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Teacher Evaluation

In this blog post, I will look at two systems of teacher evaluation: Teacher Evaluation 2.0, and the Teach Now Clinical Evaluation Rubric.

First up, Teacher Evaluation 2.0. This format is clear and concise; it doesn’t feel overwhelming. The guide proposes six design standards that evaluation systems should meet. These are:

1. Annual process - Teachers should be evaluated at least once a year.

This seems perfectly fair to me. Although observations can be nerve-racking, feedback from experienced teachers is valuable. I wouldn’t mind being observed more often.

2.Clear, rigorous expectations - Standards should be clear and should prioritize student learning.

Just as teachers are expected to set clear standards and expectations to students, school administrators should do the same with the teaching faculty. Teachers need to be informed of how they will be assessed during the pre-observation meeting.

3. Multiple measures - evaluations should consider multiple performance measures. Chiefly, the teacher’s impact on student learning.

At the end of the day, this is the most critical performance measure.

4. Multiple ratings - evaluations should employ 4-5 rating levels describing different teacher effectiveness.

These descriptions should be as detailed and rigorous as possible.

5. Regular feedback - evaluations should encourage regular, critical and constructive feedback.

As with #2, feedback should provide a scaffolding on how to improve, just as is expected of student feedback.

6. Significance - evaluation data should be a major factor in key employment decisions.

I disagree with this. Often, teachers may be nervous or just have a bad day. If the evaluation is the only one for the year, then I don’t think it should have a major impact on employment decisions. Student attainment and fulfillment should have a major affect on employment decisions.

Next, the Teach Now Clinical Rubric. This rubric is extremely comprehensive. It’s detailed and rigorous, maybe too much so. There are 10 standards and 48 individual elements in this rubric. This seems like a lot for the observer to assess during the three formal observations. 

That being said, the ten standards are comprehensive and evaluate all aspects of teaching. I’ll look at these standards to decide the areas that I’d like to be assessed on.

Elements I Would Like To Be Judged On

From the Teach Now Rubric, my top three standars are:

#1 Student Development

I feel like this standard covers a lot. The elements here, “understanding learning”, “meeting student needs” and “developmentally appropriate instruction” are essential for any teacher. Collaborating with coworkers is also an important element, and is how I pick up much of my teaching knowledge.

#3 Learning Environments

Managing the learning environment is something I’m still learning so much about. I recently made the jump from teaching at a language school, to an international school. The learning environment at my new school is much more complex and harder to manage. Also, making my classroom more student-centered is something I really want to get better at.

#6 Assessment

We learned a lot about assessment in the last module, so I’d like to get feedback on how I’m doing implementing what I’ve learned into the classroom. Using assessment data to improve my teaching is an area where I’d like to grow as a teacher. 

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Pre-assessment for Differentiation

Here’s the pre-assessment quiz I made using Kahoot. The idea is for students to take the pre-assessment as homework before we begin the unit on comparing numbers. The first question tests students’ understanding of tens and ones. Then, the questions cover the areas to be studied in this unit. I also put in a couple of word problems, which students generally find harder. I expect students who get these questions correct will be at the higher ability levels.

To group students according to their prior knowledge and skills I’ll use the pre-assessment scores. Students who answer the two word problems correctly and score >80% will be placed in the proficient group. Student who score 50-79% correct will be placed in the standard knowledge group. Scoring under 50% will place students in the basic knowledge group.

Students in the basic knowledge group will work with the teacher. In this group, students will receive direct instruction and use manipulatives to grasp foundational knowledge which involves identifying tens and ones, and ordering numbers by size. These students will also practice using the required vocabulary for this unit. Students in the basic knowledge group will be reassessed and may join the standard group when their knowledge & skills level increased.

In both the standard and proficient groups, students will work both independently and in pairs. I’ll implement a buddy system, with a proficient level student paired with a standard level student. Peer tutoring has been shown to be an effective learning strategy (Education Endowment Foundation, 2018). In pairs students will work on math games, problems and use manipulatives.

For individual work, the standard level group will do worksheets featuring word problems. Students will be encouraged to explain their reasoning by referencing math strategies. Students in the proficient group will focus more on completing problems and explaining their thinking, using multiple strategies to solve problems and creating their own word problems which they may then give to other students to solve.

For my assessments, I will observe the students as they work. I’ll ask them to explain their thinking to me and check for any misconceptions they may have. I’ll also be marking their worksheets and giving both written and oral feedback.

Here is a flowchart detailing my differentiation plan.

References

Peer Tutoring (2018). Teaching and Learning Toolkit. Education Endowment Foundation. 

Retrieved from: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/pdf/generate/?u=https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/pdf/toolkit/?id=140&t=Teaching%20and%20Learning%20Toolkit&e=140&s=

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High Stakes Testing

High stakes testing, though based on an older model of education, remain popular and widely used around the world today. Favored by government bodies, employers, universities, politicians and parents alike, high stakes tests often divide test takers into various categories of passing or failing. They provide a score or grade that is used to measure achievement. In this blog post, I’ll discuss the state of high stakes assessment in my own international school, and compare it with another here in Taiwan.

Assessments at my school At my school, the end of semester assessment makes up 30% of a student’s grade for the semester, with the rest coming from class work, projects, quizzes, homework, participation and deportment. So I wouldn’t say my school has particularly high stakes assessments. 

The end of semester assessment is in the form of a written exam based on content covered in lessons. Students can get grades ranging from A-D, but there is no system of setting or streaming students by ability. The main reason for this is the size of the school. In all, from kindergarten to middle school there are around 100 students.

Time is spent in testing

Students are given one hour to complete their final test for each of the five core subjects. Students spend far more time working on projects and other classwork. During the week before the final exam classes are used to review subject material. Teachers are expected to make study guides for each subject to help students and these are used during the review classes.

Teaching to the test

My schools is currently working towards getting WASC accreditation. They are beginning to implement a curriculum based on the Understanding by Design framework. However, presently we are still working with the old system whereby teachers create the final exams based on the lessons they taught through the semester. In my opinion, this is a very inefficient and ineffective way to conduct assessment and a lot of teaching to the test happens. 

It is rare for a student to fail a test, but if they do, they can take a retest for a reduced grade. Students are not held back a grade if they fail and are allowed to graduate and move on to the next grade. There are no rewards or bonuses available to teachers whose students achieve high test scores.

The relative lack of pressure seems to be good for students and teachers alike. Teachers have a lot of freedom in the classroom to teach how and what they choose. More time can be spent on fun activities, crafts and experiments which my students love!

Comparison with Kang Chiao International School (KCIS)

KCIS is a much bigger school, with multiple branches in many countries. As a result, their curriculum is well-established and better organized. KCIS Taipei uses written assignments, projects and both midterm and final exams to grade students. Additionally, students of each grade are divided into different placements by ability level. These levels are flexible and allow for students to move up or down according to their performance.

Evidence suggests that, while setting or streaming students benefits the brightest students, it does little for the rest (1). I think mixed-ability classes combined with differentiated teaching methods and peer-tutoring are more effective.

Projects are a formal part of the curriculum at KCIS, whereas they are optional at my school. I think PBL is an effective way for teaching and learning and I’d like to see it formally brought into our curriculum. KCIS is a better equipped schools with more resources and as a result, students there are better prepared for high stakes assessments (2). It sounds like KCIS has a better organizational structure in place to ensure that teachers collaborate and share ideas. Teachers at my school do the same thing, but it’s on us to find the time to meet up and share ideas. I would like to see more time set aside for collaboration between faculty. 

References

1. Setting or streaming (2018). Education Endowment Foundation. Retrieved from: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/teaching-learning-toolkit/setting-or-streaming/

2. Richard Glotzbach (2018). High Stakes Assessment at KCIS. Retrieved from: https://create.piktochart.com/output/27812337-high-stakes

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Cultural Diversity in the Classroom

We live in an increasingly globalizing world. Goods, services and human beings are moving around the globe like never before. As more and more people live and work alongside others from a different cultural background, it’s important to respect and value each other’s cultures. 

As a teacher at an international school, my students come from a variety of different backgrounds. It is therefore important to recognize and celebrate this cultural diversity. Our social studies unit on cultural traditions is the perfect opportunity to do this.

During these lessons my students will choose a country they are interested in, and then learn about its culture and traditions. By using various formative assessments such as think-pair-share, 3-2-1 and Venn diagrams, I will be able to gauge my students’ understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity. Students will then present their findings to the class to allow everyone to learn something about different nations’ cultures.

If students can describe the culture they are learning about, and relate it to their own culture, I’ll know that they are developing cultural awareness. A future project will be for students to create their own cultural tradition!

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Differentiation

The typical classroom will feature learners at multiple levels of ability. Students differ in their readiness levels, abilities or disabilities, and language skills. For effective teaching and learning, differentiating the content, process and product is key (Weselby, 2014).

Differentiation for Slow and Fast Learners

Sometimes, no matter how well-planned or well-taught you think your lesson is, there will be students who just don’t get it. Likewise, there will be students who pick up new concepts quickly. These students may get bored and misbehave if not given extra work to do. It’s important to consider both kinds students, and think about how to differentiate your instruction to address the gaps in their knowledge or provide enrichment activities.

Content

Differentiating the content is often the first thing I’ll do for my students. Slower students can be given tasks that are on the lower levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning, while faster learners are given more complex tasks. 

For example, in math the weaker students in my grade 1 class will be given tasks that involve remembering and understanding, or math problems that involve more numbers and symbols than reading. Stronger students do activities that involve utilizing their knowledge and skills to analyze word problems or create their own problems.

I differentiate the homework resources I give my students. Depending on their level, students receive different math packets that either reteach, reinforce or enrich the content we worked on in class.

Process

I’ll often group students by ability. My stronger students are able to pair up or work in groups, questioning and helping each other before they come to me for assistance. This gives me a chance to work with weaker students individually or in groups, sharing our thinking out loud as we go through problems together.

Something I’ve read about that I really want to try is the Daily Five (What is the Daily Five?, 2018). Each day students must complete five tasks: read to themselves, read to a classmate, listen to reading, work on writing, and word work. Although it will take a while to set up, the Daily Five teaches students how to be independent learners and take responsibility for their own learning. It also maximizes the time students spend reading and gives the teacher the freedom to work with students individually.

Product

For slower learners this often involves matching vocabulary words to definitions, drawing pictures to show definitions, or answer questions orally instead of with written responses. Faster learners will complete enrichment activities before getting the opportunity to use the class Chromebook. There are many great online math resources, including ixl.com and the Khan Academy.

Faster learners can also be put to work helping other students. One of the most effective ways to learn something is to teach someone else about it. 

Differentiation for ELL Students

Although all of my students are ELL learners, their fluency levels vary. Because it’s an international school, outside of Chinese class there is a strict no Chinese policy. But, I’ll allow a student to give the Chinese definition of a word to their partner provided they ask permission first. This is a quick way for me to utilize knowledge present in the classroom. 

I’ll also arrange the seating so that students with weaker English skills are sitting next to stronger students. My stronger students know that we are all a team, and they need to help their partners as best they can.

There are a lot of great resources out there that differentiate the level while keeping the content the same. Teachers pay teachers is a great site for accessing learning content. I bought some resources from there recently to use for a unit on culture I’m currently teaching. For the reading comprehension activities, there are differentiated worksheets. Some have full paragraphs while others have the same information but in bullet point form, which my weaker ELL learners will more easily be able to comprehend.

Visual aides when teaching new vocabulary are essential to aide student understanding. Before working on reading, I’ll play flashcard games to pre-teach vocabulary and make sure all my students are comfortable using the words.

Differentiation for ADHD Students

I have a few students in my class for whom sitting still and focusing is a problem. Here are a few strategies I use to engage and get the best out of them.

1. Keep activities short. I teach grade 1 students, a lot of whom find it hard to focus on a task for more than 10 - 15 minutes. So I’ll plan my lessons around short activities, and try to change them up every 10 minutes or so where possible.

2. Use movement. Younger students are very active and love to use their bodies. I’ll use activities including four corners, true or false, miming and dancing to get my students up and moving.

3. Brain breaks. Sometimes, my planned activities will inevitably involve more reading and writing than moving around. In these situations I’ll use short break breaks every 20 minutes or so. These are often silly, fun activities that let my kids blow off some steam and release some energy. For example, students hop around on one leg and bow to each other. Alternatively I’ll play a YouTube video of a pop song to get them all dancing and smiling. I find that my students maintain higher levels of engagement and focus after brain breaks.

4. Post the daily schedule on the whiteboard. At the side of my whiteboard I have laminated cards displaying the time and order of lesson periods, and the lesson objectives for each class. I find this helps my students to focus on the upcoming learning, and act out less in class.

5. Positive feedback and praise. Instead of pointing out student who aren’t following rules and procedures, I’ll pick out and praise one or two students who are doing an excellent job of listening or working quietly, for example. Every student wants to receive praise, and more often than not, other students will fall in line.

6. Minimize distractions. Think about where in the classroom ADHD students are seated. Avoid sitting them where they can look out of any windows or in their reflections, and make sure they have all their learning materials ready, pencils sharpened etc. This will minimize interruptions to their work and maximize their learning.

Here is my flowchart for differentiation processes.

Resources

Weselby, Cathy. (2014). What is Differentiated Instruction? Examples of How to Differentiate Instruction in the Classroom. Retrieved from: https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/examples-of-differentiated-instruction/

What is the Daily Five? (2018) Retrieved from: http://www.stmartinsmd.org/uploads/2/4/7/3/24730953/daily_5_di_academy.pdf

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Assessments

Assessors use both formative and summative assessment to analyze student learning.

Formative assessment helps to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses in a given area. It aides in monitoring student learning and giving feedback. This helps to improve both teaching and student learning.

Summative assessment is more formal, and is used to evaluate student learning at the end of a chapter or unit. It typically involves a project or a written test, such as an end of chapter quiz or an end of unit exam (Eberly Center, 2018).

In this post I will describe the formative and summative assessments I will use for my unit: Compare Numbers. These assessments are based on the SMART objectives I designed for this unit.

Formative Assessments

Objective 1: Students will understand the concept of place value, identify and model the tens and ones in two-digit numbers.

To find out if my students are meeting this objective I will observe them as they assemble connecting cubes into tens and ones. I can give students a number and have them assemble the corresponding number of tens and ones. I could also give students colored counters for them to model numbers.

Objective 2: Students will be able to illustrate the tens and ones values of two-digit numbers and compare two numbers to identify which is greater, less or equal.

For this objective, students will draw the number of tens and ones in their math books, and write corresponding sentences using the vocabulary ‘greater than’, ‘less than’ and ‘equal to’. I will then mark these during my free periods and have students correct their mistakes for homework.

Objective 3: Students will be able to use symbols <, =, and > to compare numbers that are greater than, less that or equal to each other.

I’ll use a comparing game to assess this objective. In pairs, students draw numeral cards and then write the numerals in either the tens or ones place to try and make the greatest number possible. The student with the greater number wins the round. This activity should be engaging for the students, which will enable me to walk around and check if students are playing the game correctly. I’ll provide guidance and feedback as necessary.

Objective 4: Students will be able to analyze a word problem, select the relevant information and solve the problem by comparing numbers.

This objective is more intensive as it involves more reading and higher order thinking skills. I’ll use the I do, we do, you do method to teach this. Projecting the pages from the student book onto the whiteboard, I’ll think out loud to model my thinking. After modeling how to identify the key information and solve the problem, we will do one or two problems together as a class. Finally, students will do the remaining problems in pairs or by themselves. I’ll be able to walk around the classroom and provide feedback on students’ work while they’re working.

Objective 5: Students will be able to use place value to mentally add and subtract tens.

After explaining how to count in tens, I’ll use a counting game to assess this objective. Students need to spontaneously stand up and count more or less in tens. If two students stand up at the same time, everyone sits down and starts counting again. For example, the first student stands up and says, "Five." The second student says, "Fifteen." Then two students stand up together to say,"Twenty-five." Everyone sits down and starts again.

Summative Assessment

For the summative assessment, there will be an end of unit written test. There will be multiple choice, free answer and drawing questions. After I mark these test, I’ll be able to see the strengths and weaknesses of my students’ understandings and reteach any areas I need to.

References

What is the difference between formative and summative assessment? (2018)  Eberly Center. Carnegie Mellon University.

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Standards and Backwards Mapping - UBD

At the beginning of this month, I started my new job as a grade 1 homeroom teacher at a local international school. This semester I’m responsible for teaching Reading & Phonics, ELA, Social Studies, Science, and Math. I have experience in teaching all of the subjects before except math, so I have chosen two standards from an upcoming math chapter to develop this unit. My school uses Common Core standards.

I’ve selected two standards:

1.NBT.B. Understand place value.

- 1.NBT.B.3. Compare two two-digit numbers based on meanings of the tens and ones digits, recording the results of comparisons with the symbols >, =, and <.

 1.NBT.C. Use place value understanding and properties of operations to add and subtract.

- 1.NBT.C.5. Given a two-digit number, mentally find 10 more or 10 less than the number, without having to count; explain the reasoning used.

Here is my unit plan:

Stage 1 - Unit Goals

Understand

The big ideas in these standards indicate that students must understand the following:

1.) The concept of place value, tens and ones. Students must understand than adding to, or subtracting from the tens place value does not affect the ones place value.

2.) The symbols >, =, and <. Students must be able to recognize these symbols as meaning greater than, equal to, and less than.

Essential Questions

Chapter Essential Question: How do you use place value to compare numbers?

Lesson Essential Questions:

1. How can you compare two numbers to find out which is greater?

2. How can you compare two numbers to find out which is less?

3. How can you use symbols to show how numbers compare?

4. How can making a model help you compare numbers?

5. How can you identify numbers that are 10 less or 10 more than a number?

Students will know...

- Place value 

- That the two digits show amounts of tens and ones

- Greater than 

- Less than

- The same as / equal to

- 10 less

- 10 more

Students will be able to...

1. Model and compare two-digit numbers to determine which is greater.

2. Model and compare two-digit numbers to determine which is less.

3. Use the symbols <, >, and =.

4. Solve problems by making models of numbers.

5. Identify numbers that are 10 less or 10 more than a given number.

Required vocabulary

- digit

- tens

- ones

- hundred

- is greater than 

- is less / fewer than

-  is equal to

Stage 2 - Assessment Evidence

Summative Assessment 

The core assessment of this unit will be a written unit test consisting of around fifteen multiple choice, free answer and drawing questions.

Formative Assessments

I will also use formative assessments including:

- Exit tickets. I’ll ask questions focused on unit content which students must answer in order to line up for lunchtime.

- Drawings showing modeling of tens and ones

- Math games

Stage 3 - Learning Plan

Key learning activities for this unit include:

- Animated math models using learning software

- Connecting cubes and two-colored counters for students to model tens and ones

- Games such as bingo, matching pairs, and stand up and count in tens.

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Applied Classroom Management

Classroom management is the foundation upon which effective teaching and learning take place. Without clear classroom rules and procedures, chaos and confusion reign. Frequently enforcing the rules and procedures is essential for good classroom management. Without enforcement of consequences, rules and procedures breakdown and become useless.

When thinking about how to implement a system of classroom management, it’s important the teacher recognizes adherence to, as well as breaking of, classroom rules and procedures. It’s also important not to focus on results, but on behavior and work ethic.

 Giving Positive Reinforcement

Non-verbal communication

I like to use eye contact, a smile and a pat on the shoulder to communicate non-verbally with my students. By doing this, you let the student know they did a good job without disturbing the flow of the class.

 Positive Feedback

Students react to a teacher’s behavior, not his thoughts. Instead of assuming students will follow the rules, and being happy when they do, teachers should recognize and reward students who frequently follow rules and procedures. There are many ways a teacher can praise and reward good student behavior. Before deciding it’s a good idea for the teacher to ask the students themselves how they would like to receive praise. Some students may feel anxious or embarrassed to be named in front of the whole class, and may prefer a note or a call home.

 Tangible Feedback

1. Stickers. They’re bright, colorful, and students love them. Stickers are an effective, tangible reward that work especially well when tied to a system of points or tokens. My students love seeing stickers next to their work, and I find them great for positive reinforcement.

2. A well-designed class economy can be a powerful tool for classroom management. Giving or removing points for student work and behavior is a very effective method of enforcing classroom rules and procedures. A classroom economy works best when students tell you how they want to be rewarded. My students told me about stores around town that sell special erasers and rulers that they like, and they said they’d like to have a class pizza party after their final exams.

 Behavior Tracking

ClassDojo is an app for tracking and rewarding student behavior. It can be used as part of the classroom economy and to help implement class values. A big plus of this app is that it makes it easy to communicate with parents, which can sometimes be a challenge for teachers in foreign countries. The monster avatars and sounds help to personalize the app, and make it fun and engaging for all students.

 Responding to Students Breaking Rules or Procedures.

Non-Verbal Communication

Students often act out because they want attention. I try not to give them any attention when they do. If I see a student who’s not on task or not following procedures I won’t give them any eye contact or attention. Instead, I’ll praise the students who are on task – by doing so I am indirectly communicating to other students what they need to be doing. This strategy also helps maintain a positive classroom atmosphere.

Alternatively, I’ll walk over and stand closer to any students not on task. The mere presence of the teacher is often enough to correct student behavior.

Point Out Students Following Rules and Procedures

Most students respond strongly to praise. If I praise one group of students for behaving well or working hard, the others will fall in line. I try to keep a ratio of 5:1 for positive to negative comments in order to keep the students – and myself - positive.

Removing Points

This is something I try to do for every rule infraction, no matter how small. If a student interrupts myself or a classmate while talking, I’ll walk to the whiteboard and erase a point. I might look at the student who’s breaking the rule, but otherwise I won’t communicate with them. With a look from the teacher and the removal of a point, the student knows what they did wrong.

Contact Parents

At my school, most teachers and other staff members will contact parents predominantly for negative behaviors. While this is necessary, it might make parents dread any phone calls or contact with the teacher. While I try to maintain a balance by writing both good and bad comments in my students’ communication books, sometimes negative comments are inevitable.

 Summary

Classroom management is an integral part of effective teaching and learning. While both positive and negative feedback are useful, I believe it’s important for the teacher to try to give out mostly positive feedback. Teacher praise makes for happy and productive students and a pleasant classroom. Here is a flowchart I made for my classroom management process.

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Creating High-Performance Learning Environments

This blog post is a summary of three teaching-learning situations.

Roller Coaster Physics

Academics

The teacher began the class by setting clear learning goals. The students were told exactly what they would be doing, how they could do it, and how what they were doing related to the content of the lesson.

Working in groups, students were expected to communicate their ideas to facilitate collaborative learning. The product of each group was evaluated by the class. I think using peer evaluation is a great way to motivate students to work hard. As students encountered problems, they were encouraged to discuss these with their groups and share them with the class. While one group/student was sharing a problem or idea, other students were actively listening and taking notes. To me, this demonstrates high academic expectations.

Making a roller coaster looked like a lot of fun for the students, but it was also instructive. They had to use the correct scientific vocabulary in a clear and consistent way to accurately describe what they were doing and explain their choices.

The process was essentially one of trial and error. Students used the simulator to test out their roller coaster ideas. Students had to then think about and explain the reasons for their success or failure, and suggest modifications. This teaches students resilience.

The teacher gave them a limited budget for materials in order to get them to think about how best to use the resources they have, teaching the students problem solving skills. The math and science assessments were integrated. Students had to use their math knowledge to solve problems for the science project. They must also think critically about the materials they want to use, and explain their reasons for choosing those materials.

Behavior

The roller coaster lesson plan shows the evaluation rubric. Each student is given a daily participation grade, and 10% is lost from this grade every time the teacher has to remind a student to get back to work. This is a strong disincentive toward slacking.

The “Chiming” strategy teaches students to listen to and respect each other’s ideas, and students must cooperate to produce one design per group, which

Norms and Procedures

Students were listening and being quiet when another person spoke. They also moved calmly around the classroom. Every group member has a clear role and responsibility. The student-centered learning motivates and encourages students to take responsibility for their work.

 2 – 3rd Grade Chinese Math

Academics

These students seem to know their times tables well, but without seeing anything beyond the chanting and a math problem, it’s hard to say more on the academic expectations. An article from ‘The Conversation’ (an excellent academic media website) talks about how math teachers from quality schools in China put math into the context of daily life, which I think would make it more relevant to students, and better motivate them to learn it well.

Behavior

Students are sitting nicely and focused. This indicates that the behavior expectations are high for this class. The teacher also used an effective attention grabber to transition from the times table drilling to the problem on the whiteboard.

Norms and Procedures

The students are very well drilled. This might be a good technique for imprinting the times tables into students’ minds, but it’s not good in giving students a deep understanding of mathematical concepts. The students were shouting out their best guesses without taking the time to work it out. I would have got a student to come to the whiteboard and show the class how he would solve the problem, which is also mentioned in the article.

 Whole Brain Teaching

Academics

The teacher in this video is using something like Total Physical Response (TPR) which is often used in language teaching. It’s a great way to encourage active listening in students.

The speed reading was an interesting activity. I think that having students read every other word as fast as they can might make them focus more on the text. It would be a great activity for learning sight words, I’m going to try it out.

Behavior

The students recite the rules out loud to the teacher, along with the physical actions. This is a great way to keep the classroom rules in the front of the students’ and teacher’s mind. Keeping the rules at the front of your mind can often be challenging when you have a class full of student and limited time to get through the material. Having the class repeat the rules when the girl was walking around is a great signal to that student that they’re breaking a rule.

The students are engaged and focus throughout the whole video, which shows the teacher has excellent classroom management skills.

Norms and Procedures

The students looked engaged and focused on what they were doing throughout this video. This indicates that they are fully aware of the rules and procedures and not left with nothing to do.

Using hand gestures to accompany reading seems like it would be a good way to help students remember what they read. Having the partner mirror the gestures also promotes active listening.

 Summary

In all three videos, the students were well behaved and engaged, which is very important for effective teaching and learning. I like how, in the roller coaster video, the students respected each other’s ideas and sharing their thoughts. I want to promote more of this kind of collaboration in my own classroom.

Also from the first video, I liked the relentless focus on the question of why. For pretty much every choice the students made, the teacher would ask them why they made it. If students know their teacher is going to ask them about the reasons behind their decisions, students will learn to think hard about what they do in class.

The article accompanying the Chinese math video talked about how teachers make the context relevant to students’ everyday lives. I think that the “why?”, “how?”, and “what if?” questions are especially important to keep in mind, not only when teaching math, but any subject.

I aim to emulate the standard of student procedures I saw in the whole brain teaching video. My students still need reminding of what they’re supposed to be doing more often that I’d like.

 I teach grade 4 – 5 elementary school students. I find that more student-centered activities are more effective. Although the Chinese math video was only 2 minutes long, the teacher was standing at the front of the classroom the whole time. In my classes, I want to encourage more student-student interactions.

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Establishing a Positive Classroom Climate.

I began my teaching career working in South Korea. On the first day of my orientation, I remember watching a video of Taylor Mali entitled “What Teachers Make.” In the video, Mali details what he loves about teaching and why the job matters to him. Passion bursts out of him as he describes excellent teaching and learning. This piece of slam poetry remains one of the most inspirational videos I’ve ever seen. It still makes the hairs on back of my neck stand up. Since I first saw that video, I wanted to approach teaching with the same passion and dedication. This blog post explores some ways to make that happen.

 Developing Positive Relationships

Positive student-teacher relationships are the bedrock of any good learning environment. Failure to connect and engage with students makes it difficult, if not impossible for teaching and learning to take place.

Here are some practical tips on developing positive relationships:

1.      Conduct a student survey. At the start of a new class, giving students a brief, well-designed survey will give you an insight into their lives. Wanting to know more about your students shows them that you care. The information you gain can be used to make learning content more engaging.

2.      Learn the names (and their correct pronunciation) of each student as fast as possible. Quickly remembering students’ names not only shows respect, but enables you to engage with them faster. Learning any nicknames students like to be called is also a good idea.

3.      Model desired behaviors. Students pay attention to, and take cues from teacher behavior. A teacher that demonstrates respect and tolerance for others is likely to have students who do the same. Smile, greet students as they enter the classroom, maintain eye contact and provide encouragement. Point out and praise examples of positive behavior.

4.      Use humor. Jokes and banter infuse my teaching to the extent that I can’t imagine teaching without using humor. Humor helps to engage and motivate students, and is a great way to encourage cognitive flow.

5.      Set clear learning goals, rules and procedures. Establishing learning goals informs students what they’re expected to learn and increases students’ awareness of their own knowledge. Draw up some classroom rules together as a class, and enforce these rules aggressively. Celebrate student success, and praise students who demonstrate initiative and good behavior.

6.      Promote collaboration and teamwork. Students need to know that as a team, you fail together and succeed together.

Creating a Climate of Caring and Concern

The interactions between students are just as important as those with their teacher. Creating an environment where students feel safe and comfortable sharing their opinions and emotions is key. A positive classroom climate goes a long way toward establishing that effective learning environment. The use of social and emotional learning improves emotional intelligence, builds empathy, and improves academic performance.

Here’s how to promote a positive classroom climate:

1.      Work on building relationships between students. Teaching students to empathize with others builds cooperation and reduces conflict – a recipe for a more pleasant and productive classroom environment.

2.      Teach self-awareness. Students that can identify their emotions and how they impact others are likely to be better at avoiding and resolving conflicts. Get students to reflect on their behavior to improve self-awareness.

3.      Maximize student voice and participation. A welcoming class space is vital for promoting student communication. Classrooms should be student-centered, with a desk arrangement designed to increase student interactions and team work.  

4.      Foster a sense of responsibility, both personal and for others. Teach students to take responsibility for their own learning and behavior and to look out for the well-being of others.

Confronting Bullying

Bullying is a form of abuse and intimidation. Unfortunately, it’s an age-old problem in schools, and can lead to depression and even suicide. Bullying is an issue that particularly affects LGBT students — over 55% of LGBT students have felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation. As teachers, we have a vital role to play in both preempting and intervening in bullying at school.

First, the teacher should model the behavior expected of students. The Golden Rule is key. Respect, tolerance, and inclusiveness can prevent bullying occurring at all. Don’t let small insults or disagreements build into fighting or bullying. Students need to be clear that such behavior is not tolerated, and aware of the consequences. Setting concrete benchmarks for behavior is necessary in achieving this.

If an incident does occur, it’s important to intervene quickly. The faster an intervention comes, the less likely the problem is to deteriorate. Train students to be allies and stand up for each other. Educate them on the importance of safely intervening or getting help from a teacher. 

Student-led workshops and facilitated discussions can show students the importance of respect and unity. Building social awareness helps contribute to a caring school environment.

Building a Classroom that Respects Cultural Diversity

The accelerating pace of globalization carries more goods, services and people around the world than ever before. As a result, our societies and classrooms are becoming more culturally diverse. While this needs to be celebrated, it also presents challenges for teachers facing diverse student bodies. 

To tackle these issues, teachers must educate themselves and their students on the importance of cultural awareness, and respect & tolerance for others. Students should learn to be sensitive to others who hold different identities. Anti-bias education is crucial for making each individual student feel welcome and included.

Here are some practical ways to do this:

1.      Bring other cultures into the classroom. Make images and words from other cultures part of your content. Include ideas and historical figures from a variety of different cultural background to increase the cultural awareness of your students.

2.      Evaluate your own biases. Reflect on opinions you hold and whether these reinforce cultural stereotypes. An anti-bias education starts with the teacher. Explore some professional development courses.

3.      Utilize classroom resources. Check out the SPLC’s resources for multicultural classrooms. 

4.      Establish norms of shared inquiry, dialogue and openness to new ideas. Encourage cultural humility.

Final Thoughts

Don’t expect to have everything down immediately. Like most things, becoming a great teacher requires a lot of patience and persistence. It’s often a trial and error process – what works with one student may have little impact on another.

Teaching is hard work, and getting it right is both an art and a science. Building strong personal relationships takes time, but the rewards it offers in term of experience and student academic performance are worth it.

Teaching provides not only the opportunity to share knowledge and experience, but also the chance to foster the intellectual and social growth of young people – the most valuable resource of any society. Remember to keep your chin up and keep a cool head, you got this!