Thinking about Routines and Procedures

I’ve been reflecting a lot on routines for a variety of reasons. One, because I’m attempting to write a book about classroom management, and routines always seem to fit into that topic. I recently read this book about the start of the school year:

Have you ever read something and thought, “Yes, that’s why I do that…” While parts of the book were new to me, so much of what I do each year was written in those pages. It was both affirming and enlightening. I just wrote to a friend today that I’d love to see a building PreK-6 (or higher!) that used the responsive classroom approach. I bet it would be amazing.

The second reason I’ve been reflecting on routines is that Ruth Ayres and Christy Rush-Levine are starting a Twitter chat called Teach & Celebrate Writers. The first chat is on August 3^rd at 8pm EST. I’ve agreed to guest host. Want to guess the topic? Routines and procedures for writing workshop. I’m SOOOOOO excited. I love the start of the school year. I love introducing students unfamiliar with workshop model to our classroom. I love showing them how we work as a classroom community. It is the best! Well, maybe the best is when the classroom is humming along, but I do love the start of the school year when everything is ripe with possibility.

I hope you will join us on the 3^rd at 8pm EST! I’d love to learn from you all and have a conversation. What routines and procedures do you teach at the start of the school year? Which do you struggle with? Is there something new you’re going to try this year in writing? Share in the comments and then come to Twitter on the 3^rd to continue the conversation. Can’t wait to see you there!

Lessons for the Classroom from the Baseball Field

Today I drove to a nearby town to get groceries and reflected on the end of Luke’s baseball season. It was a truly amazing season and I hated to see it end. That is unusual for me, to say the least. Luke and Liam have played in various sports each season since they were old enough for t-ball, so for Luke that equals eight years of sports, often three sports a year. I always embrace the end of a season, looking forward to a short break before the next sport begins. Why would I care this year? This picture from last night sums it up well, it’s about relationships.

Photo bomb courtesy of Luke's coach, Seth.

When watching Luke’s coaches all season I saw excellent teachers. Luke has had great coaches over the years, but Seth, Kurt, and Ryan are on another level. They knew each player well. Some players need few words and short directions. Others need to be built up, reassurance and encouragement to be given regularly. These guys made practices fun, games competitive, and ensured each player felt valued and a part of a team. If there was an issue, they dealt with it quickly, decisively, but kindly. They knew when to step in, and when to let the kids lead the way. All qualities of excellent coaches and teachers. I was impressed and grateful.

When we signed up, I was a bit worried about Luke joining the team simply because he didn’t have any friends on it. Luke can be shy and have a hard time joining others. He is absolutely loud and outspoken with his friends, but around kids he doesn’t know, he hangs back. This group had a couple kids from his grade whom he really didn’t know, and many kids from the grades above. They were amazing. I knew most of them from teaching and was consistently impressed with how they encouraged each other, but also how well they knew each other. They knew who could handle being razzed, but who (Luke) needed more encouragement.

Today I watched Luke strike out for the second time in the game. My heart broke as I felt paralyzed. I obviously wasn’t going to go over to the dugout to talk to him, that would mortify him in front of the older boys. But I also knew he would be beating himself up over that out. Looking over at the dugout from my chair, I watched him brush away a tear, and several immediately popped into my own eyes. I then saw two older boys grab him in a bear hug, pat him on the back, and continue to watch the game with their arms across his shoulders. My heart swelled with gratitude.

It was in watching this scene unfold that I realized what an excellent community had been created with this team.

•       Kids led all warm-up activities. They knew what was expected of them, did it without trying to get out of work, and took turns leading.
• When one child would be at the end of the running exercise, another would automatically drop back to join and finish with them. No adult prodding needed, they supported their teammates.
• If someone was struggling with pressure on the field or off, encouraging words were offered.
• Coaches connected with every kid, not just the better athletes. Each child got individualized instruction.
• Hard work was recognized and rewarded always.
• Praise was specific and given to all kids.
• Mistakes were faced head on and advice was given how to improve in the future. 

I’ve been writing a lot about classroom management lately, so it is constantly on my mind. Luke’s team had a wide range of kids on it and all achieved levels of success. Relationships and community lead to engagement and ownership. This season left me inspired for what potential there is in a good team – on the field or in the classroom. I’m grateful Luke had the chance to be part of this one.  

How Much Activity Do Our Students Need?

Yesterday I was scrolling through my Facebook feed and came across this article in the Washington Post – “Why so many kids can’t sit still in school today.” (You can read it HERE.) Reading through it I found myself nodding my head. Flipping over to Twitter I saw this image that a friend had shared:

And I couldn’t help but wonder – are we having this discussion in our schools? I started teaching in 1998 and moved to my current district in 2000. In 2000 my fourth grade students had recess before school if they got there before the bell rang, recess each morning for 15 minutes, and at least twenty-five minutes of recess each lunch hour. On occasion, we also had a recess in the afternoon. My district I was in from 1998-2000 had the same schedule and also PE every day.

Flash forward to today. Kids are still offered recess if they arrive before the bell in the morning. No morning recess, lunch recess is a bit shorter, and no afternoon recess. On some Fridays we might do an afternoon recess. Kids absolutely move less.

I think we do need to consider the ramifications of this. All kids need to move. Heck, I need to move. I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately – some on education in countries like Finland which build in breaks consistently all day long – and some reading on the impact of taking away recess as a punishment. While there is often good reason for doing this, the result might be less than desirable.

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to my more active kids in the classroom – how can I best help them? Most of what I do, I have learned through them. They can pace if needed. If they prefer to stand to work, or lean against their table and kneel on their chair – why not? I have exercise balls and Hokki stools specifically to help them out. I ensure my mini-lessons/ whole class instruction is short (15 minutes maximum) so they can move. I have created a classroom for them, not me. There is no teacher desk. There is our space, not mine. They can lie down to read, sit, find a quiet corner, and more. Due to no longer begin self-contained, I cannot just schedule a recess at whim, but I’m trying to ensure our classroom and our schedule are set up for all students – including my friends who need to move. I hope it is enough.

Sometimes I think we forget that we are dealing with children. I have bad days, just as I know my eleven-year-old kids do. I’m old enough that I don’t take it out on everyone around me and I’ve learned what works for me. For example, today I can tell I’m a bit grouchy. My old friend, anxiety, has come to visit. So, I can dwell on it, or I can move. Exercise is the only thing that helps me now and I have the liberty to go do just that. What about “Sam” who is in my class? What if he feels jittery and like his brain is jumping around? If exercise is best for him, are we allowing Sam to fill that need? How do you help your students who can’t sit still? I’d love to learn from you all as I continue to think this one through.  

Trying Out a Backchannel In Fifth Grade

An alternate title of this post could be…When Backchanneling Goes Horribly Wrong.

After reading Cathy Mere’s post with her first graders, I knew I had to try and use a backchannel in my fifth grade classroom. I decided that the place it made the most sense to start with was during read aloud in my homeroom. To prepare I:

Went to www.todaysmeet.com

Created a room.

Picked a length of time the room would exist.

And that’s it!

During read aloud I gave each student a device. (FYI -for this lesson, we had enough iPads to have each child have one. The iPads worked great. )

Once they typed in the room URL (which you will have once you create the room), we talked about purpose.

What was the goal in allowing them to essentially text while I read? We talked about predictions, questions, summarizing, etc. I explained that their comments would be linked with their name, that I would be reading each one when I was done (you can access a transcript), and that I would be giving them a participation grade.

For the next twenty minutes, I read. They were quiet, focused, and worked to listen and comment at the same time. Once I was done and closed the book, some asked if they could make a prediction and, of course, I said yes.

Almost immediately kids began ratting each other out – telling me that someone just wrote “lol” the whole time, someone was fighting with another in the backchannel, someone spoiled the book, etc. We took a breath, I reminded them that I would be reading the entire thread, they weren’t there to control each other, and we moved on.

Later, after they headed to library, I sat down with a class list and read through the entire thread. Conservatively, I would say there were upwards of 400 comments in twenty minutes from around twenty kids. WOW. I began to code the comments on my class list. If you made a comment that contributed positively to the conversation, you got a plus, if you made a comment but it was neutral like – yes, no, or someone’s name – I gave you a check. If you just wanted to comment, but really wasted space (arguing, off topic, emoticons – which I had said not to use), I gave you a minus. With these codes in mind, I read each and every comment.

What I found was fascinating. Five kids commented more than the entire class combined. They often posted, “Stop wasting space and commenting for no reason” when the person they were talking to had done a far better job commenting than they had. They weren’t being reflective, they were swept away with the new concept and being a bit overzealous.

When I was all done, those five kids had clearly misused the backchannel. They had each commented around 35-40 times with only 1-3 comments that contributed to our growth or conversation. We had gone over directions, but in the excitement to try something new, they forgot. So, we regrouped and tried it again.

They returned from library and I shared my findings. I went over our directions again. I handed out iPads, but those five had to sit this one out. (They will be allowed to use them in the future, but we needed a breather and a reminder of what the purpose was of this lesson.)

The second backchannel was amazing. We did essentially the same activity as the time before – twenty minute read aloud on our current book (The False Prince). There was a lot going on in today’s reading. I loved watching students gasp at surprising moments and look down to type. The best part, however, was when I read the transcript.

A sample of the comments from the second attempt.

When the students headed to band, I moved to my computer. What I found fascinated me. I’ve been trying over and over to get everyone to participate in class discussions. I have many dominate voices this year and several quiet students who don’t tend to speak up. In the backchannel, they did. Even better, I saw students building on comments from others. One boy walked in late from speech and grabbed an iPad. His first comment was, “Hey guys, what did I miss?” and someone immediately summarized it for him. SO COOL!

I’m beyond excited that I tried this today. While the first attempt was a flop – there were some great comments, but overall they were lackluster. The second attempt was unreal. The comments were focused, there were amazing predictions, great conversations, and fabulous questions. I will absolutely be doing this again tomorrow and every day forward. 

Reaching Out: Thinking about Relationships and Classroom Management

So sorry for the radio silence here, are you all still with me? I love the Slice of Life month, but I tend to be tired of daily writing and publishing after thirty-one days straight. I’m sure there is some lesson there for my students. J

Also, we have a little guy turning nine in my home today. Our last two weeks have been filled with celebrations and parties – including one hosted here tomorrow.

And sadly, our beautiful dog, Bally, left us after almost fourteen years last Saturday. It has been harder on me than I expected. This is all to say, I haven’t written, but this blog has been on my mind.

If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you know I am contemplating writing a book for teachers. I’ve started and stopped more drafts than I want to admit. I’ve known for some time that I want to write about the importance of relationships, but I’ve been searching for a frame. I think I might have found it.

Each year I go to the University of Illinois to speak to a group of student teachers. This year I was told that they were struggling with classroom management and was asked to speak to that. I laughed. This seems to come up a lot, and I’m asked to speak about how I manage a classroom often, but I abhor the term “classroom management.” I have no rules posted in my room, no management system. There are days that my students are so chatty that I feel like I’m losing my mind. There are days that I struggle with the concept myself. That being said, if you took every evaluation I’ve had since I began teaching until now, the area of classroom management always has the highest marks. My former principal wrote once that my students are always focused, on task, and seem relaxed without a strict system in place. Thinking of these new teachers I was preparing to talk to, I realized there was only one reason my classroom ever seems that way – and it is the one thing I’m interested in writing about – relationships.

As I spoke to these students I realized that maybe this was the book I needed to write – classroom management in the workshop classroom. My room is seldom quiet – and I think that is the old concept – that a quiet room is a well-behaved room. I do think I have some ideas about what I would include in a book like this – if there is ever one that I acutally get written. (I have a lot of big ideas at times!) But I wanted to reach out to you. What are you looking for in a book like this? Or, what would you have liked to read when you were starting out? What struggles do you still have with classroom management? How do you think classroom management has changed over the years?

I’d love to hear anything you want to share with me! If you want to leave a note in the comments, that would be awesome. If you want help with a scenario or have a longer comment – feel free to email me. The icon at the top right of this page will take you to my email.

Thanks so much for helping me brainstorm! Please share this post if you get a chance. I’d love to hear from as many teachers as possible.

Have a fabulous weekend!