The Teachers Response

Hey Fancy Bloggers!

So, have you ever thought about how to respond to students needs effectively? Well I know I have. Being a "almost new" teacher I think about it all the time. I want my students in my class to feel like I am responding to all their needs. A few ways that I have found from researching and reading are the following..
Invitation:When you are invited to do something you are more inclined to want to participate in it. This is the same for children. As a teacher it is very important to invite each child to learn and grow through out the school year. This invitation needs to happen when the students first enter the learning environment. You want your students to feel like you have time for them and that you believe in them wholeheartedly.
Opportunity: Think back to when you were in elementary school. Was there a time when your teacher wasn't giving you all the opportunities possible to develop your skills? I know I had a few that gave me all the opportunities possible. One that comes to mind is my 4th grade teacher. She was a wonderful example of opportunity. She not only provided all of us with individual tasks based on our levels but she also provided each of us with the opportunity to serve the community, be apart of something great and gave us the opportunity to make new friends by building a classroom environment where we felt safe. She also challenged us so that we would push ourselves to become better. One attitude to remember when thinking about how to provide opportunity to your students is by saying to them that you have important things for them to do today and that the things that I ask you to do will open up possibilities for your future.
Investment:Being a teacher is a huge time commitment. You want all your students to know that you work hard to make all this work and that you love to find new pathways to success for each individual student. Being invested means that you will immerse yourself into the classroom in every way that you can. Invested teachers are often the ones that share their thoughts about the classroom with the students and also whose classroom has students in it before school, during lunch, and after school just because they LOVE to be there. Be invested!
Persistence: When I think of a teacher, the first adjective that pops into my head is hard working. Classrooms can get messy, busy, and imperfect. There are procedures that are set in place to help everything work smoothly but sometimes it just doesn't work out the way you want it too. This is when you just have to pull your boot straps up and move on to bigger and better things. Being persistent means that when one route doesn't work, there are others that you can find. Also that there is no finish line in learning! Show your students that you genuinely believe in the possibilities that are there for each of them and you will not give up or be discouraged. You want them all to succeed no matter what it takes!
Reflection: This could easily be the most important part of being a teacher. I have heard from numerous professors at UVU that this is crucial to being a great teacher. The reflective teacher not only questions daily practices but reflects on things like: "To what degree am I being an example of the kind of learner and person I ask my students to be?" or "Am I aiming for the norm for my students or for the best each child has to offer?" By asking yourself these questions it will reflect to your students that you try to see things through their eyes and that you watch and listen very carefully and systematically. One easy way to reflect is to ask yourself "How can I do this better?"

By combining all of these different responses, I really do feel that you can become a great teacher. All of these things show your students that you really do care about them and that you know that they can succeed if you and them put the best foot forward and strive to achieve the highest potential. In my classroom, I am going to focus on all of these elements in order to become a responsive teacher to all my students individual and different needs that they may have!

                                     

Well, till next time! 

Morning Meeting Ideas!

Hey fellow bloggers,

So I know that I have already once talked about Morning Meetings and how beneficial they are, but while doing some research for our class Morning Meeting assignment I found some FANTASTIC ideas that I thought were really great so I thought I would share! These ideas are for the what I feel are the hardest part of morning meeting.. The Themes, Greetings, Class Game, and Sharing time!

First lets start with the THEMES:
Morning Meetings can ALWAYS relate to the core subjects of math, science, reading, and social studies but sometimes it is just pure fun to mix it up a little with things that are interesting to the students. Some ideas that I thought were fun and different were..

• The Wizard Of Oz (My Personal Favorite) This can be used to teach Fairy Tales. Best part about this one is that you can combine it with reading and math throughout the week!
• The Wizard of Oz
• The Wizard of Oz (Part 2)

            

• How to Be a Peace-Maker. This is great for the first weeks of school. I think it would really help students to learn how to work together all year!
• PeaceMaker

• You can also find things for all the holidays! Pinterest is a great Go-To place for holiday activities for.. 
• Valentines
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas
• Presidents Day
• Martin Luther King Day

Next lets Talk about GREETINGS:

This site has some wonderful greetings. My favorite Hit the floor! It goes like this..

Everyone stands in a circle and chants,

“1-2-3-4!

Come on, __________, and hit the floor!

We’re so glad you’re here today,

Hooray, hooray, hooray!”

Once a student’s name is called, he/she jumps out into the middle of the circle and dances during the end of the chant
Check out the link for more fun greetings!

Greetings

Now onto Class Games:

Now, onto the next hardest part.. coming up with a game or activity that the whole class can participate in.. 

                                                                The Toss and Talk Ball 

Pass the mask
Students sit in a circle.The first student makes a face and passes that face to the next
student. That student them imitates the face and then changes that face. The changed 
face is passed on to the next student. Each me a face is passed the face is imitated
then changed

Next is the Sharing Time:
Sharing time can be hard for kids because they will want to make it a time where they vent, you have to keep the atmosphere positive. Some ways you can do this is by asking good prompts. Some ideas for these are.. 

                                                                    30 Jar Questions

I Wonder Questions

You can also do a lightning share about.. 
Favorite colors
Favorite sport
One quality about themselves that they like
or one quality that makes a good friend

Well I hope you all enjoyed my post and can find a way to incorporate all these great ideas that I found online. I know that by using engaging things in the classroom during Morning Meeting everyone in the class will have a better and happier day!

Till next time!

What do Students Seek?

There are many things that students seek for when it comes to DIFFERENTIATION. The most BASIC need of every child is that they feel safe and a feel a sense of belonging. By helping a child feel safe they will be more willing to learn. WHAT ELSE DO STUDENTS NEED? Well there are 5 simple things that you as a teacher can think about to help each student to be successful in your classroom...

AFFIRMATION. What is affirmation you ask? Well, you want all the students to be able to say to themselves "I am safe here as I am" and "People believe in me here" 

CONTRIBUTION. Have you ever felt like you don't bring anything new or unique? I think everyone feels this way at some point in their life, but we do not want our students to feel this way at school. We want them to say to themselves "I make a difference in this place" and "I help others and the class as a whole succeed"

POWER. Gaining a sense of power is something that has to do with growing up. For example, if you look at a toddler they gain that sense of power and dominance over their own little world when they make it all the way across the kitchen floor. We want our students to have this same sense of empowerment. We want them to say that "What I am learning now will be useful to me" and "I can make my own choices that will contribute to my success."

PURPOSE. Why do we want our students to feel like they have a purpose in our classroom? Well the answer is simple, just like us adults students do not want to do busy work. They see it as a waste of their time. We want our students to say "What we do here reflects me and my world" and "What we do here helps me to make meaning of the subject, my world, and the wider world"

CHALLENGE. There is something about taking a risk to attain a goal that is appealing to humans. We love to reach and discover things that are just outside our grasp. As teachers, we need to make sure to make challenges to students that are personal so they WANT to reach as far as they possibly can. We want our students to say to themselves "The work here complements my abilities" and "I often accomplish things here I didn't believe were possible."

Effective differentiation begins with awareness and understanding of basic student needs. Teaching is about building lives. To be an effective teacher using differentiation you have to know your students a make EVERY SINGLE ONE of them feel comfortable. I know that when I am a teacher I am going to do my best to have all my students feel this way about my classroom. 

                                    

Morning Meeting--The most influential 30 minutes of the day.

Morning Meeting!! 

Soo.. What is Morning Meeting you ask? Well let me tell you. Morning Meeting is something that I consider to be something that is very important in a classroom. It has many beneficial factors that I would love to tell you about! First off, Morning Meeting builds a classroom community. Morning meeting is also an opportunity to get to know each other. Among these two fantastic benefits you can also add less behavioral problems, students will know the schedule, acceptance of all children, empowering, and mostly importantly 100% OF STUDENTS FEEL SUCCESSFUL!! 

             

There are some components to Morning Meeting that I feel are extremely important to include... 

Class Creed- This is what you say everyday. Every single day. Talk about it so the students know what they are saying. 

Greeting- Every single child deserves to be said hello to. EVERY DAY!! 

Pledge- We live in a beautiful country. We need to teach our students that we need to be very grateful for the country that we have the OPPORTUNITY to live in. 

Memorization- Don't make this something that is hard or that is graded. Let each child know that you will not go on with out them. Everyone can go on their own pace and work together to succeed. 

Class Buisness- During this section you set goals, talk about the things that are good for you (vegetables). things that the students did well, praise them for their accomplishments (desserts). Lastly, things that need to be addressed like behavioral problems (medicine). 

Two Literacy Terms-Do this everyday this is a great OPPORTUNITY to teach students in a setting where they feel COMFORTABLE AND SUCCESSFUL.

One Quote-This can be funny, insightful, encouraging, or anything you want it to be! 

News or Current Event-The world is constantly changing around us. We need to keep students up to date with what is going on. Keep students aware of their surroundings. 

Sharing-This helps students to feel like everyone is there for them. Help all students to feel comfortable to share. One thing to remember is that this is NOT A THERAPY SESSION. Help students to share the positive, uplifting ideas that they have. 

I feel that Morning Meeting is a crucial thing for students. In class we had the opportunity to listen to a guest speaker named Sylvia Anderson. She has been doing morning meeting since she started teaching and has seen many benefits from it. My favorite story she shared was about a parent who called her principal and said my child is doing things at home that they have never done before like doing the dishes and making their bed with out being asked.. What is happening at school to make my child act this way? So the principal went to her and she responded with Morning Meeting. 

I want to implement Morning Meeting in my classroom so that I am able to make all my students feel 100% successful in school even if it is only for 30 minutes of the day. 

The Hallmarks of a Differentiated Classroom

The Hallmarks!

11. A strong link between assessment and instruction

      -The Teacher continually needs to be assessing student knowledge and understanding in both formal and informal ways. 

2

22. Absolute clarity about what the teacher wants the student to know, understand and be able to do-about what is truly important to learn in this unit. 

      -Clarity is important, it allows teachers to focus on essential learning goals. 

33. Shared responsibility for the classroom is between teacher and students, in the goal of making it work for everyone. 

      -Students need to become a factor and a contribution to the efficiency and a sense of community. 

  4. Individual growth is emphasized as a central to classroom success

      -It is so important to help each child to achieve their personal best by helping them to set goals that are personally challenging. The teacher needs to support these goals 100%.

  5. A way up, usually through multiple and varied pathways, and never a way out. 

      -Teachers need to remember that they need to always "teach up" and never teach down. This is a great way to scaffold learning in a positive direction. 

  6. "Respectful" and engaging work for all students

      -In differentiation you need to make sure that all students are on their different pathways and having work that helps them to think at their highest level. 

  7. Proactive thinking and planning for different pathways. 

      -Differentiation is planning in advance for things a teacher is certain will affect different students in different ways. 

  

  8. Flexible grouping.

      -By doing flexible grouping, it allows students to balance needs and productivity with a wide range of purposes. 

  9. Flexible use of time, space, and materials.

     -The teacher needs to look for ways to arrange the classroom to helps students work in a variety of ways and formats. It is important to be willing to gather a variety of materials for students readiness levels. 

 
By implementing these hallmarks, anyone can become a teacher of differentiation. It just takes time, preparation and the willingness to want to help all students succeed at their own individual learning levels.