Student For A Day

As I plan for some upcoming activities that I want to participate in, I found this article from the Washington Post.  The article is written regarding the experience of a teacher/adult as he/she shadowed a student for a few days in their school.  "Shadowing A Student" is gaining traction in our world as a great way of reflection and analysis of what a student is experiencing in a school.

I don't believe all that is talked about in the article happens at PHHS but it is still worth thinking about.

I would encourage you to read the article and think about the below questions.

Questions To Consider:

1.  Is this something you would be willing to do?  Let me know, I will make sure you get the opportunity.
2.  The article lists a few key takeaways, do you think those apply at PHHS?
3.  Could you predict what your key takeaways would be in a day for one of our students?

"You Go Home A Loser"

Recently the woman's basketball coach at Louisville went on a rant about millennials and their unwillingness to compete.  Here is about 3 mins of the press conference he had after a loss.  As the press conference got more and more attention, I heard more and more people talking about it.

I knew I wanted to write about it but I wasn't really sure how.  This is what I landed on.

I think his topic of conversation has direct impact on what we do in education and for us locally at PHHS.

Here are the reasons I believe that to be true:
1.  We work directly with millennials or whatever they are being called this generation
2.  We work directly with this generation he says gets a trophy for everything
3.  We work with this generation that has more unique social emotional needs than any other in our history
4.  We work with this generation that will define our future
5.  We work with this generation that needs to be cared for and loved
6.  We work with this generation that hasn't completely mastered skills like resiliency and learning how to lose.
7.  Many other reasons that I have not listed.

Questions to Consider:

1.  I agree with some of what this coach said.  Really think about the short video clip....what strikes you?  How can it help you in your classroom?
2.  Students are more unique than ever.  Though handing out "trophies" to all so they aren't offended is not going to work, we have a more unique obligation to care about our students and their "feelings."  How does that impact negative/positive your classroom?  How can it be a positive or cause you to grow professionally?
3.  Resiliency is a great asset for adults and students alike.  I believe this is the biggest lacking characteristic for our students.  What do you think is the most lacking characteristic?  How can we help to build that?

Try This

As I was doing some reading this week, I came across a blog post by Justin Tarte (@justintarte).  Dr. Tarte is someone that has some distinct opinions on homework and redos/retakes.  All of you now know why I was reading his blog.  Dr. Tarte is a good follow on Twitter also.  

The blog I was reading was titled "Five Alternatives to Traditional Homework."  Though I didn't find all of the suggestions to be practical, a few of them were interesting to me.

Here they are:

When you are out and about (with an adult), say 'hello' and ask every person you encounter or interact with 'how they are doing': Talk about a neat social experiment! Imagine that when standing in line, or browsing in a store, or simply walking in the parking lot to and from the car... how much can we learn from interacting with others and simply observing and experiencing the ups and downs of basic human and social interactions. Also, think about how this social experiment could go both ways... by being nice to strangers we possibly brighten their day while also being reminded of our influence on the attitudes of others.

Read about something you know nothing about: It doesn't matter if it's a magazine in the doctor's office or an article from the newspaper or something online. Go find something you know nothing about and read about it and learn something new. Simple and easy.

Click here to see the whole article if you are interested.

Questions To Consider:

1.  Can you incorporate such activities, as above, into content in your classroom?  Do activities like this have place in content areas?

2.  Could you use some activities like this as some type of "homework" for your students over Christmas break or even between Christmas and the end of the semester?

3.  The above types of "assignments" don't hod any place in assessing content acquisition but what place could they hold in your classroom?

Google: Google Form Basics

As we continue through the evaluation process, I feel like I have been mentioning a tool within Google quite a bit.  That tool is the Google Form.  Google forms can be a great tool in collecting formative information from students.  As we continue to move to a 1:1 setting, I thought it would be a good opportunity to revisit this tool.

Here is a quick article from Alice Keeler about the use of Google Forms with an Infographic to use for reference.


Questions to consider:

1.  Do you use Google forms in your classroom?  Do you find them useful in collecting formative information?
2.  Reflect back on your goals from your professional growth plan or the "3 words" activity we did at the beginning of the year.  Were any of those focuses on technology or Google?  Maybe this is a good place to take a step, using a Google Form to collect information from students.
3.  Though we will have to do some PD once we get closer to 1:1, think about how something like using this in class will have to become more prevalent once all students have a computer in their hands.