New Management

Went to a little seminar, an idea presentation I'd call it, by Rick Morris of  New Management .  Not a fan of the name, sounds too real estate or business, but definitely a fan of his philosophy and methods.  Maybe because mostly they fall right in line with how I want to run my classroom.  I remember one of my Master teachers used some of his ideas, but she ended up yelling often at her loud class, so I'm not sure...

I think a lot of my classroom management focus will fall under a few main tenets --

• Teachers* waste waaaaaay too much time dealing with classroom behavior, especially waiting for a class or specific students to quiet/settle down.
• A lot of time is wasted during every school day that could be better spent learning: too long to transition between subjects, classes, lunch & recess; behavior issues; Dairy Association** assemblies that last an hour attempting to teach 1st graders how a cow digests (4 chambered stomach!) when all they want to do is pet the calf and all they will remember is the cow pooping.  And the boy in the second row throwing up.
• Learning and Teaching are one and the same and everyone in the class is part of the process -- we will all learn together and from each other, and we will have fun doing it. It will be hard, it will be a challenge, it will be a lot of work... but it will be worth it.

I loved Rick's line "Teaching is like a crock pot" or something like that -- it builds, simmering and getting richer as the school year goes. Can't expect the perfect class by Sept 15th, right? And I firmly believe that we are not just teaching our students for our year but for the teacher next year (isn't it embarrassing to pass along poorly behaved students?) and for their future bosses, spouses, and children.

Now my challenge is to see how any of this stuff works out on a crowded noisy playground...

Anyway, check out the site, a bunch of instantly usable FREE stuff there, and the iPhone app is just plain cool -- get rid of those popsicle sticks!  I don't even have a class yet but I want one, I can instantly assess my sons for practice...


* I absolutely 100% include myself in this. Sigh...
** I love milk.

My student she wrote me a letter...

Great idea here -- Sup Teach? -- for getting to know students and their perception of your class/subject.  I strongly believe in a lot of student feedback, and parent input too, especially since what they say usually reveals more about the student then about the teacher, and can help tailor instruction and intervention.

The Millionaire Mind

I found this scrap of newspaper (yes, some of us still do read the newspaper) on the desk, and I remember discussing it with my middle school PE classes back in September --

"...the importance of social and emotional skills in the workplace...a polling of 5,000 millionaires reveals that crucial to their success was integrity, discipline, social skills, and hard work."

Looks like it's from a book "The Millionaire Mind" by Thomas Stanley, guess I'll check it out.

I would rather my students (and children) learned and practiced those four traits over anything and everything else.  Of course, once you get going with those four, even algebra is a piece of cake, right? Anything is possible!

Drowning in Scraps and Doodles

Funny thing is, I've started this post/project umpteen times lately and never quite finished. And so the pile grows...

Love post it notes. I go into panic attack mode if there is not one near by when needed.  Even without a pen handy, I can carry around several blank sticky notes just to remind me of what I'll forget as soon as I find that pen. Let's see what I can uncover and decipher this morning...

"Kurt SAT" -- oh lordy, is my oldest really that old? No, 16 is not really old, but next comes 18, then 21, then 28, it just doesn't stop, does it? Dang, another hair just went gray.

"Hula hops w/ strings" -- probably "hoops" for a lesson on planetary orbits; tie strings to hoops to demonstrate orbits, earth hoop connects to sun hoop, moon hoop to earth hoop, student holds/stands in center of hoop... hmm, might be one I need to try out w/ my lab rats (sons).  Also, strings/cords of varying thicknesses to show level of gravitational pull? I love doing the moon rotation lessons, and props plus student movement seems to help.

"Crawdaddy Simone" -- song title?

"sardonic" -- word of the day/week up on a poster with room for students to write what they think is the definition/use it in a sentence, points or prizes given at end of week, extra credit for defining root words, etc.

 "show me 5" -- heard a teacher say this when getting class attention; I think the five were eyes, ears, smile, hands in lap and legs criss cross.

"Time Line" -- I love time lines, and I know students have issues conceptualizing the When of events, eras, etc. My son lumps the Revolutionary War, King Arthur, Ancient Egypt all into "way back when" so I want him to raw out his own timeline and fill in what he is interested in at the appropriate space on a long roll of paper (calculator/receipt paper?). Could be done as whole class project and add people/events as the year goes on. Works with across all subjects -- fractions/measurement, science, literature...

"Connections" -- I'm all about the connections, I want students to be able to access as much different information in that computer on their shoulders as possible. Just like the word bat (it's a noun! a verb! a creature with fangs!) I want them to see all the possibilities in a lesson -- how can this Math be used in Science, the "real world", and what is the who and when behind it? How does this book connect to our Social Studies lesson? I think even younger grades can learn how to take notes, writing down everything they think of when I say a certain word or phrase so they expand the "search" and bring more connections, more background knowledge/prior experience, more opportunities for new information to stick.  Isn't there a board game where you list everything related to a word or phrase?

"46 across, 5 letters, Submarine" -- I like crossword puzzles.  I want to use them in my class, and not as time filler for students who finish early. They're connected to making connections -- could "submarine" be a noun, a verb, a...?

"boys (swords, wool) girls (emot, love triangle)"  -- not sure what this one means

"Reading First" -- free.ed.gov

Cool, that was a good sized stack reviewed, sorted, crumpled and tossed!

Classroom Management Tips

Rick Morris' New Management 

lots of good  little ideas!

Cover Me!

I hate cover letters. Almost as much as I hated classifieds when I was searching for work in the real world -- I wanted to place my own ad touting my features and benefits, and encourage prospective employers to send me their offers so I could consider who would deserve my talents. Ok, a little on the ego-driven side I admit, but the traditional resume seemed such a weak way to present who I am and what I could bring to a company.

So now I'm composing cover letters and fighting my creative urges again... I may gather quotes from my students: "He's my favorite coach." "He's funny!" "He ties my shoes."

Amazing Technology

EVERY student should have one!

...or 2 or 10 or 1000 !

I'm So Out Of Shape...

that racing 1st graders every day exhausts me? That's lame, but the best excuse I can think of for not posting in... 6 months?

My Guinea Pigs

...have Homework in P.E. !  What kind of substitute P.E. Coach gives homework?!?!?

One that tells his students the first day he's going to be trying new things, experimenting on them (which did cause quite a few 7th grade eyebrows to rise, until I assured them I did not mean "experiment" in the mad scientist sense), honing his skills and trying to get better as a teacher/coach.  So yes, they have homework: find a quote connected to physical education* that will encourage/inspire/motivate them.  And no, "Just Do It" is not allowed.

*sports, fitness, nutrition, outdoors, health... 

My Theme Song

...or Fight Song? Rallying Cry?

I know this has been around before and in many different versions, but I'm man enough  teacher enough to admit it still chokes me up, convicts* me, and INSPIRES me!  Especially since one of the jokes running around my family and friends lately (and I confess I started it) is a variation of the old "Those who can, do..." ending with "...can't teach, coach P.E.!" har, har, har...

*future post on my failure as a teacher/coach/man on only the second day of the job... :(

with no further ado, Taylor Mali:

Day Two!

Which leads to the logical conclusion that yes, I did indeed survive Day One.

Aside from sending kids to the wrong place at the wrong time, and to the right place at the wrong time, and to the wrong... whatever, they all were accounted for at the end of the day.  No tears and no blood, no drama, and just a little whining....

Day 2 replaces the head-swimming confusion of schedules and syllabuses (syllabi?) with that of CELT scores and IEPs, plus I have to figure out how to play "Bowling Dodge Ball" for my 3rd graders tomorrow.  But Day 2 also brings my first ever prep period, so I have a student-free classroom, Pandora radio soothing my savage beast*, and not much else to do for the next hour ...?

*it's hard to separate P.E. coach from Football coach -- I am 95% very positive with my teams, but at a much higher, more insistent volume level than allowed on the school grounds.  And the other 5% is most definitely not allowed on campus.

My FIRST First Day

...and yes, I am a little on the terrified side. 

Part of me knows this will work out just fine: it's a long-term sub job coaching Middle School P.E., at my sons' school where I've subbed and done observations and taught Art and hung around asking questions, where I know the kids and the Staff...

And part of me knows this is an inevitable disaster of epic proportions: after all, I'm still a sub, it is (shudder) Middle School, and everyone who has known me all these years will see I'm a clueless fraud, and if I can't manage a P.E. class I will never, ever get a classroom... 

Not only that, but I can't decide on what to wear.