My first two years at my current school were spent in a room that was, in a word, terrible. I did not have a window, I had two doors at opposite sides of the class that were positioned on the busiest hallways in the school, my room was directly across from a, shall we say, well used, boys’ room, and I did not have any cellphone reception in there either. It was like a bunker. This year, when I got the chance to jump to a room in the newer part of the building with a large window on a less traveled hallway, I was beyond excited. About two months into the school year, rumblings started of grouping classrooms by departments. Most of our department is back about where I came from and I became depressed. Later we come to find it out that it was all true and I would have to move again but I was getting a new room. The room I should be getting has a wall of windows on a medium-ly trafficked hall. I do not want to move but it should be better than where I started. I do not, at all, however, want to re-pack my belongings and re-decorate a new room. Arts and crafts are not my strong suit and I worked hard on this room. I am also anxious to get in there and get things setup because my son is set to arrive sometime around the start of the new school year. Anxiety is riding high at the moment.
One thing I am looking forward to is further purging some of the things that have accumulated over the years that I have slogged from school to school and room to room. My plan this year is to use the konmari method by Marie Kondo. I heard about this method years ago as I began explaining minimalism. Minimalism about reducing things you do not want to focus on the things that you do. I have been applying this to all aspects of my life, including teaching. It is difficult for me to get rid of certain things and my plan this year is to be more vicious as I cleanse. The konmari method involves breaking down items into categories and purging category by category. Ideally you would do an entire category at a time and then move to the next but for my classroom, my plan is to clean by location. I want to do a file cabinet, drawer, bookshelf a day until it is cut down to the minimum. Most of my files are electronic so I know I can cut out some extra paper copies. Plus, starting next year and into the next, our standards are changing so I will have to reorganize and revamp my materials making this year the perfect time to purge. I am cleaning out most of the extra pens, pencils, colored pencils, highlighters, paperclips, etc. I have way more than I can use and I will pass them onto my students. Once I have purged, I want to get some organizational tools to help me keep things neat and tidy. Some of things I am looking at are below. How do you pack and prepare to move rooms? How do you stay organized? What would you suggest I do to make things easier? All help is welcome! Desk Drawer Organizer Desk Organizer for Phone Minimal Wood Desk Organizer
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In a recent professional development, we read the article “Is Your Lesson a Grecian Urn?” by Jennifer Gonzalez. This article stirred up big emotions in some. I felt the article was well written and clear in its intentions but others did not see it this way. Gonzalez looks to get teachers to really examine the activities that they have students complete. She wants you to ask what should kids get out of this activity? What are they learning? Would there be a better way to make this learning happen? These are all questions would should be asking anyways. The dust up came from the misunderstanding that Gonzalez was advocating for no projects when that was fairly clearly not the case. We had quite the heated debate and this is an idea that I discovered on my own via self-reflection.
About five or six years ago, I created this really cool project about the Cold War and superheroes. The majority of the best know superheroes came about during either World War II or the Cold War. I was teaching seventh grade social studies at the time and wanted us to do something fun. I made a PowerPoint about superheroes and showed a few original clips. We also learned a little background information on the Cold War. So far we about a day and a half deep and the kids have not even done anything. I think gave them about two days to create a superhero and a make a comic book for them. The project itself is great and the kids have to apply what they learned but under Gonzalez’s rules it would be a Grecian urn project because it took too long; the return on investment was not there. We spent about a week on a project that should have been at most two days. With that project, I learned to really weed out unnecessary activities and pare down others. It is sort of the minimalism approach to projects. Kids need to practice working on something for an extended time and creating is a great way from the to use the knowledge and skills that they have learned but the focus should be clear and precise. The why needs to be known and expressed. Here are a few questions you can ask when creating an assignment or before you recycle one: How long should this take and how long might it really take? We all have those slower workers and we want kids to have time to express and create but this may drag a project out longer than needed. What do I want my kids to know? You have to know your kids and the information they need. Refer back to your standards and skills as you need. Will this help them learn? If you are using something that was given to you it may be great or it may be junk; maybe it worked on one set of students but it may not work on another. All these factors should lead you to either a yes use it as is, no this is junk, or yes use it but modify it. Be intentional with your teaching. Stay with me on this one but here comes some sneaker talk… I have always loved sneakers. My mom recently found my baby Nikes and I plan on cleaning them up and giving them to my son. My mom also likes to tell the story about how I would take so long picking out my school sneakers that eventually she had to hand the task off to my dad who has more patience. Sneakers are art you wear and can give the world a peek into your personality. Lately, in the world of sneakers, dad shoes have been all the rage. People seem very confused why people would want to wear these “ugly” shoes. Well comfort will always be king and this not a new trend. These are really highly cushioned running shoes and dads have been rocking runners since they existed.
This is very old man of me to say but, as I get older I seek out comfort and softness more and more. I wear sneakers to work pretty frequently. I am on my feet all day and like the extra squish. It is also a way to connect with my kids. I have used sneakers to teach history and as a way to build relationships with students. We all wear shoes so they might as well be comfortable. Here are a list of some sneakers if you want to give your feet a break. I made a classic list and a new age list. There are many more models you could choose, I just like these and any color of them will look great. Check them out and let me know what you think! Classic: Nike Air Monarch New Balance 990 New Balance 997 Nike Tailwind 79 Nike Air Max 90 New Age: Adidas Yeezy 700 Nike M2K Tekno New Balance 1080 Adidas Ultra Boost 19 Puma Thunder Spectra I love using flipped learning strategies. Flipped learning is more reflective of a college experience where the student is expected to prepare before class. There are some differences but it does begin the transition. I teach high school social studies and want to prepare my kids for college and life. Flipped learning allows that to happen.
Flipped learning is not an all or nothing process. It can be sprinkled in as needed. I use it mainly for notes and vocabulary. After we complete a standard/unit test, I give the students fill in the blank notes and a vocabulary chart for the next standard/unit. I post the notes in google classroom for them and they are expected to fill in the notes within about three days. This allows them to recognize the things we will be discussing and be more involved when we discuss notes. I do not give notes, we discuss notes. My expectation for my kids (we have to practice) is for them to have completed the notes and come in the next class with questions for clarity or curiosity. I want for the notes to be a conversation between me, the students, and the material. Also from a logistical/practical viewpoint, doing the notes ahead of time cuts out having to flip back and forth between slides as people miss information and you do not have to wait on slow writers. This is especially nice if you have a kid that has trouble writing because they can write outside of class at their own pace and not worry about peer ridicule. The vocabulary chart I use has three columns. The first is the term, the second space is for the definition, and the third is for an example or drawing that goes with the word. I also include the standards at the top of the sheet before the chart. Doing the vocabulary ahead of time helps make the notes make more sense and the other activities we do in class. I also have a "word wall" at the back of my room for reference. It is just laminated pieces of paper but in comes in handy. Knocking these two things out ahead of time helps the kids be better prepared to participate in meaningful activities in class. Flipping the learning, especially on these two activities, has saved me a lot of time and logistical headaches. The kids see a lot of benefit from preparing before we discuss and dive into a topic. I have gotten a lot of good questions that I might not have otherwise. If you have any questions or need any help let me know! My email, Instagram, and twitter are all good places to reach out and connect. My wife is about 15 weeks pregnant with our first child. We are expecting a boy in August. We are both very excited with all the planning and changes that go with moving from two to three. We have a name picked out (though we are trying to decide on spelling) and we have started planning the nursery.
We have no control over it but the due date is a little problematic for teaching. My plan is to take a week off when he is born but that August date is a scary time for me. School is starting and the girls will have started their golf season. My assistant coach is more than capable of handling the team but the classroom is looming large. I have no control when my son arrives but I am trying to start preparing for missing either the first week or week two. Has anyone missed, no matter the reason, the first couple days or weeks of a school year? How did you handle it? Any advice or suggestions? This summer will be packed with excitement and I want my ducks in a row before the big day! |
AuthorKyle is a 34 year old teacher that loves James Bond, history, donuts, and sneakers. Archives
February 2021
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