Empty Shelf 2016

One of my favorite authors, Jon Acuff, introduced a challenge in December of 2013 for the upcoming year. Its called the Empty Shelf Challenge. You empty out a shelf somewhere in your home/office and as you finish a book, you add it to the shelf. I started this challenge last January, but fell of the train rather quickly.

This year, my goal is to read at least one book per month. I’m almost finished with my first book The No Complaining Rule by Jon Gordon. I highly recommend any book written by him, or Jon Acuff. Their books are easy to read and incredibly relateable. Jon Gordon even has a few books geared towards children.

To keep myself motivated, I’ve devised a schedule to provide deadlines. I always do well under pressure like that. 🙂 I have a list of books lined up and I’m hoping to get 13-15 read this year. I have a shelf at home ready to fill, but I also have a digital shelf on Pinterest that you can see here if you’re curious about my readings.

I’ve included the link to Jon’s blog describing the Empty Shelf Challenge here. I highly recommend browsing his site for all kinds of challenges and motivation, and some comedy here and there.

 

E-LA…History?

English-Language Arts is a great class to teach. As the teacher, you are providing the students with skills they’ll use daily throughout their adult life (in middle school, anyway). It’s rewarding hearing a student correcting themselves when they speak with incorrect grammar.

But…

My love is history. I have a passion for bringing the events to life to help curve the stigma that “history is boring”.

*I’m a firm believer that those who do not study history, will be doomed to repeat it. If you don’t believe that, turn on any news channel and watch for 10 minutes. The discouragement of studying events of the past is causing issues in our society today.  Sorry, end of rant.*

As I dig deeper into the standards we must cover in E-LA, I’m finding that I can use stories of historical events to manipulate our skills. It’s quite exciting, for a nerd like myself. I’m finding excerpts of stories about Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, fiction characters of the Civil War. I am thrilled to finally be implementing my love into my work.

Maybe, hopefully, the school’s counselor gives me a history class or two in my schedule next year. I would love nothing more!

Back From Hiatus.

Its been a crazy few weeks with editing videos, grading essays, making finals, and Thanksgiving! I do apologize for not keeping up. 🙂

Last time, I discussed the videos my classes were making (7th and 8th grade) about what they were thankful for. This project turned out infinitely better than I had anticipated. It hits several standards (bonus points for me) and the students LOVED filming and watching their videos.

The 7th grade video can be viewed HERE. The 8th grade video can be viewed HERE.

Looking back, I would film all the students myself. I designated one student each class period to film after I had shown them how to work the camera. It was a great idea in theory, however, it became more of a time-waster than anything. Students feel more comfortable talking to a peer than a teacher, but this relaxed atmosphere created giggle fits–funny once or twice–and blurry recordings. It is also something I will probably make exclusive to the 8th grade. They are more mature and can handle filming on their own.

Positive things to take away from this activity: it taught my students that they CAN speak in front of people (in class or on YouTube) and it also sparked an idea to continue doing videos. Once our videos were finished, each class was given the opportunity to give feedback anonymously about the project. The 8th grade reviews were so enthusiastic, we decided to keep filming and create a weekly classroom vlog. Big goals for this group of young people, but I have no reservations about what they will be able to accomplish.

The vlog will allow the students to have more responsibility in the video process. We’ve discussed different jobs that are available and how to execute this. We’ll start in January after Christmas break with our weekly videos due to the chaos of these next few weeks. These kids continue to amaze me.

 

we are thankful.

To wrap up our grammar unit, we’re making a video! We are doing a multi-media project with the 7th and 8th grade. It is a video titled “I am thankful.”

I’ve broken the project down into a series of steps. We start by brainstorming the people and things we are thankful for and then why. I give them 1-2 minutes each category. There is no judgement in brainstorming; anything goes.

Then, Mix-Pair-Share, a Kagan structure, is used to gather more ideas and refine the not-so-great ideas. This is where we can start judging the ideas. I tried to emphasize the importance of sounding well-rounded when producing something that is public. We will be having a discussion about how to keep things fun, but appropriate. As you can imagine, that is a tough concept for middle schoolers. 🙂

Once we have solid ideas, we will begin writing. The idea is to build a speech. We’ll go through the steps of revising, peer editing, and speaking with a partner, then with a small group before we actually get in front of a camera. There are revising guides and peer editing checklists to give the students something to look for.

My friend, Kimberly, has agreed to teach me the ropes of movie editing. This will be a huge help when I’m attempting to compile all of the clips together. Obviously, we want bloopers.

The goal is to have everything edited and filmed by the the end of next week so we can have the video ready for Thanksgiving. Even if it is a total flop, I’m sure the kids will still enjoy the process.

chaos, cookies, & conferences

Holy intimidating. Now that the chaos is over, I have time to reflect on the madness. The best kind of madness, obviously. 

Gym floors are canvased, tables arranged ever-so precisely. We all have name plates at our tables; my table is in the middle of the floor, about half court.

Watching the parents come in was probably the most nerve-wracking part. I had no idea who these people were. I know their students, but to know the parents is a task.

My first two hours of conferences, I only had other teachers stop by my table to discuss their student. I appreciated that. It was a nice warm up and stress-reducer. They were good practice-rounds and helped me along as I stumbled through verbiage and my series of tasks I wanted to accomplish. Most gave suggestions, which I was so thankful for.

“Say it like this…” or “Start with a positive, end with a positive…”

THANK YOU VETERAN TEACHERS FOR HELPING THE LESS EXPERIENCED.

I’m pretty sure my face broke out because of my nerves.

For the most part, the parents that showed up were the parents who have upstanding children. Seems to be pretty logical, students who care have parents who care. Of course, there are exceptions. Not every family is that way. Learning family dynamic is eye opening.

Meeting parents was great! I learned so much about the students by meeting and having small talk with their parents. A few parents had especially nice things to say about me, or shared their student’s perspectives of me. This was heartwarming. One mother even brought me a goody plate (which I shared with the masses, we’re trying to work on the wedding bods) to thank me for being a teacher. Makes all the paperwork and PD’s worth it when you hear how appreciated you are.

Third quarter conferences will be a breeze.

Identifying Nouns

For the last week, my 7th graders have been focusing on nouns (common, proper, concrete, abstract, collective) and verbs (action, state of being). What I thought would be a one day lesson turned into a week-long unit. I shared a picture on Monday and had several people ask what the process was, so this is my response. 🙂

My first resource was a workbook I found at Sam’s Club. It is a standard-based book for 6th graders, but I use it with all of my classes (6th-9th). It has a great introductory “funsheet” that discusses the different types of nouns and verbs. The types of nouns were defined at the top of the page, followed by examples. This was something I thought my 7th graders would nail on day one. Turns out to not be the case at all.

I started brainstorming. How can we get this to sink in? I was told by a mentor of mine back in high school that “repetition is the hammer that fastens the thought.” This is what sparked my ideas. The next class we defined each type of noun and wrote down examples one at a time. We discussed examples in the room, outside the room, and at home. We turned to partners and shared with them what each type of noun was and gave our own examples of them. Once we shared, we paired up with another person and came up with our own lists of each type of noun to share with the class.

The next day, we had a brief review over the different types of nouns. Today’s lesson was more of a game. Once we reviewed the definitions and two examples of each, I had them get out a piece of scratch paper and label different areas for the five types of nouns. I gave them 10 seconds of think time and 30 seconds to write down as many nouns as possible under one category. We did this five different times (one for each type). I had them share their categories with partners, partners would check them for accuracy and we’d discuss when necessary. By the end of the class period, each student had correctly labeled categories to take home with them.

Our next lesson was also more “game-like”. Each student was given 5 note cards. They labeled each one NOUN on one side. Then, on the opposite side, labeled CONCRETE, ABSTRACT, PROPER, COMMON, and COLLECTIVE. I had them look around the room and write nouns that fit under each category. We checked with partners to make sure our examples were correct, then I gave them 10 seconds each category to place their notecards near/on their nouns written on the card. Some students were more creative than others, which created healthy competition. The whole process took up the class period.

Our final (hopefully) activity focusing on nouns was a debate. We did the timed lists again to light the competitive fire. This time, we were not allowed to share with partners or check. Once we had all five lists created on our own, we began the debates. We “mix-pair-shared” one list with partners. If two partners had similar nouns, they marked them off and didn’t count them towards final points. Partners were aloud to correct and debate with each other over noun placement. If the debate became too heated, I stepped in to resolve. The partner with the most correctly placed nouns won and stayed in the winners bracket (double elimination). We mixed until there was only one winner.

Not everything went as smoothly as I had described. During the debates, I had two students shed tears. One student thought she was being bullied because no one would let her win, another was beat out in the final round. Two extremes of the spectrum of competition.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I want to be able to look back at this and remember details for next year. 🙂

paying it forward?

In my 7th grade Explore class we watch and discuss Channel One news. The last two weeks, they shared stories about teens who took over their family budgets to see what they would learn.

On the last day of the segment, we discussed saving for retirement and how/what to budget. We talked about what went into a budget, what amount should go in each category, etc. This was a very student-based discussion and most were very engaged (who doesn’t like money?).

One student spoke up and shared that her family has a GIVE category in their budget–I jumped for joy inside, because we all know I love Dave Ramsey, Rachel Cruze and their budgeting system. She continued to share that her mom likes “this guy named Dave who said giving is what you’re supposed to do”.

I hope one day she can look back and thank her parents for instilling this in her while she was young. She give me hope. 

There was an uproar of students. “Why would you give your money away?” “I NEED money, I won’t ever give it to someone else!” Teachable moment.

My cadet teacher and I then went on to discuss ways that we give and WHY we give. My cadet used the term paying it forward. It was a foreign concept to this group of students. By the end of our discussion, most students had and idea of how and why its good to pay it forward. However, one student was still opposed and made it very clear.

Its heartbreaking to hear students be so turned off to doing something kind for another person just because you can. Today, we live in such a one-dimensional society (me, me, me) and this particular group of students just happened to magnify that today.

Moral of the story: Pay it forward just because. Give because you can, not because you should.

Okay, I’m off my soapbox. Thanks, Ang, for making me “Dave-Crazy” and giving me something to talk about. 🙂 

Sub Plans

Grab a big cup of joe, you’re going to need it.

It really is true. It is more difficult to be gone and plan for a sub than to grind out a sickness. We had our school reward day for students who achieved proficient or advanced on their state tests out at the lake. Students could hike, fish, shoot bows, play board games, read, hula-hoop,  or just hang out and enjoy the beautiful day. We grilled out for lunch (which was delicious) and packed up about 2:30 to head back to the school. The weather was perfect and some of the students are a bit sun burnt today. I have only heard positive remarks about the day, which is good news for the future.

While we were out at the lake, there were a few subs filling in for us. We were asked to have folders prepared for each grade level containing work for the day. It seemed to all be going well until my freshmen told me their sub did not think what I left for them was necessary. This was frustrating on many levels. So, I’m going to rant a bit.

*drinks extra large cup of coffee*

As a sub, you should follow the instructions left by the classroom teacher.  If a classroom teacher asks you to hand out a packet to the class, do it. You are not above the classroom teacher’s instructions. End of rant.

Today, we’re putting the pieces back together just to knock them down tomorrow when I’m gone for a consortium meeting and am hoping the sub cooperates with what I have planned. If not, the world will go on, I suppose, but it is frustrating to come back and see that nothing was done as you had anticipated. To the teachers I subbed for last year, I had no intention of doing this to you. If I ever did this to you, I whole-heartily apologize for the frustration I caused. 

On a more positive note, I have a college friend visiting this weekend! Exciting things in store. Also, I have a blog-specific Instagram account now! My handle: @jrhighcoffeetime 🙂

Happy weekend, friends! Make it the best!

8th Graders

I have favorites. Everyone has favorites. If a teacher tells you they don’t have a favorite class, they are lying. It is an undeniable fact of life.

For me, 8th graders are the best. They have great attitudes, are willing to try new things or be my guinea pigs. They do what they are asked to do. They do not think the are “too cool” to do fun things.

They are also willing to have conversation about anything.

I do not think I have ever had a class that is so concerned with knowing me as a person. You can always tell when students try to get the teacher off track, but this is not the case for them. They want to stay after class and learn more about the sports I like, my favorite teams, if I would come their after school events, what kind of books I would recommend. It is really quite endearing.

This particular group of students is also on task 90% of the time (which is phenomenal for 13 and 14 year olds), so activities with them are the best. They give me honest feedback as to how they think the activities go and we seem to have really made a quality teacher-student relationship.

Over the last weekend, I had read about different ways to keep students more engaged. I had been to the Kagan training and enjoyed that, but I was interested to see what else was out there. I came across several blogs that suggested 3-5 minutes of meditation or “mindfulness” to help students’ focus on the task at hand.

This led me to try it with my 6th hour class. They came in, put their belongings under their desks and followed instructions to a T. I downloaded some soft yoga music and played it as I walked them through deep breathing. The 4 minutes they were silent was so peaceful and relaxing. I wanted to cherish it forever and so did they. Ha!

The experiment worked as they calmly went about our daily routine of journaling, DOL, and reading. It was a great day, but I don’t think we’ll be able to do this every day. Maybe once or twice a month. I’m not above using it as a bribe. 🙂

Grammar is essential.

In my first month of teaching English (outside my comfort zone), I have discovered the need for a grammar unit in all grade levels.

It first came as a shock to me that my expectations of where my students would be were far beyond what they were capable of doing. Maybe my high expectations are from my inexperience in the “English teacher” world. I have to remind myself that they are only sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth graders. 

*Takes big swig of freshly brewed coffee*

With that in mind, I am working on an entire unit dedicated to grammar. I have two teacher’s edition grammar books and ordered English Grammar for Dummies to help create this unit. If there are any other books, guides, or resources that are worthy of note I would love to hear about them! This unit is very exciting for me, in a nerdy way. 

We are starting with the basics: parts of a sentence. Defining nouns, verbs, adjectives, subjects, etc. is the main goal. I recently had a freshman argue with me that Duke (the main character of a short story) was a verb. A lot has been learned about the teaching world in the last four weeks, it will be interesting to see how much my students retain at the end of the year.

Side note: give freshmen students four balloons and they’ll stay occupied for an entire class period.