Summertime and the Reading's Easy

It's about that time, y’all!

The school year is almost over!  We are so close, I can almost SMELL the beach from here!

So, it’s time for my annual summer reading list. You definitely don’t have to read the same book I AM, but I do recommend that you find SOME books to read, preferably the kind you don’t have time to read during the school year.

I fully admit to being academically “tired” during the year and reading mostly flaky stuff. But in the SUMMER, my brain is less worn out and more fresh. It’s a great time to read some “real” books while I have a little distance from the school day and school year. It’s easier to get through “real” books in the summer.

It’s important to do your OWN summer PD your OWN way, and reading books to refresh your thinking and practice is a great way to do that.

Read on the plane.

Read at the beach.

Read on your couch.

Listen in your car.

It doesn’t matter WHERE or WHEN, just read!

So, here is my book list for Summer 2019!

1. These Kids Are Out Of Control: Why We Must Re-imagine Classroom Management for Equity by H. Richard Milner IV et al.  admit to having this one already downloaded and ready to go! So many of us struggle with classroom management. And we also struggle with equity and how to use/apply/cultivate it effectively. And maybe some of us have noticed that the teachers with the best relationships with kids, with the strongest equity practices -- have fewer classroom management issues. Let’s work on figuring this out together! (PS -- If I love this book as much as I think I will, I’d like to do it as a book study in the fall. Who’s with me?)
2. Why Learn History (When It’s Already on Your Phone)? By Sam Wineburg. I admit, I’m already a couple chapters into this one. It’s pretty brutal, leaving no sacred cows alone. Roasting Howard Zinn, TAH grants, Bloom’s Taxonomy, George Washington, Google, pretty much all assessments of the past 100 years, and lots of other things I generally like and think highly of, Wineburg shoots right through all that stuff to the heart of teaching history and to historical thinking. And, despite me really being a fan of things like George Washington, the TAH, and Bloom, this book is amazing so far. It really gets past all the pieces to the Big Question: Why do we teach history to kids, and how can we do that better?
3. The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation by Jonathan Hennessy. This year, I have two graphic novels on my list, in an attempt to see if and how I can use them with students next year. The first is a graphic novel of the US Constitution -- which should be wonderful for students struggling to read and get engaged in Civics & Gov. Imagine giving it to a struggling reader to give him or her a little background before jumping to the actual text of the actual constitution! That could be a great scaffold!
4. The Odyssey, A Graphic Novel by Gareth Hinds looks promising, too! I admit that my third grader read it and found nothing objectionable (and she still gets outraged by the “h” word -- hell). But I don’t know how I would use it -- yet. I have to actually read it to think through that.
5. The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge. This book blew my mind. I’m not much of a scientist -- and definitely not knowledgeable enough to be a NEUROSCIENTIST, but this book was practical and easy to understand and explained SO MUCH about our world, about education, about our kids and ourselves. It really amazed me with it’s readability and about how much useful stuff I got out of it!
1. *Caveat: there is a chapter about human sexuality in there. It has nothing to do with teaching social studies, but don’t be shocked when it is in the book. That’s not why I am recommending the book. It's the rest of the book that I recommend!
6. Beneath A Ruthless Sun: A True Story of Violence, Race, and Justice Lost and Found by Gilbert King (author of The Devil in the Grove. This is another important, powerful book about racial terror in Florida. You will see the familiar Willis McCall reappear in this book. It looks like an emotionally difficult read, but I can handle that in the summer.
7. Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About The World by Tim Marshall. I am so intrigued, I can’t help myself. Which maps, in particular, explain everything about the world? I have no idea. But I plan to read and find out!  

How about you? What’s on your teacher summer reading list? Want to read one on my list and talk about it via email?Or over fruity beachy beverages? Want to share what YOU plan on reading? Or tell me what you thought of a book?

Email me! I love to know! newmantr@pcsb.org

-Tracy

Thank U, Next

I realize that I am too old to listen to Ariana Grande but I do anyway. I refuse to be the kind of person who stopped listening to new music when grunge died.

If you are too old to listen to Ariana Grande, too, you might have missed the song, “Thank U, Next” where she sings to all of her exes and tells them what she learned from them and how ready she was/is to move on from them.

At this point in the school year, you may be ready to say “Thank U, Next” to this year’s group of kids. Some years, I remember feeling that way in February.

“Thanks, kids. Is it time for next year yet? Or at least, is it time for summer yet? When will these children be GONE?!?!?!”

What I really want to focus on, is the ability to learn from anyone who crosses your path -- including the students.

I know THEY are supposed to learn from YOU. But I think you can learn a lot from them, too.

The best way to do that is through an end-of-the-year survey.

Sure, your students have been annoying and ... REALLY annoying ... and some of them have been dishonest or unpleasant or bewildering or even outright nasty.

But you will be surprised at how many of them will be honest and helpful on a survey like this. Sometimes even the toughest kids might open up on this sort of thing.

You can survey them on paper. You can survey them digitally. You can survey them pre-printed (does anyone have any copies left?!) You can survey them on index cards, or with QR codes or on their phones or on plain old notebook paper or in OneDrive or Google Docs or on scantron.

It’s a great thing to do on one of those weird days when you see one group for three hours and the other for 15 minutes.

But just do it.

What  should I ask on a survey?

It depends on what you want to know and where you want to grow....

Here is a huge pile of questions. DON’T ask them ALL! Choose the 5-10 you most want to know about and ask those. You can gear them more toward your management, your lesson planning, your learning activities or your emotional support.

• Which unit was the most interesting to you this year?  
• Why was this unit the most interesting to you?
• Which way did you learn the most? (then, give options like “reading”, “group work”, “projects”, “graphic organizers”, etc.)
• Why do you think these ways were the best?
• If you could go back and start the year/semester over again, would you do anything differently? Why or why not?
• What was the best part of this class?
• What was the worst part of this class?
• What could I have done to teach you better?
• What did I do that was the most helpful to you?
• What was the most important thing you learned this year?
• What could I have done to improve this class?
• What will you remember most about this class?
• What else do you want to tell me about this class?
• Name something that made it hard for you to learn this year.
• What should your teacher do differently next year?
• Did you feel challenged this year? Why or why not?
• How has your confidence in _________ (subject) improved this year?
• What is one piece of advice that you would share with a student who is entering this class next year?
• Did you feel as though I had high expectations of you?
• Explain a time in class in which you were able to overcome a struggle.
• Finish this sentence: “If Mr./Ms. ______ only knew __________________”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.

Kids are surprisingly insightful and honest on these things.

I know you are end-of-the-year exhausted, but this is totally worth the 5 minutes it will take to pick your favorite questions from above and put them in the format of your choice.  

Your kids will surprise you.

In a good way.

Have any great survey questions I missed? Email me at newmantr@pcsb.org

Dear Future Self

Dear Future Self,

I wrote some notes to you on my lesson plans from this week but you will have no idea what they mean. They were hurried and cryptic. When you try to teach this lesson next year, you will struggle to remember what you did with this lesson.

Did we read this independently or out loud? What reading strategy did we do? How did it work out? Did you have to change it midway through 2nd period? Did they learn it well? Did you have a good processing activity?

Future Self, I apologize for just tucking this reading in a folder with the a sticky note that has 3 words on it. I realize that you are now having to re-create this lesson and that you can’t tell how well or how much the kids learned the last time you did it.

I apologize for not fixing the typos or unclear directions on this handout. I apologize for not making a note about the awesome lesson fix I discovered during 4th period that took the lesson from “ok” to “awesome”.

Dear Future Self, have fun recreating this lesson and doing it Groundhog Day Style -- making the same mistakes as before.

Sorry ‘bout that!  Good luck!

-Love, Me-From-The-Past

* * * * * *

I don’t know about you all, but I am not always the best supporter of Future Me. Future Me would be a lot happier if I ate healthier, exercised more, saved more money, didn’t procrastinate, cleaned out the fridge more often, and flossed more regularly.

One of the ways I can help out Future Me is to make notes about how lessons went this year, so I have something to go off for next year!

There’s nothing worse than being halfway through a lesson and suddenly remembering that it bombed last year. Now what do we do?

It sure helps to reflect in writing so you can save your Future Self some hassle.

There are several ideas about how to do this.

1. If you type your lesson plans, go back into that document and highlight stuff that went well and strikethrough things that went poorly. Or, type in your thoughts into another column or box so you can see it next year. Then, you have to get in the habit of looking at last year’s lessons when your Future Self writes the new ones.
2. You can keep a document to yourself in each folder (digital or IRL) of a unit and jot down your thoughts as you go through the unit.
3. If you hand-write your lessons, go back and add another piece of paper or a couple sticky notes. Put your handouts and thoughts in the same folder to reference next year.
4. Grab a notebook or calender and keep it by your desk (or better yet, somehow keep it by your door). Then, as you stand at your door between classes, you can multitask and jot down a few thoughts under the date.

Now -- here’s the hard part!

Making sure your Future Self can understand the notes you write!

Make sure you don’t assume that you will remember the context 52 weeks from now. Make that context explicit.  Try some of these ideas:

• Don’t call it ”the  video”. Make sure to note what video you used.and what you had the kids do with it . Copy the actual link and the length of the video.
• Instead of saying “read section and did questions”, tell your Future Self that you read the section out loud and that the kids answered #1-3, 5, and 8 and that Question #8 was your formative assessment for the day.
• If you found a discussion question or a turn and talk prompt particularly great, make sure to write that down!

I know that different teachers write lesson plans differently -- but it might be what we write AFTER we teach the lesson that might be more valuable to us next year.

How do you tell your Future Self about how your lessons went? Do you do it at all? How can you streamline your post-lesson notes to make your Future Self more awesome?

As always, I love to hear! Email me at newmantr@pcsb.org

Five Review Games to Play with Cheap Dry Erase Cubes

Y’all know I love me some deals, right?  

Well here is the deal for you!

I have seen these dry-erase cubes at Dollar Tree (no, I’m not afraid to give a shout out to the popular destination of broke teachers everywhere!). I have seen them off and on all year and now that we are in the season of Review Games, I thought it might be a great chance to bust them out.

Note: Amazon has ones that are nicer but pricier. Your choice!

Anyway, let’s talk about what to DO with these cheap little toys!

*Pro Tip: for these to work with minimal hassle, you probably want a thin-line dry erase marker AND you want to ask the dice rollers to touch the colorful parts of the dice (not smudging the dry-erase parts)

Here are Five games I came up with that can use the Dry Erase Cubes.  Can you think of any more?

1. 3 Branches Cubes: Write the three branches on the first cube (twice for each branch) and write categories of things kids will need to know about each branch (like “who?”, “one responsibility of the branch”, “term lengths”, “requirements”, “check another branch” and” how do they get the job?” on the six sides of the dice.

Put your kids in teams and give each team a dry erase board, a dry erase marker, and a paper towel. Have a different kid each time roll the dice and have the teams race to answer what the dice combination says, like “legislative term lengths” or “judicial - how do they get the job?”

2. Document Cube: Write the following questions on the cube: “Who wrote it (1pt)” “when was it written (1pt)”, “Why was it written” (2pts), “what’s the main idea” (3pts), “Causes” (2pts) “effects” (2pts).

Now, put an excerpt of a document on the screen or smart board. Have a kid roll the dice and everyone tries to answer as quickly as possible on their paper. Or, have each team have a dice and each team does something different with the document.

*Pro tip: if you’re going to play this game regularly, you might print up a sticker label and put it on the cube so it doesn’t get smudged and you don’t have to keep rewriting these!

3. Full Year Review: Put the name of each of six units on one cube (like Rome, Greece, India, Egypt, Israel, and Mesopotamia). Put a common topic from each unit on the other cube (like, important person, cultural achievements, geographic boundaries, traded with..., inventions, and underrepresented groups). Then, have the kids roll the dice in a small group and say (or find in their notes?) something that addresses both dice -- like “underrepresented groups in Rome were...  the plebians and slaves”.

4. One Cube:  Use one cube to distinguish between several parts of a single topic, like “political parties (with a different political party on each side), or influencing government (with two sides each that say “media”, “individual”, “interest group”.  Or, you could label the one cube with the parts of the florida and US constitutions (preamble, articles, amendments) and have the kids tell what’s the same or different with the US and Florida constitutions about that particular part.

5. Matching: I’m not a huge fan of matching, but it could get fun with four dice. Put the amendment topic/text on one cube and the number on another. Have them roll one dice to start and then keep rolling the other until they get the match.

I freely admit to having a tough week. I’m not sure that these are my best ideas. Can anyone come up with any more great dry-erase cube games? Please share! We all need new ideas at this point in the year!

BTW -- happy May! This is it -- the last month of school! You (and we) can make it! The end is in sight!

Have a great week!

-Tracy