Your answer is what??

The last month of school.  Teachers are exhausted.  Kids are restless.  Who can blame either?  

Sometimes, however, students are getting a little... spacey.  I spent two weeks with my students studying the 1920s - a perfect fit after researching World War I.  We learned about gangsters, prohibition, women's rights, inventions, etc.  It was a pretty fun unit.  There are a lot of entertainment related topics we covered as well, including slang vocabulary, jazz music, silent films, and dancing.  

This past Friday, I gave my students a quiz on the Roaring Twenties to wrap up our unit.  Here's what a chunk of it looked like:

Take a closer look at number 11:

Do you know it?  Drum-roll please............. "The Charleston" !  I showed all of my students several clips of people dancing the Charleston.  A few of my classes were even able to try a "How-to" video where they tried to learn how to dance themselves.  It was quite comical.

Anyways.  Back to it being the end of the year.  I've noticed that with middle schoolers, especially eighth graders, they tend to "check out" of school a little early.  They were mortified with the fact that I actually DO have things planned for us the last seven days of class time we have left.  As if I would even THINK about teaching them something!  :)

Well, question #11 proved to be quite a tricky one, I guess.  Considering we watched a video and some actually tried to do the dance, it shouldn't have been.  But looking back on the final grades, I have no D's or F's, and most students ended up with an A.  I'll count my losses and instead, show you what I found so funny.......  Brace yourself.....

I'd also like to add that these colorful answers came from ONE class of thirty students.  One class!!!  My other five had the right answer 90% of the time.  It's almost as if this class tried to pull a fast one on me.  Like I said, I'm going to count that one question as a loss - considering it's not an essential learning outcome to this unit, and laugh at these answers instead of cry.  It was a great way to wrap up my week and sure did make me giggle.  

Just wait until we have a little chat about this next week......

Emily  :)

Growing up is for adults

At this point in my life, I consider myself to be an adult.  Legally, you are considered an adult after the age of 18 and I always thought I was the day after my 16th birthday.  Not so much.  I could ramble on about the tough "real-world" experiences I've already had at my young age and how I've always appeared as a 40-year-old in a 20-something's-body.  But the one idea I've come to love and truly accept at my age is that I never want to "grow up".  Who says you can't be a kid for the rest of your life?  Sure, you need to be responsible and respectful and make wise decisions, but there's no fun in being a serious, straight-faced, no-nonsense type of person for the rest of your life.

Plus, I'm pretty sure it's impossible for me to be that way.  Sassy is my middle-name.

Something I've learned about middle-schoolers is that no matter how hard they try to be grown-ups and act like they are adults, they aren't.  Whether they show that to you through UBER-dramatic tirades, a complete lack of responsibility, or their day-to-day resistance of doing the important things (homework, research, etc), they are all still kids.  I started looking at my students like young adults who should know how to do simple tasks on their own.  It only increased my frustration with them to the point where I would think "Are you kidding?  You don't know how to do that?".  Not healthy at all.  They are still KIDS!  Most don't want to be any more, but they are.  I've decided to cultivate that inner child in all of them and make my classroom a fun learning environment where they get to be kids.  Sometimes I can be one, too.  

There is a healthy balance of letting your students be kids and also helping them grow into young adults (as they will be in a few years).  But I always have to keep in the back of my mind that these students need to enjoy the simplicity of life as long as they can.  I'd like to think at this point that my students understand the fine line between having fun and getting down to business.  We laugh, we play, we joke, but we get things done.  That's what middle school is all about.

At this point in my short career as a young teacher, I've noticed three major components to my classroom that helps me keep a healthy balance between my not-yet-an-adult-but-not-still-a-child group of middle schoolers.  

1) Laugh a little each day

I am a sarcastic person.  My boss at my first full-time job in retail used to call me Sassy.  I'm pretty sure she didn't even know my real name.  But you've got to have a great sense of humor if you're a teacher.  Especially in middle school.  But even more-so,  you've got to allow time to laugh.  You can't be serious all the time, and you know that at least once a week a student will say or do something totally ridiculous that you just can't help but chuckle at.

This past week I had my windows open in my classroom with my door shut.  Through some weird law of science, the plaster ceiling tiles would raise off of the grid and float in the air.  It was hilarious.  And the best part about this phenomenon, was that I noticed it before any of my students.  At a natural break in my lecture, I pointed it out.  Together we were able to share in a group laugh that provided much relief and a perfect break in the lesson.  We didn't lose class time, in fact, students were able to loosen up a bit and re-group.  You can't always control what happens, so when silly things come up, let them be silly and laugh.

2) Play-time isn't just for Kindergartners

When I worked with fourth graders, I participated in a school-wide reward system where students who turned in all of their work for the week could have "Friday Fun."  It was a simple yet effective tool that allowed students to strive to hand in all papers, assignments, and projects each week for some unstructured play-time.  But that was with elementary kiddos.  If you teach elementary school, Friday Fun can turn out to be your best friend.

When I transitioned to teaching middle school, I researched different ways I could motivate my students with a reward that seemed age-appropriate.  Unbeknownst to me, Friday Fun is still cool in middle school.  Middle school students still enjoy a good ol' game of Duck-Duck-Goose or Heads Up 7 Up.  Who would have thought?  When I started, I thought that surely some lame game would embarrass them.  Boy was I wrong.  Although there isn't enough time in a week to designate some Friday Fun each week, I do give students an opportunity to have a whole/half class period of fun at the end of each unit.  Typically I'll try and connect what they've learned to that fun activity, but it's not always possible.  Last week I told my students that if they finished their in-class assignment and missing work before the end of class, they could play a class game (of their choice).  Magically, all but two students were finished with their in-class work AND missing work.  Although they all have iPads, they opted to play an intense game of Heads Up 7 Up.  Amazing.

3) Candy is still cool

I'm a sugar-holic.  That's no secret.  I've always got a small jar of Skittles or Gobstoppers or some small candy on my desk for times when I need a sugary pick-me-up.  My students always joke about it and look forward to seeing what I put in my jar once it's all gone.  With elementary students, candy seems to be some magical bribery that works like a charm EVERY. TIME.  "Show me your finished Venn Diagram and pick a chocolate from the basket".  "If you get an A on your spelling test you will get a Jolly Rancher."  "Anyone who finishes their homework before the bell can pick out a Skittle."  It's as if they've been deprived of candy their whole lives and their existence depends on getting that piece of candy.

Guess what?  Middle schoolers are closet sugar-holics, too.  Yes, it's true!  I've got a noisy group of kiddos in  my advisory and sometimes taking them to assemblies is a head ache.  Last week I told my kiddos if they promised to sit next to each other in the assembly and stay quiet, I would give them candy afterwards.  Magically, it worked and I had the most well-behaved class in the school.  It's like crack for kids.  Like I said, even middle-schoolers are still kids at heart.

These tricks won't work for everyone.  Some middle schoolers really might be TOO COOL for you, but in general, if you remember that your students are still just kids at heart (and most teachers, too), it will make your life, and theirs, a lot easier.  The more I loosen up and have fun, the more we get done as a class and the better their grades look.

"You can be child-like without being childish.  A child always wants to have fun.  Ask yourself, am I having fun?" CM

Emily :)

I appreciate YOU!

Hey you, teacher!  Guess what?  I appreciate you A LOT!

This past week was Teacher Appreciation Week, as you know.  Even though I hope that teachers are appreciated more than once a week, I think it is great to designate a few days to do a little something extra to say, "I appreciate you!"

I also like to take the opportunity to go an extra mile out of the way to thank my co-workers.  My fellow teaching friends.  It's one thing for a parent, child, principal, community member, etc, to thank a teacher.  But, there are so many reasons why I'm thankful for my co-workers.  They teach me new things, mentor me, serve as counselors after a long week, help with anger management, show me new techniques, and typically end up being good friends outside of school, too.  

Schools don't work if teachers don't work as a team - a family.  Education is all about teaching others and being taught yourself.  A "life-long learner" they call it.  So whether we work together or not, teachers, I appreciate you for everything you do!

Emily :)

Blogging about a blog

Alright, it's been forever since I've posted anything on TeachersPayTeachers.com.  I'll admit I've been slacking.  To be honest, the items that I've sold on there are doing really well!  I may have gotten a little greedy.  But it's not about what you earn, it's about what you share with others!  There are so many files that I've gotten from TPT that I just love and have used several times in my classroom.  The site is such a fantastic community that I have to remember the reason why I am a part of it - to support and learn from my fellow teacher.

I've had the privilege of teaching in a range of districts.  Some who are very advanced technologically (one iPad per student) to a district that can barely accommodate a working computer lab for 30 students.  It's amazing how much you learn by having to teach in schools with such different ranges of access to technology.  Whether you have access to a computer lab or not, students still need exposure to technology.  This world that our students are growing up in is NOT what we grew up with.  In my generation, my school got a computer lab full of gigantic MAC computers that took giant floppy disks and could do barely more than word processing (and didn't have the ability to print, either).  By early middle school we had keyboarding classes and were using the smaller floppy disks.  This is a technology-dependent world and in order to be successful, students should know how to navigate a computer (and arguably, a cell phone).

Here is a tool I used with a group of fourth graders.  We didn't have access to computers and I didn't have a SmartBoard or tablet, either.  Just a whiteboard and the worksheets I created.  So, I decided to integrate technology without actually having it in our classroom.

Create-Your-Own Blog graphic organizer:

You can find this on my TeachersPayTeachers account right here.

I created a graphic organizer that resembled a blog.  Before I handed it out and allowed my students to let loose, we had a mini-lesson about blogs - what are they, how are they used, why they are important, etc.  It was a great discussion and a perfect introduction into the activity.  Surprisingly, some students knew a lot about the topic.  The handout has a front and back (and can be extended to several blog entries).  It has room for a blog title and three entries - each need a title, a written entry, and an illustration.  This can be used cross-categorical with a range of topics.  It can also be multimedia if you give students the option of choosing their own method of creating an illustration (newspapers, magazines, crayon, pencil, photographs, etc).  I had my students create their rough drafts before I gave them a final copy to make using a pen.  We went over what a good blog would look like (I had examples for them that I printed off in color so they could see, and you could easily bring up several blogs if you have access to a computer), and wrote a list of what students should put on their 'paper blog' as they called it.

Reminders included: use a lot of color, write neatly, create a clever title, provide useful information, and make sure your image relates to your topic.

I had a lot of fun using this graphic organizer and making 'paper blogs'.  The students thought it was pretty neat that they were making a blog in fourth grade and enjoyed hanging them up in the classroom for everyone to see.

Technology is great!  Even if you don't have a significant amount of it at your disposal, you can still prepare students for the "real world" using tools such as this.  I hope you find it as helpful as I did!

Emily :)