Double-click to edit...
Using Gantt Charts to Visualize Your Class Throughout the School Year
Gantt charts have been incredibly helpful for me in estimating how long my units should take (which is *always,* without fail, longer than I expect). They prove their value to me each week as I check my progress, orient myself in terms of my time frames, and make adjustments as needed. This perspective is incredibly useful in September and October, and it helps me finish out the year without feeling rushed in May and June, as I've had my eye on those months for the entire school year.
Diving Further into Data-Based Teaching: Elapsed Time Since A Student’s Last Submission
TL;DR: I discovered how to use my Google Sheets pacing tracker to monitor how long it's been since a student's last submission! You can check out (and even make a copy of) the fully-functioning spreadsheet, or you can read on if you want more detail on how this works and some context as to why I wanted this feature and how I use it.
Google Classroom Tip: Using Grade Categories to Display Lesson Classifications
Grade Categories - a useful feature of Google Classroom not only allow you to assign point defaults and weight grades - they also appear in an otherwise empty spot on the Classwork page right next to the assignment post, and in a slightly different font and color to boot, so they stand out, and you can use them to distinguish between your Must-Do, Should-Do, and Aspire-To-Do assignments.
You Should Be Using Instructional Videos, and You Can Start Today
In my experience as a teacher mentor, there are three primary reasons that teachers are apprehensive about instructional videos, but each of them, I think, can be addressed by reframing the idea of what instructional videos are and shifting the mindset we bring to the process of creating them, which tends to focus on technical skills (editing, recording, etc) rather than pedagogy.
My Take on Homework
My primary concern is that homework continues to exist in a modern world where adults are striving to leave their work at work and enjoy their free time without anxiety or stress. I struggle to see why we would impose this anxiety and stress on our students, especially when there are opportunities for actively teaching time management skills by limiting the work in our class to our actual class period.
A Reminder About Classroom Culture
Today, my first day back in a physical classroom in 14 months, was a reminder for me just how much it matters that we intentionally craft the emotional and social environment we want our students to walk (or log) into.
How Dark Souls Taught me to Value All Learning, In and Out of School
In forcing me to "git gud" - to fail, learn, and grow - Dark Souls reminded me that my students, like myself, are already developing growth mindsets in contexts both entirely legitimate in their lives, yet entirely foreign to capital-S "School." This is fantastic news, because it means they can exercise those same skills on the media we put in front of them. Alternatively (and maybe preferably), if we leave our curriculum open-ended enough, we (teachers) can support them as they practice and improve those skills *in school* by discussing or analyzing the very games, books, or music upon which they've honed them.
Automating Emails to Families with YAMM
“YAMM has improved my parent communication dramatically, perhaps more than any other tool or strategy I've employed or been taught. Reaching out to families is such an important aspect of teaching other people's children, but it can be daunting or even intimidating for new teachers, especially when we have bad news.”
Google Updates its Education Suite
“I was a bit struck by the focus on monitoring engagement and analytics. I certainly won’t deny that engagement during the pandemic has decreased, but I also feel like the engagement (and disengagement) of my students is already apparent in the work they do (and don’t) complete, and I don’t need an algorithm or analytics to keep me apprised of who’s doing what.”
Can Teachers Find A Better Term Than "Relationships?"
“The secret isn't in the development of the individual relationships themselves; it's in the mindsets, the attitudes, the way we respect our students and value their voices each day that can create an environment, a classroom culture of tolerance, empathy, and open-mindedness in which authentic relationships can be formed.”
What Can Teachers Automate?
“In my personal search for ways to improve my productivity and focus as I integrate new and varied elements into my work life, such as mentoring and consulting with the Modern Classrooms Project, editing their podcast, and writing for this blog, I've been exploring ways to use technology to automate tasks that don't require my full, creative attention.”
Why Arts Classes Matter in Schools
“Arts classes provide students with a place to experiment, fail, and practice the creative skills that will make them better at every other discipline”
Upgrade your Gradebook
“My gradebook is more of a progress tracker than a record of each student's performance, and as such it serves more roles than just record-keeping”
What Grades Actually Mean, and How to Interpret Them
“Even in the classrooms of the world's greatest teachers, students receive low grades - it's part of the reality of teaching, but the best teachers (many of whom are striving to change this reality) recognize low grades as an area for targeted intervention and improvement on their own part (not the students')”
How Self-Paced Classes Reduce Stress as Distance Learning Reaches a Tipping Point
“If the stress of distance learning is keeping our kids up until midnight just trying to get their work done, we need to show them we’re able to prioritize and make concessions for them. But that doesn't have to come from curriculum design; it can also come from the way we structure our classes.”
What Really Matters in the Classroom?
“Many of the struggles we face as teachers arise from the fact that we focus our time in class pushing our kids to succeed academically when they have other things going on that may or may not be a bigger deal, but are certainly more important to them in the moment”