coffee shops (grading papers and responding to forums seems easier that way). This week, I used the Coffitivity app on my phone to work from home. Love it!

New Resources for a Veteran Newbie

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 05:42:00 +0000

This week I put my teacher-shoes back on after a relocation and short break from teaching. Now that I'm picking up a few ESL classes I am back to being a newbie at the institution where I'll be teaching. Whenever I start a new class, I think about what new resources I will be adding in to my usual repertoire of technology tools.

Here are a few that I know I'll come to depend on:

I thought long and hard about using Edmodo, but have decided to go with Canvas for Higher Ed as my LMS of choice.

I have long relied on Socrative as my go-to feedback app, but here are a few more I may try out: 12 Good Tools for Gathering Real Time Feedback for Students.

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips will come in use in my writing class.

I'll definitely add Makers Films to my list of go-to videos.

These are great standbys that never get old: The Learning Network and Newsela.

I'm looking forward to trying out my free account with PowToon.

There's an added comic twist here to Six Word Memoirs that can be a nice icebreaker activity.

Just for fun, I'd love to find 5 minutes of class time to have students use this Emoji Finder.

The Second Annual 15-Second Vocabulary Video Contest would be good first project.

I think that's more than enough to get more started!

DIY Lesson Planner

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 02:32:00 +0000

This is the post where I pretend that I haven't been absent from this blog for so long. Also, it's a post that shows my dorky-teacher side, and my powers of procrastination (Making a lesson planner instead of actually lesson planning? Check!). But, it's also about how I ended my hunt for the perfect college teacher's lesson planner/organizer and made my own on the cheap.

It seems like every fall I pick through all the teacher's sections at all the office stores, search Etsy and all the teacher online sites to no avail. So many of these planners are made for K-12, and so many include pages and sections I don't need like seating charts, class records, and too many subject areas. Finally, I just hacked this together with a file folder from the dollar bin at Target, tab dividers from the clearance section at Office Depot, and very basic hand-made printables tailored for my schedule in a simple Word doc. I brought in the pages to Office Depot and had it spiral bound with clear plastic front and back. Perfect!

Here are all the details:

This cover is a file folder. I love the print and the weight is perfect for the cover, so I just cut it down to size. Then I printed out a label and stuck it right on.

Inside the cover, I pressed on a nice little clear envelope sleeve gifted from my officemate and now I have a perfect place to throw in my favorite pens, tabs and fun sticky notes.

Until at least the fifth week, I can never remember my schedule (Which building? Which room? What time?) So I put my schedule as the first page along with those pesky codes and numbers that I need to fill out forms.

I do use my phone calendar for appointments and meetings, but it's nice to have paper calendar in one place for ease and important dates (school holidays anyone?) and deadlines. I just found this one-month in a two-page view on Pinterest and printed it out for free.

It's nice to see the whole academic year on one page, so I threw in the official college calendars as well.

The lesson plan pages are the meat of this organizer for me. This is where every other teacher's lesson planner I have seen has failed for me. As a full-time college teacher I have three classes, spread out over different days, as well as lab hours and meetings. A very, very simple Word doc chart in a weekly format on a two-page spread lets me see exactly what's happening. I tailored it to my classes and threw in a To-Do column as well. If I had thought about it, I would have also preprinted the weeks and dates.

To avoid having a completely different notebook (or scraps of paper?!), I added in a notes section so that at meetings everything is in one place.

Cute dividers keep everything separated, and I just printed out the sections on clear labels. Next time I'll use bold so that I can see it a bit easier. Live and learn.

I wouldn't want to lose this, so on the back cover (same file folder) I added in a return to office location.

Matching mini-bucket for my pens? That's just icing on the cake.

Lesson Learned: Sometimes you just have to make it yourself! I'm off to lesson plan now!

Friday Finds 2/15/13

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 00:29:00 +0000

Of all the Valentine stuff I saw on the web, that one above is my favorite. I just wish it was the real girlfriend at the end.

Turns out professors do have the expertise needed to make academic decisions.

Some very interesting findings about which teachers are prepared to use technology, and how they are using it.

And if you aren't ready to do much with technology yet, here are some tips on how to fake it.

Ideas on how best to use Google translate when traveling.

6 technologies that will change higher education.

A handy netiquette guide to share with students.

There's been lots of talk about not forcing introverts to talk in class.

These apps seem great:
PixtnTell
RecordMP3
9Slides

Friday Finds 2/8/13

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 18:25:00 +0000

Source: weareteachers.com via WeAreTeachers on Pinterest

There are more and more educators using Pinterest.

In case you need to scrub your facebook of embarrassing posts and photos.

Brainshark instead of Slideshare.

Still in beta, Wideo is a new tool to make online animations.

Texting that transcends languages with Sendboo.

Go someplace new with Dio.

80s technology and the kids of today!

Is there an App for that?

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 02:35:00 +0000

Over the past two weeks, I have taken all three of my college ESL classes to orientations in computer labs. We have gone for a variety of reasons:

to register for our class learning management system and get familiar with activities on the site.
to create accounts and register for different technology tools.
to demonstrate how to complete activities on a few different websites

These are some challenges we had while in the computer labs:

extremely s - l - o - w internet connections
no headphones available and not all students had brought headphones
two microphones available for a class with 27 students
noise and student background noise while recording

The good news is that each and every student in all of my classes is now successfully registered for our learning management system (which happens to be Moodle), and successfully created accounts and completed activities for a few different technology tools. What caught my attention, however, was that midway through each orientation, students started asking about whether there was an app for the tools we were using. There is, but I thought it would be easier to go to the lab first, get everyone registered, and then tell them they can download the app later. Turns out, with the confusion over the headphones and the slow internet speed, the apps were better and faster. Within minutes, students who had iPads had whipped them out and the rest were on their cell phones downloading the free app. They completed their recordings easily and finished happily. The only downside is that our leaning management system is not an updated version available as an app. Beyond that, though, for the other technology tools, I don't think most of them will go back to a computer to access these tools for the remainder of the semester.

Lesson Learned: I might not need to take students to the computer lab anymore. It seems to be a lot easier to just get the app.

P.S. - the apps (all free) in the picture are listed below:

Friday Finds 2/1/13

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 01:53:00 +0000

photo by www.jagaland.de

Do you still do any of these things?

Good news for college instructors: College is still worth it!

If you must print, then only print what you like.

Pictochart to make Infographics

Forget the digital immigrant vs. digital native debate. We need digital Vikings!

The Current State of Plagiarism

How to Get the Most out of Your Midterm Exams

The Pep Talk we all need!

Friday Finds 1/25/13

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:11:00 +0000

from dearphoto.com

A few things I wanted to share this week:

Mind Mapping Tools

This is so true: The Myth of the Super Teacher

Speed Reading Activities from slow to fast.

I'm supposed to be doing this!

Dear Photo

This fake Amazon page is the most clever resume ever.

UtellStory might be just what I was looking for to replace Microsoft Photostory

Biteslide looks cool too.

These annotating apps for the iPad all look like great choices.

A Bucket List of tech tools.

Friday Finds 1/18/13

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 14:50:00 +0000

photo from icanread

Could you only check email on Fridays?

I vow to do this more with my student Twitter account.

Croak.it seems like an easy way to get your voice out there.

Pronunciation Power is a nice app for students. Free for a limited time.

A high school junior fights cyberbulling with sincere compliments.

In case you are wondering which writing resources your students use the most.

Start a Reading Revolution

I love sites like i can read and one photo a day.

Do less: it was a busy week for me, but I'd like to keep this in mind next week.

My Students by the Numbers

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 23:44:00 +0000

Classes are still settling. Students are adding, dropping, switching, getting on and off wait lists, but with my core students the surveys are coming in and these are my numbers so far:

73: Total number of students in all 3 classes

0: the number of students who do not have a computer to use at home
0: the number of students without internet access at home
0: the number of students without a cell phone
15: the number of students who don't have smartphones
52: the number of students who had never used Insight (CCSF's course management system)
73: the number who think technology tools can enhance their educational experience

Please Take Out Your Cell Phone

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:59:00 +0000

I know most teachers at my college tell students to turn off, silence, and put away their cell phones when they walk into class. Many have a list of consequences of what will happen if their cell phone rings or vibrates during class, and heaven help the student who is caught texting under their desk! (I've written about this before here.)

For the record, I don't want my students to be distracted by texts from their friends, Facebook updates, or their turn to Draw Something. Still, cell phones are powerful mini-computers and can be amazing educational tools (if used correctly).

So today (day 2 of the semester) I asked my students to take out their cell phones. Here's what they did:

1. In small groups they shared a photo from their phone. This is a great ice-breaker activity. They talked about who or what the photo was about, where it was taken, and so on. Just for fun, I showed them these two photos from my phone:

City College of SF this morning!

My boys goofing around last weekend.

Ice-breaker activities can be difficult, and especially in ESL classes, students can take awhile to warm up. Creating a class community is my number one goal the first week of class. Sharing a photo is an easy way for students to get to know each other. One other thing I noticed was that some students in the groups exchanged phone numbers - in order to have someone to call if they miss class or have questions later.

2. After discussing their photo, I asked the students to share any educational or learning apps they use on their phones. Many did not have any. A few had ebooks, some reported using translators, but most had no educational apps. Then I shared one that I think can be helpful: Dictionary.com. This free app can also be used online as a regular website. I showed them how they can get a "Word of the Day" and also how to "Favorite" words to create word lists (helpful for studying for vocabulary quizzes).

3. Finally, I had students use a photo from their phone for their writing sample. Students described one photo, and I had a piece of writing to gauge their level.

During the one hour class that every student had their cell phone out, everyone was engaged in the activities and discussion, and I got some great personal writing from students.

Lesson Learned: Cell phones don't always have to be turned off.

Things I Want to Share with my Students

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:23:00 +0000

A few links I plan to share with my students as this semester gets started:

This video which shows why I'll be using Google Forms to connect with them.

How does our classroom compare with Classrooms Around the World?

Since they turn to Google, some tips on Better Google Searches

A simple video from Commoncraft about how plagiarism is cheating and dishonest.

A great tutorial on Information Savvy including searching better and using information correctly

Why we will be blogging: it's the new persuasive essay

If they like to use flashcards, they can check out StudyBlue

I hope they are using their cell phones to study more, not cheat more!

Instead of Reading My Syllabus Aloud

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:48:00 +0000

Students are nervous the first day. They wonder who their teacher is, they wonder if the class will be difficult . . . they hope they are even in the correct room. Instead of going over the syllabus by reading it aloud, I showed this video (in the rooms where I couldn't, this is their first homework assignment). I think this is a much better way to start the semester!

My Anchor

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 03:01:00 +0000

To say that it is a challenging time at the City College of San Francisco is an understatement. Accreditation woes, a budget crisis, faculty and staff pay cuts, and so on continually bring me down. But today I heard some great advice: that we should think about what our anchor is, and hold on to it. Remember what brings us joy in our work, and in our field. Picture this anchor often, when we wake and before we sleep. In other words, keep it in the forefront of our minds and hold on tightly. That we will need our anchor as we move through this semester.

I thought about it and my anchor is my students. I look forward to meeting them on Monday, and I'll hold tight to them - hoping to see engagement in their learning and excitement over their progress. I look forward to improving my own teaching and learning, and feel thankful that I have them as my anchor.

Friday Finds 1/11/13

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 02:52:00 +0000

It's a new year and a new semester. Kicking it off by getting back to blogging!

A Forbes article on 5 Ways Technology Will Impact Higher Ed in 2013
Number two on that list was about flipping the classroom. I might try fooling around with Doodlecast as as well as just add voiceover to some of my PPTs.
A video to get you thinking about 21st century education.
I'd like to try out some of these free tools to for comics.
Ken Robinson on why Creativity in education is not an option, it's an absolute necessity.
Students value caring the most.
Is it time for me to rethink teaching the strategy of highlighting?

Friday Finds 4/27/12

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:04:00 +0000

A few random things I checked out last week:

How to clean up Youtube.
Can you make yourself smarter?
Cool if you want to print a poster on a standard printer.
Trying to get myself excited about Google Plus.
High tech solutions to Low-tech classrooms
Wappwolf seems pretty convenient.
Are you brave enough to use this on your phone?

Worth the Weight

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:43:00 +0000

When I taught high school, and had my own classroom, my lessons were filled with realia, experiments, and hands-on learning activities. Over the years as a community college educator, hiking across campus, slipping in and out of buildings, teaching in different classrooms for every class, those experiences dwindled. There's only so much one teacher can carry, and there are times I wish for a shopping cart. For the longest time, the barista at a neighborhood coffee shop thought I was an airline attendant due to my rolling luggage (filled with books, papers, and other teaching miscellany).

This semester, however, I've tried to do a little more to make readings, themes, and lessons come alive. A recent reading text around the theme of the environment was pretty dry. Focused on water, the text broke down tap water regulations, and the rise of bottled water in the U.S. At home, I had students view The Story of Bottled Water, which caught their attention more. Then I trekked to my grocery store, bought up a variety of bottled water (not especially cheap!), covered them and numbered them. The next day, I hauled in the grocery bags of bottled water, cups, and rating sheets. Then I played waiter, while students did a blind taste test of the water.

The results were revealed: No one liked Dasani. A lot of people like Fiji. Crystal Geyser got mixed reviews. Tap water fared quite well despite the fact they all said they never drink it. Suddenly, students referred to their text, discussed the implications of bottled water, and the reality of drinking safe tap water in San Francisco. Nothing extra-creative here, no real bells and whistles. No technology. Just a little extra weight I had to haul to class to generate interest and make a reading come to life.

Lesson Learned: Despite the heavy load, it's worth it to go the extra mile and bring in what you can to make a reading come alive.

Friday Finds 4/20/12

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 01:14:00 +0000

Random things I've been reading and watching this week:

Unless you've been under a rock, you've watched this video. I've watched it three times so far.
I'm missing CATESOL because I spent all my money at TESOL - but I follwed it on #catesol.
Speaking of conferences, the one I really, really want to go to next is this one.
I was sick this week and had to cancel class at the last minute. Too bad I didn't have one of these services.
A response to the two-tier pricing system.
I've linked to some interesting Youtube videos for my students lately, and now I really want to use some of these handy tools.
This article about apps are students when you're not looking have some I'd never heard of.
I read these posts from my students and I know why blogging is such a great way for them to share their writing.

Friday Finds on a Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:19:00 +0000

We all watch TED, but here are 5 that are underwatched.
I mentioned that I rediscovered QR codes at the TESOL Convention, and here are some more fun and resources.
Got a free account for Snapjoy. All my photos backed up now! Now I can play with PicMonkey and Stupeflix.
Could Zite replace Flipboard on my iPad? Maybe!
I think this is important to remember when teaching college-age students.
I think I'll have these fake movie posters as a cool option for my students' book projects.
Using inFocus is even better than just linking to a website.

Top Moments at TESOL 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 03:01:00 +0000

I was fortunate enough to be able to bite the bullet and pay out of pocket to present at and participate in TESOL for the 11th year in a row! The best moments for me at any convention are reconnecting with far-flung friends, colleagues, teachers, and students. You know who you are, and I'm so, so glad I was able to see all of you!

Below are a few of my other favorite moments in no particular order:

Overhearing Randall Davis at his poster session talking blenders: "I don't need to know the difference between puree and liquify. I just need to turn it on and off." Wise tech tool advice.

Listening to the dynamic Nigel Caplan use the word "corpus" more times than I could count when I wandered into his session: Making Grammar Choices in Advanced Academic Writing.

Keith Folse letting me know that I am an idiot for teaching the adjective order chart. His advice about grammar that matters: teach students to use one adjective, and to put it in front of the noun. You know, because no one speaking says things like "I ran down the long, narrow, dark, decrepit street." (CATESOLers take note - Keith is speaking next week. Don't miss him!)

Eating crépes in the Reading Terminal Market, and seeing an Amish girl playing games on her smartphone.

Learning some exciting ways teachers are using Google Voice (already signed up and got my free account set up!), and got my interest piqued about how to use BigBlueButton too.

Planning to try out Poll Everywhere tomorrow.

Eating (twice) at Hawthornes Cafe in the lovely Bella Vista neighborhood.

Seeing how cool Moodle 2.1 is during an EV fair - and feeling dismay that we don't have that version yet.

Learning about some fun apps: Songify, Photoannotate, and Flashcards.

Speaking of apps, was thrilled I got to use my QR Reader at many presentations to instantly get the slides, handouts, and links.

Being impressed that PearsonELT was the first publisher to go entirely digital (no books in sight) in the exhibit hall.

Oh and yes, I did contribute by co-presenting on Digital Photostories

I got my Texas star pin and my TESOL 2013 luggage tag (thank you hospitality table!), so here's my TESOL wish list for TESOL 2013 in Dallas (just in case anyone in power reads this):

How about a mobile app or site for the TESOL schedule where we can favorite or star the workshops we plan to attend. (I'd love to put that heavy program book away!)

Better signage for the Electronic Village would be helpful - I ran into it quite by accident.

A networking session or general reception would be nice (Anyone else feel like you mostly just meet and greet the same people?).

Revamped Poster Sessions - a larger area and/or leave those things up! Better yet, can we update them with technology options as well?

Watch This Space

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:21:00 +0000

Does it count as a blog post if I just say I have some things in the work? Maybe it would if my last post wasn't nearly a month ago!

Here's what you have to look forward to as I jump back into the blogseat:

My Top Moments at TESOL 2012 last week.
Spring Break: To give homework or not to give homework?
Water Break! How a little taste testing transformed a boring academic text.

I'll continue to post Friday Finds as well.

Friday Finds, 3/9/12

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 20:38:00 +0000

Albatros bookmarks from Oscar Lhermitte on Vimeo.

I've been crazy busy since last week, so this week's Friday Finds are both mine:

A newsletter article about blogging (skip forward to page 13) and my presentation about book clubs.
I do wish I could get one of those bookmarks shown above.
Sometimes you can only do so much! More next Friday (promise!).

Moving Day

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 21:48:00 +0000

This is what my classroom looks like every day when I walk in the room. Nice, neat straight rows: The "right" way for a classroom to be set up.

Filled with students, it looks like this:

But then, I make them move into groups. Every day. Well, nearly every day. If we are having an in-class essay or a midterm exam, they stay in rows. But for some part of just about every two-hour class, they move.

It involves gathering their bags and books, moving the tables and chairs, and going to a new part of the room . . . basically a bit of chaos for about 4 minutes. That looks like this:

Then everyone is settled into nice neat groups that look like this:

Turning around to talk to the "classmates near you" has never worked out well for me. Students are not fully invested or engaged as much as they are when they take the time to push the desks together, unpack, and settle in facing each other.

Lesson Learned: It only takes a bit of time and muscle power, but moving the furniture can make a big difference in the class community and interaction between students in a group.

And P.S. - Yes, we move the tables and chairs back into the "right" class formation for the next teacher.

When I'm Not A Teacher

noreply@blogger.com (Denise ) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 03:44:00 +0000

It seems like teaching is always a part of my life. Everything I do, I think, "Oh, this is great for my students!" This is the reason why Adele's song Someone Like You became a way to review verb tenses and why I once showed a clip of Jennifer Lopez's movie Maid in Manhattan to expand a book unit discussion. But what do I do when I am not teaching? One thing I do is ~~procrastinate~~ relax by ~~stalking~~ reading the following blogs:

At least once I week I check these blogs:

Design Mom. I'd never be this fashionable personally or at home, but I sometimes catch cool videos like this one about the Joy of Books that I end up sharing with my students.

I Heart Organizing. I just started reading this one, and in addition to helping me organize my family's stack of paperwork, it also inspired me to streamline my work files.

The Pioneer Woman. I'm an urban girl, but somehow intrigued by the ranch life on this blog, and I've come across ideas from her homeschool section including Journaling 2.0. I've shared the Mean Ol' Schoolmarm feature with my class as well.

Stats Dad. My boys play basketball and baseball, so I'm fascinated by this blog about youth sports. And I also read some great advice about starting up a blog.

Time Management Ninja. There's almost no better way to spend time than to read about how to manage it. I've recently read some interesting takes on work email destruction and bad meeting behavior.

Zen Habits. This blog gives me good advice about balanced living which helps me (sometimes) to put aside all the papers and lesson planning.

The Happiness Project. I love her quotes and interviews. And I still watch this video The Years Are Short often.

Seth Godin's Blog. I lied about once a week with this blog, I read it nearly every day, absorbing every word.

Cool Mom Tech. This blog keeps me hip with everything from the latest apps to keyboards.

Lesson Learned: I'm not always in teacher-mode, but even when I'm browsing blogs for pleasure I seem to find things that impact my teaching anyway.