e-Hallpass Overview

 e-Hallpass is an electronic hallpass monitoring system. Do you have students that try to go to the bathroom everyday in every class period? Now you can see which students have left any class throughout the day. Here is a quick Getting Started Overview video for you.

COVID-19 Vaccine

So, we have been home teaching virtually for just about a year now...well, it will be a year next week, March 13th. Teachers in our district are slated to return to the buildings on March 17th or 18th. I don't know how I feel about that. While I am ready for things to get back to normal, I am not ready to drive 30-40 minutes to work to sit at my computer and do the same thing I'm doing from home. My students will be returning April 8, 2020...a month from today. I will have 3 weeks to prepare for my students to return while simultaneously teaching virtually. Even though I have student interns from the local university, I still have some sort of prep work that needs to be done. I'm not sure if they will be returning to the building with me.

Anywho, I've had my first round of the COVID-19 Vaccine. I got it last Monday. That week I had some tenderness in my arm at the injection site and I was sooooooo tired for 2 days. All I wanted to do was sleep, sleep, and sleep some more. Thankfully, those were the only two symptoms I had.

My second shot will be March 22nd. Until then...

Parent Teacher Conferences - Virtual Edition

By now, I have been teaching VIRTUALLY for a year and it has thrown a monkey wrench in all that I thought teaching was. I decided to re-vamp my Parent Teacher Conference - Top 50 Tips to accommodate the virtual world.

Again, don't feel you have to implement all of these for one parent conference.

Before the Conference

1. Have student work samples so that parents can see their child's progress. Be prepared to share your screen.
2. Have a one-pager with a list of important information that you want the parent to know (i.e. office hours, phone number, website address, class schedule, etc.). Parent like to have something to take with them. Email that information to the parents at the conclusion of the meeting.
3. Have mints or candy available.
4. Encourage the parent to bring the child have the child present.
5. Offer the student and incentive for attending the conference.
6. Set a schedule.
7. Send an invitation to the parents at least a month in advance.
8. Send email confirmation.
9. Send reminder email 1 week before the conference.
10. 1-2 days before the conference, call to let the parents know you are looking forward to meeting/seeing them on ____ day at ____ time.
11. If conferencing with more than one teacher, decide ahead of time how much time each teacher gets. Stay on schedule.
12. Have a list of the student's grades for the parents to take with them. Be prepared to share a list of the student's grades with the parents, then send them an email with those grades at the conclusion of the email.
13. Hang a "Parent Conference in Session" Sign on the door. Respect the parents and students' privacy.
14. Let other teachers (other subjects/creative arts) know that you will be meeting with the students in case they want to attend.
15. Put your cell phone on vibrate/silent or turn it off.
16. Make sure your classroom background is clean or use a green screen and clutter free background.
17. Have a sign-in sheet ready. Include a place for at least the student's name, parent's name, and date. Instead of everyone writing, a notetaker may be needed to capture the attendance.
18. Allow student to sign in, optional.
19. Try to meet with a parent of every student at least once within the school year.
20. Let the administration know you are meeting with the parent in the event they want/need to attend.
21. Have your computer available in the event you need to look something up.
22. Pick the parents up from the main office.
23. Touch base with any teachers that are unable to attend the conference to see if they have anything to they want you to share on their behalf.
24. Be sure the chat is open to everyone in the event the parent want to send messages to teachers.
25. Assign a co-host as someone to monitor the chat and as someone that can monitor muting if necessary.
26. Set up the Zoom/Google Meet Link. Be sure to record the conference.

During the Conference

1. Start on time.
2. End on time.
3. Pull the chair out for the parent so you can direct them where to sit.
4. Before beginning the actual conference, introduce yourself.
5. Shake the parent's hand.
6. Use eye contact.
7. Sit next to the parent, not across from them. It's less intimidating.
8. Sit between parent and student or put student across from parent (out of arms reach).
9. Start the conference with saying something positive about the student.
10. Ask the parent if they have any concerns before you begin.
11. Provide the parents with an overview of your expectations (if student generally misbehaves in class).
12. Have an agenda/talking points (even if its for you only). This allows you to be able to direct the conference and stay focused. You don't want to forget anything.
13. Ask the student questions during the conference. This allows them to feel contributing and connected to their conference.
14. Remind the student that this is "their" conference.
15. Tell the student that you and the parents care about them and their education, that is why you're meeting, not to get them in trouble.
16. Smile.
17. Limit conferences to no more than 20 minutes.
18. End the conference with an additional positive conference.
19. Ask the parent if they have any additional concerns. Parents just want to be heard.
20. Ask parents to confirm phone number and email address in the event you need to get in contact with them later.
21. Keep calm. If the parent is irate and/or yelling, keep your voice low and tell them you understand how they are feeling. 
22. Ask the parents if they need the administration to attend the meeting.
23. Keep your camera on.
24. Do not eat during the conference. A bottle of water is ok.
25. Remind everyone to remain muted if they are not speaking.
26. Ask parents is it ok that the conference is being recorded.

After the Conference

1. Before concluding the conference, thank the parent for attending the conference.
2. Thank the student for attending the conference.
3. Shake the parent's hand.
4. Send a thank you card or thank you email to the parent for attending the conference.
5. Walk parents to the main office (if you don't have another conference waiting).
6. If the conference included other teachers, take time to debrief.
7. Send notes from conference to teachers that were unable to attend.

Talking Too Much?

"The person doing the talking is the person doing the learning. (Someone said that...) No one likes to talk more than me and inadvertently I will talk talk talk until the bell rings. Ooops. What if your time to talk was constrained? Could you be more efficient with your words? Set a timer for 5 minutes. When the timer goes off, it is time for the students to do something or for them to talk. You can set another 5 minute timer as often as you want, but not back to back :) Now your time is more available to sit with kids and give them feedback to their face (something Catlin Tucker advocates). 

One way I keep myself to 5 minutes max at a time is I don't use my 5 minutes to give basic directions or things kids can copy. I take advantage of technology if I can, or photocopy and tape to student group tables, to provide the directions and basic information."

--Alice Keeler

Note: Taken from www.alicekeeler.com (Newsletter)

Classroom Management Tips

Classroom Management can make or break your learning environment.

- Meet students at the door. Welcome each child into your class. Say good morning/afternoon. Call students by their name.

- Ensure students are quiet before entering the room. If the students are loud in the hall, they will come into your room the same way. At the door, make sure the students are quite, orderly, shirts tucked in (if you're at a uniform school), etc. Whatever you want to see in your room, ensure that's what you see prior to their entrance.

- Use proximity. If a student is talking or off-task, go and stand close to them to help minimize attention-seeking behavior. "No eye contact is made, and nothing is said." (Albert, 1996.)

- Positive reinforcement. Use phrases like, "I like the way Ashley, came in the class" or "Thank you Mike for being on task." This will let the class know what you are looking for and most will strive to give you just that. If you use Class Dojo or Classcraft, give out 3 times as many positive points as negative.

- Develop a rapport. Demonstrate that you care about the students. Ask them about their day or weekend. Assign a Student Inventory and use the data from that in classwork. For example, if you know Luis likes soccer, then put a soccer problem on an assignment and use Luis's name.

- Be consistent. Put rituals and routines into place as soon as possible. Students need to know what your expectations are sooner rather than later. If you are inconsistent, students' behavior will mirror that. When students don't know what the expectations are, they are more likely to display off-task behavior. "Being consistent doesn't mean being a robot or a machine. It arises out of our caring for our students, and caring for their learning." (Smith, 2004).

- Criticize/compliment the behavior, not the child. Describe the behavior. Concentrate on telling the student exactly what they are doing to cause us grief. Only deal with what is happening at the moment, the what happened in the past or what we think will happen in the future. Be firm and friendly. Being firm and friendly says to the student, "What you are doing must stop now, but I still like you." (Albert, 1996). Use descriptive language, not judgmental language. (Cangelosi, 1993).

- Don't be afraid to apologize. "Public humiliation outweighs a private apology." (Smith, 2004) If you ridicule a student in public and need to apologize, then apologize the same way. Apologizing shows the students that you are human. The apology is like you are also apologizing to the class too.

- Kids Culture - Expose yourself to their favorite shows, movies, music, etc. This allows you to have something to talk about with your students, which in turn, helps you to develop a relationship with them.

- Start each day as a new one. No matter what your students did yesterday, that was in the past. We can't punish them for what they did the day before. Each day students need to start with a clean slate. In my opinion, this one may be the most important.

- Identify the reason for misbehavior: attention, power, revenge, or avoidance-of-failure (Albert, 1996).

• Attention-Seeking Behavior: 
• Use proximity.
• Give "The Eye"
• Positive Reinforcement
• Name Dropping
• Power and Revenge Behaviors
• Time out
• Acknowledge the students' power
• Remove the audience
• State both viewpoints
• Avoidance-of-Failure Behavior
• Stage an "I Can't" Funeral
• Modify instructional methods
• Require two "put-ups" for every put-down.
• Encourage positive self-talk

References

Albert, L., PhD. (1996). Cooperative Discipline. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.

Cangelosi, J. S. (1993). Classroom Management Strategies (2nd ed.). White Plains, NY: Longman. 

Smith, R. (2004). Conscious Classroom Management. Fairfax, CA: Conscious Teaching Publications.

Creating a Supportive Language Learning Environment

This chapter helps to provide comprehensible instruction. The following are 20 strategies that will make your classroom more comprehensible.

1. Simplify Vocabulary.
2. Teach key words before the lesson.
3. Repeat and rehearse new words.
4. Recycle new words.
5. Print, rather than write. (No cursive)
6. Provide plenty of concrete and visual support
7. Use key visuals to present key concepts.
8. Simplify sentence structure.
9. Emphasize key ideas and instructions
10. Use many nonverbal cues.
11. Make notes to signal key ideas, new words, and so on.
12. Give clear instructions.
13. Encourage oral rehearsal of key ideas and words.
14. Check often for comprehension.
15. Speak naturally
16. Be aware of figurative and idiomatic language. 
17. Provide enough response time
18. Provide peer tutors.
19. Provide alternative resources.
20. Reduce anxiety levels. 

Reference

Coelho, E. (2016). Adding English: A guide to teaching in multilingual classrooms. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Learnzillion

Learnzillion is a free website that houses 1000+ instructional videos. These videos are aligned to the Common Core State Standards. So, if you are looking for videos for English/Language Arts (ELA) or Math, then give Learnzillion a try.

Some benefits are:
- Can be used with Google Classroom
- Can set up classes (not necessary)
- Can assign videos to students
- Can search by standard (over 600 standards aligned)
- Includes teaching aids and notes
- Includes lesson bookmarking
- Includes lesson plans
- Students can take quizzes
- Math Content Grades K-8
- ELA Content Grade 2-12