How Do You Get to Know Your Students Before School Starts?

What is the number one common characteristic of great teachers? They know their students.

Good teachers spend time at the beginning of the year learning as much as they can about their students in order to develop positive relationships and create an inclusive environment.

How do you get to know your students before they come to school the first day, so when they walk in your door you greet them with something like, "Hi Hannah, how is your dog Jasmine?" "So Sam, can you believe the home run that the Red Sox made during the last game?"

This is what I do. Very simple but very informative.

1. Letters:  The third grade teachers take time at the end of the year to have their students write letters to their new 4th grade teachers. They ask them to include information about their favorite things, favorite subjects, what they hope 4th grade will be like and other tidbits about themselves, like how many siblings they have, what kind of person they are and what they like to do. Thank you 3rd grade teachers! I then reference the things that the students shared or asked when I write my summer Welcome to 4th Grade! letters.
2. Student Pictures:  We use Power School for our student data. I create a student information table that includes the names of my new students and information about their interests, favorite books, abilities, school and social behaviors, any special needs they might have and their work habits. Next to their names, I paste their pictures, copied from Power School. I use this to memorize their names, faces, and tidbits about them.
3. Anecdotal Notes from Last Year's Teachers:  At the end of the year, we meet with each 3rd grade teacher. They share the students' assessment data and talk about each student. I jot down notes in Word about each student. I then put that information in my student information table. I am cautious not to form preconceived ideas about the children, but to look at the notes holistically and objectively.
4. Students Folders and Assessment Data:  I like the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) because not only does it show me the level of reading that a child is reading at,, but I also like to use the interest survey to note favorite topics and books. Other assessment data, like the Blue Ribbon assessment, writing prompts, and Dibels help me begin to identify strengths and weaknesses.
5. Parent Letter to Me:  I enclose an assignment for the parents in the students' welcome letter. I ask them to tell me about their child in a million words or less. They can email it to me or send it in with their child the first weeks of school.
6. Web2.0. I was thinking that I would like to have students share favorite things or write what they hope they learn on maybe a VoiceThread before school starts. I will set up accounts for them and send a postcard explaining how to share their ideas on the Voicethread.

What are some ways you get to know your students before the first day of school?

How have you used Web2.0 tools before school starts as a way for students to begin sharing and asking questions?

What other ideas do you have?

I Don't Decorate My Classroom

I don't decorate my classroom before school starts.

I stopped making elaborate bulletin boards for the first day of school. I stopped spending hours creating cute spaceships or race cars, each personalized with a student name and picture. I don't buy pre-made education posters to adorn my walls. I've even stopped making job charts, weather charts, calendar charts, behavior charts, editing checklist charts, how to write a paragraph charts, you name it charts. Yes, my students walk into a classroom where the walls are bare, the bulletin boards cry out, "Cover me!" and the absence of pictures and print in the room would leave enriched classroom environment enthusiasts shuddering.

Instead,

• I spend time getting to know my students before I even meet them.
• I set up my class and student accounts in VoiceThread, KidsBlog, Voki, Animoto, Wikispaces, and Glogster
• I go through my books and pull out the ones that I think my students will be interested in. I display those books with the covers showing and I put many of the other books away to be revealed as the year goes on.
• I organize and add to my collection of classroom and online math games.
• I compose my welcome back blog entry.
• I clean up my class wiki, archiving last year's contributions, and making room for the new.
• I collect pictures of all the parts of my life so that my students can get to know me.
• I fold and glue together lots of blank Foldables; empty bound books for our beginning of the year class books, top pockets to hold our learning during our science units, 2-tabs and 8-tabs for side by side word study books, and pocket books for our life timelines.
• I plan and prepare for a fun science lesson, a math game, and a team challenge on the first day of school.
• I make bubble letter name tags for each student to personalize on the very first day.
• I carefully choose the books I'll use for my beginning of the year book hooks and read alouds.
• I work on my Writer's Notebook.

My room will get decorated.

I have no idea what it will look like, but I do know that over time the walls and spaces will be filled with things that matter to my students. Over time, my room will be a celebration of the personalities, talents, and gifts of the group of unique individuals that inhabit it.

Do you decorate your classroom? 
What do you do instead?

How does what you do or don't do reflect what you believe about kids and learning?

May I Have Your Attention Please?

Sometimes I can’t believe the amount of energy that I put into worrying about the littlest things. Each year, as I plan for the start of school, I go back and forth about what type of signal I am going to use to get my students’ attention. The common sense part of me tells me that it really IS NOT important what type of signal I use, as long as I use it consistently and hold students accountable for responding to it. The intuitive side of me says that choosing a signal carefully IS important. That everything we say, don't say, do and don't do sends a message about what we value. And of course, my intuitive side wins the battle. So here I am again, the beginning of August, sweating the small stuff, trying to reach a decision about my signal for attention. Here is what I am thinking:

What I Won’t Do

Use Signals that Have No Meaning for Students

My first year back in the classroom (2 years ago), I used the school wide signal. It goes like this. The teacher calls out Ah-go! The students respond Ah-Me! In some language, ah-go means "I am ready to talk" and ah-me means I am ready to listen. I am pretty sure that students are not translating the phrases, thinking in their heads, "The teacher just said that she is ready to talk so I am going to now tell her that I am ready to listen."

Use The Same Call and Response Signal All Year

Call and response signals tend to lose their effectiveness in my classroom after awhile. The response starts to become just a rote thing the students say mindlessly while they continue to do what they are doing. Now, I understand that holding my students accountable for stopping to listen is the teacher’s responsibility. I realize that I need to train them to stop and turn to listen to me when they respond and if they don’t, I need to re-teach them. But the truth is, I think the signals just get a little boring as the year goes on, Changing it throughout the year adds some novelty and gives a purpose for modeling and practicing again.

Use The Same Signal for Every Situation

If my class is spread out all over the place, working in teams, or if we are outside doing something, I might use one type of louder signal. But if they are pretty much gathered in one area, working independently during something like writing workshop, I’ll probably use a quieter signal.

Use a Chime or Bell

 I need a signal that uses what I have with me on me, like my voice or hands. We are a traveling class, sometimes we are learning outside, sometimes in the media center, sometimes we are on a trip, sometimes around the school, and of course often times in our classroom.  Also, if my students use the chime or bell to get their classmate’s attention, I find that they don’t just hit it once, they hit it several times which becomes an annoyance.

Use A Signal that Creates Anxiety

I tried counting down last year from 5, expecting students to be ready to listen by the time I got to 1. Although it usually worked, I realized as I was doing it that my counting down sounded like a threat. 

I remember my very first year of teaching, I would turn out the lights. I stopped that after being in a workshop and the presenter used the lights to get our attention. How annoying  not to be able to see what I was reading or writing as we waited for everyone to stop what they were doing and turn their attention to the presenter. 

I've seen call and responses like Ah-Go, Ah-Me become a shouting match, with the teacher shouting Ah-Go! and students shouting back Ah-Me! but still talking, so the teacher shouts Ah-Go even louder and students shout back even louder Ah-Me! I don’t need unessesary shouting in my class.

What I Will Do

Use a Real-life Signal

What do we usually do when we need someone’s attention. We ask, May I have your attention please?” This is a respectful signal for attention. Sometimes I might say, "I apologize for interrupting you, but I need your attention for a minute please." 

Explain What I Will Do When I Say the Signal and Why

Instead of saying, "When I say 'May I have your attention please?' you need to stop and give me your attention", I will say "When I say may I have your attention please? I will not talk until I have everyone’s attention. I will wait and make sure that I have everyone’s attention so that no one misses anything"

Involve my Students in Signal Creation

Last year, around ¾ of the year, I pulled my students together and said, "You know what, I think we need to choose a new signal. The purpose of a signal is to get everyone’s attention and I don’t think this one is working so well anymore. I don’t really like Ah-go, Ah-may, what do you think?" One of my students responded that they did not like it either because it did not make sense! He said, "We should have a signal that makes sense, like ice cream sundae, or chocolate chip!" So we had fun brainstorming ideas and voted on a new signal. There was a tie between fainting goats and banana split and I used those the rest of the year. They were the most effective signals I have ever used. When the students choose it, you know it will be meaningful to them.

Make the Signals a Class-attention-getting Signal, not Just a Teacher-getting-attention Signal

By this I mean that students will understand that this is our method for getting attention before we speak. If a student comes to me and says "May I make an announcement/"  I will say, "Yes, ask the class for their attention. or say banana."  My expectation will be that all students respect the speaker in the same manner that they respect me.

Use More Than One Signal

I referred to this in What I Won’t Do. I will use a signal that is appropriate for the situation. If my class is deep into their work and I need to tell them something, I probably don’t have to do a call and response. Simply saying, "Excuse me class, could I please have your attention?" would work fine. I will use the call and response signal, first Banana/Split and then the one my class comes up with, during group work and active activities. In very large group situations that involve other classes, I like to use the "If you can hear me, clap 3 times." signal.

Model, Practice, and Provide Feedback

I will still spend time having students practice when new signals are introduced. I will remain calm and reteach, asking them to reflect on how they did and try it again if they did not get it right, I will be sure to model giving attention quickly when other teachers or students ask for it. I will provide feedback by thanking my students for their speed at  turning their attention to the speaker or for helping each other get ready to listen.

What signals do you plan to use this year?

Do you use the same signal all year?

Adding Technology to a Writing Lesson

This technology extension of the Writing Fix lesson, Unlikely Diary Keepers, was absolutely one of the most successful writing projects that my students did this year. The amount of engagement and collaboration during this project was incredibly high as students learned how to create custom animations and record their voices in PowerPoint. I got the idea from Pernille Ripp and used her students' work to inspire my students.

Diary of a Red Panda

I followed the lesson as it is written on Writing Fix except that I used this template created in Word for the students to type their diary entries and used this storyboard for students to plan the diary slides. Students published their animal diaries using the Custom Animation and the Record Narration features in Powerpoint. Also, I had students do this pre-research activity for homework and the computer teacher spent time teaching my students how to search for information using search engines as they took notes in this Top Tab Foldable. This is the scoring guide for their product.

You can view more of my students' animal diaries here. I uploaded them to Authorstream so that they could be shown on our class wiki. The students had spent time making the backgrounds around their clip art transparent, but for some reason the backgrounds appeared on Authorstream.

Descriptive Dragons

I love organic teaching. Its path grows from student interests and classroom happenings. It is free of packaged activities, isolated skill worksheets and sequenced programs. Instead, it listens to and follows rhythms of natural, connected, purposeful learning.

My class is currently reading, discussing and loving the book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin. The book weaves ancient Chinese folktales into the story about a girl named Minli. Minli leaves her dry, gray home to embark on a journey to the Man of the Moon whom she hopes will change her fortune. She meets up with a dragon, who joins her on her journey with hopes that the Man of the Moon will help him learn how to fly. (sound familiar?)

My students' excitement about the delightful dragon as well as the folktales in the story led me to the library in search of Chinese folktales about dragons. I did find some great Chinese folktales but also found the book Dragons:  Fearsome Monsters from Myth and Fiction. This book not only draws the reader in with its beautiful illustrations, but happens to be a FANTASTIC model of nonfiction writing. The descriptions and legends written about each dragon are full of descriptive writing with good adjectives, similes, and varied sentence structures.



The Lessons:

1. Using a Mentor Text to Inspire Our Own Ideas

I selected some of the dragons from the book to scan and put onto this Powerpoint. I introduced the project by telling students that they would be creating their own dragons and in order to do that, we'd use this book about dragons from all over the world as our inspiration. As we went through the Powerpont, I read the background stories about each dragon and the detailed descriptions of its body parts.

2. Art and Talk as a Pre-writing Activity

Students were given large white paper on which to draw a pencil sketch of their dragon. They were asked to draw the dragon in the center of the white space, keeping space around the dragon for descriptions of body parts. Before we began,  I told them they needed to think carefully about the details of their dragons, specifically their body parts. They should be thinking about what their dragon does, what kind of personality it has and how it uses its body. Then they went over the pencil with a black Sharpie. The final step was paint. They carefully picked out their colors and I arranged their paint into a paper plate palette.Talk played an important role in this art activity, as students discussed their dragon's origins, body parts, and roles with each other.

3. Creating a Class Word Bank with Wordle

To prepare for the writing, I looked back to original dragon book as a model. I thought about the vivid adjectives that the author used to describe the dragon's body parts. I noticed that each body part was described using rich language; adjectives, similes, and varied sentence structure.  I wanted to figure out a way to help my students focus on using rich language in their writing. So, I used Wordle for a lesson in using the Thesaurus as well as a way to broaden my students' vocabulary. I generated a list of words that I thought my students might use in their dragon descriptions. This list was based on both the ideas in the books as well as what I was hearing my students share about their dragons. I selected common adjectives such as big, mean, small, soft, good, and shiny. I wrote one word on the top of a piece of lined paper so that I had enough words for each student in the class. We revisited the dragon book, noticing the wonderful adjectives. I asked them where could authors find synonyms, or words that mean almost the same thing as words like good, big, and evil. They knew the Thesaurus was good for this purpose. I explained to them that we would be creating our own word wall of wonderful words for us to use in our writing by using a tool called Wordle. I  modeled how to first look up words that mean the same thing as the word good using the print thesaurus and then how to look up words that mean the same thing using the online Thesaurus. They concluded that the online one was easier to use AND had more words. As we did this, I showed how to list the words underneath the word good. After that, I modeled how to use Wordle. I typed the synonyms of the original word and the original into Wordle and demonstrated how writing the word more than once would make it bigger. Students were then given their own words and did the same, creating these word clouds.

3. More Pre-writing with a Planning Sheet
I knew that some of my students already had a pretty complete story about their dragon in their heads, but others needed some guidance to develop their story. I looked at the elements that the author used in his descriptions and created this planning sheet for students to fill out. Before we began, I used it to "interview" a few students in the class about their dragon, knowing that listening to their classmates  would help spark more ideas. So I just went down the list asking, "What is your dragon's name? Where is it from? Where does it live? What kind of personality does it have? What is its job? Is it ancient, mythological, or media? What are its special abilities?" and so on. Students were then ready to fill it out on their own.

4. Using Our Wordle Word Bank and a List of Adjectives to Write
We looked back at the dragon descriptions once again, this time focusing on the body part descriptions. I asked students what they noticed about the author's writing. They noticed the word choice and how it made them feel. As we read through this list of adjectives together, students highlighted any words that would describe their dragon and its body parts. Then we looked at our beautiful Wordles, noticing words up on the wall that we might use. They were then ready to write about at least 3 body parts, using this organizer.

5. Word Templates to Create Professional Looking Pieces
I taught the students how to open up this Word template and save it as their own in their folders. They typed their body part descriptions onto the template, which would be printed, cut out and glued onto their dragon pictures.

6. Back to the Mentor Text
Once again we revisited the mentor text. We looked at the background information the author wrote about the dragons. I printed out three examples to give to my students. Armed with highlighters, we read each one, highlighting and discussing pieces of the writing that we liked and might apply in our own writing. This is not a new process in my classroom, but before we do this I always ask, why do we look at other people's writing? We talk about how we can get ideas and learn from other writers.


7. Getting the First Lines Down
Most of my students were ready to write, but some were having trouble with that first sentence. So I asked students to share how they were planning to begin, and I wrote those ideas up on the board. That helped inspire anyone who was stuck.

8. Putting it All Together
After publishing their dragon pieces, they each inserted a map of the dragon's origin. Some students created a comparison diagram to show the dragon's actual size. The students cut out and glued their labels to their dragon paintings. They created a fancy title and we hung the entire display up in our hallway for others to enjoy.


9. Publishing for a Wider Audience
I am in the process of taking pictures of the finished dragons. Students are going to read the accompanying story they wrote on our iPods. They will be published on a wiki. Students love to get their work published onto the Internet because, as one student put it, "It will be up there forever!"

Authentic technology integration? But how?

Here is my Top Ten Unit from start to finish. Technology, language arts, science, and 21st century skills are integrated seamlessly. The entire unit with lessons can be found here. The Top Ten wiki is at http://top10.sblc.wikispaces.net/

What Does a Green Screen Video Production Teach?

This is the second green screen video that my students created with my assistance. The first they had really no concept about what the green screen was going to do. The video was to be of interviews with rocks in which they would play specific types of rocks while reporters interviewed them. The students made rock costumes out of cardboard complete with glitter for obsidian and sand for sandstone. After video taping each interview, I put the movie together with background images.

So, when the second video opportunity came along, the Water Cycle, they already had a concrete experience with the green screen. We discussed the effects that happened with the first video such as how the glitter on Clark's rock looked super shiny or how Carter's gold rock faded into the background. Or how Xandra's green shirt made her disappear into the background. Then after reading the script and picking out parts, the students brainstormed ideas for costumes that would create the effects they wanted. I facilitated the discussion as students shared possibilities for water vapor and the sun. Then, students were given a planning sheet. Working with partners,their task was to draw and label their costumes and write down the materials they would need.

After they made their costumes, they performed costume tests. We put up the green screen and took short clips of them in front of it. I used a random background and as a class we watched the tests. As they watched the clips, the students talked amongst themselves about ideas to make the costumes better achieve the effects they were striving for. Students then made changes to their costumes or started from scratch or kept them the same.

Three of my students chose not play a part in the video. I gave them the job of photos. As the rest of the class worked on costumes, they had conferences with their classmates about what types of photos they would like for their backgrounds. Then, the photo committee searched for and saved photos from the Internet. They kept them organized and gave them names that would help me as I later put the movie together.

The video taping itself involved a tremendous amount of teamwork. Students worked together to practice their parts, set up the props and stage, direct the scenes, do makeup and costume fix ups, and video tape.

Once the video was taped, I did the final editing, cutting and piecing the clips together, putting in the photos, and adding music clips.

Students have watched the video enough times that they have it memorized. I gave them a little assessment, asking them to write about real life examples of 3-4 parts of the water cycle. They all scored 100 percent.

So, what does a green screen video production teach?