Web Spotlight: Our Class Web by Karen McDavid

A veteran 3rd grade teacher from Georgia, Karen McDavid has graciously been compiling lessons, teaching tips, and tools to share--free of charge--with other teachers. My only question is... when did she find the time?

On her website (Our Class Web), Karen involves students, parents, and educators.  This website is a must-view resource for the elementary teacher.  I am so grateful that she has shared her take on classroom management and provided hundreds of ideas for learning centers.

All pictures belong to Karen McDavid of OurClassWeb.com

Classroom Management

I wanted to write a post about classroom management because I'm feeling as though I've run into some new situations for me as a senior intern in an elementary school. I borrowed many of these from the site http://www.honorlevel.com/x79.  The information you'll find here includes strategies and skills notes that I've found to be incredibly helpful while participating in my internship experience.



Discipline "Do's":

1. Focusing - Do not begin teaching until you have the attention of the entire class.  
2. Direct Instruction - Uncertainty increases the level of excitement in the classroom. The technique of direct instruction is to begin each class by telling the students exactly what will be happening. The teacher outlines what he and the students will be doing this period. He may set time limits for some tasks.
   
   An effective way to marry this technique with the first one is to include time at the end of the period for students to do activities of their choosing. The teacher may finish the description of the hour’s activities with: “And I think we will have some time at the end of the period for you to chat with your friends, go to the library, or catch up on work for other classes.”
   
   The teacher is more willing to wait for class attention when he knows there is extra time to meet his goals and objectives. The students soon realize that the more time the teacher waits for their attention, the less free time they have at the end of the hour. 
3. Monitoring - The key to this principle is to circulate. Get up and get around the room. While your students are working, make the rounds. Check on their progress. 
4. Modeling - Teachers who are courteous, prompt, enthusiastic, in control, patient and organized provide examples for their students through their own behavior.  
5. Non-verbal Cuing - Consider flipping the light switch, keeping a clicker in your pocket, or establishing a clapping pattern that means "pay attention." Non-verbal cues can also be facial expressions, body posture and hand signals. Care should be given in choosing the types of cues you use in your classroom. Take time to explain what you want the students to do when you use your cues. 
6. Environmental Control - A classroom can be a warm cheery place. Students enjoy an environment that changes periodically. Study centers with pictures and color invite enthusiasm for your subject.
   
   Young people like to know about you and your interests. Include personal items in your classroom. A family picture or a few items from a hobby or collection on your desk will trigger personal conversations with your students. As they get to know you better, you will see fewer problems with discipline.
   
   Just as you may want to enrich your classroom, there are times when you may want to impoverish it as well. You may need a quiet corner with few distractions. Some students will get caught up in visual exploration. For them, the splash and the color is a siren that pulls them off task. They may need more “vanilla” and less “rocky-road.” Have a quiet place where you can steer these youngsters. Let them get their work done first and then come back to explore and enjoy the rest of the room. 
7. Low-Profile Intervention - Most students are sent to the principal’s office as a result of confrontational escalation. The teacher has called them on a lesser offense, but in the moments that follow, the student and the teacher are swept up in a verbal maelstrom. Much of this can be avoided when the teacher’s intervention is quiet and calm.
   
   An effective teacher will take care that the student is not rewarded for misbehavior by becoming the focus of attention. She monitors the activity in her classroom, moving around the room. She anticipates problems before they occur. Her approach to a misbehaving student is inconspicuous. Others in the class are not distracted.
   
   While lecturing to her class this teacher makes effective use of name-dropping. If she sees a student talking or off task, she simply drops the youngster’s name into her dialogue in a natural way. “And you see, David, we carry the one to the tens column.” David hears his name and is drawn back on task. The rest of the class doesn’t seem to notice. 
8. Assert the roles of students and teachers- The teacher is the boss and no child has the right to interfere with the learning of any student. Clear rules are laid out and consistently enforced. 
9. Assertive I-Messages - A component of Assertive Discipline, these I-Messages are statements that the teacher uses when confronting a student who is misbehaving. They are intended to be clear descriptions of what the student is suppose to do. The teacher who makes good use of this technique will focus the child’s attention first and foremost on the behavior he wants, not on the misbehavior. “I want you to...” or “I need you to...” or “I expect you to...”
   
   The inexperienced teacher may incorrectly try “I want you to stop...” only to discover that this usually triggers confrontation and denial. The focus is on the misbehavior and the student is quick to retort: “I wasn’t doing anything!” or “It wasn’t my fault...” or “Since when is there a rule against...” and escalation has begun. 
10. Humanistic I-Messages - These I-messages are expressions of our feelings. Thomas Gordon, creator of Teacher Effectiveness Training (TET), tells us to structure these messages in three parts. First, include a description of the child’s behavior. “When you talk while I talk...” Second, relate the effect this behavior has on the teacher. “...I have to stop my teaching...” And third, let the student know the feeling that it generates in the teacher. “...which frustrates me.” 
11. Positive Discipline - Use classroom rules that describe the behaviors you want instead of listing things the students cannot do. Make ample use of praise. When you see good behavior, acknowledge it.  

Discipline "Don'ts":

• raising my voice
• yelling
• saying “I’m the boss here”
• insisting on having the last word
• using tense body language, such as rigid posture or clenched hands
• using degrading, insulting, humiliating, or embarrassing put-downs
• using sarcasm
• attacking the student’s character
• acting superior
• using physical force
• drawing unrelated persons into the conflict
• having a double standard — making students do what I say, not what I do
• insisting that I am right
• preaching
• making assumptions
• backing the student into a corner
• pleading or bribing
• bringing up unrelated events
• generalizing about students by making remarks such as “All you kids are the same”
• making unsubstantiated accusations
• holding a grudge
• nagging
• throwing a temper tantrum
• mimicking the student
• making comparisons with siblings or other students
• commanding, demanding, dominatin
• rewarding the student with tangibles (use sparingly)

Common Core Math Made Easy

IXL has come up with various Common Core math resources for teachers and homeschoolers.  While you will need a membership to access all of the site's features, much of the information is still extremely useful--and free!  Need to look up a standard on the fly?  Need an example to get you started?  Simply select a grade and roll your mouse's pointer over the specific standard and a sample will pop up!  This is great for those who are getting acquainted with Common Core Math standards.

You are able to find state and grade-specific information:

Here's an instant sample problem:

I'm interning in a second grade classroom, so I found this to be extremely helpful in my planning for a Teacher Worksample requirement.  If your class does a Problem of the Day, this site can help you to make sure you cover all of the Common Core Math requirements.

Source:
http://www.ixl.com/math/standards/

Planning to take the FTCE SAE (K-6) Exam? Read this first!

Preparing to take the Florida Teaching Certification Exam: Subject Area Exam (Kindergarten-6th Grade)? There are a lot of resources available on the internet and for purchase. An overwhelming amount of it is terrible, out-dated, and won't help you pass the test. 

How do I know?  I just took it... and passed! Stop wasting your time trying to find study materials for the SAE K-6. Check out these free resources, study guides, and practice tests.

Autism and Learning Infographic

 If you're a visual learner (like me), if absolutely helps to see  information presented in an interesting format.  I was just speaking with a co-intern who is working in exceptional education classrooms about how broad the autism spectrum really is.  Having little experience working with children who have autism, I think that this is probably a good starting place for someone like me to learn about autism.

Glogster Book Report

You've seen the traditional book report.  You've heard the accompanying groans of students upon assigning such an important project.  This time, let your students create a multimedia poster "book report" through Edu.Glogster.com.

I did this project with fourth grade students who were eager to share with me their progress and beg--yes, literally--me to set aside time for Glogsters during some part of the day.

Hello!

Welcome!  I'm Nichole, a pre-service teacher from sunny Florida.  I just finished up the first half of my senior year and have come across A TON of  resources that I wanted to save and share.  Maybe the best way to do that would be by blogging, right?  Welcome again to my journey into teaching, my forever-growing archive, and my life.

A little bit about me:

I do things:  I enjoy graphic design, screen printing, yoga, surfing, cooking, and thrifting.
I collect things:  old cameras, tin robots, and screen printed posters are some of my favorite things.
I enjoy music:  Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Philip Glass, Explosions in the Sky, The Dresden Dolls, Rilo Kiley, The Mountain Goats, Jejune, Bad Religion, Against Me!, Feist, Eisley, Yo La Tengo, Beirut, and the Beatles are some of my long-time favorites.