Academics Archives - Teach 4 the Heart

Ideas to Make Bell Work Easier

resources mentioned:

Jen’s Website: Out of this World Literacy

Jen’s Free Notes and Support for the Reading Workshop

More trainings from Jen: Workshops

Why you should be using writing and reading workshops

If I told you there was a tool that would result in interest and engagement in reading, build community, and have built-in differentiation, would you be interested? Writing and reading workshops do all of this!

Workshops offer genuine conversation between students and teachers. Everyone has something valuable to share, not just the teacher, and students get to share their knowledge with each other. This keeps students more engaged because everyone is participating and it also creates a community of learners.

It also allows teachers to differentiate. In the whole group, you’re teaching the reading or writing grade level skill. Then, inside the workshops, students apply the grade level skill to books on their independent reading level or work on their own writing projects. Every student is able to operate on their individual level. These workshops also cultivate a love of reading because students get to pick the books they want to read.

Parts of a reading workshop

There are four parts to a reading workshop.

1. Book Talk

First, you’ll start the reading workshop with a book talk that is about 1-2 minutes total. Think of it as a book commercial or a movie trailer for books. Pull books from your class or school library that your kids will be interested in, but also think about what your students always read and which books you can feature to expand their horizons. For example, if your students always read fiction, pick some non-fiction books to showcase. Introduce them to the book and read them the summary or tell them what it’s about. You can put it in a special book talk bin so students can access it later. Students can also lead their own book talks featuring a book they have just read because workshops allow students to take the lead, rather than the teacher.

2. The Reading Workshop Mini-Lesson

The second part is the mini-lesson and this is 10-12 minutes long. This is whole group instruction hitting grade level standards and teaching a reading skill. You can sit in a semi-circle on the carpet so everyone can see each other and is on the same level. Have students them come with their reading notebooks.

When picking a topic for your mini-lesson, the statement needs to be very specific and narrow. Instead of talking about summarizing, talk about picking the main idea and using it to start a summary. It may take a whole week of reading skills mini-lessons to teach the whole topic of summarizing. Make sure to provide a “why” for what the students are learning.

Next, pick mentor texts, which are books you’ve already read to your class, and use them to practice the skill. Model using the skill for your students the first time, then have the students help you use the skill in a different text, and finally, the students turn to their partners and practice the skill with a third mentor text.

One tip to save time is to have the anchor chart and mini-lesson statement prepared ahead of time. You can cover parts of your anchor lesson chart until you get to that point in the lesson, rather than having students watch you write.

3. Independent time

Independent time lasts for 20-30 minutes. Students spend the time independently reading books that they’ve chosen and practicing the skill they just used. Even with different books; they can still practice the same reading skills (every book has a main idea, right?).

This time is not rigid; it could also be spent reading with partners, reading in small group with the teacher, having students in a literature group talking about their reading, or having students responding to their reading in writing. If a teacher notices a few kids struggling during whole group time, it doesn’t matter if they’re on different reading levels, she can call them all to a small group to practice the skill. This independent time also gives the teacher time for individual student conferences. A good goal is to see 3 students a day, so you’re seeing every student in your class every 2 weeks or so.

4. Share time

Finally, there is share time, which lasts 5-10 minutes. This is one of the most powerful steps to wrap everything up. Share time is fun for students! They turn and talk to a partner about what they wrote down or how they practiced the reading skill. It should be a different student than they talked to during the mini-lesson. The teacher spends this time listening in to check for understanding.

After partner time, the teacher has a couple kids share with the whole class. The teacher can use a clipboard with a sticky label for each kid and write down what they share. This is data to keep and bring to parent-teacher conferences, IEP meetings, etc. You can prepare the students for this by saying something like, “I’m going to write down what you say because I think what you have to share is important and I really want to remember it.” This is also a powerful strategy for motivating students to share. Be sure to call on different students each day so you have one piece of data from each student every week.

parts of a writing workshop

There are also 4 parts to a writing workshop and they are similar to the reading workshop ones.

1. Writing talk

The first step is a 1-2 minute writing talk, where writers share a few minutes of advice about writing. Students can share their advice to the class or you can find authors sharing advice on YouTube.

2. Mini-lesson

Next, there is mini-lesson for teaching a writing skill. It’s going to follow the same format as a reading mini-lesson with “I do, we do, you do.” Again, students are learning a grade-level skill in a whole group format.

3. The status of the class and independent work

Before students start doing their independent writing, the teacher does a quick “status of the class.” This is where the teacher finds out what each student is going to work on today and writes it down. Status of the class tells the teacher who might need extra help and is also allows students to verbalize their plan. The teacher can plan individual conferences according to this data.

Like with the reading workshop, students spend 20-30 minutes writing independently, using the skill they’ve learned in the mini-lesson, on whatever writing project they are working on.

One key point: teachers should be writing alongside their students. Whatever writing project the students are working on, the teacher should have his/her own version s/he wrote to use as a model to show the students.

4. share time

Share time follows the same format as the reading workshop and lasts 5-10 minutes. Again, the teachers takes data during this time.

Frequently asked questions

1. How do you make time for this?

You need about 45 minutes or more to do a workshop. If you’re low on time, you can use an A/B schedule where you alternate reading and writing workshops. You can also do the first two steps in a workshop before gym class, lunch, recess, etc. and then do the last two afterward.

2. Do you grade any of this?

You can grade about 2 assignments each week, but don’t tell the students which ones will be graded. Remember you’re also taking data every day during share time.

3. Is there anything else we should know?

Please remember that it takes a while to get good at running these workshops, so give yourself time. Start simply. Remember you’re building strong readers and critical thinkers who can apply these skills to their entire lives.

For more practical advice and encouragement like this, you’ll want to check out the Rise Up Christian Educators Summit. This blog post was originally a 2019 Rise Up summit session and we have so much more amazing information to share at the next upcoming conference.

about jen bengal

I am an educational author, who specializes in writing literacy curriculum and training teachers online through webinars, FB live, and courses. I trained with Irene Fountas and have a post graduate degree in literacy instruction. I founded Out of This World Literacy in 2012 and have been supporting teachers around the world in the best practices in literacy instruction.

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40+ Bell Work Ideas for Every Class

Linda Kardamis — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 10:00:02 +0000

Whether you call it morning work, bell work, or bell ringers, having a start-of-class activity can work wonders when it comes to helping class start smoothly. Not only does bell work keep kids calm and help them focus, but it also gives you time to take attendance, answer the same question for the 13th time, and connect with that student who’s been absent for over a week.

But once you’ve decided to have bell work, the next question is what should we do for bell work?

In order to be effective, bell work needs to be….

Simple & predictable. Students need to be able to do it independently, with no instruction or help from you.
Worthwhile & purposeful. It shouldn’t just be time-filling busywork. With so much to learn, we need to take advantage of this time and use it to strategically to further our students’ skills.
Short & to the point. If it takes too long, you’ll never get to your actual lesson.

Oh, and, of course, with your to-do list already filled to overflowing, you also need to find something that won’t take you 792 hours to create.

You need a good idea. And, thankfully, we’ve got a whole lot of them for you.

Feel free to browse this entire list of bell work / morning work ideas. Or, use these links to jump to the section most relevant for you:

In this article, you'll find....

Bell Work Ideas for Everyone

Bell Work Ideas for Math

Bell Ringer Ideas for ELA

Bell Work ideas for Social Studies / History

Bell Ringer Ideas for Science

Morning Work Ideas for Lower Grades & Pre-K

More Bell Work Ideas

Ideas to Make Bell Work Easier

These ideas can be adapted to (pretty much) any class and might make managing bell work just a big easier.

A sheet a week. Students use the same sheet of paper for a week (or two). You could even split it into two columns and put bell ringers on one side and exit slips on the other.
Review in the same format. Create a Power Point that has different questions each day, but in the same format. For example, every day, students solve one math problem and edit one sentence. Students can complete them on their own sheet of paper.
Examples: 5th Grade Spiral Review Morning Work (FREE)
4th Grade Spiral Review Morning Work (FREE)
3rd Grade Spiral Review Morning Work (FREE)
Use Google Forms to create self-grading warm-ups. After students submit their answers, they can see which ones they got correct and which they got wrong.
Example: 3rd Grade Digital Self-Grading Bell Ringers
Take it paperless. If your school is one-to-one, consider moving your bell work onto Google Drive.
Example: ELA Morning Work Bundle for Google Drive (grades 2-4) Example: How to Make a Jeopardy Game in PowerPoint

Use page protectors & dry erase markers. For repetitive skills, put the practice sheet in a page protector and have students complete it with dry erase markers. They can then erase and reuse the same page over and over.
Example: Kindergarten Morning Work Binder with Reusable Sheets

Image from a video by Sweet for Kindergarten - Kristina Harrill:
Transform Your Mornings with the Morning Work Binder
Used with permission.

Bell Work Ideas for Everyone

IXL.com Students of all ages can practice a variety of skills online. Both free and paid plans are available at ixl.com
ACT/SAT question of the day. In high school, have students practice one SAT or ACT question each day. You can use a practice test or use a website like this one: SAT Question of the Day
Online review/quiz sites. Have students review with online quiz sites like Quizlet, or my students’ personal favorite, Kahoot (use the Challenge feature).
Mindfulness activities. Let students pause and reset with deep breathing. You can even have a student start the class off.
Logic problems. Find logic puzzles or problems on your students’ grade level.
Social-emotional learning journals. Students answer writing prompts that help them develop skills like self-regulation.
Example: Social-Emotional Learning Journals for Grades 5-8
Spiral review: Use bellwork time to review & keep fresh skills you’ve previous learned.
Example: Morning Work Spiral Review (2nd grade)
Get to know each other discussion: Use morning work time to help your students get to know each other - and get the need to chat out of their system - by asking them to discuss a prompt with someone around them. Example: Morning Chats

Bell Work Ideas for Math

Skills review practice exercises. Use bell work time to review basic skills that students should have already mastered.
Example: Middle School Math Bell Ringers (FREE)

Speed drills: Use bell work time to build students’ math fact fluency with speed drills. You can totally use these in upper grades, too. Just be sure keep it low-pressure and fun.
Example: Math Fact Speed Drill Worksheets (FREE)
Think a Minutes: Grab a copy of one of Dr. Funster’s Think a Minutes book, available for grades 2-8. These books include quick, fun thinking puzzles that develop reading comprehension, vocabulary, and mathematical reasoning as well as writing, spatial, and visual perceptual skills. They also build deductive, inductive (inferential), and creative thinking skills.
A Word Problem a Week: Have students work on the same word problem for a week. Considering having one day designated (maybe Wednesday) to collaborate with peers.
Example: Problem of the Week Bell Ringers (5th grade)
Task cards: Have students review and practice skills using task cards. Take it to the next level by pairing them with manipulatives.
Example: Math Morning Work Task Cards w/ Manipulatives
Math Chats: Start the day with a math discussion question so students can get chatting out of the way before the lesson starts.
Specific example: 8th Grade Math Chats
Find the mistake. Students find the mistake incorrect example and explain their thinking in a short answer.
Example: Eliminate It Morning Work Review (5th grade)
A number a day: In lower grades, students can do a variety of activities focused on a different number each day.
Example: Number of the Day (1st grade)
Manipulatives: Allow your students to play with manipulatives of the day, so they are less distracted by them later.
Critical thinking writing prompts: Connect writing to math by having students answer mathematical writing prompts.
Example: Writing in Math Journal Prompts (grades 8-10)
Content warm-ups: Students practice the skills they're currently learning - or review those they've recently learned.
Example: Geometry Warm Ups
Pattern block puzzles: Starting the day with these hand-on logic puzzles will get your students thinking.
Example: Math Logic Puzzle Shapes
Individual interventions: Having the students come in and use a device to work on a self-paced program. Example: Bytelearn

Image from Pattern Block Logic Puzzles by Mrs. Winter's Bliss
Used with permission.

Bell Ringer Ideas for ELA

Silent Reading: The simplest bell work idea yet! Have students read silently. You can assign reading, but letting them choose might be even better.
Writing prompts: Provide a prompt each day for students to respond to. You can find thought-provoking prompts based on current events here: New York Times’ Student Opinion section (Please be discerning. Some articles/prompts may contain bias or not be appropriate for all audiences.)
Another example: Journal Prompt Bell Ringers
Respond to a quote: Give a quote and ask students to write their thoughts on it. Check out this article for quote lists & ideas for how to use them: Using Quotes in the Classroom
Handwriting practice: Provide a page for students to practice handwriting. Simple and easy, without taking too much time out of everything else you have to do.
ReadTheory.org: Students can practice reading comprehension online each day. You can even track their progress. Here’s the website: readtheory.org
Practice spelling. Have students practice their spelling in various ways.
Find and correct mistakes. Review grammar, spelling, and punctuation by having students find and correct mistakes in sentences or paragraphs.
Example: Daily Language Practice (4th grade)
Grammar practice: Use this time to help students brush up on grammar skills.
Use mentor sentences. Review elements of ELA using texts from popular books. Make sure you teach and explain the concept before expecting students to be able to do the bell ringers on their own.
Example: Mentor Sentences for Middle School Grammar (FREE)
Keep it varied: Focus on a different ELA area each day of the week. For example, give a writing prompt on Mondays, practice grammar on Tuesdays, etc.
Example: English Bell Ringers (FREE)

Image from Presto Plans. Used with permission.

Bell Work ideas for Social Studies / History

Map activities: If you never have time to get to maps, try making them your bell work activity.
Watch CNN Student News: Watch the brief news report and have students write a one-sentence summary on it. Here’s the link: CNN 10
Historical figure point-of-view. Students complete various tasks that help them better understand the perspective of the historical figures you’re studying in class.
Example: Entrance and Exit Slips for Any Historical Figure
Respond to current events: Have students respond to writing prompts based on current events in The New York Times’ Student Opinion section (Please be discerning. Some articles/prompts may contain bias or not be appropriate for all audiences.)
Research various countries: Students research various countries online and compile their findings.
Example: Countries of the World Bell Ringers (grades 7-10)
Create slides with warm-up questions: Create multi-media slides with pictures and questions that get students thinking.
Example: US History Warm-Up Questions

Bell Ringer Ideas for Science

Analyze photos: Have students view a different picture each day and make 3 observations, 3 inferences, and 3 predictions.
Science Journal Prompts: Have students answer a question each day in their science journal.
Example: Science Bell Ringer Journal for MS/HS
Respond to Science Quotes. Show science quote - from current times or from history, and have students respond to it.
Switch it up. Have students complete a different activity each day of the week. For example, the bell ringers link to below have students learn a science term on Monday, have a discussion on Tuesday, respond to a video clip on Wednesday, analyze a quote on Thursday, and explain the science behind a science joke on Fridays.
Example: Science Warm Up Bell Ringers for Earth, Physical, & Life Science

Morning Work Ideas for Lower Grades & Pre-K

Morning work stations. Create morning work tubs with various hands-on activities that develop fine motor skills practice, sensory activities, and academic activities.
Example: Morning Work Stations for pre-K through 1st
Practice fine motor skills - Have students practice cutting, handwriting, coloring, etc.
Review & practice key skills - Use extra worksheets in your curriculum or grab something like this: Morning Work Wake Up for Kindergarten
Use manipulatives - Give students guided activities with common classroom manipulatives and supplies such as dominoes, dice, or base 10 blocks.
Example: Morning Tubs Tasks for K-2

Image from Morning Tub Tasks by Hanging Around in Primary.
Used with permission.

More Bell Work Ideas

Foreign Language: Share a fact each day about the foreign culture of the language you are studying.
Example: Hispanic Cultura Diaria
Art: Have students respond to pictures of famous artwork.
Example: Art History Sketchbook Prompts
Bible: Copy the memory verse.
Prayer: Have students fill out cards with prayer requests.

Let's grow this list!

We'd love to hear what's working well in your class. Share with a comment below.

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Connecting School Curriculum with the Real World

Linda Kardamis — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 09:00:44 +0000

Teachers have long extolled the virtues of prepping students for the ‘real world.’ But what happens when that world is advancing at an unprecedented pace?

As we moved away from a farming culture to a society of industrialized workers, our educational models naturally evolved, too. Now, with technological changes barreling forward at breakneck speeds, educators are being forced to rethink how they disseminate lessons and engage students.

When it comes to making meaningful connections to curriculum, how do we create a culture of active learners who also see real-life value in the subject matter?

connecting beyond the classroom

Student success used to be as simple as memorize, recite, rinse, and repeat. This narrow view offered little in the way of practical real-world applications that keep today’s youth invested. Learners in the information age are motivated by the why’s of the world. To help them absorb the real-world skills they need, we must teach to the times. Best to find ways that drive their individual curiosity, connect them to the larger global community, and make lessons interactive.

taking lessons into the real world

1. Embrace technology throughout the school day.

Start by banishing your ban on mobile phones. Although it may sound counterintuitive, it actually makes sense to incorporate devices they’ll be using in the workplace. Plan lessons that use multimedia activities, create quizzes they have to take electronically, assign presentations that are mobile-ready. Podcasts, video streaming sites, and network news feeds can also create a structured learning environment that helps bring material to life.

2. Mirror what they see in the media.

Invite other industry experts in interesting fields to spend some time in the classroom. You can find an ‘Instagram influencer’ to teach a social studies lesson, a video game developer to give a science tutorial, or social media manager to talk about algorithms. You can even set up a “celebrity” judge panel to critique a semester project. Whether you’re showing them the STEM skills they need to open certain doors or using a respected community voice to reinforce your lesson plans, it’s very likely to help offer them a renewed approach to homework.

3. Bring the outside world to them.

While teaching with television isn't something we'd want to do all the time, as students become more screen-centric, it can be a tangible way to help them make real-world connections. Used sparingly, it can bring international news to their home turf and expand their view of the world. It can also help demonstrate math and science concepts seen only in the vast and expansive vacuum of space. You could even take them back in time for a powerful history lesson that helps solidify and make relevant, previously non-relatable portions of our past.

4. Teach authentic analysis.

As our Google use increases, our memory capacity appears to be decreasing. Instead of memorizing facts and details, many of us are accustomed to simply recalling where to find said information. Same goes for students. Structuring lessons around how to research well and determine reputable facts from fake ones is a valuable skill in our information age. Better students have a mind for critical thinking and analysis than just a head for figures and dates. This kind of media literacy is critical for any truly employable student in the 21^st-century.

5. Help them connect to their community at large.

Community connections offer an invaluable return on lessons and large-scale projects. Structuring curriculum so that it clearly addresses issues in student’s city or neighborhood is an incredible motivator. Be it a community garden to demonstrate concepts like photosynthesis or a tour through a historical neighborhood, done well, these types of lessons encourage them to think beyond the walls of their home or school and makes learning the first step in orchestrating change.

6. Get them involved.

For something that can so easily overwhelm a student’s schedule, tests are wholly underwhelming when it comes to real-world connection. Alternatively, a project that has a more tangible payoff like a presentation trip, or comes with a real-life positive impact for their neighborhood is irreplaceable. You can have them submit work to be published in a book that will live on past the semester. You could also make a video of them teaching an important concept that will get sent to a community in need. If you can have a local politician come interact with your class, you can help them solidify their duty as public citizens. Whichever you choose, the key to engagement is involvement.

In the end, be it technology and new media, or community involvement, your approach matters less than the intent. The more you can broaden their focus and connect to their future in the working world, the more you can help them achieve so much more than academic acumen alone. When the goal is to expand classroom lessons beyond the schoolyard, you create memorable real-world experiences for your students to carry with them into adulthood.

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Thanks to Dave for writing & contributing this post.

Dave Monaco has worked in education for 24 years and counting. He has put his M.A.T. to great use as the Head of School at Parish Episcopal School and helps Parish live out their mission to guide young people to become creative learners and bold leaders who will impact our global society. With his philosophy to “engage the mind, connect to the heart,” this father of three will continue bringing order to chaos one day at a time.

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How to Use Project Based Learning to Engage Students & Unlock Their Potential

Linda Kardamis — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 09:00:33 +0000

Listen as Vicki Davis (aka the Cool Cat Teacher) shares with us why project based learning is so powerful, how to get started, and tips to do so effectively:

The Cool Cat Teacher Blog

listen to discover...

The hallmarks of the best projects

Ideas & examples of specific project based learning activities for science, math, and more - from elementary through high school
Where to find more project ideas
The difference between a worthwhile project based learning activity and a time-wasting Grecian Urn project.
How to use project leaders to enhance student learning and leadership
The big mistake Vicki made when she started implementing project based learning (and how to avoid it)

Key project based learning takeaways:

Project Based Learning is not just doing a project (like making a poster for what you're learning). Project Based Learning (PBL) means students are learning as part of the project as students engage in real-world problems or complex questions.
Project based learning is a great way to make your subject real & make it come alive.

Projects don't have to span weeks of time. You can start with smaller projects that focus on real world application.
Projects give you a way to have deeper learning, collaboration, and creativity.
After implementing project-based learning, Vicki noticed that her students - years later - still remembered what they learned through the project & were excited to share their experience with younger students.
You shouldn't ONLY do projects, but it is a fantastic tool to have in your toolkit.
The goal is get your students so excited about what they're creating and learning that they talk about it and work on it voluntarily on their own time.
There are times in project-based learning when you need to let your students have productive struggles, without jumping in to help them. I'll often say, "Hmm, I don't know. What do you think?"

where to get ideas

Want to get started with project based learning? Here are some ideas...

Browse subject or grade-related hashtags on Twitter (even if you don't like to tweet). Click here for a list of current hashtags.
Meet with students and ask for their ideas
Search for Project Based Learning activities on Teachers pay Teachers

connect with vicki

10 Minute Teacher Podcast

Cool Cat Teacher on Twitter

RESOURCES mentioned

Cybraryman's list of current educational hashtags.
Book: Humility is the New Smart by Edward D. Hess
Our newest book: Take Heart & Teach: How to teach with excellence, balance, and the joy of the Lord (even when things are crazy)

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Play to the Strengths of Each Type of Learner in Your Classroom

Linda Kardamis — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 09:00:51 +0000

As teachers, we recognize that not all students learn at the same rate, and it can be difficult to navigate your way through the different types of learning.

Many children struggle to learn from textbooks, but you can utilize a variety of different activities in your classroom to help bring out their strengths rather than navigate around potential weaknesses.

Some parents might not know what types of learners their children are, so it’s important for teachers to be informed to make sure you’re not only helping the students learn their very best, but so you can educate parents on their children’s strengths as well.

Here are some great ways to teach children based on what kind of learner they are.

The 4 TYPES OF LEARNERS - AND HOW TO HELP THEM LEARN

AUDITORY LEARNERS
If a child is an auditory learner, they learn best from hearing and speaking. You might find them speaking out loud to themselves a lot, repeating phrases they hear often, or singing a song from the radio.

These learners will learn best if they’re able to speak out loud about the concepts of the lesson. Discussions are a great way to teach them about each topic. To help your auditory learner retain the information, make up rhymes or songs about the essential facts or do tasks that require phonetic analysis. Free downloadable resources for auditory learners can be found here and are great resource to share with parents who want to help at home.

VISUAL LEARNERS
A visual learner will learn best when they see something demonstrated in front of them and can get a good visual. You may find that your visual learner tends to doodle while you’re teaching.

Use diagrams and charts to illustrate the information from your lessons visually when you can, or substitute a subject with an educational video. Watching an informative movie is a great way to let parents provide additional learning opportunities for their children at home. Science, in particular, is a great subject to learn through educational movies because visual learners can see experiments happening right in front of their eyes."

READING AND WRITING LEARNERS
When it comes to reading and writing learners, not surprisingly, they learn best by reading and writing. Do you have a bookworm in your classroom? Use their love for reading to help them learn in a more efficient way!

A great way to help these students remember the information you’re teaching is to have them rewrite their notes to study. Constantly rewriting and reviewing notes will make the lessons stick! Another great activity is to have them write a summary of what they’ve learned at the end of each day. Encourage parents of reading and writing learners to take their children to local libraries and encourage additional reading on their own for fun.

KINESTHETIC LEARNERS
Kinesthetic learners learn best from hands-on activities. Your student will want to use their senses when learning a lesson, so revolve your teachings around letting them touch instead of just sitting still. Your student will love hands-on-activities like using play-dough or Legos- beneficial because children often forget they’re even learning in the first place! Check out these 20 activities for learning with Legos to use with your kinesthetic learner.

When speaking with parents, no matter what kinds of learners your students are, make sure you’re utilizing their learning style to get the most out of the school day! From educational videos to silly songs, you’ll be sure to find something that fits perfectly for you and your students. With a good grip on the variety of learners there are, teachers can better support and communicate with parents regarding learning styles.

Thanks to Pure Flix for sharing their thoughts on the types of learners as well as this helpful infographic:

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6 Ways to Build Rapport with Struggling Students

Linda Kardamis — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 09:00:56 +0000

Sometimes the student who doesn’t seem to care is actually just frustrated.

This is one of my favorite takeaways from my interview with portrait artist Jon Kardamis.

To say that Jon struggled in high school would be putting it mildly. History, math, and English just did not come easily to him.

But he loved art.

As we discuss in the interview, some teachers not only recognized his talents but also saw that he was trying to learn and encouraged him.

Unfortunately, there were other times when Jon was frustrated by a teacher who completely misunderstood him – assuming he didn’t care or wasn’t trying.

This interview has so many great insights from a student’s point of view. Check it out here:

Here are some of my favorite takeaways:

6 Keys to Understanding & Encouraging Struggling Students

Don’t assume a student doesn’t care. Jon would spend hours studying, working with a tutor, and practicing just to make a C- on a test. When his teachers saw his effort and told him they were proud of his C, this encouraged him and made him want to try harder. But his biggest frustration was when teachers just assumed he wasn’t trying or didn’t care.
Connect with what a student is passionate about. When a teacher asked Jon to draw an illustration for the class, that meant so much to him and helped him engage in the class. On the other hand, when teachers belittled what he was passionate about, he felt frustrated and misunderstood. As a result, he wasn’t very motivated to try in the class.

Avoid saying things like, “If you would spend half the time studying that you do sketching all these little drawings, you’d do so much better.” Statements like these do way more harm than good.

Realize that students who struggle academically might have talents & future careers in other areas. Jon struggled academically but had incredible talent and potential as an artist. Today he’s the owner of his own portrait-painting business. We teachers can & should push our students to persevere, excel, and pursue careers in areas in which they are skilled. And when we connect academics to what they’re passionate about, they’re much more likely to engage.
Acknowledge that for some students, a C is their best. When a struggling student works hard and makes a C, make sure you acknowledge and encourage that effort. Be careful about statements like “I know you can do better.” While we certainly want to encourage students to do their best, if their best is a C, we do more harm than good by expecting more.
Recognize when a student is frustrated. We often get frustrated when students are struggling and don’t seem to care, but often those students are actually really frustrated themselves. Jon admits that when he got frustrated, he’d often just check out mentally & sleep through the class. Instead of yelling at the student for sleeping, it’d be better to get to the heart of the issue and help the student reengage.
Show the student that you care. Jon talks about how much it means when a teacher takes a few minutes to genuinely engage with a student. Simply show them that you care, that you recognize their struggles, and that you value what they’re passionate about. Jon says that when he knew his teachers cared about him, it really helped motivate him to listen and try his best in that class.

Thanks so much Jon for taking the time to share these insights with us!

Update: Jon went on to earn a bachelors degree and has since established himself as a professional portrait artist, receiving regular commissions for a growing number of renowned clients.

You can see some of his work here:

Jonathan Kardamis Fine Art Facebook page

JonKardamisFineArt.com

Jon also happens to be my brother-in-law & the painting he created of my daughter Calaiya & me will be treasured always (although the picture doesn’t really do it justice):

And some of his other works (they’re amazing, right!!??):

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Click here to check out more of his paintings or to contact Jon.

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The post 6 Ways to Build Rapport with Struggling Students appeared first on Teach 4 the Heart.

5 Easy Accommodations for Special Ed or Struggling Learners

Alexx Seipp — Thu, 15 Mar 2018 14:29:08 +0000

Thanks to Alexx Seipp, Customer Experience Manager here at Teach 4 the Heart and creator of Genius Fishes for contributing this article.

Differentiation, universal design for learning, accommodations, and modifications are huge buzzwords in teaching right now.

Many districts are moving away from special education classes and putting their special education students into general education classrooms. This can leave general education teachers with a diverse group of learners who all have different needs.

Often this shift does not come with more prep time. How is an already overworked teacher supposed to meet the needs of their struggling learners? Fear not! I have some ideas for you that take little to no extra time to implement.

Simple Accommodations to Help Your Struggling Learners

Graphic Organizers: These were one of my number one tools as a special education teacher. My students were able to do the same kinds of essay as general education students (persuasive, compare/contrast, etc.) if they had the proper graphic organizers to assist them with writing. Please do not hand your special education students a blank piece of paper and ask them to write. Start with a graphic organizer to help them organize their ideas. With writing pieces, you can match these organizers to sentence frames (see below). Graphic organizers can be used in almost every class. They can be used to organize the steps in solving math problems. They can be used to research the different aspects of a historical figure’s life. They can keep track of experiment results. This method doesn’t require any additional teaching time; you can make graphic organizers available to all your students and those who need them can use them. Graphic organizers also give students great visuals to remember information. I suggest using the same graphic organizers as often as possible with different assignments so students get used to certain formats. The hope is that one day they will replicate these graphic organizers for themselves when needed.

Sentence frames and sentence starters: These can be used alongside or independently of graphic organizers. For example, I would have my students research historical figures by filling out a graphic organizer that had labels like birthdate, childhood, major accomplishments, etc. Then, I would give my students a paper with sentence frames in an essay format that said, “______ was born on _________. ______’s childhood was spent ______________.” The students would simply match up information from their graphic organizer to their sentence frames. You can provide more or less sentence frames depending on the child’s level. Some students may only need a sentence starter at the beginning of each paragraph and can write the rest independently. Sentence starters and frames are also great for encouraging discussions. You can have them posted in the room and require students to use them when answering questions or pass out a list of them to discussion groups. With so many states adopting common core standards, sentence starters and frames that require students to use evidence are very helpful. For example, “I think _____ because page ____ says _________.” Again, these don’t require much additional teaching time. Discussion sentence frames can be posted and reviewed occasionally and provide help to your special education students all year long. If you don’t have time to create graphic organizers and sentence frames, you can find some at my store at here.

Summarizing: This is an activity that will help all of your students, but especially your struggling learners. If you teach a class that requires note-taking, have your students pause when they’ve written about one page of notes and have them write a one-sentence summary with the main idea. When reading novels, I would have my students write a one-sentence summary after each chapter. They can also write one sentence summaries at the end of class about what they learned that day. In each case, it requires them to immediately review the information they have learned and give themselves a nugget of information to anchor their learning. I also used this with discussion groups when I realized my students weren’t really listening to each other. After discussions, I would randomly call on students to give me a one-sentence summary of what their partner had said. You will be shocked at how many struggle to answer the first time you do this, but then they learn to really listen to each other. The beauty of this activity is that nothing extra has to be planned ahead of time and it only requires a few extra minutes to your lesson. You can combine one-sentence written summaries with sentence starters for students who need it.

Color-coding: This is especially helpful for your visual learners. Color-coding can be used in everything. Write out the steps of a math problems and use a different marker for each step. Use a green highlighter to highlight vocabulary words and a pink highlighter for math formulas. Use a blue highlighter when taking notes about a person and a yellow highlighter for an event. Use a different color for each character when taking notes about a novel. They can even make themselves a “key” before they start taking notes on a particular chapter and use very specific color-coding. For example, George Washington = blue, Patriots =yellow, and Loyalists = green. If students use their notes to complete assignments or take tests, they will be able to find their information much more quickly.

Learning goals: This is one of the easiest to implement. After passing out as assignment, if you notice your special education students are struggling or taking longer than usual, you can shorten the work they need to complete. You could cross out more challenging questions. Of course, you need to make sure this is in-line with grading policy or their Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and that you are still getting a good sample of their work. In some curriculums, particularly in math, students are required to solve twenty of the same types of problems for practice. If it takes a special education student twice as long to solve these problems, you can cross half out so he only does ten. You can also use this strategy even if you don’t shorten the child’s work. If a student is having trouble getting started, you can draw a line behind the first five problems or fold the paper over so the student can only see the first two questions. Tell the student you will be back in 5 minutes to check those questions only. Students can get overwhelmed by the number of problems or questions on a page and having a specific goal can really help.

As you implement a few of these strategies into your classroom, you will find which of them are most effective for certain students. This will jumpstart your thinking into additional accommodations and modifications you can make for specific assignments.

You will start to look at your special education students not as burdens, but as opportunities that are making your teaching better for EVERY student.

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Simple Solutions to Track Missing Work

Linda Kardamis — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 10:00:39 +0000

Tracking & collecting missing work may just be the bane of many teachers’ existence. It can be so hard to keep everything straight & incredibly frustrating trying to hound students to get it turned in.

Aside from simply throwing zero’s in the gradebook and moving on, there’s no simple solution. But I do have some tried-and-true suggestions for how you can take this big problem and turn it into something much more manageable.

To make this plan work smoothly, you’ll need two classroom helpers: an absence secretary and a class secretary. Simply choose responsible students that tend to finish their own work early & ask if they’ll help you out. Once you train a student, I’d recommend keeping the same secretary for at least a quarter before switching up roles.

Tracking What Work is Missing:

*Class Secretary makes a list of what’s missing: When papers are collected, s/he goes through them & sees what is missing. S/he then writes down whose paper is missing on a post-it note or cover sheet. [Ideally, the class secretary would also know who has been absent & would mark which papers are actually late & which are missing due to absence.]

*Keep a running total of what’s missing: Each day, you quickly scan the post-it notes or cover sheet & record missing work in your gradebook. You also record what is missing either in a Word doc that can be printed & posted in the classroom or on a dry-erase board that is posted in the classroom. (If you are a paperless school, you can also use a Google Doc.) This provides a running tally of any work that is missing. For absent work, the teacher records on the document or white board when the assignment is due. (Click here to have an example form sent to you.)

*Students fill out a form each time they’re missing an assignment: Students who don’t have an assignment finished (whether they’re late or absent) must fill out a (brightly colored) form saying why they don’t have it & when they plan to finish it. They turn this in when the rest of the class turns in their assignment. This makes it easier for the class secretary (and/or you) to see whose paper is missing. (Click here to get an editable sample form.)

Letting Students Know What is Missing:

*Keep extra copies: Always run off a couple extra copies of worksheets/homework assignments & have a designated spot to keep them. Train students that when they lose a worksheet, they can should check the folder instead of asking you for a new one.

*Absence secretary tracks what you do in class: Your absence secretary should have a form to fill out for each student who is absent that records what was covered in class, any homework, and any assessments they need to make up. These forms are then placed in a designated place (or in the classroom out-box if that is part of your classroom procedure). The absence secretary staples any papers to the form. S/he also is responsible to collect the extra copies & place them in the designated spot.

*Absent students look to see what they missed: Absent students are required to collect their form that the absence secretary filled out for them. They must also check the missing work document/board to see when items are due. (Click here to get an editable sample form.)

Making Up Assessments

*Create a Testing Center (middle school/high school): If your school doesn’t have a testing center, talk to your administration about starting one. Testing centers can take place in study hall or in a separate monitored room.

When a student misses an assessment, teachers would write on the top of the assessment the date it must be taken by & turn in that test to the testing center. Students are then responsible to go to the testing center during their open periods to make them up.

Please note that study hall teachers or testing center monitors would need to have good policies to ensure students aren’t cheating (e.g. student must sit in a specific spot, desk must be cleared, other students aren’t allowed to talk to them during testing, etc.)

Collecting & Updating Work That’s Turned In:

*Track daily what’s turned in: Have a designated in-bin that is only for work that absent/late work. Go through that bin daily to update your gradebook & the missing work document/board. This does not mean it needs to be graded right away, just updated that it’s been turned in. These papers could then be placed in a file and graded weekly or bi-weekly. Let parents & students know that if papers are turned in late they are not necessarily graded as quickly.

Alternatively, you can have students turn in absent/missing work to the class secretary who will update the document/board for you. Or students could cross their own name off the list designating they’ve turned it in.

What procedures have you found helpful for tracking missing work? Share them with a comment below.

And to make things a bit easier for you, I’ve put together an editable example of the absence secretary form, “I don’t have my work because” form, and the running total of missing work document. Click here to get all 3 forms now.

And if you’d like more information about teaching students procedures, check out our free training How to Reduce Disruptions without Yelling, Begging, or Bribing

You may also find this related post helpful: “17 Ways to Get Students to Actually Do Their Work“

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8 Ways to Help Students Prepare for Exams

Linda Kardamis — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 10:00:01 +0000