As an fifth grade ELA teacher, one of the major assignments in my class each year is a research project. Research projects are a great way to introduce students to the discussion of reliable sources and primary versus secondary resources. One of my greatest concerns with any research project is the autonomy I am providing my fifth graders as they search the Internet for sources, images, and facts. Even with the strongest of filters, things can slip through the hands of an educator quickly. However, I have found technology that helps manage such searches, creating a much safer environment.

Here’s a small list of safe and effective tools for your upcoming research projects.

**1. Turn on the Safe Search in Chrome.**All bias thoughts aside, Chrome is my preferred browser. All the computers in my classroom have Chrome as the default browser. Chrome enables me to use a Safe Search feature with a simple on/off option. To lock your Safe Search, you simply log into your Google account and lock.

2. Provide students with reliable search engines. Since I strive to provide technology-rich projects, I want to provide students with the proper tools. One of those tools are reliable and safe search engines. There are several out there on the Internet, but my favorites are Kidtopia and KidRex. Both of these search engines are Google driven and loved by my fifth graders!

3. Use Pinterest as a research hub. To use Pinterest in my classroom, I set up a gmail and Pinterest account just for student use. Students can browse the selected pieces and collaborate on a group board. With the use of these accounts, students are provided with a mini-lesson on digital ethics. They are forewarned of the loss of internet privileges which are spelled out in their Computer Users Contract provided by our district. I have never had an incident where major consequences had to be enforced. In my opinion, my students are choosing to respect the integrity of their work environment because I am giving them the tools they love to use outside of the classroom.

There are many websites and teaching techniques that will ensure safety and reliability when it comes to using technology in the classroom. As technology continues to be a part of my students’ lives, I am forever researching better ways to use these tools in the classroom!

In order to learn something new, students need to obviously be motivated – but they also must feel safe. When learning how to drive a stick-shift, my instructor used to shrug when I stalled at stop lights. “It happens,” he would say. My previous instructor wasn’t so understanding, and as a result I stalled a lot more. As teachers we need to make sure students feel supported, even when they make mistakes. Here are a few tips for making sure all students feel supported when learning something new:

1) Be patient

Be ready for the learning process to take a little (or a lot) longer than you predict. Be patient and stay consistent in your teaching.

2) Set an example

It doesn’t matter how many times you say “It’s okay to make mistakes”, getting upset when you make a mistake sends the opposite message. Set an example by keeping your cool.

3) Take an evening class

Taking a class gives you insight into what it’s like to be in your students’ shoes. For example, I hate it when my night-school teachers choose my groups or partners for me. Not because I want to slack off with my buddies but because I am inhibited by working with strangers. You also forget how scary it is to have a new teacher and how long it takes to get comfortable.

4) Encourage humor

Try to add some humor to your lessons! When I teach digestion, I make ‘cat food’ out of Mars bars and orange jello. I force it through some tights/hose, while narrating the digestive system. When I’m done I lick my finger. Not only do students remember that lesson for a long time but it makes for a warmer atmosphere in class.

5) Help the bullies

Young people who victimize others are usually the ones that feel insecure. I had a class of students who would pepper the air with put-downs. I found out their strengths and praised them, as frequently as possible. As they grew in self-confidence, they attacked each other far less.

I hope you will share more ideas in the comments!

Have you ever sat down to write a report card, or tried to have a parent teacher conference, feeling very confident that you know how a student is doing, only to realize you don’t really have a way to show it? ClassDojo has made keeping track of behaviors very simple, but documenting learning is not an easy thing to do.

The best tool that I have found for documenting student work is Evernote (although I am sure there are others). The reason I like this tool is because it makes it really easy to document everything that happens in the classroom, including learning moments that aren’t always apparent in a final piece of work. I used this application with my fifth grade class this past year, and it was pretty life changing.

There is a bit of a learning curve, as with any new product you try, but it is worth the time it will take you to integrate this tool into your workflow. I recommend making a file, or a “note” for each student, including each project they are working on. As I started teaching my students a unit on persuasive writing, I made each student a “note” and captured all of our conferences in that note. Every time I met with a student I would take a picture of their work and write down the gist of our discussion. This ended up being invaluable in so many ways.

To sum up why Evernote helped me so much, I’ve narrowed it down to four major benefits:

1. When I would meet with each student, I would have a very clear idea about what they were working on, and I didn’t have to try figure out what they were doing at each meeting.

2. Grading was super easy because I had given so much feedback along the way, I was able to summarize all of the things we had already discussed.

3. Parents loved seeing concrete evidence of their child’s learning process (and they couldn’t do the work for their child at home!).

4. Documenting student work in this way emphasizes the importance of learning as a process, not a product, and it helps make the abstract very tangible.

Give it a try !🙂

I believe that people inherently want to do the right thing. This absolutely includes our students (although it sometimes might not seem like it). Most people like to know where they stand. We all like to know what is acceptable and what will get us into trouble. Students often test teachers in order to explore these boundaries. There is nothing worse than having a teacher leaping out to enforce rules and regulations that students were only dimly aware of.

Your students already know the rules

If your classroom’s rules are fair and clear, most students will be following them within a couple of months, if not before. I teach middle (and sometimes high) school. The students I teach have attended school for many years. They already know how to behave in a classroom. When I was their age, there was nothing worse than the first week of term when every single teacher’s first lesson was about their behavior expectations. I try to take a different approach. My first lesson is a real lesson, I teach them something. Then I decide if I need to tackle poor behavior or if they are already on track.

Seriously, they already know the rules!

Most of my colleagues ask students which rules they would like for their classroom. I have not done this since my first year of teaching when a 12 year old said “Miss, you’re the teacher. You tell us,” and would not accept my appeals that I wanted the class to have ownership. Anyway, the rules I would be asking them to ‘write’ are the standard “Listen to others, be respectful, be prepared for lessons” etc etc.

Beware the floating voters

Instead, choose five things that you want to see in your classroom, five things you want your students to do every lesson. And recognize them for it. Your major behavioral problems are not coming so much from the minority of children with behavioral special needs (although, of course those students are challenging), but from the floating voters. The children who need to see which way the wind is blowing before they act. If those children see that you appreciate their good behavior, they are much less likely to act up.

Consistency is not as big a deal as everyone says (sorry)

But, and this is a bit rebellious of me, don’t worry about consistency that much. Rewards are much more powerful when they are a bit unpredictable. Yes, students want you to be consistent and I’m not suggesting you should be actively unfair. But it is okay to forget to reward certain behaviors once in a while. Just as long as you get around to it the next time.

The ultimate goal is to be intrinsically motivated

You do not want to create adults who only do things because they will be praised or get 5 minutes of free time. You want adults who self-regulate their behavior because it is the right thing to do. Slowly start to wean your students off of extrinsic rewards towards the end of the year. See if they continue this positive behavior. If your students are doing the right thing without external motivation, then the rewards have served their purpose.

Is your administration pushing the use of exit tickets at your school? Even if they’re not, it’s something to consider. Running formative assessment during class requires preparation, management, and participation. But as with most things, having an easy daily routine can be a good way to work through some of those issues.

1. Find a web-based assessment resource that will export the data from your students’ answers into an Excel chart or some other useful format. Daily formative assessment is likely to fail if you are still the one stuck grading 30+ individual answers. If you’re in a 1:1 classroom, or if you have access to the computer lab, I’d recommend Kahoot. The great thing about this resource is that it somehow manages to be engaging and fun for every grade level. And it really is fun—try it with your colleagues at your next staff meeting and watch a room full of adults light up.
2. You can also use Socrative to issue short quizzes. This service also allows you to export data. Socrative takes just a few more minutes to set up than Kahoot does, but it offers a wider range of answering options (i.e. more than just multiple choice). Socrative even has templates and sample exit ticket questions already available for you to use.
3. If you have clickers (student response devices), you can plug a few questions into the clicker software each day and have your students follow the normal classroom procedures for using the clickers to answer. That data is stored in an exportable format too.
4. If you’re in a low-tech classroom, you can still have quizzes that are auto-graded. For instance, Mastery Connect—those guys who make the super-useful Common Core app—have a resource called the Bubble Sheet Scanner. Your students fill out a paper multiple-choice answer sheet. Then you hold their completed papers up to your computer’s camera, scan the papers, or download a free app for your iPad, and the software will automatically grade each quiz. Then all the data is still exportable to your grade book.

Give exit tickets a try to figure out where your students understand the curriculum and where they may be falling behind. It will help you intervene and remediate before it’s too late.

Thousands of classrooms across the country now have interactive whiteboards (IWBs) at the front of the room. Many teachers use these boards the same way they once used a pull-down screen and an overhead projector: to show transparencies and presentations. But the IWB can be so much more than that. Without much change in your classroom routine, you can use the IWB as a valuable tool for classroom management.

Controlling the IWB from the back of the room

It’s difficult to manage a classroom when your back is to your students. With a traditional chalkboard or whiteboard, you had no choice but to turn your back to the class while you wrote.

With an interactive whiteboard, there are apps that allow you to control your IWB from anywhere in the classroom. The champion in this area is Doceri. Doceri allows you to control your computer using an iPad. Hook your computer up to the IWB and control it remotely as you walk around the class.

In addition to simple controls, Doceri allows you to annotate over content on your computer. For example, if you want to model close reading of a website, you can underline, make notes, and highlight as needed. If you really want to write a lot on your iPad, it’s probably a good idea to invest in a stylus.

Use ClassDojo on the IWB

ClassDojo works great on the IWB. Project your class on the board and provide real time feedback on class behavior. It’s an easy way to run ClassDojo with only one computer and the IWB. And giving away points keeps individual students and small groups on task! Just make sure you have rewards ready (5-minute dance party, anyone?) for students who reach your benchmarks.

Using the IWB for small group time

The IWB isn’t reserved for whole class activities or presentations. If you have small groups of students rotating through activity stations around the room, try having one station be the IWB. You can create a self-paced activity in ActivInspire, have students annotate a text or fill in a graphic organizer, or work together to play a game or complete an online activity. Check out sites like PBS Kids, BrainPOP, or game directories to see what’s available. There’s probably something already created for your lesson.

How do you use the IWB for classroom management? Leave a comment and let us know!

Although it has been unintentional, I realize that my actions have led to families feeling disengaged from the school environment. This statement may cause some to be shocked, angry, or defensive — however, I believe it to be the truth (at least with regards to what I have experienced during my time as an educator).

Beginning as early as pre-school we start inviting families to come to school-based “meetings” to discuss behavior and academics. Instead of this experience being about working together for the student, I have noticed that these meetings often feel more like a lecture for the parent, as the school team members have typically met and dialogued before this meeting and appear very confident and clear on what it is they are about to tell this parent. If a student is considered “a behavior issue” or “low performing”, these meetings will likely take place with greater frequency, longer duration, more intensity, include more unknown acronyms, and quite possibly leave the parent feeling worse than they did pre-meeting. Unfortunately what began as a well-intentioned series of meetings from the school-team and a hopeful family needing assistance, over time, can result in a tired, frustrated and disengaged family.

It is now time for the student to enter high school, where he or she possibly requires a higher level of social, emotional, and academic support than his or her same-aged peers. The English teacher has concerns, attempts to call home, and the school team is shocked and can’t understand how those parents can be so unavailable to come in to a meeting with the school team?! I know that I have had those thoughts and even said those words more than once.

It is no longer acceptable for educators to say:

“The parents won’t come to a meeting.”

“I called three times, they clearly don’t care about supporting their child’s educational needs.”

“I would try and call, but it doesn’t matter. They won’t come anyway, and even if they do, nothing will change.”

I have realized that it is essential that as professionals, we stay at the table with our families and never stop trying to engage. It needs to be an unconditional process.

School, family, and community partnerships are critical to students’ academic, social, and emotional outcomes. These partnerships need to be nurtured. When we start working with a family, we don’t know what their own educational experiences have been. They could have been very negative, causing them to be hesitant to partner with educational entities. We also may not know their past experiences with their own children in school up to this point. If there is any information that we do have regarding this family, it is likely that it has been passed down by other school professionals, causing us to make assumptions without ever having personally listened to the parent’s story.

All parents want to see their students be socially competent, academically successful, and able to positively contribute to our society. If you see resistance from families in the engagement process with school entities, try and give them the benefit of the doubt that they ultimately do want what is best for their child. We have to actively work to engage our families and nurture strong partnerships for the benefit of our youth. This partnership is critical. Stay at the table and continue to engage.

Ideas to consider:

• Offer school materials in multiple languages to meet the demographic of your student/family population.
• Send home positive communication regularly — don’t wait for something bad to happen to chat with parents
• Offer to meet a family at a neutral site (i.e. coffee shop or library) to talk with them about school matters. This approach can take away negative feelings associated with the school, and may ultimately get them into the school building at a later point in time.
• Never stop trying to meet with a parent/family. Consider having meetings at times the family chooses, rather than the school team.
• Start a parent/family/community resource center. Allow there to be a safe place for these key stakeholders to come to school and receive information.
• Offer meetings quarterly for parents/families to learn about important school items/topics. Think of multiple opportunities/ways to invite parents/families to these events. Consider having dinner and childcare available to make it more likely that they can attend.
• Have a parent/family member on leadership teams throughout the building/district. Their voice is critical to our work.

Would love to hear your ideas for keeping parents engaged!

I went to a Catholic high school that had only become co-ed a few years before I attended. The boy to girl ratio was not yet balanced out, and the issue of gender bias became particularly evident in my 9th grade PE class when our teacher announced, “Boys will play football, girls can walk around the track and talk.” As a competitive gymnast, I wasn’t exactly thrilled to be told not to exert myself, and there were several boys who warmed the bench for the entire quarter having been dubbed too “unathletic” to participate. But no one complained because, as 14-year-olds, it was easier to just remain in our gender enclaves where we didn’t have to deal with each other, or even worse, consider identity issues. For younger students, it’s routine that they clump themselves together on playgrounds like penguins in the arctic, but this is all the more reason for teachers to aim for a more integrated classroom, uniting students rather than dividing.

Here are some ideas for how teachers can integrate and unify classrooms no matter what the gender ratios may be:

Establishing a unified classroom

It often takes a bit of effort to encourage students to feel comfortable working with classmates of the opposite sex. Consider setting up a boy-girl icebreaker activity early in the year that requires students to interview each other. Give boys opportunities to act as leaders in reading groups; give girls the same treatment when it comes to math. Demystify the gender divide by reading chapter books that feature boy-girl friendships: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson is an excellent book, as is December Secrets by Patricia Giff.

Seating assignments

Some teachers opt for a “girl-boy-girl” seating arrangement, but this again sends the message that there is something oddball about boys and girls naturally working together. Instead, consider seating students according to personality or interests. Introverted students can be supported by a nearby extrovert. Quiet students can offer appropriate reminders to a chatty neighbor. Seat sports fans near artists and gamers—everyone is sure to learn something new. Celebrating diversity can help facilitate conversation, cooperation, and friendship amongst many groups of students—not just boys and girls.

Classroom arrangement

Pay attention to those areas in your classroom with single-sex groups tend to congregate. The art table, the fish tank, science materials, Bosu ball, computer and iPad stations, and makerspaces are all areas that have the potential to divide and conquer. Consider moving stations, and encouraging students to share and rotate groups. Jigsaw activities, where student-experts present information to another group, are a great way to pique new interests and integrate groups. Finally, consider setting up stations so that they include gender-neutral materials; art stations don’t have to be all glitter and heart stickers, and building stations can easily include blocks and sets that don’t discourage girls from handling them.

Consider your own attitude

How often do we hear teachers saying, “Good morning boys and girls”? A simple change to, “Good morning class” sets the tone for unity. Consider how you treat a sensitive boy. Do you comfort him when he’s upset, or do expect that he learn how to handle his emotions on his own? When working with a take-charge girl, do you discourage her? Expect that she learn how to stop being so “bossy”? Do you give more attention to a compliant girl than to an energetic boy? Finally, remember to use gender neutral language and avoid generalizations. Always encourage students to do the same, and they will begin to follow your lead.

Have you ever attended an EdCamp? If the answer is no, you are missing out. On what you might ask? An innovative, sharing-based day of learning that will forever change your view on professional development. Typically held on Saturdays, educators meet up at a particular location and either present or attend sessions that focus on best practices in education. My first experience with this new type of professional development was in the summer of 2012 at EdCamp Leadership. It forever changed my view on how educators, including myself, should learn and share.

The first EdCamp ever held was in Philadelphia about five years ago. Fast forward to 2014 and there are hundreds taking place around the globe. The great thing about EdCamps is that they are free. Most EdCamps require participants to sign up in advance on their website just so they can get an accurate head count. After that, you simply show up, sign in, fill out your name badge, and make your way to the session board. What is the session board you might ask? It is a “living document” of sorts where attendees can take a peek at what sessions they could possibly attend. It’s important to remember that participants do not pre register for sessions at an EdCamp. You can attend any session you want. Also, if you have a sudden urge to hold a discussion on something you are passionate about, simply put your name and topic on a sticky note and place it on the session board.

Attending an EdCamp is a phenomenal experience. After the opening remarks and a bite to eat for breakfast, attendees can participate in sessions that spark their interest. What happens when you are sitting in a session that is not applicable to you as an educator? Simply stand up, walk out, and attend a session that is more suitable to your needs. I know, it seems awkward, it is actually something that makes the EdCamp experience special. For years educators, including myself, have attended educational conference sessions that are boring or irrelevant. And what do we do? We sit there for hours and leave the conference unfulfilled. As a response to this issue, EdCamps encourage participants to vote with their feet.

Typically, after attending 4 or 5 sessions and networking with many wonderful educators, participants get to experience a smack-down session. For about 30 minutes participants get up in front of the audience and share a best practice web tool that can be integrated in the school setting. Each person has about 90 seconds to present their resource and quickly explain it’s usefulness. As this is going on, one of the EdCamp organizers archives the resources shared on a spreadsheet that will ultimately be shared for all to enjoy. Door prizes and other educational goodies are also given out to bring the experience to a close.

The EdCamp experience is changing the educational landscape for the better — enabling teachers to collaborate by quickly sharing ideas across schools and districts. EdCamps are happening everywhere and provide educators with an experience that will last a lifetime. The people you meet, the resources shared, and the collaboration that takes place is memorable. I encourage other educators to find an EdCamp located near them and get involved!

Most of us are probably holding on to some super-fun activity that our students just love. Maybe it’s one that we’ve spent three years tweaking. As these new educational shifts encourage us to reflect on our practice we might start to think that perhaps the ratio of class time spent on an activity is not proportionate to student learning. Maybe the activity is actually more “hands-on” than “minds-on”. We may argue with ourselves that the activity is worth it when deep down we are questioning whether or not it is. Change is tough. We may say to ourselves that we’re smart, and it’s not like our intelligence is measured by our ability to change, or anything.

Except for the fact that a guy named Einstein once said, “Our intelligence is measured by our ability to change.”

Okay, so Einstein would probably say that we should adapt to the great many changes in the coming school year. But there are so many new standards, reforms, initiatives, and check-lists for teacher accountability, where do we start?

1. Embrace the changes and make it obvious

I’ve encountered some teachers who have fundamental disagreements with the changes occurring. I get it, especially if you’ve been teaching for a while. However, I would encourage all teachers to focus on the heart of the changes: more students learning more key information. Push through these changes with a positive attitude because students pick up on negativity. If they hear you bad-mouthing the new initiatives, they will be less bought-in and ultimately make your job more difficult. Find parts of the changes that you think are beneficial and share your enthusiasm with the students!

2. Get cozy with other content teachers

It can be easy for me to stay in my English teacher comfort zone, and I highly recommend designated planning time with same-content teachers. However, if we are trying to prepare students for the real world, we need to show them that all knowledge is interconnected. I might swing by the Social Studies teachers’ rooms and tell them we’re working on compound sentences. They promise to at least mention it in their classroom (ex. “I want your response to include two compound sentences”), and they’ll usually give me a nugget of information that I can mention in mine.

Posters work, too. In my English Classroom, I have the Standards for Math Practices on a poster, and we try to reflect on these at the end of class. This was confusing for the kids at first. I heard a lot of “Um, isn’t this an ENGLISH class?” Telling them that yes, it is, and yes, these practices are important for English shows that they are worth knowing.

Tip: Share what you’re doing on a Google Doc or weekly email. This is an easy way for teachers to support each other and share information freely.

3. Set high expectations

Treating your students like they’re at the next level by telling a kindergarten class, “today we’re going to be doing 1st grade work,” or a 10th grade English class, “some of my seniors are writing this type of essay, and I think you guys can handle it,” will create intrinsic buy-in and send a message that you expect only the best. Don’t pacify wrong answers with “Hm, well, you’re almost there, Trisha.” Tell Trisha that she is incorrect but that you want her to get the answer right, and then have her repeat the right answer. Call on students who aren’t raising their hands. Greet your students with a hand-shake. Use instructional technology to engage them with differentiated, high-level content that is complicated and interesting to them. Assign authentic projects that hit twelve objectives in a single bound but have to do with real-life.

4. Print out your standards and use it as a checklist

Student learning is the ultimate goal, and the standards are a road-map to student achievement on the part of their path that is our classroom. I’ve seen great teachers at my school who have printed it out and posted the CCSS on the wall of their room. Some even have a student put a tally-mark next to each standard as the students complete some sort of assessment (not necessarily paper/pencil test) on it. What a great idea to show the students what they’re accomplishing! To get student buy-in, though, you have to have a positive attitude towards the standards, going back towards #1 on this list. If you’re excited, they’re excited!

Note: following and checking off the standards should not be looked at as a way to impede creativity. it’s an organized way of achieving the standards — this can be done in a variety of creative ways!

5. Involve the Community

At the beginning of the year, I send home a letter to my parents with an outline of our units and a brief survey of what they do professionally or who they know that might be willing to contribute to our classroom. You never know who could come in as a guest speaker, who works with a organization in need of solving a problem, who needs a Public Service Announcement written for their cause. If you find that no one has any real connections, inviting parents into the classroom for productions, lab displays, or as professional panel judges for presentations puts the pressure on students to do their best, can involve parents in the success of the child, and creates a support system that is not easily broken.

I’m sure there are plenty of other things that can be added to this list, and I’d love to hear your ideas below! What’s your plan for adapting to the upcoming changes this school year?