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A Teacher's Morning Routine and How I will Lead my Students to Mastery...and you can too!11/10/2019 In this video, I share with you my morning routine before I report to duty as a teacher. Click the image above to see the video. Even though I show a variety of products I use when getting ready, this video is NOT sponsored. I also share a gold star tip on how I plan to get 80% of my students to master all of my 7th grade math standards. You can do the same thing!
This is how to get started. 1) Get your free edulastic account. Click the image below to go to their website. 2) Look at your pacing guide. 3) Design a "Focus Standard" quiz based on the first standard from your pacing guide. This quiz should be 5 questions. (This way students can still miss one question and obtain mastery of 80%.) 4) As a bell ringer, give this quiz the first 10 minutes of class. (This is done through the edulastic website. You can sync with Google Classroom.) 5) Once timer goes off, pause the test and submit all test that have not been submitted yet. 6) Record the class average and the average for each of the 5 questions. 7) Review the questions that have less than 80% mastery. 8) If the class average is below 80%, create another quiz based on this standard. If it is above, go to the next standard on your pacing guide. 9) Recording this data on the board is really important. Students love seeing how they measure against the other classes. They start encouraging their classmates to do better since they cannot move on until the class obtains 80%. 10) Edulastic has features to avoid cheating like shuffling the answer choices and questions. If you have not watched the video yet, go ahead. (I'll wait.) The word "expect" is defined as regard (something) as likely to happen and some synonyms for the word expect are anticipate and await. The word "expectation" is defined as a strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future. According to edglossery.org, having high expectations "refers to any effort to set the same high educational standards for all students in a class, school, or education system." I have struggled with what it means to high expectations for students my entire career until I came across this video on YouTube titled, "The Pygmalion Effect" found on the Sprouts YouTube channel. This one video cleared it up for me and I immediately knew what I needed to do. Before I get into what I needed to do, let me tell you why I was so confused about this common educational phrase. Based on the definitions of expect and expectation, I always thought that what I expect is a natural reaction. So if I walk outside while it's raining, I will get wet, or if I walk on the beach without sunscreen, I will get burned. I always thought an expectation is not something withing my control. So when fellow teachers or administrators would tell me I have to have high expectations for my students, and they will rise, I was really confused. I thought I had it figured out on July 3, 2014. I even wrote a blog about it. See images below to read what I thought. You can read it if you'd like, but basically, I thought I must have high expectations in my self and my abilities if I wanted my students to be successful. (If you do not want to read it, just scroll down.) After watching the video mentioned earlier, I know know that even though I might have natural expectations for my students' abilities as I meet them or overhear teachers talking about them, I need to treat every single one of them like they are the smartest human being that ever crossed my path in the world. My thoughts are my own since I am only human, but I will treat every student like they can achieve greatness, and I believe to my core that they will. Hopefully I am right this time, but if not, maybe it won't take me another five years to have another epiphany. For your free gift, I am included the documents I originally included on this blog post which includes an IEP for all students and daily documentations. Hope you find it helpful!
This video will be live tomorrow morning (July 10, 2019). Just click the picture to watch. (I'll wait.) I hate it when I hear someone jokingly say, “Those that can’t do, teach.” If you are a teacher, this probably makes you mad too because we know it’s not true. The phrase “Those who can’t do, teach,” originated from the play, “Man and Superman” which was written by Bernard Shaw. Some form of this quote gets thrown around in some fashion especially in popular culture. I decided to tell the world what teachers do if they did not know already. So, this is my story as a middle school teacher. I clock into work at 7:15 am. I am required to be there at 7:20 am. When I get to my room, I pull up my flip chart for the day (presentation), my online grade book for attendance, and email. I stand at my door to greet students at 7:25. While they are entering I make casual conversation, make sure they use the restroom, etc. At 7:50 am, I start teaching. I rarely sit down. 4th period is my planning period. I was one of the lucky ones. At my school, this is the lunch period so I get an extra 30 minutes for planning which is amazing. Anyway, at 10:48, I tidy up my room, straighten desks, etc. Around 11, I go to the bathroom and get caffeine. Sometimes, I grab lunch. Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I have students come to my class for lunch detention, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes, I have IEP meetings or professional development during this time, sometimes I don’t. On the days when my schedule is free, I work on lesson plans and presentations for the following week. Sometimes I have paperwork or miscellaneous tasks to do for administration during this time. Many times I am making copies and getting activities ready for the next week. Either way I don’t sit on my bottom and do nothing, I am working. This is essential to not taking so much work home. I also use this time to collaborate with my inclusion teacher. I also grade papers which are usually my exit tickets. I also use this time to call parents. I start teaching again at 12:08 and I continue until 3:00 pm. Students relax until their bus is called. I am running around the room like a mad woman. I am busy getting my room ready for the next day. I change the date on my board, change my focus question and standard being taught if it is different. I put bell ringer worksheets in their appropriate place, I lay out the activities for the next day. I tidy up my room, make sure pencils are sharp, and clean student desks if needed. I finish grading the remainder of my papers. (Most of my grading is done digitally except my exit tickets.) I make notes of students that did not understand my lesson today and those that did. I will target the ones that didn’t the following day. I am allowed to leave at 3:30 pm unless I have a parent teacher conference or IEP or TST meeting. I am usually done with my after school ritual by then. I turn off lights and go home. When I get home, for the most part I don’t have to work too much at home unless, there is something extra I want to create or my administrators need something done ASAP. It varies. Many times I will call parents when I get home if something is heavy on my mind. But this is a new thing for me. Up until this last year, I got on the computer and worked until bedtime. Then I decided to quit being so extra. So that’s a typical day. Now, for the week. Mondays and Fridays, there is nothing scheduled during my planning or after school. Tuesdays, we have a faculty meeting at 3:15 until whenever. Usually 4-4:30. Wednesdays I a Department meeting during my planning period and I have Drama Club after school until 5:00 pm and tutoring until 4 pm. Many times, my school will have after school programs, sporting events, or students extracurricular activities the kids participate in and many times I will make an appearance. So this is a typical week. It is nonstop. Let’s me share with you what teachers do while they are teaching: teach amazing children which includes breaking concepts down into smaller pieces so they can understand them, researching different strategies for numerous standards, accommodating different learning styles, grading papers, providing feedback, writing lesson plans that accommodate all learners, write assessments, create worksheets, create engaging activities, create PowerPoints, collaborate with other staff members, confiscate snacks, talk to parents, keep current records like documentation & grades, participate in a variety of professional development, attend a variety of meetings, analyze student data and plan accordingly, provide interventions... I could keep going. You get it, right? Here are some of the different roles teachers play: counselor, mentor, peacemaker, motivational speaker, maid, babysitter, developer, nurse, entertainer, detective, actress, social worker, cheerleader, and role model. So, now you have an idea what teachers do. Let’s ignore Bernard Shaw’s, “Those who can’t do, teach.” And replace it with Charles J. Mertz, “Those who teach show those who can’t how to.” I get chills thinking of it. Nice play on words, Mr. Mertz. If you are a teacher, leave a comment below what your favorite role as a teacher is. And if you are a brand new teacher, tell me which role you look forward to playing. I hope you found this post helpful. Below is your gift for watching and reading this post. It is a recording sheet for you to document daily the students that understand the lesson and those that do not. Customize how you'd like. Hope it helps.
When teachers are struggling with his or her responsibilities one of two things happen. Administrators offer support, but do not renew the teacher's contract for the following school year or administrators will put the teacher on an improvement plan. If you are a teacher and are struggling in your profession, do not be afraid to ask your administrator to help before it gets so bad that you are faced with one of the two options I listed above. (Click the picture above if you have not seen the video yet.) Below are a couple of resources to help you better understand teacher improvement plans (TIP). If I had to do it all over, I might have put myself on a TIP.
Have you ever wondered what teachers do in the summer? Click on the picture above to watch the video. Teachers usually are recovering after the school year concludes. Once teachers have recovered, many of us seek out professional development to upgrade our skill set. Please comment below what you do in the summer to upgrade.
This video discusses how teachers get paid and how much teachers get paid. (Click the picture above if you have not watched it yet.) I can say for sure in Mississippi, teachers get paid once a month. The salary is divided by 12 and this money is disbursed the last day of the month.
How much a teacher makes depends on a variety of things. The first is how many years experience the teacher has under his or her belt. The more years experience means the more money they will earn. Another factor is how many degrees a teacher has. A teacher with his or her Bachelor's degree will earn less than a teacher with his or her Master's degree with the same years experience. The last factor and I believe is the most important is the location. Which state a teacher works determines how much money they can earn. Also, school districts within that state have different rates. As far as I can tell, the states' department of education lists the minimum money a teacher can earn. If you are a teacher outside Mississippi or outside of the United States, please comment below how you get paid. This short and sweet video gives you a brief overview on how to turn your lesson plans into PowerPoints. This style allows you to stay on track while you are teaching. Check out the lesson plan below and check out the accommodating PowerPoint so you can get an idea of how this is done. Feel free to use either as a guide. This way of creating PowerPoints that follow my lesson plans has upped my game in this education world that I live in. It has enhanced student achievement and has decreased disruptions. This video will be live on June 16, 2019.
I was on an improvement plan the second year back in a middle school setting. My classroom management was out of control and I really needed the help. I was also moved to a content area that was out of my expertise. My two amazing administrators worked with me weekly to improve. They said it was mandatory for me to script my lessons, so I did. I came up with a method that worked for me and this is what I share in this video. (If you have not seen the video yet, click on the image above. I will wait.) Once I started scripting lesson plans, it changed everything. I had thought of everything before entering my classrooms. I was less tolerant of misbehaviors since I had a lot to teach in my plan and no time for nonsense. I was quick to deliver my consequences so I could get back to teaching. So below, is a general template (Madeline Hunter) I use to script my lessons, the lesson plans I wrote for one week for a 7th grade math class and I am included a scripted version for one day. Please check it out. I plan for my next video to show how to create a PowerPoint that matches the scripted lesson plans so you can pace yourself accordingly. I hope it helps.
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AuthorI am not an expert yet by any means. I felt inspired to create a YouTube channel and website so new teachers will have an easier journey than I had. Archives
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