After necessary school-wide policy changes regarding attendance, I was in need of a new “do now” that didn’t feel like one, because I hate that stuff. It turns out a few of my practices work already, though, like Sustained Silent Reading (SSR), Summary & Write, and Free Voluntary Reading (FVR). With 4 classes per week, and a new Semester 2 weekly routine to begin Copy/Change/Continue is born…
Continue readingWhy I Don’t Teach For Acquisition
I don’t teach with the intent that students acquire a language. Surprising? It’s true. Lest you think I’ve lost my mind…
Continue readingClass Password Feature Unlocked
I just stumbled upon a novel upgrade to the class password…
Continue reading#teachersunday: No-Prep Monday
OK, so it’s still holiday break, but we can celebrate the third #teachersunday in a row, especially to get more teachers on board after the New Year (just post a pic of your Sunday in the Twitter sphere, and/or FB). Even though it’s still break, I’ve already heard teachers beginning to plan their upcoming week. Not me; I took care of that work—at work—before I left work. In fact, I’m not even sure what’s been planned, and don’t really need to know until school begins Wednesday. Come to think about it, I don’t even really have to plan for Mondays at all because the options are bountiful. Having some Monday routines on hand are a must for teacher sanity…
Before you check out my #teachersunday activities from this week, here are some favorite no-prep options for every Monday so you don’t have to think very hard on a Friday, and definitely not during a holiday…
- Weekend Talk/Holiday Talk/Card Talk + Simple Survey (e.g. “What was good? What was bad?”)
- Calendar Talk
- Special Person Interviews
- MovieTalk (always have the next one cued & printed)
- One Word Image (OWI)
- Free Voluntary Reading (FVR)
Also, whatever you do, make sure it’s something without printing (do all that by Friday). Heading to the copier Monday morning is about as bad an idea as driving back to any major city on a Sunday afternoon.
- Making some house compound gin (i.e. legal infusing, not illegal distilling)
- This ambient music show is free on Sundays, and you can stream the show all week free on the app.
- OK, so watching double bass videos isn’t exactly relaxing, but #teachersunday is more about not planning for school than it is about chilling out. #teachersunday is about making sure you retain free time, and doing what you want with it.
- Calm Quincy water from a cozy corner at Aunt Pat’s.
20,000+ Total Words Read: The Secret
Over the 55 hours of CI starting in September up to the holiday break, students read on their own for 34 total minutes of Sustained Silent Reading (SSR), and 49 minutes of Free Voluntary Reading (FVR)…
Continue readingTPR & Safety Nets 2019: “We Will Rock You”
I’ve revisited my list of TPRable (Total Physical Response-able) words with way more entertainment in mind, made a PPT to follow along, and also rebooted my safety nets for 2019. This is all in anticipation of students returning from holiday break, forgetting absolutely every routine we established…
Continue readingTense Test
The latest addition to my Quick Quizzes is the Tense Test. Rather than testing knowledge using multiple choice, form-manipulation, or fill-in quiz on tenses, stick to a simple either/or comprehension check, then get back to providing input and encouraging interaction…
Continue reading#teachersunday
It’s always depressing to hear how teachers spend their Sundays. For many, their weekend is over early that morning with school planning weighing on their minds. For some, that weight is felt every night of the week.
Enough, already!
This tweet from Angel Wilson appeared in my feed:
Angel is talking about super teachers; the ones who are seen to be praiseworthy models of education and teacher expectations. Those expectations are unreasonable. How about the teacher who’s effective day in and day out, but also has a personal life beyond the classroom?! Why aren’t we praising consistency resulting from a healthy, balanced work and personal life?! Students are keen to diversify their resume for college acceptance (no one wants someone too focused on just one thing, right?), so why aren’t we modeling that as well? Why are teachers working on the weekend?! And remember that we can plan so we never have to do that, right?
So, on Sundays, I’ll be tweeting (@magistermrp) pics of what I’m doing under #teachersunday and I encourage you to do the same. Join me starting next week to show the world that successful teachers are leading healthy, balanced lives by enjoying their weekend just like everyone else! Here’s a snapshot of my day:
Organizing
The most practical daily practices aren’t really taught to teachers. None of us received training in how to best take attendance, minimize the paper trail, organize digital files, or transition between classes. The lucky teachers have found a good system. Unlucky ones are still searching for more efficient systems, or don’t even know that alternatives exist at all! This is a companion post to How To Plan So Your Plans Never Get Messed Up with some tips on organization…
How To Plan So Your Plans Never Get Messed Up
On any given day, it’s common for teachers to have wrenches thrown into their plans without warning. Sometimes these wrenches appear during the very class teachers are required to plan for! Other times, it feels like the whole damn tool chest is being tossed our way! This post offers tips on how to structure your planning so those wrenches have absolutely no impact, whatsoever…
Magister P. 