So, it is the end of the year and I am reflecting on the interactive notebooks that we used this year. Honestly, I felt the stress of trying to keep each student (and myself) on the same page of each notebook. At the beginning of the year, I wanted to have every student on the same numbered page with the same notes on that page. However, that did not happen and it was very stressful for my OCD self! So, I gave up with the strict organizational method and just had each student take notes on whatever the next page was in their own, individual notebook. So, what started out as a nice, organized Interactive Notebook, was not as fun as I thought and it was not really very "interactive" as I had imagined. It ended up just being a notebook with note in it. We did tape some of our things in them, but overall, it was still just a notebook with notes. It makes me sad now that I think about it, but it did make the class a lot less stressful and it allowed each student to feel less stressed as well.
Here are some of the fundamental problems with the strict rules that I put on my interactive notebooks using the Cornell Method of note-taking:
1. Each student writes bigger/smaller than another one. Since the Cornell Method calls for certain notes on certain sides/sections of the notebook, if a student's writing is too large, they won't be able to fit all the notes in the particular section. This stresses the student out. Then, the student raises their hand and asks what they should do. What should they do? I am honestly not sure and that is one flaw for using the Cornell method with middle school students.
2. The next issue with this method that causes an issue is that every single lesson may not lend itself to this method of taking notes. While a lesson should have certain components, this method feels too rigid for me. It forces me to feel like I have to create certain components that may not really work well with the lesson for that day. While this might be a good method for other subject areas or even certain ELA lessons, I don't plan to use this method next year because it just felt too rigid for me.
3. At the end of the day with Cornell Notes, the method calls for a question or reflection after the lesson. In order to check these, I would have to take up the entire notebook. While this doesn't seem like much for one notebook, it gets crazy when you are checking 30 plus notebooks. It is nearly impossible to tote these home to grade. I always feel like it is semi-pointless if you can't at least look at what the students are doing.
4. Students just do not listen and follow directions perfectly. Therefore, this method will not work flawlessly because if a student does not get the right notes on the right page, then their notes are not just the same as the teacher's and other student's.
Next Year:
Next year, I get to teach with another teacher. Usually I am the only ELA teacher for 7th and 8th grades, but I get to share the 7th grade with my best friend this coming year. Together, we have decided to use a 3-ring binder. This was after some feedback from our students who say they like being able to put pages into the rings without destroying the notebook or without getting it out of order. I like this idea, too. Also, though, I like the idea of a composition book to put journals and other writings in. I think if they put all of their writings in one bound notebook, they will be able to keep up with these and they will be able to easily look at the past writings. I intend to use dividers for them to separate their work because I hand out a lot of things and it actually took up a lot of our class time for students to cut and paste/tape these things into a bound composition book. The divider tabs will have: article of the week (aow), notes, texts/things we are reading, vocabulary, and misc.
I think having a bound notebook for just writing that is not turned in will be beneficial and I am excited for this! Maybe I can come up with a cute, catchy name for this notebook as well! I hope to have students decorate the front like we did this year. We will create characters for narratives and begin brainstorming in our writer's notebooks (the bound ones). We will also practice writing in these and write things that are considered practice things in them. Anything that we have to turn in for a grade will be written on paper that can be turned in easier.
Ms. T's Got Class
Welcome to Mrs.Tate's Blog about all things concerning middle school teaching. Come on in to learn and share your knowledge.
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Thursday, April 20, 2017
New Vocabulary Work
I love Marzano's strategies and ideas about learning vocabulary and I think it is important that students interact with their words and that they can "play" with them. While reflecting over the past year, I am adding some vocabulary work for next year!
Here are some of the ones we already do:
1. Vocabulary Poem
2. Writing Sentences (This is not just writing a bunch of sentences. It focuses on specific types of sentences: imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory.)
3. Synonym/Antonym
4. Synonym Ladder
Here are the new ones!
5. Antonym Ladder
6. Symbolic Representation
7. Vocabulary Cartoon
8. Meme
9. Short Story
10. Scavenger Hunt
I am excited to provide some upcoming examples of these soon!
The way that I teach vocabulary is the way Marzano suggests.
I introduce the word and mostly all of our words are from a text we are reading. Then, the students have one of these paperwork activities that they do for each word. Student feedback (and usage) shows that this does help them! It is not just busy work or just writing a definition, but it has them dig deep to think and engage with the meaning of each word. It also has them refer back to the sentence in the text sometimes, which I love! Then, after students have worked hard to learn the words, we have some games in class so that they can interact with the words in a positive way. More interaction means more meaningful learning and more practice! Students need practice to learn words! I also put the words on my middle school classroom word wall! My students and I used to think the word wall was "kiddie," but we have learned that it is not and it really helps!
What kind of vocabulary activities do you use in your classroom?
Here are some of the ones we already do:
1. Vocabulary Poem
2. Writing Sentences (This is not just writing a bunch of sentences. It focuses on specific types of sentences: imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory.)
3. Synonym/Antonym
4. Synonym Ladder
Here are the new ones!
5. Antonym Ladder
6. Symbolic Representation
7. Vocabulary Cartoon
8. Meme
9. Short Story
10. Scavenger Hunt
I am excited to provide some upcoming examples of these soon!
The way that I teach vocabulary is the way Marzano suggests.
I introduce the word and mostly all of our words are from a text we are reading. Then, the students have one of these paperwork activities that they do for each word. Student feedback (and usage) shows that this does help them! It is not just busy work or just writing a definition, but it has them dig deep to think and engage with the meaning of each word. It also has them refer back to the sentence in the text sometimes, which I love! Then, after students have worked hard to learn the words, we have some games in class so that they can interact with the words in a positive way. More interaction means more meaningful learning and more practice! Students need practice to learn words! I also put the words on my middle school classroom word wall! My students and I used to think the word wall was "kiddie," but we have learned that it is not and it really helps!
What kind of vocabulary activities do you use in your classroom?
Monday, October 31, 2016
Versatile Items to Keep On-Hand in Your Middle School Classroom
Throughout my years of teaching, I have found that there are some things in my classroom that I can't live without. They make my day go easier, and honestly, these things make the students' day go more smoothly as well.
Today, I had a guest-teacher come to my class and I realized the benefits of these things that I take for granted daily.
1. The first thing that is a must for teaching middle school is a timer. I got my timer at the dollar store and it was about $5. I have had it for about three years and I use it everyday! I use it to time our free-reading time, to time various sections of class (since my class has different sections for reading time, vocabulary, class time). I use it to time any type of group activity that we do. Heck! It helps me keep track of time because, even as a teacher, we can get off-track from time-to-time.
2. Something that I love about this year's classroom is my word wall. Until this year, I have never done a good job of incorporating a word wall into my daily class interactions. This year, I have been avidly incorporating it into my class and the students have even been involved in that, which I think is an important aspect of its success. My students help me put the words up on the wall and they use it daily. I see them, and it is amazing how much seeing the words help my students. In fact, one day, I took it down to redo it near the beginning of the year, and several students asked me if I was putting it back up. #teacherwin
3. Another item that is a must-have in a middle school classroom is this little black box on my door. It is kind of like the little thing on the outside of each room at a doctor's office so that the nurse can leave the patient's paperwork in it for the doctor. I love this because I have students put their exit-tickets in it at the end of class. If we didn't do an exit ticket, we always have something we are working on that we do not get finished before the bell rings and we have to leave. I can just have students put their papers in this black box on the door on their way out and it doesn't take up any extra time or cause them to create a line that makes them late for their next class.
4. Another thing that I love to have in my room is giant paper for making anchor charts and some good markers. This paper is incredible and I like it because I can write the notes on the anchor chart with the students and not before or after. I used to make anchor charts before to make them neat and clean, but I have learned that this is really not beneficial for the students. When I make them beforehand, students don't get to take an active role in the creation of the anchor chart. It is important for them to create it with the teacher, so having this giant pad of paper and some markers on hand is always beneficial and can be worked into virtually any lesson.
5. Sticky notes are some wonderful to incorporate into a lesson as well. It is amazing how a simple sticky note can make an lesson more engaging and fun. I have used sticky notes to allow students to annotate texts that I don't want them to write in and I have also used sticky notes to allow students to share thoughts quickly on the board. It is amazing the things you can do with them, so I always keep a ton on-hand.
6. Something that I have found is beneficial and fun for students (and me) is using old newspapers and magazines. Old newspapers and magazines are filled with tons of information that could be priceless in an English/language arts classroom if applied correctly. Currently in my class, I was cleaning through some old cabinets that were given to me and I found an entire set of scope magazines from 2012 with The Beibs on the front cover. I'll be honest: I almost trashed these. But is was a whole set, surely there was something I could use it for. As I sifted through the magazine, I found a little article about celebrities and whether or not they are under too much stress from the paparazzi. The article was geared towards argumentation and I was actually teaching that to my 8th graders. So, I decided it would be a nice little add-in to my lesson. We used the magazines and the 8th graders actually loved it. They laughed because some of them don't like Justin Beiber anymore. We then went on to write an argumentative paragraph where they took a side on whether or not the paparazzi should be allowed to photograph celebrities. They had some pretty good points and some meaningful discussions all from those old scope magazines. This just goes to show that good use can come from old materials if it is applied correctly.
Another way I have used old newspapers is to search for strong sentences throughout and then have students explain why the sentence was a mentor for them. These can be fun activities for when you are away and need meaningful assignments for students to do independently, but they can also be used when you are there. They are also generic and can be used alongside many different lessons.
Today, I had a guest-teacher come to my class and I realized the benefits of these things that I take for granted daily.
1. The first thing that is a must for teaching middle school is a timer. I got my timer at the dollar store and it was about $5. I have had it for about three years and I use it everyday! I use it to time our free-reading time, to time various sections of class (since my class has different sections for reading time, vocabulary, class time). I use it to time any type of group activity that we do. Heck! It helps me keep track of time because, even as a teacher, we can get off-track from time-to-time.
2. Something that I love about this year's classroom is my word wall. Until this year, I have never done a good job of incorporating a word wall into my daily class interactions. This year, I have been avidly incorporating it into my class and the students have even been involved in that, which I think is an important aspect of its success. My students help me put the words up on the wall and they use it daily. I see them, and it is amazing how much seeing the words help my students. In fact, one day, I took it down to redo it near the beginning of the year, and several students asked me if I was putting it back up. #teacherwin
3. Another item that is a must-have in a middle school classroom is this little black box on my door. It is kind of like the little thing on the outside of each room at a doctor's office so that the nurse can leave the patient's paperwork in it for the doctor. I love this because I have students put their exit-tickets in it at the end of class. If we didn't do an exit ticket, we always have something we are working on that we do not get finished before the bell rings and we have to leave. I can just have students put their papers in this black box on the door on their way out and it doesn't take up any extra time or cause them to create a line that makes them late for their next class.
4. Another thing that I love to have in my room is giant paper for making anchor charts and some good markers. This paper is incredible and I like it because I can write the notes on the anchor chart with the students and not before or after. I used to make anchor charts before to make them neat and clean, but I have learned that this is really not beneficial for the students. When I make them beforehand, students don't get to take an active role in the creation of the anchor chart. It is important for them to create it with the teacher, so having this giant pad of paper and some markers on hand is always beneficial and can be worked into virtually any lesson.
5. Sticky notes are some wonderful to incorporate into a lesson as well. It is amazing how a simple sticky note can make an lesson more engaging and fun. I have used sticky notes to allow students to annotate texts that I don't want them to write in and I have also used sticky notes to allow students to share thoughts quickly on the board. It is amazing the things you can do with them, so I always keep a ton on-hand.
6. Something that I have found is beneficial and fun for students (and me) is using old newspapers and magazines. Old newspapers and magazines are filled with tons of information that could be priceless in an English/language arts classroom if applied correctly. Currently in my class, I was cleaning through some old cabinets that were given to me and I found an entire set of scope magazines from 2012 with The Beibs on the front cover. I'll be honest: I almost trashed these. But is was a whole set, surely there was something I could use it for. As I sifted through the magazine, I found a little article about celebrities and whether or not they are under too much stress from the paparazzi. The article was geared towards argumentation and I was actually teaching that to my 8th graders. So, I decided it would be a nice little add-in to my lesson. We used the magazines and the 8th graders actually loved it. They laughed because some of them don't like Justin Beiber anymore. We then went on to write an argumentative paragraph where they took a side on whether or not the paparazzi should be allowed to photograph celebrities. They had some pretty good points and some meaningful discussions all from those old scope magazines. This just goes to show that good use can come from old materials if it is applied correctly.
Another way I have used old newspapers is to search for strong sentences throughout and then have students explain why the sentence was a mentor for them. These can be fun activities for when you are away and need meaningful assignments for students to do independently, but they can also be used when you are there. They are also generic and can be used alongside many different lessons.
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