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.  

The 6 C's of Education for the Future Infographic

La Salle Science Teachers Present at CSTA Conference

La Salle Science Teachers Present at CSTA Conference

As I made my way over to the San Jose Convention Center to prepare for my presentation “Low Budget Manipulatives to Improve Teaching Stoichiometry”, I received a text from my daughter,  with a quote from a keynote speaker at a conference she was attending on health reform in New Orleans.  The quote read, “Teachers touch eternity through their students.”

How appropriate that she would send me this quote when I was about to embark on sharing my teaching with a group of teachers who would then hopefully go on to teach their students, thereby allowing me to touch thousands of students through this opportunity.

Over the weekend of October 18^th through the 21^st, La Salle Science teachers attended and presented at the California Science Teachers Association Annual Conference.  The  2012 Conference centered on The Common Core Standards (CCS), Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), Literacy and STEM to Career. 

More than 1,450 workshops were presented for review and 180 were selected for the conference.  For the science teachers at La Salle to present three of the workshops is truly an honor for our department.

Physics teachers Chija Bauer and Kjersti Housman co-presented two workshops: “Inquiry Based Physics Classroom and Standards Based Grading” and “Global Warming Cumulative Project in Physics”  Chemistry teacher Brian Miller and Anthony Ferenades, co-presented “Low Budget Manipulatives to Improve Teaching Stoichiometry”.

It is a wonderful experience to attend association conferences and share ideas and gain new insights into teaching our students.  However, it is a tremendous validation for what we do each and everyday here at La Salle in experiencing the enthusiasm of peers in science education who are excited about we the information we shared and are hopefully energized to carry those methods and concepts back to their own classrooms. 

How great an opportunity to touch the hearts of our own students but also to touch the hearts of those students who will be guided by the teachers who we were fortunate to enough to share our workshops?

Project Based Learning - Left Brain Teacher and Right Brain Student

Too often we as educators design assignments that meet our confort levels.  We schedule due dates and create format details that meet "our" needs for "our" curriculum.  But, do we look at the students needs? 

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. 

Creating a Classroom Environment for Today's Learner

Linear Paths of Learning

I teach in a linear manner.

I design a lesson that makes sense to me. 

A lesson that flows from point A to B to C and so on toward a learning objective. 

However, is that linear path suitable to only for me?

Do I take in to account the learning paths of the twenty-five bright and shiny faces that share my learning environment?

Do my students learn in that same linear manner?

Do we all learn in the same way? Just because A...B...C... seems tp be the, most logical and efficient in my mind as an educator, is that necessarily the most effective way to reach all of my students? Have I taken the time and do I know my students well enough to teach in the best possible way for them to learn? 

Have I addressed the student who needs to see the big picture and know the final outcome in order for them to internalize the value of what is being taught? 

Have I addressed the needs of the students who need to see all the little parts of the lesson, but learns best by putting them together themselves? 

Have I utilized images that bring the words numbers and symbols to life for those students who depend on visual clues to address patterns toward the ultimate goal? 

Do my students understand that the roadmap that I am trying to create for them is just one possible path? That there are other possible means of gaining the objective and that they may follow the path that most fits their tools and skills?

Have I created a learning environment for the sequential linear learner as well as the circuitous learner, to both find a means for their own success?

Have I given my students  a method to tell me when my linear path does not meet theirs?

Do my students know their own learning path and have I cultivated a means for them to explore their own learning?

Have I created an environment where the value is placed on learning and not grades and correct answers?

Do my students enter my learning environment knowing the expectations for learning come first and that grades and correct answers will flow from their ability to learn?

Am I a teacher of learning or am I a teacher of a subject?

Because the most important skill in life today,

is the ability to learn!!!

Sage on the Stage

Teacher Centered

Teacher Talks – Students Listen

Language of the Teacher

Vocabulary of the Teacher

Instructor Chooses Topics

Teacher Filters Material

Teacher Evaluates Student Work

Classroom is Quiet

Knowledge Limited by Teacher’s Knowledge

Students Work Alone

Classroom is Passive

Knowledge is Passed Down

Students Receive Information

Emphasis on Right Answers

Classroom is Competitive

Learning is Individualistic

Assessment and Teaching are Separate

Testing is Primary Assessment

Information is Gathered

Focus on Completing Content

Lecture

Based on Delivery

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...

Be the Best of Whatever You Are

"The Three Dimensions of Life"

"Length" 

"Now let’s turn for the moment to the length of life. I said that this is the dimension of life where we are concerned with developing our inner powers. (Yeah) In a sense this is the selfish dimension of life. There is such a thing as rational and healthy self-interest. (Yeah) A great Jewish rabbi, the late Joshua Leibman, wrote a book some years ago entitled Peace of Mind. And he has a chapter in that book entitled "Love Thyself Properly." And what he says in that chapter, in substance, is that before you can love other selves adequately, you’ve got to love your own self properly. (All right) You know, a lot of people don’t love themselves. (That’s right) And they go through life with deep and haunting emotional conflicts. So the length of life means that you must love yourself.

And you know what loving yourself also means? It means that you’ve got to accept yourself. (All right) So many people are busy trying to be somebody else. (That’s right) God gave all of us something significant. And we must pray every day, asking God to help us to accept ourselves. (Yeah) That means everything. (Yeah) Too many Negroes are ashamed of themselves, ashamed of being black. (Yes, sir) A Negro got to rise up and say from the bottom of his soul, "I am somebody. (Yes) I have a rich, noble, and proud heritage. However exploited and however painful my history has been, I’m black, but I’m black and beautiful." (Yeah) This is what we’ve got to say. We’ve got to accept ourselves. (Yeah) And we must pray, "Lord, Help me to accept myself every day; help me to accept my tools." (Yeah)

I remember when I was in college, I majored in sociology, and all sociology majors had to take a course that was required called statistics. And statistics can be very complicated. You’ve got to have a mathematical mind, a real knowledge of geometry, and you’ve got to know how to find the mean, the mode, and the median. I never will forget. I took this course and I had a fellow classmate who could just work that stuff out, you know. And he could do his homework in about an hour. We would often go to the lab or the workshop, and he would just work it out in about an hour, and it was over for him. And I was trying to do what he was doing; I was trying to do mine in an hour. And the more I tried to do it in an hour, the more I was flunking out in the course. And I had to come to a very hard conclusion. I had to sit down and say, "Now, Martin Luther King, Leif Cane has a better mind than you." (That’s right) Sometimes you have to acknowledge that. (That’s right) And I had to say to myself, "Now, he may be able to do it in an hour, but it takes me two or three hours to do it." I was not willing to accept myself. I was not willing to accept my tools and my limitations. (Yeah)

But you know in life we’re called upon to do this. A Ford car trying to be a Cadillac is absurd, but if a Ford will accept itself as a Ford, (All right) it can do many things that a Cadillac could never do: it can get in parking spaces that a Cadillac can never get in. [laughter] And in life some of us are Fords and some of us are Cadillacs. (Yes) Moses says in "Green Pastures," "Lord, I ain’t much, but I is all I got." [laughter] The principle of self-acceptance is a basic principle in life.

Now the other thing about the length of life: after accepting ourselves and our tools, we must discover what we are called to do. (Oh yeah) And once we discover it we should set out to do it with all of the strength and all of the power that we have in our systems. (Yeah) And after we’ve discovered what God called us to do, after we’ve discovered our life’s work, we should set out to do that work so well that the living, the dead, or the unborn couldn’t do it any better. (Oh yeah) Now this does not mean that everybody will do the so-called big, recognized things of life. Very few people will rise to the heights of genius in the arts and the sciences; very few collectively will rise to certain professions. Most of us will have to be content to work in the fields and in the factories and on the streets. But we must see the dignity of all labor. (That’s right)

When I was in Montgomery, Alabama, I went to a shoe shop quite often, known as the Gordon Shoe Shop. And there was a fellow in there that used to shine my shoes, and it was just an experience to witness this fellow shining my shoes. He would get that rag, you know, and he could bring music out of it. And I said to myself, "This fellow has a Ph.D. in shoe shining." (That’s right)

What I’m saying to you this morning, my friends, even if it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, go on out and sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures; sweep streets like Handel and Beethoven composed music; sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry; (Go ahead) sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, "Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well."

If you can’t be a pine on the top of a hill
Be a scrub in the valley—but be
The best little scrub on the side of the hill,
Be a bush if you can’t be a tree.
If you can’t be a highway just be a trail
If you can’t be the sun be a star;
It isn’t by size that you win or fail—
Be the best of whatever you are.

And when you do this, when you do this, you’ve mastered the length of life."

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"The Three Dimensions of Life"

April 9, 1967

How easy would our jobs as educators be, if we could get our students to buy in to this idea of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?

Students would work to the best of their abilities and realize whatever grade they recieved was the best for them for that moment in time.

Students would not need to compare themselves in any way to other students, thereby eliminating the need to compete, be jealous or cheat.

Students would  not take things for granted, nor would they wnat for anything because they would realize that they are in the moment and that is enough.

Students would learn for learning sake and not for the score or grade or building their resume.

Students would come prepared everyday because preparation would allow them to maximize their potential for that day.

Students would appreciate others because it is in community that they maximize themselves.

Oh, how simple our jobs would become. 

Our classrooms would become an actual environment of learning.

Our relationships with the students could truly fluorish to maximize each students potential. 

Our classrooms would be emotionally safe for all members of the community of learning.

A tremedous resource for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his life, accomplishments, sermons and letters can be found through Stanford University at  http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php



A Child Learns...

The following poem was part of yesterday's prayer, for the Feast Day of Saint Nicholas.

How very important it is for educators all over the world to provide a safe nurturing environment that encourages our students to maximize their potential while growing to appreciate and understand the value of their education.

"A child living with criticism learns to condemn

A child living with hostility learns to fight.

A child living with ridicule learns to be shy.

A child living with shame learns to feel guilty.

But,

A child living with encouragement learns confidence.

A child living with praise learns to appreciate.

A child living with fairness learns justice.

A child living with security learns to have faith.

A child living with approval learns love of self.

A child living with acceptance and friendship

learns to find love in the world."

(Dorothy Law Holte

- adapted to inclusive language.)

.

And it all began with a teacher...

I have a calendar on my desk with a quote or saying about teaching and education for each day,

The following was the excerpt from November 21st.  This piece was given to me, my first year as an educator, by my mentor teacher. Unfortunately, in moving from school to school it somehow was misplaced.  When I read this again yesterday, it brought back a lot of the memories of those first few years of learning to become a teacher and the inspiration I recieved from so many educators, that I have worked with.

Teachers are the reason why airplanes fly,

computers program, ballets are danced,

novels are written, cancers are researched,

lawsuits won, skyscrapers built, and

“art” decorates refrigerator doors.

Life’s biggest, boldest, brightest ideas

--- life’s honors, achievements and

accomplishments --- occur because

somewhere, sometime, someone touched

our lives --- and it all began with a

TEACHER

Thank you to all who have touched my life as an educator.

Happy Thanksgiving

Collaborative Learning Teams

COMMUNICATE- COLLABORATE - THINK CRITICALLY

"The strength of the team is each individual member.

The strength of each member is the team."

                                                                 - Phil Jackson

The development of a network of collaborative learning teams within you classroom can create an educational environment where the responsibility for learning lies upon both the students and teacher who comprise that leaning community.

Learners learn by teaching one another. When students teach one another they take ownership of the material by passing it along they actually make it part of themselves. 

The process of teaching one another is by its very nature acive learning.  Student engagement increases the opportunities to learn. 

The saying goes that "Two heads are better than one."  Sharing knowledge creates opportunities for more ideas, alternate approaches, increased possibilites and new perspectives.

Students who have difficulty in the larger classroom may find comfort in smaller groups. This provides avenues for increased communication and the unleashing of ideas that may never be shared in a larger group setting. 

Collaboration brings about an ease and comfort that encourages further attendance in the class as interdependence breeds both responsibility and commraderie. 

Although the goal is increased learning for all, the idea of positive competition among smaller groups may lead to greater problem solving success.

Collaboration encourages the development of leadership skills.

Students who work in groups learn to delegate tasks to maximize group success.

Collaboration increases the development of time mangement skills.    

"Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success."

                                                             - Henry Ford

John Wooden's Expectations of Team Members

• Always be a gentleman.
• Always be a team player.
• Always be on time whenever time is involved.
• Always be learning.
• Always be enthusiastic, dependable and cooperative.
• Always be earning the right to be proud and confident.
• Always keep your emotions under control without losing fight or aggressiveness. 
• Be spirited, not temperamental.
• Always work to improve, knowing you can never improve enough. 

Although Coach Wooden presented these to his basketball teams more than three decades ago, these basic rules are a perfect set of expectations for educators to share with their students of how to act in both in and out of the classroom.  Each of us could model these as the bas

We are all called to be polite as we deal with each other, face to face or in groups.
As the acronym goes, Together Each Achieves More.
Being on time is a sign of respect toward those we will work with or work for.
The quote states, "Live as if you will die tomorrow, learn as if you will live forever."

We will all work with someone else in our lifetime, cooperation is an absolute must.

Our actions earn us the right to be proud.

Balance in our emotions is the key to understanding and respect.

We must believe in ourselves.

Never be satisfied, always strive to improve.

If we as educators could get our students to live out these basic guidelines in our classrooms and schools, how much better off would our students be as they face a world that is in a constant state of change?  How much easier would their transition be, into our adult world?  And, how effective would they be in their role as an adult, with co-workers, friends and family?

Sometimes Failing is a Good Thing

"Success is never final, failure is never fatal,

it is courage that counts."

                                              - Winston Churchill -

What if these individuals allowed their failures to get in the way of their eventual success?

Lance Armstrong ended dead last in his first cycling race?

Lucille Ball was told to, "try another profession," when she first took up acting.

Robin Williams was voted "Least Likely to Succeed" in his senior class.

Walt Disney was fired from his job on a newspaper because, "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas."

R.H. Macy failed seven times before his store was finally successful in New York.

Elvis Presley was fired after his first performance at the Grand Ole Opry.

Babe Ruth also held the strike out record.

Michael Jordan missed over 9,000 free throws, lost almost 300 games and failed 26 times on game winning shots.

And of course there is the ultimate record in failure:

• Failed in business in 1831
• Defeated for a seat in the legislature in1832
• Failed in business in 1833
• Suffered a nervous breakdown in 1836
• Lost for Speaker of the House in 1838
• Defeated as an elector in 1840
• Defeated for Congress in 1843
• Defeated for Senate 1855
• Lost Vice Presidential election in 1856
• Lost in a Senate race in 1858

Who?

Abraham Lincoln who was elected the sixteenth President of the United States.

As educators it is vital that we teach our students to accept failure as a step on the road to success.  That, it is in understanding what caused the failure that they can gain insight into what might be the correct path to choose.  It is the fear of failure that paralyzes their initiative and they do not continue to progress torward their ultimate goal. An even greater injustice is, if the fear of failure keeps them from making any attempt what so ever.   It is the responsibility of the educator to create an environment based upon challenge that does not instill fear and failure that is celebrated as a stepping stone towoard personal success.  

Formula Cards

I create formula cards for each of my students to assist them in maniuplating formulas to isolate various variables and help them to solve for each part of a given equation.

Born to Learn Blog

The Born to Learn blog contains a series of short vimeo clips concerning the nature of learning.
These videos touch on many important aspects of why students find difficulty in today's classroom.

Our brains are hardwired to seek out learning from the understanding of the big picture to then put together an understanding of how all of the details fit.  However, in an attempt to meet expectations of high stakes testing and demand for grades and control of classroom management, many classrooms today are based upon rote learning, scripted lessons and formulaic teaching.  Value is not placed upon the process of learning but instead is focused on finding correct answers, to take a test and get a grade.  To little time is spent in problem solving and participation in the learning, while most time is spent in repetitious and methodical rote learning.

Like anything learning is about being in the moment.  The best time to learn is when our brains are open, willing and able to comprehend the material in a means acceptable to our past knowledge and current abilities. We actually learn best when we are challenged to stretch our minds without fear of failure nor artificial constraints.

We learn best when we are allowed to model the processes in style similar to the moments of play we enjoyed as a child, no matter what our age.  We desire the interactive nature of play to understand how things fit. It is important for us in the learning process to see others engaged in the process and model what we see.

For more from Born to Learn  http://vimeo.com/user6241489 

 

Thank-you and Goodbye, Brother Donald Mansir FSC

Brother Donald Mansir FSC, passed away this weekend.

He was my mentor, teacher and friend and the main reason I became an educator. 

Brother Donald, you lived the 12 Virtues of a Good Teacher

and in doing so touched my life in so many ways.

Gravity (Seriousness)
You allowed me to enjoy my years in high school but made sure I understood my responsibilities and how to meet expectations.  You provided a balance of the importance of appreciating all of my talents, even the ones I had not yet discovered.

Silence
You had a special way of drawing out my thoughts and allowing me to express myself by simply waiting silently with that look of “wanting more”.

Humility
You enjoyed the finer things in life but lived in simplicity.  You enjoyed each and every person for who we were.  

Prudence
You provided me ample opportunity to explore myself and my world with a sense of safety and security without impinging my freedom to be me.

Wisdom
You lived a life of education, your passion for learning and the value of knowledge was a gift that I was fortunate to witness and learn from.

Patience
You very seldom showed anger or frustration even though I may not have always been the most cooperative of individuals.  You were always a model of restraint and calm.

Reserve (Self-control)
You knew your limits and you knew my limits and you always found a way to work within those parameters to find success for each of us.

Gentleness
You were one of the most gentle men I ever knew.  Your quiet voice spoke volumes to me loud and clear.  

Zeal
You brought an energy to all you did through your passion for excellence. I look back on ‘Man of La Mancha” and realize that is the life an educator leads, but only with a zeal for the value of an education.  

Vigilance
You brought an air of safety and security to a very awkward time in my life. I knew always that when I was in your presence that all would be well.

Piety
You are the main reason I am an Educator today. Your example goes far beyond anything I could have learned from a book or in a classroom.  

Generosity
You were the model of generosity, in giving of yourself in time, energy and knowledge that I may be the person I am today.    

Thank-you and Goodbye

Brother Donald

I Will Miss You

   

Partners and Groups

When students pair up for activities, discussions, peer editing or labs, it is very difficult to keep students on track when they only work with their friends or those they are most comfortable.  Creating variety in grouping students is vital to a classroom but can be time consuming.

One method I use is a partner sheet. I create a sheet with 6, 8, 10 items that are relevant to the subject or even the specific topic we are studying.  I have images and words for each item on the sheet along with a space for a name.  I try to put these on cardstock so that they can be kept and used for the entire year.
An example of a simple machine sheet I use in physics is below....

I have students choose a partner for each of the items on the card.  Each student signs their partners card and their partner signs their card.  When I need students to partner up, I will tell them to get together with their pulley partner. Students check their cards and move to the students they signed up with as pulley partners.  I can change partners in an instant by simply asking students to switch to their wheel partner, and so on...

By creating three or four of these cards throughout the year, I can have a variety of groupings at any time.  English teachers can create cards with the characters from a novel, ie. "Move to your Holden Caufield partner."  In Spanish it could be vocabulary words. In Math it could be math symbols.  The options are unlimited. 

To increase variety in grouping, I have guidelines like, you can only ask one person from your current table to sign your card, or you must get a partner from each row of the classroom. I remind students to keep these cards in their notebook so that we can use throughout the year.  They can also be useful to trigger a quick review of material throughout the year.

Professional Development Workshop

DYNAMIC TEACHING IN THE

BLOCK SCHEDULE

The Dynamic Teaching in the Block Schedule Workshop focuses on the creation of a community of learning, based upon those skills that are absolutely necessary for students to transition into their future.  A future where the majority of jobs do not even exist yet, using technology that has yet to be invented and solving problems that have not yet been created.  The skills students must master for success in the next three decades are the Three C's of learning: Think Critically, Work Collaboratively and Communicate Effectively.  It is these three skills that educators should promote within their classroom whether the curriculum path they are on is English, History, Math, Science, Art or Technology.

The workshop will incorporate powerful teaching strategies to enhance the culture of learning, to enhance problem solving skills, increase student participation, develop creativity and increase collaborative abilities. Teachers will be immersed in a classroom experience that places the student at the center of the learning and allows the teacher to become the mentor of their learning success. Imbedded in the workshop is the idea that transforming teachers in to the "Guide on the Side" will have a more positive influence on student learning than does remaining the "Sage on the Stage".  

Dynamic Teaching in the Block Schedule will provide a model of an interactive and robust classroom where both students and teachers value learning as a process of exploration and discovery.

For more information on scheduling this workshop for your school faculty, contact Brian S. Miller at smarterteacher@gmail.com.