Are you looking for interactive learning structures that will help your students gain a deeper understanding of content while also developing and practicing higher level thinking skills? The Hot Seat is a strategy I've used successfully across disciplines with 3rd and 4th grade students. I borrowed it from Jeffrey Wilhelm, a well-known secondary level literacy educator, and modified it for use with elementary students.
Recently, more than a handful of my first graders were struggling with waiting to ask questions or make comments during direct instruction. I responded by using tried and true teacher practices: giving a clear signal (shaking my head no) to let the child know this was not an appropriate time, or simply saying "Ben, put your hand down. I'll ask for questions and comments soon." But the behavior did not stop. Instead, I found myself feeling exasperated when, one minute into the very next lesson, the same hands would go up when I was in the middle of talking.
Ever drive down the road and realize the car is wobbly and perhaps in need of alignment?
Sometimes I just know my class is going to feel the same way. Right before a vacation, the arrival of spring, or a much anticipated field trip are all challenging times that can disrupt our routines and make us feel out of sorts, as if the wheels on our learning bus are beginning to wobble. With spring break just around the corner, my class is predictably starting to veer off course, and it's time to take action.
"Maybe we'll get to teach in February." That's been the joke at my school after snow, ice, and extreme cold, plus holidays and teacher workdays meant that last month we had only nine full days of school!
Do elementary educators need to proactively protect their students against cyberbullying? Elizabeth Englander, in her engaging and readable new book Bullying and Cyberbullying: What Every Educator Needs to Know, makes a persuasive argument that we do. Dr.
It's getting to be the time of year when teachers' efforts during the first weeks of school begin to pay off. With classroom routines becoming well-established, a blossoming sense of community, and teachers who've gotten to know the children they teach, school days begin to fall into a rhythm. Students are feeling settled in, engaged, and ready to take on new learning challenges.
I'd like you to try a challenge I used to give myself several times a year when I was a classroom teacher. First, divide a piece of paper into three columns. In the first column, make a list of your students. Try not to use alphabetical order, grade book order, or table groups to help you remember. Just write the names down as they come to mind.
Then, in the middle column, next to each child's name, write one thing you know that child likes to do or cares passionately about.
In the third column, make a star if you're sure the child knows that you know this about her or him.
Scanning around our Morning Meeting circle, I noticed that students' eyes were riveted on the sharer—all except for Justin, a child with a high need for sensory input and physical movement. Justin was ramping up. His eyes were flashing from me to the sharer. His hands were flapping, and he was beginning to lean towards the student sitting next to him. I knew I had to intervene before his behavior escalated and disrupted our Morning Meeting.
When they are working towards a common goal, engaged in a fascinating topic, or trying to figure out a solution for a meaningful problem, students feel more connected to school and each other. Engaged learners have lots to talk about, including discoveries and interesting facts, experiments, predictions, and what they are looking forward to learning next. Here are some ideas for planning units or lessons that will foster this powerful sense of connection through learning.
What teachers have to deal with at this time of year (in addition to teaching, of course) can be daunting—writing report cards, meeting with families at conferences, grading papers, adjusting to a time change, and in some cases, even dealing with the aftermath of a hurricane. It is natural for you and your students to feel overwhelmed and tired. Do the optimism and promise you felt at the beginning of the new school year seem like distant memories? If so, you may have a case of the November blues.
Not long ago I watched an animated group of second graders happily share their opinions about a children's picture book. They were responding to their teacher's open-ended question about what might have motivated one of the characters in the book.
I've been thinking about the communication gap that sometimes exists between parents and teachers and how we can narrow it. For example, has this ever happened to you?
A teacher offers advice on an issue a child is having, and the parent hears it as veiled criticism. The parent offers additional information to help the teacher more fully understand what’s going on, and the teacher thinks the parent is just making excuses.
"How do I make the time for a Closing Circle at the end of the school day?" That is definitely the question I hear most from people who want to start using Closing Circles. It's addressed in detail in a section of the Closing Circles book called "Seven Ways to Find 5–10 Minutes," but here's the main idea underlying what you'll read there: If you manage the end of the day efficiently, you can find the time.
