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Showing posts with label Cooperative Learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cooperative Learning. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
First Day of School; Fun Learning!
What a great day! First I had the students write very neatly, in good complete sentences five important facts about themselves. I told them it was their first assignment! Then I asked them to hold them up so I could see them. They were all so serious and diligent, until I told them to crumple them up and throw them! "Snowball Fight!" They loved it! When I rang the bell, they stopped immediately, picked up one and opened it so they could read it. We took turns reading them aloud and guessing who's paper it was!
SNOWBALL FIGHTS!
SPAGHETTI & MARSHMALLOW TOWERS
I challenged the students to work in small groups to build the tallest, best built tower. They got 5 minutes of of individual planning time, then their group got ten more minutes of group planning time. The hitch was...they could NOT talk at all during the actual construction. No mouthing words, no talking, no writing notes. No verbal language. So they had to come up with alternative ways to communicate, divide the jobs, and cooperate together. After we discussed what worked and what didn't. The students loved it!
Such fun learning!
Sunday, January 4, 2015
It's January....and Here We Go....!
Friday, August 15, 2014
Educational Buzzwords: Habits of Mind
I've heard the term "Habits of Mind" thrown around quite a bit in the last year or so. This approach is really not new, just a slightly different pathway to get to the same place. "Habits of Mind" is all about teaching our students problem solving. Let's face it, our students come to us with less and less "stick-to-it-ness" with each passing year. These video game babies are accustomed to immediate gratification, and have no coping skills when it comes to problem solving.
"Habits of Mind" is all about teaching students how to proceed when they don't know the answer. It's about dealing with the idea that there might not be a right or wrong answer, and yet we still want them to think critically and do some problem solving.
There are 16 work habits that should be actively taught to children. In this approach, teachers pose a challenging question, problem, scenario, or task and give students the time to actually tackle the issue at hand. I have actually been doing this type of teaching in my classroom for the last five years, but didn't know that I should be calling it "Habits of Mind."
I actually used John Wooden's Pyramid of Success for the basis of this type of instruction and it has served me well. I even have a product in my Teachers Pay Teachers store that uses this approach which teaches the students the skills they will need to be successful with the Common Core Standards and leads them to effective student driven goal setting. Not an easy task! If you are interested in this, check it out.
HERE COMES COMMON CORE!
But that was a sidebar! On to "Habits of Mind!" What I find fascinating, is how easily these two tie into each other. Let me show you:
There are 16 habits of mind:
1. Persistence - which is the same thing as Wooden's Determination.
2. Managing Impulsivity - which is the same thing as Wooden's Self-Control. I would add patience here as well.
3. Listening to Others using understanding and empathy - Wooden's Friendship and Loyalty
4. Think Flexibly - 
5. Metacognition - Think about thinking. 
6. Accuracy & Precision - Wooden's Alertness
11. Creating, Imagining, Innovating - 
12. Responding with wonderment & awe - Wooden's Enthusiasm
What would this look like in the classroom?
Good, thought provoking questions require "wait time." You must be patient and give it to your students.
First of all, you must be willing to allow "struggle time." Effective effort is a lifeskill, and there should be no quick and easy solutions to these problems.
But with that said, you don't want to allow too much frustration. Teachers should prompt student thinking to move students along. Never give the students the answer, but hints and cues will keep the thinking progressing and the students will have more of a chance at perseverance.
Think, Pair, Share is an effective approach, but it is important that with this collaboration ultimately every pupil will respond. Use thumbs up, whiteboards, or any other method to hold ALL students accountable to the thinking.
I could go on and on, praising the virtues of team building activities at the end of the school year and the benefits gained by the students, but instead I am going to tell you my own horror story from last year at this time. Pay attention kiddies, and heed my words of caution! Remember, no good deed goes unpunished!
HERE COMES COMMON CORE!
But that was a sidebar! On to "Habits of Mind!" What I find fascinating, is how easily these two tie into each other. Let me show you:
There are 16 habits of mind:
1. Persistence - which is the same thing as Wooden's Determination.
We all know that students need to be able to work at a problem, and stick with it even when the going gets tough. But let's face it, this is what they just aren't any good at!
2. Managing Impulsivity - which is the same thing as Wooden's Self-Control. I would add patience here as well.
3. Listening to Others using understanding and empathy - Wooden's Friendship and Loyalty
Listening without judging, placating, or jumping in with stories about yourself or advice without getting the whole message. That's pretty tough, even adults struggle with this!
4. Think Flexibly - look at things from multiple perspectives.
5. Metacognition - Think about thinking. How did you get this answer?
6. Accuracy & Precision - Wooden's Alertness
Pay attention to the details!7. Questioning and Posing Problems - This would require Wooden's Confidence. 8. Apply past knowledge to new situations. (prior knowledge) Wooden's Skill 9. Thinking and Communicating with clarity and precision - Wooden's Cooperation
Avoid vagueness, abstractions, and absolutes (Always, never, all, everyone)10. Gather data through all senses - Wooden's Alertness
11. Creating, Imagining, Innovating - This is the ultimate goal, isn't it?
12. Responding with wonderment & awe - Wooden's Enthusiasm
Student choice in topics, format, learning pathways13. Responsible Risk-Taking - Wooden's Action
Failure is just a means to achieving the goal14. Finding Humor in unusual ways - Wooden's Poise 15. Interdependent Thinking - Wooden's Team Spirit (Multiple sources of information) 16. Continuous Learning - Revisiting old ideas (Revision) - Wooden's Skill If we actively teach these habits to our students, they will meet greater success in the classroom and in life. This is true "College and Career Readiness."
Saturday, May 31, 2014
End of the Year Fun...Words of Warning! Proceed With Caution!
Last year at precisely this time, I ventured into the world of team building fun. Blindly optimistic, and with my usual enthusiasm for hands-on interactive learning, I set out to create a fabulous adventure for our students. My first steps began with research of catapults to create an instructional Power Point on these devices. Next, the students were issued a challenge...here is a bag of supplies (popsicle sticks, pencils, rubber bands, straws, plastic spoon, coffee stirrers, a dixie cup) build your own catapult to shoot a marshmallow further than your peers. The students gathered in groups to begin the building phase. What great conversations, critical thinking and problem solving! What could be better - such great learning fun for the end of the year! Ahhh...but this is a horror story, remember? What could go wrong you ask?
The students planned and built and tested their catapults. It takes awhile but they begin to see results. Still sounding pretty good, huh? Next is the shooting contest. We set up a starting line, let students come to the line and shoot their marshmallow three times. We have students assigned to do the measuring, and recording. Students average the three scores. So much math! Still sounding good, right? The students are enjoying themselves, and don't even notice how much math they are doing! Everyone is involved and behavior is not a problem. So, what could go wrong?
At the end of the activity we still have time to spare....uh oh! "Can we please have a marshmallow fight with our catapults?" "No one will get hurt!" Do you see where this is going? Why not? So we take the rest of the marshmallows and let the students have at it. So much fun! Marshmallows are flying, kids are racing around and giggling, and catapults are working! No problems, everything is great until suddenly the floor is covered with sticky marshmallows! It happened just that fast! Students were picking up marshmallows and reshooting them, and then suddenly (seconds) every marshmallow was a sticky mess stuck to the bottoms of their shoes, their hands, their clothes, and the multipurpose room floor! It was like the evil marshmallow fairy waved his wand and turned every white cloudy puff into a gooey mess! I have never seen such a mess, and even with our best efforts the district had to send in extra janitor support!
So heed my words....
NEVER, EVER, EVER HAVE A MARSHMALLOW FIGHT WITH YOUR STUDENTS!!!
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Pi Day - One Day Early! Furlough Friday on March 14
I couldn't believe it, when I looked at the calendar and saw that March 14 was a furlough day! Oh no! Pi Day is my favorite school day of the year. So, I decided that we would just have to celebrate on March 13, which made Pi Day today in my classroom. And what a day we had!
This year I let my students choose their own team mascot, and they came up with some that I had never thought of before! We had six teams:
This year I let my students choose their own team mascot, and they came up with some that I had never thought of before! We had six teams:
The Porcu-Pi-nes
The Scor-Pi-ons
The Pi-napples
The S-Pi-kes
The Pi-thons
The Pi Eaters
All day long they competed in teams, facing various math challenges related to geometry, circles, and Pi. The students love the team spirit, and don't even seem to notice that they are doing work! Throughout the day, the teams added items to their team Pi-lons (pylons). They also completed Pi Posters with Pie Charts of our classes favorite pies. I judged both the Pi Posters and Pi-lons at the end of the day after the students left. They will get the final results on Monday. Here are some of their Pi-lons.
One of their favorite activities today was the "I S-pi" online scavenger hunt. I gave each team two mini-iPads to hunt with! They were so engaged! FUN Learning!
Periodically, throughout the day I would ring the bell. This had the students scrambling back to their regular seats to compete with their regular table groups for Pi Riddles. This added another layer of fun and excitement!
And of course, we ate pie at the end of the day. Here are a few of their Pi Posters:
This is my very best seller in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. If you are interested in trying yourself, please check it out!
Happy Pi Day!!!
Monday, March 3, 2014
Seussify Your Class This Week!!!
I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities.Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss is not just for the primary kids - there is so much for middle school kids to gain from this remarkable man.
I think I am going to put this quote up in my class tomorrow, and have my students discuss it. Then I am going to have them do just that...look at life from the wrong end of the telescope! What will they come up with? It should be fun to find out!
One of my favorite Dr. Seuss reads for older kids is "The Sneetches." What a great lesson, and such fun characters!
Here's a little excerpt from it:
Now, the Star-Bell Sneetches had bellies with stars.
The Plain-Belly Sneetches had none upon thars.
Those stars weren’t so big. They were really so small.
You might think such a thing wouldn’t matter at all.
But, because they had stars, all the Star-Belly Sneetches
Would brag, “We’re the best kind of Sneetch on the beaches.”
With their snoots in the air, they would sniff and they’d snort
“We’ll have nothing to do with the Plain-Belly sort!”
And, whenever they met some, when they were out walking,
They’d hike right on past them without even talking.
In the past, I have divided up the verses among my students, had them practice reading with expression and fluency. Then they made a page with their verse and their own illustration. We put these together into our own book, which the students read aloud. It was fun, and we had a great discussion as the the message of the book.
Dr. Seuss also has some amazing inspirational quotes to use in the classroom. One of my favorites is:
There are just so many Seussified things to do with your class - I think I'll try a different one each day this week! How about you? Are you Seuss Inspired?
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Friday Afternoon With Time to Kill
It's Friday afternoon and the rain is pouring down. Inside my classroom, my students are vibrating from the novelty of the rain (Southern California - very dry winter) and the weekend soon to come. We are finished with our academics, and it is no time to start something new. What am I going to do with the afternoon?
It's time to pull out an oldie but goodie that I haven't used in years...
I have each of my students pull out a piece of paper and I ask them to write the title of a story that they would like to write. Some students know exactly what they want to say, while others look around in confusion. "Just write a title," I say. It doesn't matter, anything you want.
As soon as everyone is ready, I ask them to pass their paper to the person on their right. I tell them to read the title and begin writing. This is the beginning of the story, so their job is to introduce characters and setting. We want to get to know their characters, so they need to include character traits into their writing. I let them write for about three minutes, then I asked them to finish their sentence and put down their pencils.
With all pencils down and eyes on me, I explain that we are going to pass the stories to their right again. This time they will need to read everything that has been written and then they will continue the story. Their job is to continue establishing characters and setting, then introduce a problem. Again I let them write for about three minutes before I ask them to finish their sentence and put down their pencils. There is a lot of giggling erupting.
We pass the stories again, now the giggling becomes gleeful. The kids are loving this activity, and they are enjoying the interactive writing. This time the students need to make sure that a problem has been introduced and then they need to begin to build suspense. They want to add events and details that compound the problem or add to the situation. It seems no one can write without a giggle escaping every now and then. At this point, I extended the writing to five minutes, because the kids were so in to it!
With the next pass the students were asked to build the suspense to the climax of the story. The classroom is silent except for the sound of pencil scratching on paper and the occasional "te he" or "sigh". They have so much to say, no one is looking around the room or staring off into space. They have a story to write!
The next pass is the final one before the students get their own paper. They need to make sure that the story has reached its climax and then they need to begin writing the resolution. All lose ends need to be tied up, all questions answered.
Finally, the students get their own story back. The giggling when they read their own stories fills the room. Their job is to clean and fix their stories in anyway they want. Edit, revise, etc.
Then we shared some of the stories. So many wanted their stories read aloud, but there were only time for a few. I told them we will continue to share them this next week whenever we have time.
As we venture into Common Core waters, it is important to remember to dust off some of those oldies to keep the joy in learning!
It's time to pull out an oldie but goodie that I haven't used in years...
I have each of my students pull out a piece of paper and I ask them to write the title of a story that they would like to write. Some students know exactly what they want to say, while others look around in confusion. "Just write a title," I say. It doesn't matter, anything you want.
As soon as everyone is ready, I ask them to pass their paper to the person on their right. I tell them to read the title and begin writing. This is the beginning of the story, so their job is to introduce characters and setting. We want to get to know their characters, so they need to include character traits into their writing. I let them write for about three minutes, then I asked them to finish their sentence and put down their pencils.
With all pencils down and eyes on me, I explain that we are going to pass the stories to their right again. This time they will need to read everything that has been written and then they will continue the story. Their job is to continue establishing characters and setting, then introduce a problem. Again I let them write for about three minutes before I ask them to finish their sentence and put down their pencils. There is a lot of giggling erupting.
We pass the stories again, now the giggling becomes gleeful. The kids are loving this activity, and they are enjoying the interactive writing. This time the students need to make sure that a problem has been introduced and then they need to begin to build suspense. They want to add events and details that compound the problem or add to the situation. It seems no one can write without a giggle escaping every now and then. At this point, I extended the writing to five minutes, because the kids were so in to it!
With the next pass the students were asked to build the suspense to the climax of the story. The classroom is silent except for the sound of pencil scratching on paper and the occasional "te he" or "sigh". They have so much to say, no one is looking around the room or staring off into space. They have a story to write!
The next pass is the final one before the students get their own paper. They need to make sure that the story has reached its climax and then they need to begin writing the resolution. All lose ends need to be tied up, all questions answered.
Finally, the students get their own story back. The giggling when they read their own stories fills the room. Their job is to clean and fix their stories in anyway they want. Edit, revise, etc.
Then we shared some of the stories. So many wanted their stories read aloud, but there were only time for a few. I told them we will continue to share them this next week whenever we have time.
As we venture into Common Core waters, it is important to remember to dust off some of those oldies to keep the joy in learning!
Thursday, February 27, 2014
The Five C's of Education
With so much talk about Common Core Standards, it really makes us as educators evaluate our philosophy of teaching. What do we want our students to know, master, achieve?
I do like the way the Five C's of Education put it all into a perspective that I can relate to.
I do like the way the Five C's of Education put it all into a perspective that I can relate to.
The Five C's of Education
Critical Thinking
Creativity
Collaboration
Communication
Character/Citizenship/Civil Awareness
Critical Thinking:
What could be more important than teaching our students to think, rather than simply regurgitate information back at us? There is an old Chinese proverb that states, "Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself." It is certainly time for students to take more responsibility for their learning, and to think through problems, rather than simply give up.
Creativity
If we have our students think critically, then use their creativity to solve the problems that arise, we are empowering them to be the leaders of our future! And boy, are we going to need some good leadership!?! Oh yeah! I find that my students are so much more engaged, and buy in to the assignments or projects if they are allowed to express their own creativity. This is actually a hard one at first, as students are so used to being spoon fed, and are made to feel that their is only one correct "answer." But with a little time and practice, creativity soars!
Collaboration
So, once we have our students thinking critically and using their creativity, it is time to have them learn to share their ideas and listen to the ideas of others. Collaboration at its finest has us taking the best ideas from each of us and putting together a project that is better than any one of us could do alone. That's the goal, but of course we know that it rarely works that way. There are those students that are all too willing to sit back and let others do the work, and other students that cannot release any control and want things their own way. If we don't teach our students to get past these limitations, then collaboration is just an effort of futility rather than a valuable teaching experience. The problem is, if we don't help our overachievers to stop taking over, we will never get past this dilemma. The control freaks actually believe they are being better than anyone else in the group, and do not see their behavior as a problem. We must start there, or there is no hope for true collaboration. I will meet with these students, make them group leaders, and explain that their job is to be patient and make sure that the work of everyone is included. There grade will be based on their effectiveness as a leader, rather than solely on the final project. This frees them to be more open to the ideas of others, and more supportive of their peers. I find this is critical to building true collaboration in the classroom.
Communication
Once our students are thinking critically, using creativity, and working collaboratively we can begin to have them share their findings with the class. Speaking & Listening standards are a huge component of the Common Core Standards, and with good reason. It is not enough to know things if you can't share those thoughts effectively with others. Our students need to be able to share their ideas, listen to the ideas of others, and be able to differentiate between ideas that are well supported with facts, and unsupported propaganda or biased opinions.
Character
Finally, none of this is any good without good character and ethical behavior. Our students need to look beyond themselves, and care about others. At my school, we do an Empowerment Fair to help students find a way to improve their world. More important than what they actually do, is that they actually care! Students are allowed to choose their own cause, educate others about the problem, come up with a plan to make a positive difference, and actually work the plan. The results are amazing, and the students are SO proud!
I really believe that implementing the Five C's into our classrooms, will make a positive difference in our world! Not just our students should make a positive difference...we should too!
If you are interested in creating your own Empowerment Fair at your school, check out what we do:
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