I try to post about once a month and I am a little behind. It’s February 9th and I am here to say that Mr. Winter can GO AWAY!! The cold, ice and snow need to go...I am ready for warm days and green grass. This is the time of year I find it hard to stay motivated! Whether its my exercies routine, my reading routine or my teaching routine it takes extra effort to get anything done! I have no doubt our students may battle these same issues.
It started me on a path of wondering how do we motivate our learners. Even though they are only 5, 7 or 10 years old I think they feel the winter blahs too. Indoor recess, ice covering everything, colds and flu germs going around and no sun bathing to soak in that extra vitamin c & d.
Our students need to WANT to come to school, they must WANT to read and write and they must WANT to improve.
Who are the children sitting in your classroom? You may have heard them called the Digital Generation or Digital Natives (birthrates range 1980-2000) or Generation Z (birth ranges from 2000-2010). You may "Google It" and find oodles of research and statistics. I found a piece of research quite interesting! Click on the link below to read a summary about the type of learners you are trying to reach.
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It reminds me that when children sit in the same room for seven hours a day...we better make the hours count! These learners want to see instant feedback, they love intangable rewards such as points, building stashes of virtual goodies or moving up levels. They want to see and track their own success. They love to see how many likes, friends and tweets they can receive. They love social interactions. They want instant updates, frequent messages and feedback that keep them in the loop. They are able to use any technology device (fear is not in their vocabulary) to explore, discover and design.
As teachers we can do simple things to be sure we are motivating our learners.
Teacher Feedback. Talk with your students. Keep portfolios. Write quick notes, send quick messages through a classroom blog or discussion board. Be specific....what are they doing well, what do they need to improve on. A sticky note with a few words can be everything to a 6 year old. Send positive notes home to students and parents. Notes do not always need to be about poor behavior.
Learning Goals. Let children choose a goal, track a goal, graph a goal and celebrate when the goal is reached. It doesn’t mean they get a big chocolate candy bar but let them choose items that fit with our educational goals. Eating lunch with a special teacher, extra recess, extra iPad time, playtime on their own personal device whether its a phone, iPad or DS system (educational only of course). I'm not even sure what the latest hand held device by Nintendo is called!
Use technology. Don’t limit this to listening to reading. Classroom blogs, making Keynote presentations, research topics of their choice in regards to what they are reading or writing about, follow favorite authors, use manipulatives on Kidspiration, read on line, read text through iBooks, read articles, go on virtual tours. Use Youtube or short clips when possible to add to lessons.
Cooperative learning partners, small groups. Allow children to work together and make this learning fun. The key to cooperative learning is to be sure to set up appropriate procedures and model how and what to do. Don’t expect it to be smooth the first time.
One of my favorite memories of my classroom was the non-fiction writing unit called All About Books. I loved it so much that I added it for each science topic during the last three years I was in the classroom. I would pair the children together and each pair would complete a different part of the book. I still have beautiful All About Books on the Solar System, Eagles (when the Decorah eagles were so popular-we watched the live-cam every day while coming in from recess and drinking milk) Mammals, Farming, The Seasons, How to Be Healthy and so on. I taught the topic, they researched the topic together and then created the pages for the class book. It was fun, it was noisy but they were learning and being productive. They beamed with pride as they viewed the final product.
Remember the teaching manual will not be able to provide everything...don't be afraid to try things. You are creative and you know your kids. What do they need? Non-fiction does not have to be a separate unit- integrate your day.
Tracking Progress. Create a system that allows them to earn points, rewards. I know many of our teachers are using the Clip Chart Management. I have also seen classrooms choose Reader for the Day/Week, Writer for the Day/Week, Math Whiz, Word Wizard.... There are many ideas and I see many systems on TPT that might help you incorporate something into your own classroom. They do not receive candy or prizes but they receive praise and educational rewards such as lunch with the teacher, extra recess, extra iPad time, a visit from the Principal, mom or dad.
Move, move, move. Provide brain breaks, provide movement from one activity to the next. At desks, at the carpet, on the floor with clipboards....just don’t make them sit in a chair for hours. If you have a wiggly class you might need more movement than other classrooms. Try dancing, taking walks, taking quick walks outside for fresh air.
Talk, Talk, Talk. Encourage think-pair-share and turn & talk. Use discussion starters, use small groups when you can to encourage more talking and sharing. Sing songs, read poetry & rhyme out loud. Children want to be social and learning is social. Let them be active participants in their classroom. Have a procedure so children know when they can be talking and when they need to be silent. As always there needs to be balance.
Build your Classroom Library. Be intentional to improve your classroom library. Use the AEA boxed books, books from the local library and school library. Create theme centers in your library. Make cozy book nooks. Order books every year. Be relentless in telling your administration....we need more! Make a sharing system with your team by switching books each quarter. Order a classroom magazine each year. Turn in a booklist for new books that you would like to have in the school library each year. Act like reading is the greatest thing in the world and your kids will follow you.
Class Goal. Design a goal you can work towards. A popcorn party, a PJ party, a special movie, an extra recess time or a favorite game time.
Buddy Up. Choose another class and invite them in to play math games on Friday, partner read together, play word games, iPad apps together. Make it a special time. Instead of the entire class always traveling...you might send half of your kids next door and you receive half of the other class in your room. Each teacher stays in the room but the students have someone new to work with. Do not do it so often that it loses the power but definitely try it this time of year!!
As we push through the next few weeks I hope you can find some fun to have with your kids. They deserve it and you do too. Learning should be fun and we should have fun as we teach our students. Try hard to focus on the many positive things happening in your room and try to let go of things we cannot control. I know I need to be reminded of this often.
Teachers and students should feel that school is the greatest place to be!! In the elementary world these kids become our children Monday- Friday, 8:00 am to 3:30 pm. They are with us every hour of the day. Isn't it worthwhile to make sure we have a great environment to work in.
Happy Reading!
Mrs. Speake
Teacher Feedback. Talk with your students. Keep portfolios. Write quick notes, send quick messages through a classroom blog or discussion board. Be specific....what are they doing well, what do they need to improve on. A sticky note with a few words can be everything to a 6 year old. Send positive notes home to students and parents. Notes do not always need to be about poor behavior.
One of my favorite memories of my classroom was the non-fiction writing unit called All About Books. I loved it so much that I added it for each science topic during the last three years I was in the classroom. I would pair the children together and each pair would complete a different part of the book. I still have beautiful All About Books on the Solar System, Eagles (when the Decorah eagles were so popular-we watched the live-cam every day while coming in from recess and drinking milk) Mammals, Farming, The Seasons, How to Be Healthy and so on. I taught the topic, they researched the topic together and then created the pages for the class book. It was fun, it was noisy but they were learning and being productive. They beamed with pride as they viewed the final product.
Remember the teaching manual will not be able to provide everything...don't be afraid to try things. You are creative and you know your kids. What do they need? Non-fiction does not have to be a separate unit- integrate your day.
Build your Classroom Library. Be intentional to improve your classroom library. Use the AEA boxed books, books from the local library and school library. Create theme centers in your library. Make cozy book nooks. Order books every year. Be relentless in telling your administration....we need more! Make a sharing system with your team by switching books each quarter. Order a classroom magazine each year. Turn in a booklist for new books that you would like to have in the school library each year. Act like reading is the greatest thing in the world and your kids will follow you.
Class Goal. Design a goal you can work towards. A popcorn party, a PJ party, a special movie, an extra recess time or a favorite game time.
Buddy Up. Choose another class and invite them in to play math games on Friday, partner read together, play word games, iPad apps together. Make it a special time. Instead of the entire class always traveling...you might send half of your kids next door and you receive half of the other class in your room. Each teacher stays in the room but the students have someone new to work with. Do not do it so often that it loses the power but definitely try it this time of year!!
As we push through the next few weeks I hope you can find some fun to have with your kids. They deserve it and you do too. Learning should be fun and we should have fun as we teach our students. Try hard to focus on the many positive things happening in your room and try to let go of things we cannot control. I know I need to be reminded of this often.
Teachers and students should feel that school is the greatest place to be!! In the elementary world these kids become our children Monday- Friday, 8:00 am to 3:30 pm. They are with us every hour of the day. Isn't it worthwhile to make sure we have a great environment to work in.
Happy Reading!
Mrs. Speake
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