Powerful Lesson on Privilege - buzzfeed

This resonated with me:

I once saw a high school teacher lead a simple, powerful exercise to teach his class about privilege and social mobility. He started by giving each student a scrap piece of paper and asked them to crumple it up.

Nathan W. Pyle / Via buzzfeed.com

Then he moved the recycling bin to the front of the room.

Nathan W. Pyle / Via buzzfeed.com

He said, “The game is simple — you all represent the country’s population. And everyone in the country has a chance to become wealthy and move into the upper class.”

Nathan W. Pyle / Via buzzfeed.com

“To move into the upper class, all you must do is throw your wadded-up paper into the bin while sitting in your seat.”

Nathan W. Pyle / Via buzzfeed.com

The students in the back of the room immediately piped up, “This is unfair!” They could see the rows of students in front of them had a much better chance.

Nathan W. Pyle / Via buzzfeed.com

Everyone took their shots, and — as expected — most of the students in the front made it (but not all) and only a few students in the back of the room made it.

Nathan W. Pyle / Via buzzfeed.com

He concluded by saying, “The closer you were to the recycling bin, the better your odds. This is what privilege looks like. Did you notice how the only ones who complained about fairness were in the back of the room?”

Nathan W. Pyle / Via buzzfeed.com

“By contrast, people in the front of the room were less likely to be aware of the privilege they were born into. All they can see is 10 feet between them and their goal.”

Nathan W. Pyle / Via buzzfeed.com

“Your job — as students who are receiving an education — is to be aware of your privilege. And use this particular privilege called “education” to do your best to achieve great things, all the while advocating for those in the rows behind you.”

Source

5 Apps for connecting with Parents

I previously shared '5 apps that really engage parents' but with school underway, I wanted to re-share these ideas for teacher's in classrooms that have to start thinking about Meet the Teacher night and parent teacher interviews also.

1. Skype: Skype for computer, smart phones and tablets lets parents join in classroom events like story time and special presentations without having to be physically present. Even military parents overseas and grandparents who live far away are taking advantage of the Skype platform to read to students and participate in celebrations. Creative teachers ask students to find the parent’s/grandparent’s location on a map and ask a few questions to learn about the local geography, landmarks and culture. Skype can also be helpful as a way for working parents to attend parent-teacher conferences.
2. Twitter: Whether it is class homework updates, project deadlines, school news or dinnertime conversation starters, teachers are taking advantage of Twitter’s free tool and keeping parents up to date and involved in classroom happenings. In a day-in-age where most parents have cell phones, Fast Follow by Twitter becomes a simple and reliable alert system. To use it, all you need to do is setup a Twitter account and ask parents (and older students) to text Twitter’s shortcode of 40404 with the message “follow [your Twitter username].” From there, parents will start receiving all of your updates via text message in real-time.
3. VolunteerSpot: Get more parents involved in the classroom by streamlining how you ask for help and making it easier for parents to sign up to help. VolunteerSpot replaces paper signup sheets, reply-all email chains and backpack Pony Express. Simple online signups from smartphones, tablets or computers make it easy for class parents to choose a spot that fits their schedule or to send food or supplies for special events; auto reminders and calendar syncing help parents keep their commitments. Quickly organize parents to read to the class, help in the lunchroom or at recess, attend parent-teacher conferences, and help with class parties, field trips and performances.
4. Pinterest: A virtual vision board for classroom inspiration, Pinterest offers a great way for teachers and parents to build community and share ideas. Invite class parents to create and share pinboards with links to age-appropriate themes and ideas including educational boards like fun math apps, favorite books, vocabulary games, and science fair ideas – student-centric boards like recess games, scholarships and prom fashions – and boards geared towards parents such as healthy snack and lunch ideas, afterschool sports resources, and class party ideas.
5. Edublogs: A free, safe blogging platform for teachers, students and school communities, Edublogs lets you easily create and manage student and classroom blogs that keep parents up-to-date on class happenings and give students a safe portfolio for sharing their work with parents and extended family (via password-protected blogs). Post a few times a week adding videos, photos, links to volunteer signup sheets and educational resources – parents will enjoy your current content and feel more informed and connected to the classroom.

Source: http://www.weareteachers.com/community/blogs/weareteachersblog/blog-wat/2013/05/30/5-apps-that-engage-parents-in-the-classroom

Certainty of Consequences makes them effective

One of the things many Teachers-Teaching-On-Call struggle with is classroom management. There are thousands of books, workshops, websites that deal with approaches and ideas and strategies, however, most focus on full time classroom teacher techniques and how to develop these over time. As a TTOC, you have limited time. Everyday you walk in fresh and need to establish routines and classroom management in an instant. 

I helped develop a workshop on Classroom Management for TTOCs which is put on by the BCTF. I love presenting the workshop, because I learn new ideas everytime.[If you want to book it is free for B.C. locals, contact the BCTF] But, as an educator, I am always seeking new ideas and strategies to implement or experiment with in my teaching. 

I loved this quote:

"It's the certainty of the consequence and not the severity that makes the consequence effective."

This is so true! Like with parenting, or puppy training (strange connection, but we recently got a new puppy and so I see the similarities) consistency, clarity and certainty of a consequence makes it more effective than the severity. If my daughter misbehaves, she knows the consequences. They aren't severe (lose computer time, lose play dates, etc) but she knows they will happen because we are consistent and have shown her with certainty that misbehaviour has consequences.

A teacher/blogger recently took a classroom management workshop and said:

I need to have a wealth of consequence ideas of varying degrees of severity, ranging from the "teacher look" to office referral. Students need to know you will enforce those classroom and school rules at all times.

This is exactly true for Teachers Teaching on Call especially. Have your bag of tricks, your strategies to use, and make them clear from the start if you are there for a day, a week, or a school year...  This idea is addressed in the workshop for TTOCs on Classroom Management.

Another quote I like is:

"Fair isn't everybody getting the same the thing. 

Fair is everybody getting what they need to be successful."

This is another important point. Recognizing that different students have different needs and ways to respond, especially to a new teacher in the room. Although the consequence is certain and laid out clearly from the start, sometimes they are different for different students based on what they need to be successful.

Classroom Management is one of those things that changes a bit each school year for full time teachers and each day for TTOCs. You must consider what works for you, what works for the class you are in and how to make it all come together. Remember the certainty over severity quote when setting up how you run things and always try to be fair.

Good Luck and please share any ideas or comments below...

[Source: SubHub] 

Anti-Bullying Game 'Face Value'

I always have a deck of cards. I do so much with a deck of cards, games, groups, classroom management strategies. A deck of cards, like a bean bag ball and some dice, can be miracle workers in any level classroom.

Here is a fun game/activity that can address bullying with intermediate and middle school students, but also for a lesson on class systems for up to High School level. I found it at PE Central

A good activity to use if you have time as a TTOC or if you have your own class, at the beginning of the school year, or when you observe bullying taking place in your school.
Begin with every student receiving a playing card, face down.

Explain to the students the following:

• You are to not look at your card or tell anyone else what their card is.
• Everyone should place the card on their forehead (or walk showing the card, but not looking at their own card!) with the face of the card facing away from their heads
• Begin to mingle with each other but treat everyone based on the "face value" of their card. For example, low cards (2-5) don't get much attention or are avoided, mid-range cards (6-10) are treated with respect but not overly lauded, royal cards (J, Q, K, A) are the best of the deck--those cards are the ones you try to hang out with, treat well and are "super cool"
• Allow students to mingle for several minutes treating others based on face value. Call for their attention and then have students divide into groups based on how they have been treated, low cards, mid-range and royalty. Discuss how it doesn't take very long to figure out what "group" you belong to based on how people treat you.
• Ask members from each group why they felt like they belonged in that group and how people made them feel. Lead into a disucssion about the "Golden Rule" and how everyone should expect to be treated like royalty, but in return should treat everyone else like royalty as well, not as "low cards."
• Have students take the cards off their foreheads and check to see if they are correct in guessing which level card they have. After this activity you can easily lead into a bullying discussion where you identify and define what bullying is, types of bullying, why people bully, what to do if you see bullying or are bullied and how to avoid becoming a bully themselves.

At the end, always remind students that bullying stops with them. It has to be a personal and individual choice to make it stop and to treat all those around them as if they were all royalty cards.

Anti-Bullying Websites & Teaching Suggestions:
http://www.stopabully.ca/
http://www.pinkshirtday.ca/
http://www.stopbullying.gov/
http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=24700&tid=108
http://www.bullying.org/
http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/res/cp/res/bully-eng.aspx