10 TEDs to Create a Learning Environment for Your Classroom

10 TEDs to Create a Learning Environment for Your Classroom

It is my humble opinion that the number one key to the success of a "Learning Classroom" is the development of a classroom environment that values learning over the accumulation of grades.  Creating a community of learning that we all benefit when we all participate in the process of gaining knowledge.   While this may seem "utopian", there is an actual joy that comes about in students who lose the the stress of being defined by a letter.  

I use these TED's in my classroom and as home viewing content to assist in the development of that learning environment for the students entrusted to my care.  

Back to the Classroom – Taking It Beyond the Content

Back to the Classroom – Taking It Beyond the Content

Okay so now you have library of digital resources to provide 

content for your students. 

Now What???

You have all of the support mechanisms in line to make sure every student has access to the tools necessary to watch those resources.  The administrators have been pacified, parents have been appeased and the students know what’s happening.

Now it hits you, what happens next in your classroom?  What do you do with all this class time since you don’t need to lecture anymore?  You have all these short demonstrations that you have squeezed into lecture time. Your labs have all been cut down to 30 minutes to fit them in with all the content you had to cover.  And on top of that you have to begin adopting the new standards format set forth by the Next Generation Science Standards. What happens after the video?

There is no one model for the flipped classroom.  Each educator must choose the model that best suits the environment of their classroom, the needs of their students and the, outcomes expected from their specific class, course, department, school and district.

In order to maximize the learning potential of the students, the classroom must be an environment that safe and comfortable for both the educator and the student.

The nature of your classroom model is only limited by your imagination and energy.

While no one model is best, most teachers find that adopting parts of several of the classroom teaching models work best depending upon the nature of the course, subject, topic and learning goals associated with that classroom

  

Four basic models of the flipped classroom include:

·      Traditional Flipped Model

·      Inquiry Based Approach

·      The Flipped Mastery Approach

·      Project Based Learning

Traditional Flipped Model

This is a good place to begin for most teachers. 

Educators provide access to learning resources in the class and take the role of “Guide on the Side” as students work in peer groups to apply, teach, learn, unlearn and relearn.

Students are encouraged to take an active role in their own learning process.

Inquiry Based Approach

Students learn to take ownership of their own learning by searching for answers about their own questions.  Students can work independently or in groups to conduct the inquiry process.  Students are encouraged to follow the steps of the scientific method in this approach: 

·      State the Problem

·      Research the Concept

·      Form a Hypothesis

·      Test the Hypothesis,

·      Gather and Process Data

·      Form Conclusions

·      Present the Work

Flipped Mastery Approach

This model allows the educator to truly become the “Guide on the Side” as this is a self-directed learning model where students work at their own pace to gain mastery of a concept before moving on to the next topic.  Students can work independently or in peer group teams.  Educators monitor student progress and encourage students to maximize their potential. 

This model provides the best opportunity for differentiation in the classroom.  The accelerated learner can move through the material quickly and provide opportunities to explore content beyond the framework objectives.  Students who process at varying levels can achieve the framework objectives at their own pace and using a variety of digital content and assessment modes.  Students who find passion in specific topics can spend extra time and dig deeper into the content material in order to satisfy intellectual curiosity.  

Project Based Learning

Using real-world problems to inspire students to apply content to the solution, students use critical thinking and problem solving to create solutions.  Learning objectives go beyond the understanding of the content but are dependent upon the application of the knowledge in some concrete demonstration.  Students are encouraged to create self- assessment and feedback loops to monitor their progress and the ultimate success of their project outcome.  This model encourages students to develop the 21^st century skills necessary to enter the job market of their future.  

  

Whiteboarding

Whiteboarding

White Boards provide an opportunity for students to engage in collaborative learning, clear communication and to reinforce their learning by teaching each other.  

The white boards are large enough for two students to work simultaneously on a problem.  

Teachers can easily view the work and use the process as formative assessment. 

Students can share their work in small groups or display to the entire class. 

Planning Flipped Video Lessons

Planning the Video Lessons

Key points to address while planning and organizing of your videos.

Introduction -  Introduce the puropose of the video.  Identify the concept and create a connection to previous knowledge if necessary.

Objectives -  Identify 1 or 2 objectives or standards that will be addressed in the video.  Whenever possible list Common Core or State Standards or Next Generation Science Standards met by the concepts in the video.

Overview -  Provide a brief explanation of the concept that will be modeled in the lesson.  Include new vocabulary, skills necessary and other related materials.

Examples -  Model concept providing as many examples as possible.  Keep in mind lesson link.  If necessary make more than one video to provide additional examples and solutions.

Self Assess – Provide opportunities troughout the lesson for students to check their understanding.  Encourage students to pause the lesson in order to answer questions, think about the concept or complete a sample problem.

Going Further – Provide opportunities for students to continue to explore the concept through additional sample problems, further research, articles, websites or additional videos to add to the knowledge base.  Add higher order questions to  help students synthesize the content into a knowledge base that can transition back to the classroom.

Closure – Bring the  lesson to a close by revisiting the objectives or standards that were demonstrated in the video lesson.  There is no need to summarize or repeat the key concepts as this will only increase video time.  Students always have the option to re-watch any part of the video as many times as may be necessary.

 The more organized and prepared you are, the less re-takes and editing you will have to do later.

The editing process can deplete your energy and waste

your valuable time.

A Fluorescent Engagement in Learning

I believe as long as there have been desktops there has been a constant battle to keep students from writing on the desk. 

But, what if there were a way to allow students to write on the desk in order to engage them in the learning process.

That is where fluorescent markers and black lab tables have found a happy marriage in my classroom.

Using the Expo Fluorescent markers students can write on their desktops to their hearts content, as long as they are working on chemistry. 

Ideas For the Classroom 

• Pre-written PODs as students come into the classroom.
• Homework review.  Students share specific problems from their homework. 
• Students teach each other. To both assist others and to reinforce their own learning. 
• Students work through problem solving before transferring work into their notes.
• Brainstorming.
• Writing out lab procedures. 
• Recording data, before transferring it to their lab notebook. 
• Flow charts for work. 
• Recording discussion notes for sharing with class. 
• Museum walks of completed work. 
• Thought questions or quotes to prompt discussion.
• Whatever your mind can imagine.    

Teaching the Three C's Video

"The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read or write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn."
                  - Alvin Toffler -

XtraNormal video about the need to focus on the Three C's, Critical Thinking, Clear Communication and Collaboration. 

The Child is Made of One Hundred

The following poem is by Loris Malaguzzi.

The child

is made of one hundred.

The child has

a hundred languages

a hundred hands

a hundred thoughts

a hundred ways of thinking

of playing, of speaking.

A hundred always a hundred

ways of listening

of marveling of loving

a hundred joys

for singing and understanding

a hundred worlds

to discover

a hundred worlds

to invent

a hundred worlds

to dream.

The child has

a hundred languages

(and a hundred hundred hundred more)

but they steal ninety-nine.

The school and the culture

separate the head from the body.

They tell the child:

to think without hands

to do without head

to listen and not to speak

to understand without joy

to love and to marvel

only at Easter and at Christmas.

They tell the child:

to discover the world already there

and of the hundred

they steal ninety-nine.

They tell the child:

that work and play

reality and fantasy

science and imagination

sky and earth

reason and dream

are things

that do not belong together.

And thus they tell the child

that the hundred is not there.

The child says:

No way. The hundred is there.

Imagine if Picasso had listened to an art teacher tell him that he could not put both eyes on the same side of the nose of the grandmother in his protrait. 

And yet how many educators can be found guilty of this very act, as we try to get students to do things "the correct way".

Due to the industrialized fast food pedagogy of today's educational system we are all guilty of streamlining our processes to the "best" method.

But whose "best" method is this? The teacher? The student? The text?

The mind is only limited by the parameters we choose to place upon the learning process.

However, in order to overcome the possibility of chaos, it safer and let's face it much easier to educate the way McDonalds builds Big Macs.

Two All Beef Patties, Special Sauce, Lettuce, Cheese, Pickles, Onions on a Sesame Seed Bun. 

The same in Pasadena, California as it is in Arlington, Virginia or even Mazatlan,  Mexico.

Unfortunately this only serves to standardize everything and essentially as the poem suggests, steal the ninety-nine. 

  

  

Questions I Would Love Students to Answer. (Or, maybe just a rant on my part.)

Questions I would love to have students answer...

Why does your calculator disappear before every math and science class?

Why do you leave your book, pen, pencil, notebook, jacket, lunch bag, in my classroom everyday at the end of class?

Why do you stand in the middle of the hallway, and look at me like I'm crazy when I try to walk down the hall?

Why do you congregate for discussions at the top or bottom of a stairway?

Why must you slam your locker door to get it to closed?

Why do you close the door as you enter the building, without looking back to see if someone else may be trying to get in?

How come you know when the bell rings to the exact second, but can't understand time limits on quizzes, tests or labs?

Who cleans up after you in your own home?

Can I come to your house and dismantle the faucets and gas lines in your kitchen or bathroom?

Why do you drink less than a quarter of your bottle of water before you leave it in my classroom?

Why can't you ask a teacher if they need assistance when they are trying to balance a stack of papers, their computer bag, umbrella, coffee cup, while trying to get their keys out to unlock the classroom door?

Why do you jiggle the handle on a locked door or bang on it instead of walking over to check if the other door is open?

Is the empty water bottle so heavy, that you cannot walk the extra five feet to the recycle bin and must throw it in the trash can?

Do you you not realize that every quiz is difficult if you not have prepared?

Also, every quiz is easy for me, because I wrote it!!!!

Why can't you have your homework prepared to turn in when you arrive at class: with your name on it, stapled and organized?

Why do you tell me as the bell rings all of your excuses for not having your homework instead of emailing the night before?

Can I come and touch, move, take, misplace everything on your desk at your home?

Have you not figured out that the things I repeat several times might be important?

I would love to read your additions to this list of rants...

Teaching = Learning

In the mid 1st Century A.D.,  Roman philosopher Seneca stated,
"While we teach, we learn."

In the late 18th Century A.D., French moralist and essayist Joseph Joubert wrote,

To teach is to learn twice. 

In 1993, American educator Dr. Gary Phillips determined,

"we remember 92% of what we teach each other."

Despite knowing that the best way to truly understand, one must be able to teach.

The American educational system is still dependent upon a model that places the expert

at the front, in the position of both teaching and learning,

while presenting knowldege to a captive group of passive students.

We must demand better of ourselves as educators and place our students in the

optimum position for their learning.   Students must become their own teachers. 

We must create in them a desire to understand the knowledge,

we hope for them to apply and retain, to a point that they can teach each other.   

We must place the burden of learning on the students and diminish the role of the educator

from expert presenter of the information to guide and facillitator of the learning process.

Students must understand that in a community of learning that they are responsible to and for each other in order to maximize the potential of learning for all.  It is in the ultimate success of the group that success as an individual is actualized.  

     

   

Christmas Quiz Part II

Growing up in the sixties and seventies, Christmas began right after Thanksgiving with the showing of "Santa and the Three Bears" and the "Santa Claus, Hollywood Lane Parade".  These two Thanksgiving Christmas traditions marked the the beginning of my needing to "be good" in preparation for Santa. The next few weeks leading up to Christmas would be marked by the Christmas Holiday shows by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, including "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", and "The Year Without a Santa Claus".   These shows helped to mark off the days leading up to Christmas when we would gather as a family and watch other holiday classics, such as "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street".

These shows no longer have the magic for kids today that they once held for my sisters and I.  With the advent of DVD sets, cable repeats during the 25 Days, 30 Days, No I mean 40 Days of Christmas, TIVO, DVRs, You Tube, etc. etc. etc. Kids today can watch these shows anytime they want, 24/7/365.  But, sadly most of them do not.  Most of the students today, may have seen them once or twice, if at all.  Sure the animation is odd and unrefined. The stop-action techniques make the movements awkward. And the songs and jokes are corny.  But these Holiday classics will always bring fond memories of the anticipation of Christmas.  The feeling of putting differences aside to sit with my sisters and lose ourselves in the simplicity of the Holiday Message brought through these holiday gems. 

I must admit that my wife and I still enjoy watching each of these very special shows throughout the holiday season. 

So, in honor of the feelings of Christmas brought to life by these still special T.V. Classics, I further test my students in the Holiday Season with Christmas Quiz Part II.  The majority of these questions come from these shows with some general holiday knowledge at the end.  I am sure that many of you could come up with hundreds of more questions involving "Christmas in Connecticut", "Holiday Inn", "White Christmas" or "The Bishop's Wife".  A few years back, I did succumb to the pressure of my students and included a few questions from "A Christmas Story". I still question this, but it is on the quiz, and my students seem to appreciate it.    

Feel free to copy and paste for your classroom needs.  

The following questions refer to the holiday classics

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

1. Who is the miner who helps Rudolph?

2. What does Rudolph’s elf friend want to be?

3. What is the elf’s name?

4. What is the name of Rudolph’s female deer friend?

5. How does the miner survive when he falls off the cliff with the abominable snowman?

Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

6. What animal befriends Kris when he first sets out on his own?

7. What is the name of the town that banishes toys?

8. What is the name of the governing family of that town?

9. What toy does Kris give the mayor of the town?

10. What is Santa’s wife’s name?

It’s a Wonderful Life

11. What town does Harry Bailey live in?

12. What does George wish for everytime he enters the pharmacy? 

13. What does Harry promise to do for Mary after the dance? 

14. What is the name of Harry Bailey’s guardian Angel?

15. What happens when a bell rings?

16. What does Harry Bailey find in his pocket that lets him know he is alive again?  

Miracle on

34^th Street

17. Where does Kris work?

18. What does Kris gets stuck in his beard?

19. The district attorney’s son wants a real genuine __________ for Christmas?

20. What department of the government proves Kris is Santa Claus?

21. What does Kris leaves behind in the house to let them know he was there?

A Charlie Brown Christmas

22. What kind of tree does Lucy want?

23. What does Snoopy win an award for?

24. Who explains the story of Christmas?

A Christmas Story

25. What does Ralphie want for Christmas?

26. What ungodly prize does Mr. Parker win?

27. What happens to the kid who was ‘triple dog dared’?

28. What does the teacher write on Ralphie’s essay?

29. What is the name of the bully that Ralphie takes down?

Frosty the Snowman

30. What is the Magician’s name?

31. What are Frosty’s eyes made of?

32. Who is the little girl that travels with Frosty to the North Pole?

33. What what is the refridgerated box car that they travel in, loaded with?

From the Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

34. Who stole Christmas ?

35. Who asks him for a drink of water?

36. What is his dogs name?

37. What mountain does he live on?

The following questions are just general Christmas knowledge.

38. What is all “I” want for Christmas?

39. What are the gifts of the  twelve days of Christmas?

40. How do you say “Merry Christmas” three languages?

41. What are three different names for Santa Claus?

42. What does Alvin want for Christmas?

43. When do Eastern Christians celebrate Christmas?

44. What is the journey of Mary and Joseph reenacted through?

May you have a restful and safe holiday season!

SMARTER TEACHER

Answers

1.     Yukon Cornelius

2.     A dentist

3.     Hermie

4.     Clarise

5.     Because Bumbles bounce

6.     A penguin (In the North Pole?)

7.     Somber Town

8.     Burgermeister Meisterburger

9.     A Yo Yo

10.     Jessica

11.     Bedford Falls

12.     Lasso the moon

13.   A million dollars

14.     Clarence

15.     An angel gets their wings

16.     His daughter Zuzu’s flower petals

17.     Macy’s

18.     Bubble gum

19.     Football helmet

20.     Postal Service

21.     His cane

22.     A shiny pink aluminum tree

23.     Decorating his dog house

24.     Linus

25.     A Red Ryder BB gun

26.     A leg lamp

27.     He stuck his tongue to the basketball pole

28.     You’ll shoot your eye out

29.     Scut Farkus

30.     Professor Hinckle

31.     Coal

32.     Karen

33.   Christmas Cakes and Pies

34.   The Grinch

35.   Cindy Lou Who, who was no more than two

36.   Max

37.   Mount Crumpet

38.     My two front teeth

39.     The Twelve Days of Christmas

a.        12 Drummers Drumming

b.       11 Pipers Piping

c.        10 Lords A Leaping

d.       9 Ladies Dancing

e.        8 Maids A Milking

f.         7 Swans A Swimming

g.       6 Geese A Laying

h.       5 Golden Rings

i.         4 Calling Birds

j.         3 French Hens

k.        2 Turtle Doves

l.         And a  Partridge in a Pear Tree

40.     Merry Christmas, Mele Kalikimaka, Joyeux Noel, God Jul, Feliz Navidad, etc…

41.     Sinterklaus, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, Babbo Natale, , Pere Noel, Kanakaloka etc…

42.     A Harmonica

43.     January 6^th – The Day the Kings Arrive

44.   La Posada