Fast Llama's Running with SEL

 Fast Llamas,

Hey all, what great weather we have had this weekend!  I am sitting outside this morning, enjoying a good cup of coffee and listening all the sounds!  My house sits under Continental Airport flight path... I am starting to hear more and more airplanes fly over... this is good I think.  

We had started "What Makes Schools Great" with Doug Curry, and we will get back to that soon... but, since I attended training, I wanted to share this information with you.  The following information addresses Doug's core ideas about what makes a school great and aligns perfectly:

1. Belief

2. Relationships

3. Clear Expectations

4. Systems in that allow students to learn self-regulation and autonomy

Practices that make school great is the vehicle to help students develop socially and emotionally and achievement will come along for the ride.

This past week I attended the Learning Leader Institute.  The institute was hosted by RTI and focused on Social and Emotional Learning.  My day was focused on SEL and academic rigor.  The learning for the day was grounded in CASEL'S SEL Framework.  (they have a great Twitter feed if you are interested in more from them @caselorg). 

You can also find more info on their website.  www.casel.org

What's interesting is a lot of schools focus on SEL during advisory time or create lessons for students to focus on different aspects to help their social and emotional growth.  At Labay, we use the 8 Keys of Excellence and Living Above the Line to align with CASEL's Competencies as ways to help students learn skills to/be:

1. more self aware - do they know the impact of their own behavior?

2. develop self-management - can they choose how to respond in ways that makes situations better?

3. develop social awareness - can they interact with others positively? 

4. develop social skills - resolve and communicate in positive ways

5. responsible decision making - learning to make wise choices

Fast llama's know their impact on student growth is beyond our content. We are helping to educate and thus raise generations of students.  This is an opportunity, not an obligation to show students the ways of success.  To model how successful people live their lives.  We do a lot of different activities using the 8 Keys, but, we can always do more and be more effective in our practices.  

That's when I got hit with a thought.  While it is a good idea to focus on lessons on how to develop CASEL's Competencies in our students, we are most powerful when it is integrated into the daily instructional practices happening bell to bell in our classrooms.  Most, if not all of the practices I will be sharing, are ALREADY being done in the classroom,  let's add the "why" and put a label on them to help level up your current teaching methodology and pedagogy.  We can always do better.  Like I told a newbie  teacher just the other day, "my personal growth goal ALWAYS focused on classroom management. Every year, I worked on building better relationships, getting faster at systems and building student autonomy, because a new group of students arrived every August and I had to adapt my practices to meet them where they were." I could also get better as I attended training and adopted new ideas, sometimes replacing my old ways with new innovation.  

Let's dive deeper over the next couple of weeks into Instructional and Social Teaching Practices that impact students.  You will find, many of the practices, you have already been using on the daily.  Some you may reflect on how well you are attending to and some you can put into practice.  Remember, adopt what you need, adapt to make it yours and replace what is not working with what can make improvements.  

Teacher Language and Warmth and Support:

We were just talking about this a couple of blogs (How to be a Slow Llama part 1 and 2) ago.  Fast llama teachers understand the power of Teacher Language (both in what we say, how we say it and how it looks (body language)).  How we talk to students becomes part of a students internal monologue.  Teachers should encourage effort, focusing on the things students did to do well on an activity.  Teachers can encourage student reflection on monitoring and regulating their own behavior.  Classroom Agreements go a long with with this idea, where we share and agree upon how we behave in the classroom.  Warmth and Support are demonstrated with students when we have Home Court Advantage, (HCA) where our classrooms are places of safety, support and belonging.  Build rapport with students by asking about their lives, being attentive to their needs, providing anecdotes from their own lives that show times when they were struggling themselves and came through.  Allow student input to systems and procedures and share students academic work.  Work hard at showing students your appreciation for their efforts and celebrate their successes. 

Home Court Advantage

Procedures for supporting the educational risk students encounter will go a long way in getting students to feel safe in your class include:

1. collaboration: allowing students time to answer a question, then discuss with a partner to clear up any misconceptions before they volunteer answers, using this technique also builds peer to peer rapport

2.  develop systems for when a student is speaking, other students turn to face them and listen

3.  be attentive to your question and answer procedures with students, using eliciting techniques to allow students to stretch responses "how so, tell me more, give me another example", especially if they are not on the right track

4. wait time - allow students time to think 

5. avoid rounding up - don't finish students answers for them, allow them time to talk

6.  celebrate with classroom whooshes and other novel responses that involve the whole class

7. develop responses for yourself to use when students are incorrect and systems in place to get other students to help out

Utilizing teaching practices that incorporate SEL with purpose allows students to make better and successful choices.  This is life-long learning stuff here!  

See you next week!

What Makes Schools Great

Fast Llama's,

Are you finding yourself looking at the calendar and counting?  Yes, there are two weeks left in April and then... 

My friend Courtney sent this to me the other day!  So funny, yes, the hardest school year on record is winding down... I am always wary of "counting down" with students.  It can send a message that we don't like our jobs or them... I like to think of it as 7 weeks to make a difference... That's it!  Enough time to still make a difference in a kids life... I don't take that lightly.  

I also never think it is too late to get better... If you are struggling with your classroom, now is not the time to throw in the towel. Middle schoolers are very spongy and flexible.  They will do whatever you want them to do if you go about it the right way.  Let's sail through to June with a strong finish.

I share with you part 1 of Doug Curry's "What Makes Middle Schools Great". The link to the whole resource is here.

Here's Doug:

There is nothing better than walking inside a great middle school or high school. There is nothing worse than walking inside a not so great middle school or high school. Doing what I do, which is making the world safe for llamas, allows me to go inside a whole lot of schools in a whole lot of different parts of the country. 

Before I go any farther with this, let me say that the main thing that I see in my travels is just how dedicated and hard working the teachers of this country are! 

Oh my gosh! I get so angry when the media or anyone for that matter tries to portray teachers in a negative light. Ok, I am quite sure that occasionally a bad egg slips into this profession. But I am telling you, no matter what schools I see, I see teachers busting their tails to do what is right for the kids that they work with every day. I will scream that from the highest rooftop for the remainder of my days!  

Teaching is hard! Anyone who wants to criticize the teachers of today should be made to spend significant periods of time trying to do what teachers do. This goes for critics and lawmakers as well. Even when I enter a “questionable” school, inevitably it is made up of very caring teachers. So why are some middle schools and high schools great and others are shall we say, not so great? 

Here’s the good news: 

This is not rocket science! 

This is not brain surgery! 

Or, as I have heard a comedian say, “This is not rocket surgery!” 

In other words, the ones that are not so great can make a real change for the better in a relatively short time period just by emulating a few key characteristics of the good ones. 

So why haven’t the not so good ones already copied the great ones and done what I am about to tell you? Gee, while simple, that sometimes gets kind of complicated. We tend to make things harder than they already are. The truth is also that in the year 2020 the world is very difficult, and middle school and high school students are living in this very difficult world. It therefore makes our jobs, you got it, very difficult. But not impossible. I’ll say it again. Not impossible. You are not powerless. 

The Llama Guy’s #1 Tip for a Great Middle School or High School Are you ready? 

Is your mind open and ready to listen? Can you get rid of all of the clutter in your mind in order to accept this? For a moment, can you put away all of the incredible pedagogy that you have studied and accept a simple truth from a very simple man? 

Here goes: A successful middle school or high school is one in which the adults have the belief and carry out this said belief that 100% of the time they will lovingly, relationally, courageously, and consistently put themselves in positions of being in the business of their students at all times. Not for a moment will students under the watch of their school go unsupervised (except maybe when they relieve themselves). 

They will have systems in place that allow for constant supervision of everything and allow for the adults to monitor students at all times, and when necessary, “intervene” (also known as lovingly and relationally “hassling”) students who are in need of that type of intervention.

 In other words, these schools realize that even though the students appear to be much larger than 1st graders, they still need the same type of supervision, care, and loving direction that we provide to our 1st graders. So do we treat them like 1st graders? 

No! In fact they need much closer supervision and loving feedback than most 1st graders require. 

 Don’t agree with me on these points? That’s totally okay. I just may not want to walk down the halls of your school during passing period. 

 Just last week I was in a high school outside of Detroit, Michigan. I was in the hallway as students were scurrying to 1st period in order to be on time. A young lady, who I learned was a kind of administrative assistant, was standing at the intersection of two hallways during this time of transition. She appeared to be very happy, cheerful, and glad to be at school. She stood not against the wall, but in a rather prominent position in the hallway so that students would inevitably have to see her as they passed. I stood in awe as she called the name of every single student who passed by as she greeted them. 

She knew the name of every single student. Most of her interactions were cheerful greetings or questions as to how a student’s evening had gone, or something family related and so on. Even though she could not have been more than 5 feet tall, her posture and her confident presence gave the impression that she was much taller when she cheerfully but forcefully encouraged a few students to “step it up” in order to get to class. As I went further down the hallway, I noticed that without exception, at every open classroom door an adult was standing well into the hallway, doing exactly what the administrative assistant had been doing. There were lots of high fives and back slapping going on, again with the adults knowing the name of every student. There were no students in the hallway who were out of the reach of the eyes of a loving and caring adult who not only knew their names, but had no problem in instantly redirecting them if needed. 

Wow! 

There it is! 

It's interesting that I started noticing how two of my colleagues, Kay McDowell and Katie Woodworth can name kids so quickly in the cafeteria during lunch.  I am super envious... I remembered when I was in the classroom, how hard I worked at learning names quickly.  For me, it took effort!  I am applying this same effort starting Monday.  (See it is never too late to start).  My goal is to learn names of kids in the hallways and cafeteria as quickly as I can.  I am super excited with this new challenge.  Never again will I let myself go this long without learning the names of all the students.  It can be done and I am ready.

See you next time!

I am a Fast Llama and a QL Teacher

Hello Llama's!

Today is one of those days when I have so much to share that I am having a hard time choosing what to write.  So, I am going to share this link, right now! It is a link to an article written in Doug  Curry's "Free Resources", website.  It's long, and I intend at some point to break it down into sections as I have in the past... but, gosh, what if you wanted to read it right now?  True to Doug's writing style, 14 pages goes by in a flash (there's lots of pictures and he uses big font!) since he writes as if he is talking to you in the room... 

Here is the conclusion to the article:

Do you want to know what the good ones look like? [he is talking about a good middle school]

• Passing periods are loud. Kids are happy. All teachers are at their doors. All administrators are visible. It’s boisterous, but it seems happy and under control. There are not large mobs of kids. Teachers are right in the middle of any situation. There are lots of positive interactions occurring. You feel safe walking along. Kids are quick to greet you and ask if you need help. 

• When classes start, the hallways are clear. If a student appears in the hallway, you can see that the student has a clearly marked pass of some kind. If the student does not have the pass, an adult is quick to ask the student for one. 

• Adults appear energetic. You can sense their feeling of efficacy. We are not powerless. We know that our school will be what we want it to be. 

• Meaningful and engaging learning is going on in every classroom from bell to bell. 

The world’s a little more crazy every day.  However, these kids did not choose this world. They deserve the same chance that you and I had in order to live successful lives, and a loving, safe, and engaging school is a right.  

Doug Curry gave me the strength to stop "putting my head in the sand" in terms of addressing misbehavior because he empowered me with strategies, skills and confidence. He gave me strength to be myself...

Before I moved away from Cy-Fair back in 2013, my classroom was entrenched with Quantum Learning strategies.  But, when I moved to Amarillo, my teaching techniques came under the scrutiny of my colleagues.  I kept hearing excuses, "oh, we tried that and it doesn't work, the students won't like that, the students won't respond, that will could never be me..." etc, etc, etc. Teachers would stop by my door and question me all the time... I felt intimidated and finally shamed for doing the things I that were really a part of who I was as a teacher.  

QL teachers are different.  We approach the Foundation, Atmosphere, Environment and the Design and Delivery of our classroom as a whole system of interchanging parts.  We know the impact we have on student learning, both emotionally and cognitively.  

I hear that sometimes now, after a presentation, that I will be told, "I could never dance around, stand on a chair or chant, like Tracy.  It's just not me", or "I thought QL was all about laughing and dancing, but now I know it impacts relationships, teaches character and builds students capacity to learn and retain information."   But, Quantum Learning is a deeper understanding of the brain and how it learns, content AND social skills, it's much much more that dancing, plants and lights. I am a shy extrovert. It takes a lot of courage for me to do the things I do, but, I do those things for the kids I teach.  

Here's an example of a shaming moment I experienced:

Background:  When I taught Moon Phases, on the very first day I would wear a baseball jersey, baseball pants and ball cap.   I would carry a bat and have a baseball on hand.  I stood in my threshold greeting kids with this outfit on while John Fogerty's Centerfield was playing.  There were pennants decorating the room.  For the lesson, students would place the changing phases on a baseball diamond field. 

Home Plate is the New Moon

First Base is the First Quarter

Second Base is the Full Moon

Third Base is the Last Quarter

When you are on first base, you are on the right side of the diamond, first quarter moon - light is on the right.  You get the gist... 

Okay, so this day arrives to teach Moon Phases at my new school and I set up my room as always.  Except, this day is also a faculty meeting, the first faculty meeting since I have arrived.  (I started my new role in January)

True to form, I do not remember that there is a faculty meeting until late in the day... But, in my mind, it's just a meeting after school.  I did not know I would be introduced to the faculty as the new hire, replacing the 8th grade science teacher who had left in December.  

Do you know what is coming?  

I get introduced in a baseball uniform (worst is I am in Ranger country, and yep, I am wearing an Astro's jersey).  I'll stop there and let you visualize the stares and weird looks I got.  

In that moment, I stopped... QL teaching stopped in my classroom for months.  I stayed low, I stayed below the radar.  I quit being "weird". I got tired of teachers poking their heads in my rooms and questioning me, I kept having to explain why I did the things I did.  There was a lot of eye rolling and retorts - "good luck with that".

I ended the school year miserable.  Lost

In AISD, if you fail your core subjects (or STAAR), you had to attend summer school. But, your school hosted your own students.  STAAR students retook the test for the third time, I think at the end of June.  It was really good pay and was only a half day so I signed up.  I taught Science and Social Studies to a handful of students. Two other teachers taught math and reading.  It was an easy gig.  (my last year to be at this school, I ended up being the 'Principal' for summer school) Great experience in the end.  

It was during this time that I attended Doug's "How to Train an Llama" session. (I needed the PD hours) The next day, I came back to my classroom, sat at my desk and just reflected. It was summer and the students hadn't arrived, the school was silent.   I remember, looking to the right, looking to the left of my classroom.  You know that time, when your classroom is empty and you can feel the potential energy in the room.  With astonishment I said out loud, "my classroom will be whatever I want it to be".  

And it was...

Your classroom can be whatever you want it to be as well.  So, can your school as a whole.  It takes effort and confidence.  But, you are in control.  Never feel ashamed for standing on the side of hope, for never quitting on kids, to keep trying new things, to keep showing up and being yourself.  Check out the link above for some ideas of what taking control of your school looks like.

If someone asks why you do what you do?  TELL them... you are helping them get faster!  The best PD is often the teacher down the hall.  Share your knowledge and never be ashamed.  

I am a Fast Llama and Quantum Learning Teacher...

Fast Llama Resources

Fast Llamas!

We are back!  Part 4 in our series using Doug Curry's free resources... "Making School Fun".  

Here's the link to access all of the great things, Doug Curry offers.  Today we will talk about individual awards.  Here's Doug...

Individual Rewards 

There are a number of ways to reward students individually. 

1. Coupons Create your own type of coupon: 

Coupons such as these may be given out for practically anything: good behavior, good choices, a nice paper, a kind act, etc. 

 Set a target number. For example, once students get a total of 50 Curry Coupons, they may trade them in for a prize or activity. 

2. Classroom Management System Rewards 

If you use some type of classroom management system, for example a clip chart, or a card system, or even class Dojo, it is very easy to set a standard in which students are rewarded for good behavior. Be careful to make this age appropriate. 

Let’s say it’s a 7th grade class. Every day that a student ended the day with no discipline issue (no yellow card), the student could earn a point for that day. This could simply be kept on a spreadsheet of some kind. Once the student reached a total of 20-25 days, the student would qualify for your reward. Again, this should be age appropriate as to the number of days. 

So………What Kinds of Rewards? 

To start with, here is a school-wide reward system that could be easily modified for the classroom. I don’t take credit for this one. I learned about it years ago, and it is a great reward due to the layers of complexity and randomness built into it. 

Thus it becomes a great reward for middle school and high school kids. 

Welcome to the Principal’s 200 Club, which could easily be renamed and used in your classroom. 

Principal’s 200 Club 

The Principal’s 200 Club is a system for recognizing great student behavior.

1.You need a bulletin board or display with 200 spaces in the form of a rectangle. Each space should be numbered (1, 2, 3,…) 

2. Create your own master for a special certificate. Include a place for student’s name, teacher’s name, date, and brief description for why the student is receiving the award. 

3. Decide how you “stick” the student names on the bulletin board. As in the above picture, student names can simply be written on a white board, but these would be easily erased. 

4. Get 200 wooden discs (the kind you can purchase at as hobby store). Number each disc from 1-200. Have a special sack (with a drawstring) in which to keep the discs. 

5. Decide on what prizes you will use for each student who receives a certificate. These are not your grand prize, but need to be something that students will like. 

Procedure 

1.Train all of your adults regarding how you plan to use the Principal’s 200 Club. 

2. Each day put 2 blank certificates in the boxes of 4 adults. Keep a record of which adults have received a certificate. This will mean that 8 students per day will receive this award. 

3. Each adult will decide which students to award the certificates. 

It can be for anything you like: great consistent behavior, a change for good in behavior, etc. This is a great time to target some of those students who don’t always receive public recognition.

 4. As each student receives a certificate, have the student come to the office with the certificate. Train all of the front office staff to make a big deal of this! 

5. The student gets a prize. The student also reaches into the bag and pulls out a number. The student’s name is placed on the bulletin board on the corresponding number. 

6. Have the principal or assistant principal to call the parents of the student to deliver the good news. Be sure that this call is made before the day is over! 

7. The next morning, be sure and announce the names of the 8 students who were chosen.

8. Keep an eye on the big board. You are looking for a pattern of at least 10 names in a perfect row-either up and down, horizontal, or diagonally. Once this happens, the 10 students who are in that row win the Big Prize.

9. Once the Big Prize is obtained, take down all of the names and start again. Again, this can be easily modified to be a classroom reward. Kids love this one!

Here's more ideas:

Drawing from the Box (or Sack) 

Do you want to bring the thrill of the casino into your classroom without getting arrested? Then this idea is for you! This is a fairly easy way to give out prizes. It will absolutely mesmerize students. The best way to describe this is to torture you into watching the following video clip of me actually explaining this when we used this with an entire school. You will see that half the battle is in how you market this! 

Rewards of Chance Come up with something that takes a certain amount of skill. Kids love to perform in front of their peers to see if they can master a challenge of some sort. 

Shooting at the Trash 

Can All you need is a ball and a trash can. Mark off a distance that accurately provides a degree of difficulty along with a fair chance, and you have yourself a great challenge! 

Wheel of Fortune Puzzle 

Just replicate the final round of Wheel of Fortune. 

Putting 

This was a big one in my classroom! I built a putting cup. Nowadays you can purchase a practice putting green that will do the job. 

Just put up a little basketball goal and backboard in your room. 

Jazzing Up Class Dojo 

If you use Class Dojo (https://www.classdojo.com), here are some ways to make it more interesting:

 • Have teams of students. Have a team captain. This way the teams can work together to earn team points on things such as problem solving, having the neatest area, best behaved, etc. 

• The teams can work together on special challengers: things such as riddles, puzzles, and other difficult problems. 

Star Row 

Do you want to have a better dismissal at the end of the day? The row or table that is the very best at the end of the day (quietest, neatest, straightest, etc.) gets a small trophy placed on it when the bell rings. This row or table is known as Star Row. Tomorrow morning when the students enter the room and begin to work, this row gets to do something fun or special for a few minutes. 

Star of the Day 

Every day at the end of the day, name one student as the Star of the Day. Display the student’s name in a prominent place in the room. Give the student a certificate and a small gum or candy. 

Mr. Curry Bingo (Insert your own name) 

Every Friday (or every other Friday, or however you see fit), we play Bingo for 20 minutes using our Math facts, vocabulary words, or any thing we are learning. Who plays Bingo? Only the students who met your standard for the week, whatever that is. There are plenty of great sites that allow you to make instant Bingo sheets.  

What makes this Bingo so special? Students are on teams. If a student gets a Bingo, write that student’s name down. That student gets 2 pieces of gum/candy, but everyone else on the student’s team gets a piece just because they are on that student’s team. Play for 20 minutes. Who got the most Bingos? Have a playoff if you need to do so. The winner gets the grand prize. What do you do with the kids who don’t get to play? They sit and watch. Make better choices next time. 

Prizes that Don’t Cost 

There are a bunch of prizes that don’t cost a thing. Think of no homework passes, eat with the teacher, etc. 

The Fun Guy 

A fellow teacher once asked some of my kids what it was like to be in my room. They responded by saying, “Everything’s fun. Everything’s a game.” I found that to be very interesting because I was actually a fairly strict taskmaster. I just don’t like to be bored. There is truly a way to make everything interesting. Thank you for providing students with a fun educational experience!

 

Thank you Doug for all of these ideas... as we head toward summer... these are more important than ever! Finish Strong my fellow fast llamas!

Let's Have Fun: Part 3

Llama's!

We are back for Doug Curry's Part 3 of making class fun!  Today, we talk about whole class rewards.  Here's Doug from his free resources website... 

Free Resources

Whole Class Rewards 

Rewarding your whole class can be effective if done properly. However, here are some guidelines: 

 • While it is effective to reward the whole class, do not make the mistake of punishing the whole class due to the actions of a few. 

• Carefully plan ahead as to what rewards you will use. A common method that teachers use to keep track of the whole classroom’s behavior is the old marble jar. Every time the class as a whole does something great, such as coming to attention, mastering a skill, etc., then you drop a marble in the jar. When the jar is full, it’s time for the class reward! 

A simpler way is to give marks on a white board. Set a target ahead of time such as 50. Give marks for whole class successes. 

Watch a very fast llama using this type of class reward: Watch

What do you do when they reach the goal? This is where you need to be sure that you have planned well ahead of time. Call this something special. 

Here are some ideas: 

• Class Special Activity Time 

• Class Reward 

• Fun Time What do you do during this time? Well, that is up to you. Let the class vote on what they wish to do. However, have them choose from a list that you have prepared. This does not need to be just a free time. It is more effective and more likely to be successful if you are in control of the options and if it is a planned activity. Therefore, have a few items ready from which the class as a whole can choose. 

Examples: 

• Mr. Curry Bingo (I’ll explain) 

Mr. Curry Bingo (Insert your own name) 

Every Friday (or every other Friday, or however you see fit), we play Bingo for 20 minutes using our Math facts, vocabulary words, or any thing we are learning. 

Who plays Bingo? Only the students who met your standard for the week, whatever that is. 

 There are plenty of great sites that allow you to make instant Bingo sheets. Bingo Sheets 

What makes this Bingo so special? Students are on teams. If a student gets a Bingo, write that student’s name down. That student gets 2 pieces of gum/candy, but everyone else on the student’s team gets a piece just because they are on that student’s team. Play for 20 minutes. Who got the most Bingos? Have a playoff if you need to do so. The winner gets the grand prize. What do you do with the kids who don’t get to play? They sit and watch. Make better choices next time. 

• Game Time-Have a tournament involving playing a special game on their phones. 

• Take a walk outside. 

Use your imagination to come up ahead of time with ideas. 

Ask for their input as well. The point is to limit their choices so that this is still under control. Also, just because the students reached the goal does not mean that you have to give the reward right then. Pick a time that is convenient for you and schedule it.

What's cool about this idea of whole class rewards, is everyone is working toward a goal. Remember, NEVER take away a reward for just one kid ruining it for everyone.  I was never a fan play date Mom's who would take a toy away if there was fighting over it, saying, "if you can't share, no one gets it".  Ugh!  Always make sure kids can earn rewards back!  

Here's to thinking about making class a little more fun and energetic!  

1:1 Systems

Hey all,

I know I had started a series on "making class fun" using Doug Curry's insights and today was supposed to be part 3, but, I believe something needs to be addressed sooner than later and that is the need for 1:1 systems and procedures.  Like all things in the classroom, we must establish systems and norms and teach them to kids before the kids make up their own.  We all know that it is much more difficult to break bad habits once they are ingrained and normalized.  Starting tomorrow, since we are heading back for the last grading period, seems like an excellent time to establish these systems and get good habits part of the culture in your classrooms and hallways.

First of all, great, every kid has a laptop to use during class.  This is a good thing, keep telling yourself that, because it can be a headache if we allow it to become one. 

Here are some ideas:

1:1 Systems

1.  All laptops are put away in backpacks to travel from class to class.  No one should have a laptop in their hands while walking to class.  No one should have a laptop open while walking to class. No one should be working on their laptop while walking to class.  (I saw all three before we left for spring break, including going up the stairs while typing)

- etch out time at the end of class to pack up

2.  At the beginning of class, students should go ahead and take out their laptops out of their backpacks. 

- students could possible work on their warm-ups using their laptops

3.  When the mini-lesson is going on, ALL laptops are closed.  The attention should be on the teacher.  What's great about having laptops is the mini-lesson can be uploaded onto Schoology.  Kids can go back and review notes as needed.  But, during direct teaching, the focus is on the teacher and each other for turn and talks.  Taking notes by hand is actually good for the brain.  During recap, the focus is on recall, so kids are off their machines.

4.  Students should be given opportunities to charge their machines before they leave for lunch.  This is especially true for students who have "A" lunch and they have opportunities to charge during the lunch period. This will help teachers later in the day with only half the kids needing to charge during class, because the other half charged during lunch.  

- have a plan for when a kid needs to charge.  They should know where they can charge and how to get your attention when they need to charge.  

-7th period teachers should remind students to charge overnight

5.  Have a backup plan for students who's laptops are needing repair.  We will still be needing paper copies, just not as many, but we will still need them for kids without a laptop.

6. Have a backup plan for if the internet goes out.  I would say, having two class period worth of papers, probably is a good idea to have handy, if it does go out.  Printing "2 to a page" is a great way to save paper for these kind of copies.  

7.  Encourage kids to purchase headphones.

8.  Discourage playing games at the end of class.  I know, I know, but, the brain is processing the learning that just occurred, don't interfere with it with a game that has a better job at grabbing students attention.  The hippocampus will have a more difficult time converting learning memories if you clog it up with flashing colors that feed the brain the dopamine that comes with playing games.  So make the games ones that help solidify the learning.    

- have students create digital flashcards, or study flash cards of content during down time... Kahoot lets students play against themselves, instead of the mindless maze games I see them playing.  

By planning ahead and thinking about how student laptop use looks, sounds and feels like will save you later down the line.  Establish these systems early, so you don't battle students who are used to bad habits.  

We will continue our Doug Curry series next week...!

Let's Have Fun Part 2

Fast Llama's!

Here we are for part 2 of our Making School Fun series.  Today, Doug shares his enthusiasm for reward systems.  In the video link, he discusses extrinsic versus intrinsic reward systems.  Lots of talk out there about how terrible extrinsic rewards are for kids... However, Doug disagrees and instead of focuses on the fun class can be... and the idea of "are you willing to change your behavior in order to earn the reward?"  

Here's Doug...

The Psychology of Incentive Systems

I’m not a psychologist of any kind. However, I have visited many in my lifetime and read a bunch of books, so I feel that makes me somewhat qualified….. 

In a nutshell, here’s the psychology of reward systems: 

• If you just give a kid something in too easy a fashion, the reward does not have much value. 

• If the student has to do something athletic, skillful, or difficult in some fashion in order to win the prize, then the prize takes on a new meaning. (Picture the county fair and your pride when you finally knocked down all of the milk bottles after spending $100 and realizing that they were actually screwed to the table.) 

• If the reward or prize comes via a bit of a “chance” for a possible big win, (picture Las Vegas), then the reward takes on a special meaning. Can you have an actual casino in your classroom? No. (However, there are some states where practically everything is now legal, so you never know….) 

• Sometimes the difference between a boring incentive and an exciting one is the context. For example, many schools have a school store where students can use their tokens or points in order to buy trinkets, which generally are found on the floor after a few minute’s use. How to make this more exciting—Have an auction. Buying that trinket is way more exciting when I had to win it in a bidding contest against my hated class rival. 

• Do rewards and incentives really work? I don’t know. But I do know that when used skillfully, they make your classroom fun. Kids appreciate any effort you put forward to make your classroom exciting and fun. Do you want to be really crazy and over the top when it comes to rewards and incentives? 

If so, then take 27 minutes or so and watch this video:  https://youtu.be/0WGs9NuJISI

If you feel it is a little long, you can increase the playback speed to 1.5 to 2.0 and shave off a few minutes... you can still understand what he is saying... (a grad school trick!) 

Learning is hard, but it doesn't have to boring... it can be fun!