strategies Archives - Page 12 of 18 - Inspired Together Teachers

A Round-Up of our Best Ideas for Positive Classroom Management

April 10, 2018 by Inspired Together Teachers Leave a Comment

Most teachers experience classroom management challenges. Management isn’t something you can master once and then forget. As you work with new students, new curriculum or even a new grade level or content area, you will constantly evaluate and shift your teaching strategies. Likewise, your approaches to creating positive classroom management will evolve.

Teachers regularly consider which things are working well in their classroom and to try to find ways to improve things that are not working as well. We thought it was time for a round -up of some of our most popular articles dealing with the topic of positive classroom management

Our basic premise when dealing with classroom behaviors is that preventing unwanted behaviors is far more effective than dealing with misbehaviors. Setting up a positive environment and creating the conditions for students to be motivated prevents many behavior challenges.

We have addressed setting up your classroom environment by creating rules and procedures.

The teacher sets the tone in the classroom, and modeling positive behaviors can be very effective in creating a positive classroom environment. Read 10 Ways You Can Become the Chief Learner in Your Classroom.

Another important part of positive classroom management is building relationships. Students will learn more from you if they know, like and trust you. We talked about knowing students well in How to Really Know and Understand a Child.

Do you want to increase student motivation in your classroom? Check out Five Things You Can Do to Improve Motivation and Two Things You Can Do Today to Improve Motivation.

Everyone loves to be a part of a positive learning environment. We shared Eight Simple Ways to Create a More Joyful Classroom.

If you want highly engaged students, active learning is key. Try these 4 Great Active Learning Strategies for All Content Areas.

A couple more teacher tricks that highly effective teachers use to create a positive learning environment are “With-It-Ness” and listening.

Despite our best intentions, things don’t always run smoothly. We’ve got you covered there as well.

What do you do when the honeymoon is over and negative behaviors start to show up?

If students don’t do what you ask them to do, you need to read Ten Reasons Why Kids Don’t Do What You Tell Them to Do.

Sometimes you will have a bad day.

Great teachers are great problem solvers. When things go wrong, Don’t Freak, Solution Seek.

If you are feeling like one of our favorite children’s book characters Alexander, and are having a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day, we get it. We have all been there, and we can ease your mind about the days that don’t go well.

If all else fails and you are desperate for a little motivation for yourself, read

Remind Me Why I Became a Teacher

You’re More Powerful Than You Think

To The Young Teacher With Stars in Your Eyes

And lastly, if you haven’t already done so, create a folder for Positive Notes for Days I Really Need Them.

It will keep you going when times are rough.

We promise,

Shake Up Your Classroom for Optimal Learning

March 27, 2018 by Inspired Together Teachers 3 Comments

In most classrooms, there will be times when things are moving along nicely. Students are engaged. There is a calm, yet invigorating atmosphere. Students are getting along well and the classroom community is healthy. This is a recipe for optimal learning.

And then there are times when things aren’t going so smoothly. Students are struggling to learn. There is a pervasive sense of restlessness or tension. Students are bickering or causing many disruptions. A general feeling of the blahs has settled over the classroom like a foggy mist.

When your class is not responding in healthy and productive ways, it means you need to shift something so that you can restore a positive learning environment. These shifts might be small tweaks that help students to reengage, or they might involve a bigger shake up that moves students out of one pattern and into another.

Here are some ideas for ways to shake up your classroom for optimal learning:

Review Rules and Expectations

When was the last time you had a class discussion about goals and behavior? If behaviors are an issue, sometimes a good review of the rules and expectations is in order. Rather than focus on behaviors in a negative way (for example yelling at students) have a class meeting. Ask students about their learning goals and what they hope that they can gain by getting a good education. Help them to see both short- term and long-term benefits of a classroom where everyone can learn.

Try a New Method

If students are struggling to learn a concept, try a new method. Put students in groups of two or three and have them teach each other. Have students write story problems for each other. Bring out new manipulatives. Get a variety of different books on a subject and let them explore and share what they find by filling out a graphic organizer.

Use a New Review Game

Use a new game to review material before a test. The novelty of something different will often result in students showing increased attention. Don’t forget to discuss behavior expectations when introducing a new game.

Change Your Physical Space

Change the classroom seating arrangement or rearrange the room completely. This often brings a new energy to the space.

Create Learning Stations

Create new learning centers or for older students, put content into learning stations. The ability to move around the room while completing tasks breaks up the “sit and get” mentality and allows students to feel more autonomy, which often results in increased motivation.

Introduce More Movement

Get physical. Movement increases oxygen and alertness. Introduce some new learning strategies where students can move. We discussed four easy and engaging active learning strategies here.

Have Some Fun

If you have been working really hard and focusing intently on standards and assessments, you might need a little fun in your classroom. Let students work in groups create a rap about science concepts. Play charades with vocabulary words. Try popcorn and an educational movie. Take students outside for an activity.

Start a New Project

Introduce an exciting new project. For example, students could research a historical period and create a documentary film demonstrating their knowledge. Put on a health fair, a science fair, or an art exhibit. In a music class, have students write original compositions and perform them for the class. Let students work in small groups to write skits about parts of speech.

When things aren’t working as smoothly as you’d like, it is a sign that something needs to change. Undoing what no longer works and trying new things can lead to progress and prevent a stagnant classroom.

If you are not happy with your classroom environment or student learning, try shaking things up. A good shake up often results in more engaged students and makes teaching and learning more fun.

What do YOU do to shake up your classroom?

Do you need to shake up your lesson planning? Get our favorite template by filling out this form:

Spring Fever? Take Students Outside!

March 20, 2018 by Inspired Together Teachers 4 Comments

Do you have spring fever? In many places of the country winter has been long, snowy, and rainy. Students have been stuck indoors and are feeling restless. Then along comes a warm, sunny, beautiful day. After weeks of cold, windy weather, it is a welcome sign of spring. Students are staring out the window longingly, and let’s face it, you probably are as well!

What can you do when longing for the outside makes it hard for students to focus on the tasks inside of your classroom? We suggest you give in and take your students outside!

There are many ways to give in to spring fever without abandoning your curriculum or academic standards. There are ideas and activities appropriate for students of all ages and different content areas.

We do want to remind you to be clear and specific in setting your behavior expectations and directions before you attempt to take students outside to work.

Here is an example of how to set expectations:

“I know we would all like to work outside today. Before we can do that, I need you to agree to follow my rules and behavior expectations. First, while we are outside, you promise to focus on doing the work of the lesson. When I call for your attention, you promise to stop and listen to directions. If you do not follow these rules we will immediately return to the classroom. Please raise your hand if you can agree to these rules.”

Here are a few activities that will start you thinking about how you can take advantage of warm weather to increase your student’s engagement with your curriculum.

Younger students:

Observe like scientists. Go on a nature walk. Note signs of spring. Then write or draw your observations.

Use sidewalk chalk to practice sight words or spelling words, practice math problems, or illustrate and solve story problems.

Read with a partner, taking turns reading pages.

Practice and perform reader’s theater presentations. There are many scripts available for free for different content areas. Read more about Readers Theater here.

Walk to local sites such as museums.

Middle and High School students:

Practice speech and reading skills with Reader’s Theater. Students can select poems from poetry books or books such as Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices or I am Phoenix: Poems for Two Voices. Read more about Readers Theater here.

Do a “Walk and Talk.” Have students pair up. Give them an assigned topic to discuss. Often you can use the discussion questions you would have used with the entire class. Have them walk and talk about the question for a minute or two, then switch partners. Bring them back to a large group to share their insights. Repeat as time allows. This activity is also great for language classes- talking must be in the language they are learning!

Allow students to do assigned reading, sitting by themselves, in a nice sunny location.

Nature is also a good inspiration for writing. With clipboards, students can easily write outside. Tie the writing activity to nature or to your existing curriculum.

Use the outdoors for potentially loud activities such as skits, debates, or acting out concepts in the form of Tableaux. Students can act out the parts of a cell or create a rap about the Continental Congress.

Do scientific investigations, collect data and analyze the results.

Use math skills to measure the height of trees, estimate the number of trees in an area of land or do some orienteering. You could also create statistics from the NCAA tournament or Major League Baseball’s opening games.

These are just a few of the many possible activities, we’re sure you can look at your curriculum and find ways that you can engage students while giving them a chance to enjoy the first beautiful spring days.

Let us know how YOU teach outdoors!

Happy spring,

Are you conducting a search for a teaching position this spring? Get our free guide to interviewing!

How to Help Students Who Struggle with Reading

March 13, 2018 by Inspired Together Teachers Leave a Comment

Chances are good that you work with students who struggle with reading. It can be challenging, but there are some easy, tried and true strategies that effectively help students to comprehend what they read. Better yet, these strategies help all readers, even students who don’t struggle with reading, to read with better comprehension and fluency.

Imagine that a teacher gives students a very common task, to “read chapter seven,” and follow up by answering a series of comprehension questions. This is a typical assignment, given thousands of times a day by teachers everywhere.

Teachers make many assumptions in giving this type of assignment. First, they assume students can read the words and know all the vocabulary in the chapter. Second, they presume that students will be able to connect the material that they read to other topics and content they have already learned. Third, they believe that students will be able to pick out the main ideas and details, understand a sequence of events and synthesize the material.

Being able to read and understand a large piece of content is a sophisticated reading task. Many students won’t read the material. They will skim and scan, looking for the answers to the questions. Some students try, but struggle to put the pieces together in order to fully comprehend the material. Others quickly become overwhelmed and stop trying. These students, who are off task, often create distractions and disruptions that hinder everyone.

Fortunately, the solution is not difficult, and doesn’t have to take a long time. When assigning a reading task, these simple strategies will help insure success for students:

Preteach vocabulary.

A quick discussion or review of the key words in the selection will greatly increase the chances that students will comprehend the material and will help them read the material more fluently. Write a list of important words on the board and have a quick discussion. What is the word and what does it mean? How might this word be important in the reading?

Connect the new reading to previous learning.

Take a minute or two to ask a couple of simple questions. Have students look at the headings or titles. Ask them what they think the reading will be about and how they think it will connect to their previous learning.

It also helps to give students a bridge to help them connect previous and new learning. Ask students to give a few key points from recent learning, then give them a connection.

We learned about the characteristics of rainforests. Today we are going to read about the characteristics of deserts.

Another idea is to have students make predictions.

Given what you have learned about plant cells, how do you think animal cells might be different?

Give students a purpose for reading.

This is your chance to help students identify main ideas and important details. It is even better if you can entice them or give them a hint of something fun or interesting to look for as they read. If you know what you are looking for, it is much easier to find it. Give students a purpose with statements such as:

As you read this story, look for ways that bats and birds are alike and different.

In this chapter you are going to find out some smart things that Brian does to stay alive in the wilderness. Think about yourself in this situation. How you would have handled being stranded with no one to help you?

While reading this selection, look for the reasons the colonists were upset with the British and what they did because of their anger.

Help students summarize.

Many students struggle with summarizing. Graphic organizers will help give students a framework to help them summarize. There are different graphic organizers available to help students summarize different types of reading material such as fiction, selections that focus on comparing and contrasting or selections that emphasize sequence of events. There are graphic organizers for different content areas and for all grade levels. Do a quick search for the type of graphic organizer you need and you will find many to choose from. Here are some sites with good graphic organizers:

Graphic Organizers K-12 organized by TeacherVision

Teachnology’s graphic organizers

Graphic organizers selected by Education Oasis

In his Zone of Proximal Development theory, Vygotsky taught us that there is a difference between what a learner can do without help and with help. Students can do more and learn more when they are given a scaffold. These strategies provide students who struggle with reading a helping hand, a scaffold, to increase their comprehension.

These strategies are not new, but they are effective. Spending even just five extra minutes helping students to prepare for a reading task will result in better comprehension. We think that is time well spent.

Happy reading,

Want more about reading? Check out these articles:

Are you Killing the Love of Reading?

Growing Brains: Reading as the Anti-Zombie

5 Things English Language Learner (ELL) Teachers Want You to Know

February 20, 2018 by Inspired Together Teachers Leave a Comment

What are some things you need to know about teaching students whose first language is not English? Today we share part one of a two part series about successfully working with ELLs. We reached out to two teachers who specialize in teaching students who are learning English. They have some excellent suggestions to help you welcome English language learners into your classroom.

5 Things English Language Learner (ELL) Teachers Want You to Know

By Charissa McAuliff and Carolyn Wiezorek

Teachers of students for whom English is not their first language find themselves advocating for students and families in ways that extend beyond the school day and beyond the school walls. For many families, the ELL teacher is their connection to the new world. He/she holds powerful knowledge of how to successfully navigate the unpredictable new territory. We think administrators, classroom teachers, specialist teachers, paraprofessionals, office staff, custodians, lunch staff, and others, need to know a few things about English Language Learners in your schools and communities.

1.Parents of ELLs want what is best for their children. They may not know how to navigate the educational system or how to help their children. In addition, they may not have the language skills to express questions and/or concerns.

2. Countries within a given continent have unique cultures. While Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese hail from Asia, they may have few commonalities. In addition, many cultures exist within a given country. For example, Kenya has 42 tribes and each one practices different traditions and rituals. Having similar physical features does not translate to having the same culture. We cannot make assumptions.

3.English is challenging. There are more than 500 ways to represent the 44 phonemes (sounds). For example, the “k” sound could also be represented a “c” as in carrot, “ck” as in duck, “ch” as in anchor, or “que” as in mosquito. Even when decoding is mastered, new vocabulary, various word meanings, and figurative language stump even strong readers.

4.Your students may speak languages that are not Latin-based. Think about how difficult it would be for you to learn Russian, Japanese or another language that has a completely different set of symbols.

5.Lack of language is not a disability. While the language learners in your class may not be proficient and may score poorly on assessments, lack of language itself is not cause to entitle a student. With the right supports and learning experiences, most language learners will thrive. Also, ELLs often understand content concepts and possess many skills, but may not have the language skills to express understanding or the opportunity to demonstrate content-related skills. So, make sure to allow multiple opportunities for students to show what they know.

We thank you for welcoming and embracing English Language Learners in your schools and classrooms. Under the right conditions, all members of the school community benefit from the diversity and cultural richness each individual contributes.

Charissa McAuliff is an ELL teacher at Dubuque Community School District in Dubuque, Iowa. She emigrated from the Philippines 38 years ago. She has a degree in Family Life and Child Development from the University of the Philippines and a Master’s degree in Education from Clarke University. Charissa also has certificates in K-6 elementary education, K-8 reading, and K-12 ELL. Charissa was also a teacher at Fulton Elementary School in Dubuque for 17 years.

Charissa has two children and three grandchildren. When she is not teaching, she loves to read, garden and travel.

Dr. Carolyn Wiezorek is an Associate Professor of Education, at Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa. She taught in K-12 education for 20 years. Dr. Wiezorek holds a doctorate in educational leadership and a master’s degree in gifted education from the University of Northern Iowa and a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education from the University of Iowa. In addition, she holds endorsements in elementary education, gifted and talented education, English as a second language, physical education, and administration.

Dr. Wiezorek works with school leaders and teachers, providing workshops on various educational topics. Her work has included international training in Combarbalá, Chile, where she served on a Rotary Training Team, and in rural areas of Kenya where she and team members planned and provided workshops for primary teachers in 2016 and 2017. She is currently working with administrators from Mount Kenya University on a leadership, entrepreneurship and development program and recently worked with a group of editors and writers to publish a book on the Kenyan education system. She has a passion for improving education and enjoys working with teachers and students.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Connect with us on Social Media!