Effective Teacher Day 1

Homework doesn't work if Home doesn't Work

I'm through with homework. I'm not sure where I fall in the ranks of the on going war over homework, but I'm sure I made someone mad with that statement. I've worked a lot of angles with HW and I'm surprised how few really panned out. My new school does the weekly homework. It's a culture thing and I thought it was on point. 

    The problem is my student's don't care about homework and I have a very limited amount of time on Friday to check it and give feedback on what's missing or what wasn't done correctly or if the student needs help. It tends to just pile up. And if you know a teacher you know that we're great at making piles of paper and not so much as getting those piles dwindled down.

    Here's the problem. I am really flustered that my students just blew off the history project we did as a 2nd grade. It was cute and I envisioned each year being able to use these as teaching tools for the next class. When I tell you after 3 weeks of planning and a lot of conjolingmy class only turned in 2 projects, I was fit to be tied. Yeah, I was disappointed in the kids. *I sincerely don't think they realize how important education is. But even more I was just to through with the parents. I called, wrote notes, emailed and text. The result was 2 projects on time.

    If I were sane I wouldn't be shocked. I usually get 4-5 COMPLETE homework packets a week. Mix in there 4-5 that are imcomplete and you have my class is consistent. The next two days after the projects were due, I got 2 more. One looked like it had been done on the bus, in the dark, but he was bold to turn it in. 

So, I'm thinking about doing something different. I'm going to stop doing homework. I'm going to go back to a book in a bag and nothing else. The kids really responded well to the book in the bag. But since it was something they were doing before I came to this school I didn't invest in it and let it slip away. 

    What tends to happen is at the end of the day I read a book to the class or we watch a reading story. This that cool down time usually 15 minutes or so. I know for a fact that their homework isn't that long so I could have them breakout out their "end of class work" and do their particular days homework as an end of the day project, know it's done, give support to those that need help and keep it moving. Sending this home and getting a montage of half done work isn't working at all. 

I know I need to read up more on this debate. I used to believe in homework and really make a lot of noise about it. Now I'm not sure that's the best way to get things done cause right now very little is getting done.

 

March 7th is the end of our crossfit challenge. I feel good, but I'm certainly not eating everything as I should/could. I got 10 days to clean it up. Juicing is certainly helping me. I feel strong and haven't had an iced coffee in two months. *Even though as I'm writing this I'm debating getting one just to break up the eating. Stronger than ever, I expect to win this challenge. 3,2,1...Go!

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Resolved the chart storage issue

I was able to get a good file system over the weekend. Thanks to this box and some spiffy folders I'm able to store a ton of charts and posters. This week I was able to reach in and grab some needed charts right on the spot. In the process I found a lot of charts I need to put up around the class. If anyone wants to come help me one day I'll stay at work late to finish. 

Educational technology: From pencil pads to iPads

I had to grab this one from another blog. How education has changed. How it's stayed the exact same over the years. 

Call me Mr. Rubric

I'm not sure why I didn't roll these out earlier, but I'm so glad I did. I put the question out about rubrics on Facebook and the responses were pure gold. So I have a few rubrics for specific projects and some that can be used for general stuff.   For the latter I'm going to laminate them and allow the kids to keep these at their tables. The specific ones I'll have to print off as needed and I'll make a large one to go over on my promethean board. After the kids get used to it I'll have them help me make rubrics for each project. Going to laminate a large 4 x 4 grid on some chart paper. I'll use that to make new rubrics that the kids will be able to write the needed elements on. I know my students don't care that much about paper. They're not that into NOT wasting it. Matter of fact it's a big deal that I repurpose old lesson plans and scrap paper for them to do morning warmup work on the back. I'm going to have to drill and drill that this is what I'm going to use to help you get the most from each lesson/activity. Should be fun. 

Update on Whitaker's Workshop

So far the kids have really taken a liking to the room decor. Nothing is broken. I took my wooden caddies home this weekend to paint. The kids immediately had to touch and play with the newly painted distractions on their tables. The Home Depot aprons with the classroom job on them are a hit. 
I just never expect the kids to be able to rip, tear and ruin them like they have. I need to wash them every so often, too.  The classroom jobs, however I tough for my kids. You couple having a responsibility, with ClassDojo and the everyday off-taskness of 2nd grade and you understand why I'm re posting a job every week. 

I've received some big compliments from my peers about my room. 

What's been the biggest challenge is to get them to appreciate it and realize this isn't for my health. That's what Crossfit's for. They're really sweet kids and they've just not met a person like me before. I don't yell. I'm stern and as tough as a rattle snake. I don't care if little Johnny hit you. I don't care who's talking about your mom. I don't care whatever your problem is. Your biggest issue is that you're in a 2nd grade chair and I have to prepare you to get out of that chair and be able to hold down a 3rd grade chair next year.  Oh yeah, not having a pencil isn't going to cut it. 

I'm also getting much better at organization and planning. These have to be my bottom tier skills. Under any other circumstances I'd preach the Gospel of "focusing on what you can be a 10 in". Not sure how much I will improve in this area, but I have to improve on it. I'm so not good at it that any change can only make me look like some kind of hero.

One more area I need to step my game up in is reading everything I can related to what I'm expected to teach. Not sure if I'll ever be able to spout lessons off the top of my head like our coaches do, but I could at least sound better intuned with what's going on.

Notice I don't blame the kiddos. They're not my problem. They're doing exactly what kids should do. They're scream at the top of their actions, "Mr. Whitaker, you must keep me engaged! You can't give up on me!" The better i get at asking good questions the better I wll be at finding the solution to these little ones needs.

Alright enough of that. Let me go swing a kettlebell.   

 

Found a neat organization tool

I'm the teacher with a pile of student work. I just don't get the filing thing. This is an area I serious ask people to pray for me in cause I'm just not a 10 at paperwork and filing. So I run across this blog with a very easy to use, simple filing sheet to use when I collect student work. It really should be a crime that this was that easy. I've very thankful to have run across this site. Check Michelle out and give her a shout. Here's her page that just saved me A LOT of headaches. Download Assignmt.paper.2