"The Top 10 Worst Things a Teacher Can Do" by secondary teacher Melissa Kelly, offers wise advise for new teachers - advice that has pierced my heart because I myself have just committed one of those worst crimes towards a student.
My comment is candid. I share about the mistake that I made in my classroom recently, and the lesson that I learned from it. It relates painfully precisely to what Melissa Kelly writes about in her educational blog article. This comment will hopefully contribute to the experiences of other teachers to reaffirm the fact that humiliating students is a terrible way to discipline them. My personal example conveys my regret and hope for rebuilding that bridge that I feel I have torn down.
The comment has not yet been published on Kelly's blog, so I have posted it below. I would love to hear what YOU think is the worst thing that a teacher can do? Feel free to respond to the blog post below.
http://712educators.about.com/od/teachingstrategies/tp/worstactions.htm
Can I Rebuild that Bridge?
Just two days ago, I made a terrible teacher mistake that I have regretted every minute since I realized that it was the worst thing to do in that situation. My students were unusually rowdy during class, talking and fidgeting. There were marvelous moments during the lesson when they were truly engaged and asked brilliant questions that I was thrilled to explain. But I was ready to collapse after our hour and a half was up, because I was exhausted from telling students to quiet down and free their hands to eliminate distractions. So I ended class by letting them know how disappointed I was in their inattentiveness, specifically one student whom I pointed out by name. He immediately looked at me with helpless eyes, tried to explain that he was telling his peers to stop distracting him, and then sunk his head down like a dog hides his tail in shame.
Indeed, humiliating students is the WORST thing a teacher can do to discipline them. This situation was particularly harmful because the student was struggling with incredibly low self-esteem already. I rebuked myself afterward because this was the very student that I was desperately hoping to break through to, and now I feel that I have undoubtedly lost his respect. He would not even look me in the eyes after class as I personally apologized for putting him on the spot when all the other students had left. The daunting question tugs at my heart: will I ever be able to rebuild that bridge?
I pray that I would never repeat this mistake and that some good would still come out of it. I share this personal flaw because it reaffirms the fact that humiliating students is not only inappropriate and ineffective, but it hinders a child’s ability to learn in a safe environment and is harmful to their sense of self-worth. It communicates to the student, and worse, to their peers, that they in particular have ultimately failed to meet your standards – when in reality, it is I, the teacher, who have failed my student.
Indeed, humiliating students is the WORST thing a teacher can do to discipline them. This situation was particularly harmful because the student was struggling with incredibly low self-esteem already. I rebuked myself afterward because this was the very student that I was desperately hoping to break through to, and now I feel that I have undoubtedly lost his respect. He would not even look me in the eyes after class as I personally apologized for putting him on the spot when all the other students had left. The daunting question tugs at my heart: will I ever be able to rebuild that bridge?
I pray that I would never repeat this mistake and that some good would still come out of it. I share this personal flaw because it reaffirms the fact that humiliating students is not only inappropriate and ineffective, but it hinders a child’s ability to learn in a safe environment and is harmful to their sense of self-worth. It communicates to the student, and worse, to their peers, that they in particular have ultimately failed to meet your standards – when in reality, it is I, the teacher, who have failed my student.
Technology Project Plan
For a 5th grade unit studying the 13 colonies, our class will utilize:
-the SMARTBoard to study maps and watch a powerpoint presentation
-my teacher website for resources and access to the sample movie URL
-a podcast of the lesson for students who are absent or need a recap of the lesson for their project
-a self-created cartoon movie which describes the 13 colonies using xtranormal.com
The sample movie is located at: http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/6303253/.
After a class lesson or unit about the 13 colonies which illustrates an introductory sample cartoon movie, students will create a movie using http://www.xtranormal.com/. This project is fun because it allows students to express their creativity through creating cartoon characters with British accents for example, much like those who immigrated to North America while the 13 Colonies were being established. More importantly however, the movie will serve as a form of assessment that will allow students to show what they have learned about the 13 colonies in a quick 3 minute film. They would be required to design and write a script for this "movie", and each movie URL would be posted on our classroom website for peers and parents to see. The technology project would be graded based on accuracy, breadth and depth of content, and creativity.
A Podcast of this Technology Project Plan: and
-the SMARTBoard to study maps and watch a powerpoint presentation
-my teacher website for resources and access to the sample movie URL
-a podcast of the lesson for students who are absent or need a recap of the lesson for their project
-a self-created cartoon movie which describes the 13 colonies using xtranormal.com
The sample movie is located at: http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/6303253/.
After a class lesson or unit about the 13 colonies which illustrates an introductory sample cartoon movie, students will create a movie using http://www.xtranormal.com/. This project is fun because it allows students to express their creativity through creating cartoon characters with British accents for example, much like those who immigrated to North America while the 13 Colonies were being established. More importantly however, the movie will serve as a form of assessment that will allow students to show what they have learned about the 13 colonies in a quick 3 minute film. They would be required to design and write a script for this "movie", and each movie URL would be posted on our classroom website for peers and parents to see. The technology project would be graded based on accuracy, breadth and depth of content, and creativity.
A Podcast of this Technology Project Plan: and
Panel Questions: March 23, 2010
I would like to ask the following questions during the Panel Discussion:
1. What has been the most challenging aspect of being a teacher throughout your experience?
2. How does your career (positively/negatively) affect family life?
3. How far in advance do you typically create or review your lesson plans? (During the summer?The previous week? Day by day?)
4. Do you go by a shared school/district curriculum?
5. I've often heard it said that new teachers should "beg, borrow, and steal" lessons, resources, and ideas from experienced teachers because it is close to impossible to create everything on your own. What is the best way to go about getting help from other teachers? (i.e. Find 1 or 2 mentors, use the internet, ask all teachers in my subject area, etc.)
6. What is a classroom management procedure/strategy that really works in your classroom?
7. For Private School teachers: Do you have substantial opportunity to inspire your students spiritually, or are classes still mostly academically-focused like in public schools?
8. What other obligations outside of the classroom are required of you (i.e. coaching, meetings, conferences, educational requirements, etc.)?
1. What has been the most challenging aspect of being a teacher throughout your experience?
2. How does your career (positively/negatively) affect family life?
3. How far in advance do you typically create or review your lesson plans? (During the summer?The previous week? Day by day?)
4. Do you go by a shared school/district curriculum?
5. I've often heard it said that new teachers should "beg, borrow, and steal" lessons, resources, and ideas from experienced teachers because it is close to impossible to create everything on your own. What is the best way to go about getting help from other teachers? (i.e. Find 1 or 2 mentors, use the internet, ask all teachers in my subject area, etc.)
6. What is a classroom management procedure/strategy that really works in your classroom?
7. For Private School teachers: Do you have substantial opportunity to inspire your students spiritually, or are classes still mostly academically-focused like in public schools?
8. What other obligations outside of the classroom are required of you (i.e. coaching, meetings, conferences, educational requirements, etc.)?
Video
This is a video I created using PhotoStory3. Guess what the riddle is!
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1W0bh0TyKaNMTBlNzNhNTctMDhhZS00M2FmLTkzMzktNjM4N2Y2ODg0NDQy&hl=en
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1W0bh0TyKaNMTBlNzNhNTctMDhhZS00M2FmLTkzMzktNjM4N2Y2ODg0NDQy&hl=en
Assignment #3: Inna's Teacher Tool Box
Much to my surprise, putting together my own Teacher Tool Box was quite an arduous task! I explored different strategies and sites including Google Docs and Page Flakes to see what would work best for me, my students, their parents, and other people in the field of Education. Ultimately, I have come to the conclusion that incorporating a designated page on my website would be the most accessible and practical way to go for all of us. This way, assignments, newsletters, expectations, and the sort will all be located in one simple place (http://innasem.weebly.com/resources.html).
Organization of My Tool Box
This Tool Box is neat and orderly, arranged in the format of lists. It is subdivided into categories that are applicable to my own classrooms: Sunday school Sites, Social Studies Sources, Teacher Tabs, and Family Favorites. In the introduction to the Resource page, I have written that the listed Resources "are carefully chosen based on their practicality and credibility", meaning that I have explored and/or use the website and ensure that it is and would be helpful and educational.
This Tool Box would truly provide tools that would be useful beyond measure. I would use it to:
1. Find lesson plans for myself
2. Share lessons with others
3. Check State Standards
4. Work off of existing templates
5. Access my favorite websites from my own website to use during class lessons
This Tool Box can be shared with others, such as parents and staff through:
1. Our Class Website
2. Email of the specific link
3. A physical hand-out that has been copied and pasted from the Tool Box and distributed to parents
4. The categories that pertain to students and would particularly benefit them, could be provided at the beginning of the school year so they have the resources ready for future assignments and projects.
Three websites that I find particularly useful and/or unique to Middle School Social Studies are:
I have sincerely enjoyed putting together this Tool Box and reviewing each resource that I have included. I will continue to use them as tools to build my classroom and hope that they would also be useful to my students and their parents as they build their families and futures!
Organization of My Tool Box
This Tool Box is neat and orderly, arranged in the format of lists. It is subdivided into categories that are applicable to my own classrooms: Sunday school Sites, Social Studies Sources, Teacher Tabs, and Family Favorites. In the introduction to the Resource page, I have written that the listed Resources "are carefully chosen based on their practicality and credibility", meaning that I have explored and/or use the website and ensure that it is and would be helpful and educational.
This Tool Box would truly provide tools that would be useful beyond measure. I would use it to:
1. Find lesson plans for myself
2. Share lessons with others
3. Check State Standards
4. Work off of existing templates
5. Access my favorite websites from my own website to use during class lessons
This Tool Box can be shared with others, such as parents and staff through:
1. Our Class Website
2. Email of the specific link
3. A physical hand-out that has been copied and pasted from the Tool Box and distributed to parents
4. The categories that pertain to students and would particularly benefit them, could be provided at the beginning of the school year so they have the resources ready for future assignments and projects.
Three websites that I find particularly useful and/or unique to Middle School Social Studies are:
1. OSPI: http://www.k12.wa.us/
This website is absolutely essential and foundational for all teachers, whether they be public, private, homeschool, elementary, or secondary. It defines different categories of education, their purposes, and provides specific learning standards of the state for specific grade levels. The OSPI website should always be referred to because State standards are mandatory, but also because the website provides helpful information and resources to fulfill these standards. For instance, it was through OSPI that I discovered additional resources for Home School parents/teachers such as the website also listed in General resources, http://www.watchhome.org/.
2. Federal Resources for Educational Excellence: http://www.free.ed.gov/
Any website that ends in ".gov" is a credible and promising resource, including this one! It has valuable primary documents and photographs that would tremendously enhance any Social Studies class. Many of these resources are from the Library of Congress, which is also a deep well of essential information for classrooms. The Library of Congress has a website which also includes wonderful resources for teachers, librarians, researchers, families, and more (http://www.loc.gov/). I would highly recommend these two sites for History teachers in particular. However, they would be nonetheless valuable to Language Arts teachers who are studying a historical novel for instance, or Science teachers who are studying historical inventions, or even Music teachers who are introducing significant songs to their students. Why not use resources that have been opened up to the public from our very own government?
3. Ministry to Children: http://www.ministry-to-children.com/
About a month ago, I discovered this online resource for Sunday school teachers. Among the thousands of religious sites out there, it is difficult to find user-friendly and biblically-based sites that you would actually use on a regular basis. This is one of those rare resources that is updated regularly, applicable to modern classes, vast, and yet detailed. The founder of the site is devoted to his ministry and sends out weekly emails with advice, ideas, and encouragement for Sunday school teachers. Obviously, this resource is not geared toward public education; but some of the ideas can still be tweeked for public schools or used in private Christian schools. For instance, the games he suggests for "dead time" can also be used in any class. His videos, though perhaps cheesy to some, are insightful and personally inspire me to put more effort into my own ministry to children.
I have sincerely enjoyed putting together this Tool Box and reviewing each resource that I have included. I will continue to use them as tools to build my classroom and hope that they would also be useful to my students and their parents as they build their families and futures!
Caught on Video
Bob Sprankle, a technology integrator, has written a marvelous article encouraging teachers to incorporate videos into their classrooms. "Caught on Video" not only encourages teachers, but provides over a dozen ideas on how videos can enhance the curriculum, make communication with parents easier and more appealing, leave lasting memories for students when they leave the class, and keep progress of their learning during the class.
A few ideas that particularly intrigued me are the following: (I have mixed and matched ideas for how I personally would like to use them)
A few ideas that particularly intrigued me are the following: (I have mixed and matched ideas for how I personally would like to use them)
- Videotaping each student at the very beginning of the school year and then videotaping them again at the end and providing them with their DVD so they can see how they had changed over the span of a year (or even perhaps throughout middle school, etc.). This would be humorous to look back upon, as they continue their developmental stages in life.
- Creating a DVD for each student at the end of the year that highlights meaningful moments with their classmates, teacher, school, and curriculum. I would strive to capture every student throughout the year and include them in the video to leave memories for them that they would otherwise likely forget.
- Sharing videos with parents, whether they be teacher-created or student/child-created. These can serve as weekly newsletters or simple tokens of appreciation for their particular child's social, academic, physical, moral achievements.
Reflection #6: Marzano Research
What? The Marzano Research Report that I analyzed for our last blog assignment was truly intriguing.
So What? It taught me not only how to maximize classroom benefits with Promethean Activboards, but perhaps more importantly, it taught me to take heed of these studies that are being done in tens and hundreds of classrooms around the nation. Their evidence can be my greatest turning point as a teacher, if I apply it well.
Now What? I plan to keep myself updated with new studies that are released so that I may continually enhance my instructional technique, resources, personal outlook, class curriculum, and so forth. For instance, because I would like to teach 7th Grade Social Studies, it behooves me to find out why 7th Grade classes experienced absolutely NO gain (0%) from using Promethean technology. The Marzano Report indicated that future inquiry would be done in this area. That is something I should keep track of myself. Likewise, Social Studies classes did not gain as significantly as Science and Math classes. I should be aware of this so I would not be discouraged when my students too, do not seem to benefit so greatly from the technology; but also, so I can do my best to make the most appropriate use of the technology so it would still benefit my students and subject area as much as possible.
So What? It taught me not only how to maximize classroom benefits with Promethean Activboards, but perhaps more importantly, it taught me to take heed of these studies that are being done in tens and hundreds of classrooms around the nation. Their evidence can be my greatest turning point as a teacher, if I apply it well.
Now What? I plan to keep myself updated with new studies that are released so that I may continually enhance my instructional technique, resources, personal outlook, class curriculum, and so forth. For instance, because I would like to teach 7th Grade Social Studies, it behooves me to find out why 7th Grade classes experienced absolutely NO gain (0%) from using Promethean technology. The Marzano Report indicated that future inquiry would be done in this area. That is something I should keep track of myself. Likewise, Social Studies classes did not gain as significantly as Science and Math classes. I should be aware of this so I would not be discouraged when my students too, do not seem to benefit so greatly from the technology; but also, so I can do my best to make the most appropriate use of the technology so it would still benefit my students and subject area as much as possible.
Marzano Research on Promethean ActivBoards
http://www.prometheanworld.com/upload/pdf/Preliminary_Report_on_ActivClassroom_20090417112310.pdf
I recently discovered from Professor Daley in Classroom Management that Dr. Robert Marzano's Research is one of the most thorough and credible studies done in the field of Education. Many districts require teachers to implement what this research says into their classrooms. When I found the Marzano Preliminary Report that was done on the Promethean ActivBoards, I signed up to recieve it and skimmed through this 54 page document. The following points provide a very brief summary of what I learned through this research on how ActivBoards impact classroom learning. Much of the assertions I have made are based on charts, which have been referenced for ease of access. Some of the statements seem like common sense, but the important point here is that they are grounded on tested evidence.
What I learned:
Questions I Have for a Teacher who Uses ActivBoards in Class:
What I learned:
- The longer experience a teacher has had with Promethean technology, the greater its impact will be in the classroom (pg. 33).
- The more confidence a teacher has in their use of technology (which was rated on a Likert scale), the more students gain from the technology (pg. 34).
- Surprisingly, Elementary and High Schools had a significantly larger gain in the ActivBoard use compared to Middle Schools (23% and 21% versus 6%). First grade classes experienced the highest benefit in using ActivBoards (pg. 31).
- Science classes appeared to benefit the most from ActivBoard use (pg. 32).
- Teachers with 26-32 years experience in Education had the best results (20% gain) in using ActivBoards (pg. 40).
- In general, the more Promethean technology is used in the classroom, the greater the benefit. However, when it is used far too frequently, the gain suddenly decreases (pg. 41).
Questions I Have for a Teacher who Uses ActivBoards in Class:
- About what percent of your instruction time integrates the ActivBoard?
- How long have you been using it?
- How long did it take you to truly get a hang of it?
- On a Likert Scale of 1-5, how would you rate your confidence level?
- Do students respect the technology?
- Which features are your favorite?
- Which features are the most practical for you as a teacher?
- What advice would you give to a new teacher who will be using Promethean ActivBoards?
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