Resources: Public Speaking and Role Models

Courtesy of a colleague of please enjoy the two resources below.

Speak Out 
Overview: I recently had the opportunity to use this website; (while subbing) the students, who were working on a 1 minute speech, used the following link http://www.speakoutchallenge.com/tips/ to watch a series of short videos on various public speaking skills. In a class that can at times be a little off task, all of the students were actively engaged while watching the videos and completed a plan to integrate the skills therein when delivering their own speeches. See below for a brief description of the Speak Put Challenge taken directly from their site.

Description from website:
"Jack Petchey’s “Speak Out” Challenge! is a program run by Speakers Trust and funded by the Jack Petchey Foundation.

We believe everybody should have the skills, confidence and desire to speak in public, and are dedicated to helping people of all ages and levels achieve this.

We are a registered charity, and work in partnership with the not-for-profit and social enterprise sectors – from prisons to schools, charities and community groups."

My Hero...

The directory at http://myhero.com/directory/ allows students to search "hero's" or role models by categories. After selecting a category they are taken to rather comprehensive list of heroes and heroines from history to modern day, once a hero is selected the students can read a short bio about the person and their accomplishments. This resource would be great to use for research projects across subject area and/or to complement a service learning project. (They even have a list of animal heroes)

Resources for Behavior Management

READINGS

Teacher Vision, Behavior Management Articles

VIDEOS

Teaching Channel, Behavior Management Overview

Teaching Channel, Seating by Numbers

Teaching Channel, Using a Timer

Teaching Channel, Using a Number Line to Track Behavior

Teaching Channel, Ask 3 Then Me

Teaching Channel, The Power of Praise

Teacher Inspiration

Two short videos to watch when you need some inspiration.

I Teach for the Fire by Taylor Mali

Expect Great Things

Start a School Garden & Teach Nutrition

After attending a recent workshop at RAFT (Resource Area for Teachers in Denver, CO) I was exposed to the slow food movement and the following resources for teachers who have a desire to start a community garden & teach youth about nutrition. Click the link below to access a free, comprehensive curriculum, in addition to a list of other resources.

Link: To Slow Food Curriculum (Free!)

Another great resource for curriculum relating to the school garden is Nature Works, check them out here Link.

Interviewing

Interviewing (as in the students conducting an interview with peers, family, school staff etc.) is a wonderful method for:

• Developing communications skills
• Comparing informal and formal language
• Introducing the concept of code switching
• Conducting content specific surveys and data collection
• Preparing for job interviews
• Establishing self-awareness and building confidence 

The following resource from the d school may when building lessons that utilize students interviews.

Link: Interview Preparation from the d school @ Stanford

Brainstorming

"Ok, go ahead and brainstorm X number of ideas...." I have said this, I venture to guess that if you are reading this then you too have said this. I have also been the person at the receiving end of this request thinking sarcastically "if only it were that easy". As educators it is fair that we ask students to develop a plan or to brainstorm however it is not fair to reason that unlike every other skill that we ask our students to demonstrate that brainstorming is somehow exempt from scaffolding. So here are some resources to utilize when brainstorming:

Brainstorming Rules:

1. One conversation at a time
2. Quantity over quality at this point
3. Headline
4. Build on other's ideas
5. Encourage wild ideas
6. Be visual
7. Stay on topic
8. Defer judgement- no blocking

Source: Link to the d school @ Stanford

*The d school brought us the Design Thinking process and has may great resources available for educators, while you are browsing check this out...

Design Thinking for Educators- Resources from the d school

Design Thinking for Educators Tool Kit

Graphic Organizers: I am a big fan of graphic organizers and list making in order to generate ideas. The following is a series of graphic organizers that I have used to introduce an entrepreneurial unit during which the students will be asked to create a service or product to address a need within the community.

STEM

In a recent PD on integrating STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering & Math) held at RAFT (Resource Area for Teachers) I was introduced to the following flow chart:

As a certified art educator I will admit that I have allowed myself to function under the stereotype that I am a right brained thinker... an intuitive out of the box creative type who is therefore not expected to be good at science or math. Because of this limiting definition of self, I have not always embraced STEM integration with the same passion and vigor that I would defend the value of arts integration or the need for sustained and substantial electives course offerings. This PD however was the access point that I needed in order to embrace the other skills and characteristics that I possess, because after all no one is honestly all right or left brained. I appreciated this graphic because I was able to see how the scientific process of exploration/discover, analysis/feedback, and benefits/outcomes so neatly mirrors the methods and strategies that I utilize not only in my curriculum design but also in my art making processes. I am sharing the flow chart as I find it a natural complement to many units and concepts addressed through my organization including but not limited to:

• Design Thinking Protocols
• "Shark Tank" or Entrepreneurship and Innovation Content/Unit
• College and Career Research

I challenge educators such as my self, who have resisted STEM integration to at the very least use this flow chart when developing and implementing protocols within your class (as I am sure that you already are, though perhaps without the scientific context).

Denver Public Library

Research Librarian, Robin Filipczak walks the students through what job searching resources the library offers, and afterward provides a tour of the building. The session is conducted in a very nice computer lab that allows students to follow/click along with her instruction. According to a colleague of mine who shared this resource with me the "experience is relevant and fun, and the staff (at the library) is amazing—I strongly recommend our facilitators make use of the library’s team if they are able to get away on field trips".

Robin’s contact info is:

rfilipczak@denverlibrary.org

MiddleWeb

*Excerpt from http://www.middleweb.com/

Welcome to MiddleWeb!

MiddleWeb is all about middle school & the middle grades — with a sharp focus on teaching and learning in grades 4-8.
Since 1996, we’ve been providing resources for teachers, school leaders, parents and others interested in the success of young adolescents. In June of 2012, we launched a new version of our website around five streams of original content:

• Resource Roundups: We’ve always specialized in finding and sharing resources you can use. Here at our new site, we feature our growing collection of Resource Roundups — our tag for short, link-laden essays built around a theme. You’ll find everything from New Teacher 911 and the latest on the Common Core….to some secrets of great rubric-making and humor in the classroom. Edited by veteran teacher/librarian Susan B. Curtis, our roundups are regularly updated and enriched with the best resources we can find.

• Themed Blogs: We’ve recruited expert teachers and learning leaders in a variety of areas and asked them to write for us on a regular basis. Our themed blogs include: STEM Imagineering (science educator Anne Jolly on creating effective STEM lessons & programs); Two Teachers in the Room (NBCT Elizabeth Stein on co-teaching and inclusion); Future of History (middle grades History/SS teachers Aaron Brock, Shara Peters, Jody Passanisi and Sarah Cooper);  Kids on the Cusp (classroom veteran Mary Tarashuk on teaching in grades 4 and 5); and Working Draft (reflections on English/Language Arts and tech integration from middle school teacher Kevin Hodgson, a.k.a. @dogtrax).

• Guest Articles: Just what you might expect: first-person articles about teaching and learning! We bring you the voices of middle grades education stars and many lesser known teachers and school leaders up on the front lines who have stories to tell and good practice to share. We also feature articles and excerpts contributed by book authors who write about important middle grades topics. (See a complete list of articles.) If you’d like to write for us, check out our writer guidelines.

• Book Reviews: MiddleWeb’s collection of reviews of professional education books is one of the largest on the Internet. We’ve tailored it specifically for educators working with grades 4-8. If you’re interested in becoming a MiddleWeb book reviewer, you can learn all the details here. Basically: we’ll share a list of what’s available and some guidelines for review writing. You pick what you’d like to read, write the review, keep the book. We publish your reviews, make you famous.

• Interviews: We’re talking with interesting people who have expertise around middle grades education — or just do great things for middle grades kids and schools. Peruse our Five Q Interviews for ideas, insights, and plain good chat. Read Larry Ferlazzo’s interview with MiddleWeb founder John Norton

UBD Lessons, Trinity University

Trinity University has a variety of lessons available in UBD format if the following content areas:

• English Language Arts
• Fine Arts
• Foreign Language
• Math
• Other
• Science
• Social Studies

Behavior Management

PBIS World offers solutions for specific misbehaviors utilizing a tiered system. Below is a sample of what you can expect- beginning with a description of the behavior, in this case aggressiveness and bullying, and the tier 1 suggestions.

 

Link to PBIS World

linoit.com

Use linoit.com to display objectives, post learning targets, share daily affirmations or quotes, list daily tasks, provide checklist, conduct exit tickets, and more. Did I mention it is free :)

Dude. be nice

"The DUDE. be nice project is a platform to inspire young people to build a positive community by recognizing a person or group in a fun, creative and meaningful way. We're all for making people feel appreciated.   If you want us to be a part of a DUDE. be nice Project in your community, email us at DBNproject@dudebenice.com. Learn more in the vid below."

About Dude. be nice

6 page, 5 day activity guide!

 

International Women's Day

In honor or international women's day YouTube launches #dearme, women post video messages to their 14 year old self, find out more at the links below.

About #DearMe

#DearMe (Denver, Women's Commission)

Denver Women's Commission 2014 Assessment: Windows into Denver Women and Girls.

The assessment offers insight and perspective on the issues most currently affecting women and girls in Denver. The DWC hopes this information can serve as the start of a civic conversation; a call to action for improving our community.

 

Windows into Denver Women Full Text

 

 

Teacher Becomes Student for a Day

Link to Full Article

 

First of all I hope every educator takes the time to read this article, better yet do what this teacher did and shadow a student for a day! The full text can be found at the link provided above, however these are the 3 takeaways the teacher describes:

• Students sit all day, and sitting is exhausting
• Students are sitting, and passively engaged for 90% of the day
• Students feel like a nuisance

In the full article this educator details how she will address these takeaways and offers tangible ideas for all teachers transferable across content areas. For the student perspective pick up Fires in the Middle School Bathroom, pictured below.

 

 

 

 



Trauma and the Teenage Brain

                         

                                                   

"As researchers work to solve one of the most persistent problems in public education – why kids in poor neighborhoods fail so much more often than their upper-income peers – more and more they're pointing the finger at what happens outside the classroom.
Shootings. Food insecurity. Sirens and fights in the night. Experts are finding that those stressors build up, creating emotional problems and changes in the brain that can undermine even the clearest lessons."

Link to Full Article
Ted Talk on Trauma and Health

Introducing New Vocabulary

After introducing new vocabulary have students spin the wheel to identify their action step, each option will promote retention and support a different learning style. Easily turned into a game for review prior to assessment.

Resource- Noise Meter

Help students become more objective about the noise level in the classroom with a noise metering app. The particular app shown below is $0.99 however there are many other free options, some with the ability to save measurements in order to evaluate progress over time... Is it noisy in here?

 

Blooms- Resources and Action Words

Curriculum Compacting: Gifted and Talented

What Is Curriculum Compacting?

Curriculum compacting, developed by Dr. Joseph Renzulli and Linda Smith in 1978, is a differentiation strategy that is extremely beneficial to many gifted and high ability students. It is a process by which students are pre-assessed to determine what parts of the curriculum they have already mastered. When those areas of knowledge and skills are identified, these students are not required to complete the grade-level work. Instead, they work on alternate activities. Curriculum compacting is a particularly important strategy for gifted and other high-ability students because they often come to school already knowing much of the grade level material. If these students are not challenged with new or different content, they waste time in school, do not learn important study skills, and do not grow as learners. How Does Curriculum Compacting Work? First Step- identify what the student has already mastered. This works well in subjects that are easily tested, like math, in which questions usually require one right answer. Prior to the pre-assessment, the teacher determines the requirement for mastery. For example, mastery might be 90% or higher on a pretest or no more than one mistake in a writing sample. Pre-assessment: pretest, classroom observation, a short discussion with the student, a checklist of what the student knows, or brainstorming session. Choose an alternate activity. This could be independent study.. 'Nuts and Bolts' of Compacting * The teacher meets with compacting students to decide with them on which alternate activity or activities they will work. * Some type of a time line is established, including when the students will meet with the teacher again and when the alternate activity is due. Compacting students can work independently or together, but it is important that they touch base with their teacher often. * The score that determines mastery is also the score that goes in the grade book. Students may receive extra points, if necessary, for compacting activities, but they should not be penalized with a lower grade if they work on a more challenging activity and do not get a high score. Gifted students are sometimes reluctant to work on alternate activities because they think a possible lower score will negatively affect their grades. * Each student should be responsible for keeping his/her own compactor folder with the work in it. This is a good way for disorganized gifted students to learn skills in organization, and it gives them practice in taking responsibility for their own work and their own learning. * Parents need to discuss and show interest in their child's compactor activities. However, parents should not pressure their child to compact out of the grade-level work every time. Even gifted students have some academic weaknesses. Most gifted children compact out some of the time and usually in a specific subject.