Discussion question #5:"How can I make this
lesson outrageously entertaining, engaging, and powerful so that my students
will never forget it and will be desperate to come back for more?"
(Burgess p.43)Where/ when do you get your best ideas?
I steal my ideas from other teachers. When I witness a teacher doing something outrageous that works, I modify it for me and use it! I think that is why collegiality is so important.
Absolutely! I had printed off an activity from Teachers Pay Teachers at school. I went to pick it up from the printer and another teacher had seen it and made copies for a team of teachers as they working on that topic. I occasionally do that too :-)
I do the same!!! I feel that some of my best resources are my fellow educators! I would gladly share any of my resources with my colleagues and. I would hope they would do the same.
Why re-invent the wheel? Stealing ideas that work well from other teachers saves us time and effort! Sometimes it is just a matter of tweaking what others are doing to make it work for us.
I totally agree! And why learn the hard way if you don't have to??? This is a reason that I look forward to our categorical meetings. I talk with school psychs from other coops who never really have an opportunity like we do, and I feel bad for them. I mean, sure, you can call or email someone with a question, but it's different when you get to have EVERYONE in your coop, in the same room, in PERSON to share resources and have conversations about what's going on.
I get good ideas from other teachers. If I see something I can use, I make a few changes to meet the needs of my students. I also ask students what they want to learn. Sometimes they are passionate about something that we can work on together. Other times I use the internet. I have googled standards to get ideas, and I find so many. Some aren’t that great, but others are excellent.
I agree that the internet has tons of resources out there. One of my favorite websites is teacher pay teachers. I love the free resources you can find on there. I also love using teacher tube or you tube to find videos to link to the concepts being taught.
Teachers are notorious for sharing and reusing other teacher's ideas. It is wonderful that technology is so available and amazing with what we can access.
I love exchanging ideas and 'stealing' ideas from other teachers! I know I don't know everything and we all approach problems differently. I love Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers! I actually found an idea for spacial concepts that used a clear plastic cup and a Lego batman on Pinterest. My deaf child in Kindergarten loves super heroes. I went to Target last night and they had a mystery Marvel's super hero packs. I bought 2 and used them today. He absolutely loved it! At the end of my one on one times, I usually let the children play on the iPad. Today he chose to play with the super heroes. I was then able to reinforce some of the spatial concepts as he was playing. A wonderful moment and lesson in my book!!!
What a fun idea for a lesson! Pinterest is a great conglomeration of websites. I love that you can look there and see what others have put together. I just wish it wasn't blocked in some of my schools!
Heather, I think we we feel like we know it all and there are no new ideas to try, it is time to find a different career. Teaching keeps evolving and so much is out there for us to learn and do. It is a never ending process.
Jerrie, I couldn't agree more. If we ever get to the point where we think we know it all and can't improve at what we do, it is time to get out of teaching. What better way to model being life-long learners for our students than to change things up ourselves.
I have a good friend that teaches 1st grade at another school and she shares many ideas with me. If I happen to be in her room I am always taking pictures of her things
I get my best ideas through music. I use music in my teaching a lot, and it seems to have a major impact on students. It seems as though there is a song or chant for every concrete concept being taught out there. Kids seem to love it and remember what is being taught to them. My other best ideas tend to come from the crafting side of me. I like to create and make games. I often will take a concept being taught and make it into a game somehow. The kids seem to engage in learning when things are taught through games.
Those are great ideas. I love the idea of using Music to teach concepts. The game idea is great too. When students think it's a game, they don't realize they're learning. Double win!
Those are the reasons I got into teaching! I love to make learning fun! At the lower elementary age, they need to play and we can make learning into play. The students don't get that they are learning while playing. It's great to see the transference from what they are 'playing' with to other things, especially our benchmark testing.
I like that you use music in your classroom. My mother was a music teacher forever and is still a professional musician so I was immersed in music my entire childhood and beyond. I need to use music more in my classroom. I will have to do as Dave Burgess says and start asking the right questions on how to use it effectively.
I love the idea of using music. Music can be so energizing or relaxing. I just observed a second grade teacher use music to motivate her students. It was late in the day and she was trying to instruct them in math. They were not responding. She broke out the music and man oh man did the class become energized. It was fabulous. She took four minutes to play a song and it worked like magic.
I have just started using music and I absolutely LOVE it! I need to get a better collection of music. I also like to use little songs and jingles that help students remember phonics skills or math concepts.
I get my best ideas from searching the web, google is my best friend, LOL! I love to search and find activities and ideas that will work to grasp my kiddos attention. I want something that gets them involved and helps them learn the concept or skill I am teaching. The best is when their teacher tells me that the student came and shared what they learned, yippee, success!!! I love getting ideas from seasoned teachers and another wonderful resource is paras. Many of my paras will come and tell me things that classroom teachers have incorporated and kaboom, I save it for later.
I also enjoy hearing when the teacher has seen the lightbulb go off in his/her class. It means I did something right and shows the concept has made transference!
That's awesome that your paras bring you ideas from other teachers. I am only in two teacher's classrooms, so my exposure to other teachers is limited.
I'm with you Chris! I google a lot of things looking for great ideas/activities that I can use with my groups of kiddos. I have found some amazingly successful activities just by using Google. :)
I had to break up with Pinterest. After attempting several different Pinterest inspired ideas, I had to call it quits. I think I could start a Pinterest fail blog. It was a little disheartening, but I have come to terms with the breakup!
Courtney- I have an account with TeachersPayTeachers and use it often. There are actually alot of free ideas/things on that site, not all of it costs money!
Jamie- I'm on the same page as you with Pinterest! I've come to the understanding that my Pinterest boards are just a collection of things I'll never be able to accomplish, haha!
Wow! I'm glad I'm not the only one that gathers ideas off Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers. I haven't used Pinterest as much lately, because I have become addicted to Teachers Pay Teachers. They have so many cute activities, ideas and lessons and all you have to do is do a search. A lot less time consuming than Pinterest, in my opinion. I also follow several sites on Facebook for teachers, and come up with some neat ideas from those. I have never considered myself creative, but I have definitely tried to step out of the box a lot more the last couple of years. I think I was starting to bore myself...
I think teachers are know for "stealing" their ideas from each other, this would include bulletin boards, books to use, lesson plans, and any activity used in a classroom. Peers are the best source of good information, and I thank them for that. Our meeting at HPEC are always a sharing, learning, time. I also use teachers pay teachers as well as other websites.
Facebook is another great place to get ideas. I love getting online and reading about what other teachers are doing in their classroom. One teacher posted about a modern version of the Declaration of Independence - a break-up letter with King George. I shared this with our English teacher and she loved it! "Stealing" ideas from one another can be a great, refreshing way to spruce up our teaching.
I like his Idea of no just reading educational book sto get our ideas from. To read or get other information from other sources that do not pertain to education would be a great way to enhance our creative juices and have that additional resource to use in our classroom to get students to be more engaging and creative in school.
My best ideas, ironically enough, either come from my morning drive or dreams. I have 20 minutes before I get to work where I think about my day and what I can do. I listen to the radio and just relax. Sometimes the way something is said will even trigger a thought. I dream a lot about work and things that I can do with my students (and my dreams are definitely nothing short of creative). For example, a student and I were working on "Romeo and Juliet." We had been discussing the text in class and she was reading it at home. In one of my dreams I dreamt that I was performing in a play. Bingo! The next day - instead of reading alone - we took turns acting out the play. Not only did she have fun, but it brought life to the text (and our discussions).
I love to do research. I must admit I am a data geek and a research nerd. I am perfectly ok with that and am not offended either. I, too, get some of my ideas from other school psychs or special education teachers that I work with. I am still close with the group of ladies I went through grad school with. We communicate with each other several times a month. We are stretched out across Kansas and Missouri so it is nice to hear what is going on in other parts of the state.
Like the other teachers, I use Pinterest, Twitter, You Tube, and other sites on the internet. I also "steal" ideas from other teachers. I get ideas from inservices and past book study blogs that HPEC has offered. One of my favorite book study HPEC has offered was "The Book Whisperer", I restructured my reading class curriculum after reading that book.
Strangely enough sometimes my best ideas come when I least expect it. At times, wonderful ideas just pop in my head right out of the blue! Actually not quite like that, the ideas come after alot of reflection. One of the best ideas I have had was in regards to my Traditional Literature Unit. In that unit I spend a small amount of time on nursery rhymes. Last year I had a great idea about how to teach nursery rhymes. Instead of students reading nursery rhymes and the class discussing the meaning of them , I only did that once by the way! I got on You Tube and looked up the history of certain nursery rhymes. The class read the nursery rhyme and then watched the video about the history it, they loved it! For example- Humpty Dumpty was actually a big mortar used in a battle in England in the 1600's. The wall it was on was hit and crumbled, the mortar fell off, and was so heavy it could not be lifted back up to be used. I have a whole list of nursery rhymes with matching historical videos. It was a great and informative spin on traditional nursery rhymes.
Majority of my best ideas come from other teachers. I also get several off of Pinterest and teachers pay teachers. The rest of them just kind of happen. I've had several ideas come from a need to adjust an activity on the spot or if my plans fell threw and I need a filler quickly.
I get a lot of resources from the internet, like many teachers do. But to make those resources fun, engaging, and entertaining I have to gauge my students. There are times when we do a lesson or activity outside, there have been times that I have had them (again, my group of girls) do gymnastics while we are practicing or learning something.
A lot of my ideas come from other teachers or online resources. Occasionally I'll have an aha moment where I come up with my own and then adjust them as needed. My kids are pretty go with the flow this year so they like to try new things and are just as excited as I am!
I wish I would have aha moments. I guess I've had some but not many. I probably feel in the area of entertaining like my students feel about reading. It is very uncomfortable to me.
We have kids that when they are assigned something they just want to get it done as quickly as possible and move on and and perhaps never come back to that concept for that lesson or objective. So it is very hard to get them engaged and become interested in the different aspects of academics. I have tried getting suggestions from them on what they would like to learn or even what I could dodifferently or take a survey on what they would like to know, and some surveys or asking them what they want have worked a time or two but it is difficult when they are in school and they don't really have the passion to learn and to become a better all round person in order to have a career or a decent life outside of school. What has been really successful is letting them take charge of a lesson after I have taught it first to them and trying to teach it back to me and to the other classmates. This helps work on their public speaking skills and and trying to lead a group discussion for perhaps a leadership skill. It is really hard to overall get them really motivated to stand up in front of classroom and try to explain or demonstrate something. Where I get my best ideas, I usually do get them when I am outside of school I could be at home or driving in my car and somereally good idea would pop into my brain and yes I don't have something at hand to write that down before I forget about that thought. I really need to do what he does in this book is to use my smartphone or carry around a pad and pencil to write these ideas down and research then and come up with ideas of how to implement them into my classroom.
I get ideas from lots of places: Google, other teachers, Pintrest (although there are definitely some failed ideas from there...lol), Teachers Pay Teachers, etc. I love when I can get together with other educators and share ideas. Collaborating is awesome!! One of the weirdest places I get ideas is when I am in the shower!! I do a lot of thinking there and sometimes some amazing ideas come about! :)
I get my ideas from other teachers now and when I first started at the school. I would watch some of the veteran teachers, and I saw how the students responded to them and their lessons. In the last year I've also done more online searching of ideas to help me be more entertaining. Finally, I get help from my children and my students. They are also a good source to help me in the area of entertaining. I feel if they are able to give input it means more to them, and they want to come back.
I also like to get some ideas from the veteran teachers. I saw a teacher who would ask a question and if only one person seemed to know the answer, she would call on that student and have them say the answer, stand on their chair and say the answer, and then stand on their desk and say the answer again. I thought this was a neat idea, and it gets the other students to pay attention to the question and answer.
I try very hard to come up with my own ideas, customized to my students' needs. However, I do get ideas from other teachers or I Google a lesson to see what multi-sensory ideas are out there. I get to know my students and how they learn. Sometimes I will ask myself how I would have liked to have learned when I was in school.
I get my best ideas in the middle of the night, while I am sleeping. I wake up with a brilliant idea, or what seems brilliant at the time, and by the time I am ready to implement it, I have either forgotten about it or the idea is no longer as brilliant as it once seemed. I also get ideas from other teachers in my building. If I see something that is really working for them, I will try it. If it works for my students...great; if not, I discard it.
I am totally like this. I wake up in the middle of the night with a great idea. I have a note pad by my bed. When I have a great idea, I'll get up and jot the idea down so I won't forget it. Then I can .tackle it in the morning
I like to "sleep on it" too when I'm stumped. Often an idea seems perfectly obvious in the middle of the night :) I need to start writing them down though, to make sure I don't lose them.
I find lot of good things just looking around and watching other. Youtube has some great letter and sounds video’s, along with Heidi’s Songs videos. Any time I can use a cartoon character that the kids are familiar with they love to watch. Catchy songs whether are made up by you or from online are great ways to teach skills and the kids will sing for days.
I can't say that I want to entertain my students, but I most definitely want them to be engaged and for my lessons to be powerful enough that they stick. In the past I have had little time to prepare outrageous lessons, but this year I actually have a planning period! I am thoroughly enjoying teaching all of my classes because I actually have the time to really think through and prepare lesson plans that are much more out of the box. The main thing I am doing is asking myself how I can illustrate how my lessons will actually apply to their lives.
I learned to "CASE" Copy and Steal everything! I take pictures with my phone or jot down ideas when I visit other teacher's classrooms. /also I get ideas when I see something I can recycle.
My para's and other teachers give me great ideas... One of my para's has fifteen years of experience. It is hard to get time to brainstorm with them; but well worth it !
I love collaboration with other teachers. I often pull a bunch of different ideas from various places to make a lesson fit me and my plans and also my student needs. I of course love pinterest, teachers pay teachers, and talking with other teachers about what they have done in the past. I go on walks or drives a lot and many of my ideas come from my nonstop activity in the head! :) This is from reflection on my own teachings, what has happened that day/week/year and what needs to happen, added to things I've read or heard from other teachers. The mumble jumble in my brain produces organized thoughts every now and then, but always leaves room for added chaos in which my lesson plans have room to change and improve on the spot or in the future.
Collaboration is so very important. Sometimes it is difficult to find time to do this and I would like to find the time to do it more often. We have so much knowledge a whole as educators and sharing is a great way to gain knowledge and new ideas.
Well, I am not quite like the author of the book when it comes to being outrageous. I am not even sure how I would respond as a student in such a class. What I have found to be effective is to trick the students into learning. Sometimes it is through playing a game, or having the students come up with a game. Maybe it is telling them a part of my life story (which builds rapport too) or maybe it is just getting excited about the subject matter. Applying what we are teaching to real-life helps them learn to dream. I remember teaching the class "7 Habits of a Highly Effective Teen" where we did a lot of hands on projects and reflection. Each one of those activities had meaning for the students, something to apply to their own life. The learning that took place in that setting was effective because the students actually took ownership in their learning. Some may think there is not room for theater in the classroom but I believe it is not just an acting moment for entertainment but rather an attempt to engage students in order for them to learn. I recently viewed a Facebook post where a co-worker was doing the Harlem Shake with her class. Someone re-posted it 2 or 3 years after it was first recorded. Giving the students some release from work was fun, entertaining, engaging, and they actually got their work completed. So much more fun than complaining to them because they did not do their work.
I really like the fact that you try in stories and games into your instruction. Sharing a little about yourself and your own life experiences lets then see it from a different angle and again ties it to the real world.
Being open to trying new things is very important when it comes to students engagement. For example I enjoy working out but I hate doing the same workout over and over. This is true for our students when it comes to learning. Repetition is important but repetition int he same way is boring. I try to be open to new ideas , I also try to relate my instruction to the real world. Application that is relevant to my students is so very important in order for them to remain engaged and excited about learning.
I think if we relate what we are teaching to the real world, then our students are more willing to buy into what we are saying and teaching. That is true that they have to stay engaged and excited about learning.
I don’t really do any lesson planning, but whenever I need advice, I ask my dad. He’s been in my exact position, but for 40 years longer, and was REALLY good at his job. He knows what works well in the field, what doesn’t, and has the battle scars to prove it. I also know he’s not going to try to sugar coat things, but will be completely realistic with me. For things that aren’t super school psych specific, I’m BEYOND blessed to be able to work with a plethora of knowledgeable experts across all of the districts that I cover, whether it be interrelated, speech, gifted, admin, reg. ed, etc., etc. Whatever the situation may be, I know I’ll have several great resources available to me to ask questions or just bounce ideas off of.
I steal my ideas from other teachers. When I witness a teacher doing something outrageous that works, I modify it for me and use it! I think that is why collegiality is so important.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! I had printed off an activity from Teachers Pay Teachers at school. I went to pick it up from the printer and another teacher had seen it and made copies for a team of teachers as they working on that topic. I occasionally do that too :-)
DeleteIt is great to utilize other people's ideas. We learn best as a team and make the biggest impact on our students when a team approach is used.
DeleteI do the same!!! I feel that some of my best resources are my fellow educators! I would gladly share any of my resources with my colleagues and. I would hope they would do the same.
DeleteI totally agree!! I love getting great ideas from others! :)
DeleteWhy re-invent the wheel? Stealing ideas that work well from other teachers saves us time and effort! Sometimes it is just a matter of tweaking what others are doing to make it work for us.
DeleteI learned along time ago to case! "copy and steal everything"
DeleteI totally agree! And why learn the hard way if you don't have to??? This is a reason that I look forward to our categorical meetings. I talk with school psychs from other coops who never really have an opportunity like we do, and I feel bad for them. I mean, sure, you can call or email someone with a question, but it's different when you get to have EVERYONE in your coop, in the same room, in PERSON to share resources and have conversations about what's going on.
DeleteI get good ideas from other teachers. If I see something I can use, I make a few changes to meet the needs of my students. I also ask students what they want to learn. Sometimes they are passionate about something that we can work on together. Other times I use the internet. I have googled standards to get ideas, and I find so many. Some aren’t that great, but others are excellent.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the internet has tons of resources out there. One of my favorite websites is teacher pay teachers. I love the free resources you can find on there. I also love using teacher tube or you tube to find videos to link to the concepts being taught.
DeleteTeachers are notorious for sharing and reusing other teacher's ideas. It is wonderful that technology is so available and amazing with what we can access.
DeleteI love exchanging ideas and 'stealing' ideas from other teachers! I know I don't know everything and we all approach problems differently. I love Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers! I actually found an idea for spacial concepts that used a clear plastic cup and a Lego batman on Pinterest. My deaf child in Kindergarten loves super heroes. I went to Target last night and they had a mystery Marvel's super hero packs. I bought 2 and used them today. He absolutely loved it! At the end of my one on one times, I usually let the children play on the iPad. Today he chose to play with the super heroes. I was then able to reinforce some of the spatial concepts as he was playing. A wonderful moment and lesson in my book!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun idea for a lesson! Pinterest is a great conglomeration of websites. I love that you can look there and see what others have put together. I just wish it wasn't blocked in some of my schools!
DeleteHeather,
DeleteI think we we feel like we know it all and there are no new ideas to try, it is time to find a different career. Teaching keeps evolving and so much is out there for us to learn and do. It is a never ending process.
I get alot of ideas from Pinterest too! I wish I had more time on Pinterest but when I am on it I always find things to pin!
DeleteJerrie, I couldn't agree more. If we ever get to the point where we think we know it all and can't improve at what we do, it is time to get out of teaching. What better way to model being life-long learners for our students than to change things up ourselves.
DeleteI have a good friend that teaches 1st grade at another school and she shares many ideas with me. If I happen to be in her room I am always taking pictures of her things
DeleteI get my best ideas through music. I use music in my teaching a lot, and it seems to have a major impact on students. It seems as though there is a song or chant for every concrete concept being taught out there. Kids seem to love it and remember what is being taught to them. My other best ideas tend to come from the crafting side of me. I like to create and make games. I often will take a concept being taught and make it into a game somehow. The kids seem to engage in learning when things are taught through games.
ReplyDeleteThose are great ideas. I love the idea of using Music to teach concepts. The game idea is great too. When students think it's a game, they don't realize they're learning. Double win!
DeleteThose are the reasons I got into teaching! I love to make learning fun! At the lower elementary age, they need to play and we can make learning into play. The students don't get that they are learning while playing. It's great to see the transference from what they are 'playing' with to other things, especially our benchmark testing.
DeleteI like that you use music in your classroom. My mother was a music teacher forever and is still a professional musician so I was immersed in music my entire childhood and beyond. I need to use music more in my classroom. I will have to do as Dave Burgess says and start asking the right questions on how to use it effectively.
DeleteI love the idea of using music. Music can be so energizing or relaxing. I just observed a second grade teacher use music to motivate her students. It was late in the day and she was trying to instruct them in math. They were not responding. She broke out the music and man oh man did the class become energized. It was fabulous. She took four minutes to play a song and it worked like magic.
DeleteI have just started using music and I absolutely LOVE it! I need to get a better collection of music. I also like to use little songs and jingles that help students remember phonics skills or math concepts.
DeleteI get my best ideas from searching the web, google is my best friend, LOL! I love to search and find activities and ideas that will work to grasp my kiddos attention. I want something that gets them involved and helps them learn the concept or skill I am teaching. The best is when their teacher tells me that the student came and shared what they learned, yippee, success!!!
ReplyDeleteI love getting ideas from seasoned teachers and another wonderful resource is paras. Many of my paras will come and tell me things that classroom teachers have incorporated and kaboom, I save it for later.
I also enjoy hearing when the teacher has seen the lightbulb go off in his/her class. It means I did something right and shows the concept has made transference!
DeleteThat's awesome that your paras bring you ideas from other teachers. I am only in two teacher's classrooms, so my exposure to other teachers is limited.
DeleteI'm with you Chris! I google a lot of things looking for great ideas/activities that I can use with my groups of kiddos. I have found some amazingly successful activities just by using Google. :)
DeletePinterest!
ReplyDeleteI love Pinterest! I used to go to TeachersPayTeachers (and still will) but Pinterest has so many great ideas! As well as teaching blogs.
DeleteI had to break up with Pinterest. After attempting several different Pinterest inspired ideas, I had to call it quits. I think I could start a Pinterest fail blog. It was a little disheartening, but I have come to terms with the breakup!
DeleteCourtney- I have an account with TeachersPayTeachers and use it often. There are actually alot of free ideas/things on that site, not all of it costs money!
DeleteJamie-
DeleteI'm on the same page as you with Pinterest! I've come to the understanding that my Pinterest boards are just a collection of things I'll never be able to accomplish, haha!
Wow! I'm glad I'm not the only one that gathers ideas off Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers. I haven't used Pinterest as much lately, because I have become addicted to Teachers Pay Teachers. They have so many cute activities, ideas and lessons and all you have to do is do a search. A lot less time consuming than Pinterest, in my opinion. I also follow several sites on Facebook for teachers, and come up with some neat ideas from those. I have never considered myself creative, but I have definitely tried to step out of the box a lot more the last couple of years. I think I was starting to bore myself...
ReplyDeleteI have a pinterest account and rarely go there. I'll try it for education instead of arts and crafts!
DeleteI think teachers are know for "stealing" their ideas from each other, this would include bulletin boards, books to use, lesson plans, and any activity used in a classroom. Peers are the best source of good information, and I thank them for that. Our meeting at HPEC are always a sharing, learning, time. I also use teachers pay teachers as well as other websites.
ReplyDeleteFacebook is another great place to get ideas. I love getting online and reading about what other teachers are doing in their classroom. One teacher posted about a modern version of the Declaration of Independence - a break-up letter with King George. I shared this with our English teacher and she loved it! "Stealing" ideas from one another can be a great, refreshing way to spruce up our teaching.
DeleteI totally agree. There is information and ideas all around us, why shouldn't we take advantage of it?
DeleteI like his Idea of no just reading educational book sto get our ideas from. To read or get other information from other sources that do not pertain to education would be a great way to enhance our creative juices and have that additional resource to use in our classroom to get students to be more engaging and creative in school.
DeleteMy best ideas, ironically enough, either come from my morning drive or dreams. I have 20 minutes before I get to work where I think about my day and what I can do. I listen to the radio and just relax. Sometimes the way something is said will even trigger a thought. I dream a lot about work and things that I can do with my students (and my dreams are definitely nothing short of creative). For example, a student and I were working on "Romeo and Juliet." We had been discussing the text in class and she was reading it at home. In one of my dreams I dreamt that I was performing in a play. Bingo! The next day - instead of reading alone - we took turns acting out the play. Not only did she have fun, but it brought life to the text (and our discussions).
ReplyDeleteI love driving for just that reason! But I tend to forget my "great" ideas sometimes :-(
DeleteI agree, driving time is a great time to reflect and plan.
DeleteI love to do research. I must admit I am a data geek and a research nerd. I am perfectly ok with that and am not offended either. I, too, get some of my ideas from other school psychs or special education teachers that I work with. I am still close with the group of ladies I went through grad school with. We communicate with each other several times a month. We are stretched out across Kansas and Missouri so it is nice to hear what is going on in other parts of the state.
ReplyDeleteI tend to research as a last resort... But am getting better about it!
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ReplyDeleteLike the other teachers, I use Pinterest, Twitter, You Tube, and other sites on the internet. I also "steal" ideas from other teachers. I get ideas from inservices and past book study blogs that HPEC has offered. One of my favorite book study HPEC has offered was "The Book Whisperer", I restructured my reading class curriculum after reading that book.
ReplyDeleteStrangely enough sometimes my best ideas come when I least expect it. At times, wonderful ideas just pop in my head right out of the blue! Actually not quite like that, the ideas come after alot of reflection. One of the best ideas I have had was in regards to my Traditional Literature Unit. In that unit I spend a small amount of time on nursery rhymes. Last year I had a great idea about how to teach nursery rhymes. Instead of students reading nursery rhymes and the class discussing the meaning of them , I only did that once by the way! I got on You Tube and looked up the history of certain nursery rhymes. The class read the nursery rhyme and then watched the video about the history it, they loved it! For example- Humpty Dumpty was actually a big mortar used in a battle in England in the 1600's. The wall it was on was hit and crumbled, the mortar fell off, and was so heavy it could not be lifted back up to be used. I have a whole list of nursery rhymes with matching historical videos. It was a great and informative spin on traditional nursery rhymes.
Majority of my best ideas come from other teachers. I also get several off of Pinterest and teachers pay teachers. The rest of them just kind of happen. I've had several ideas come from a need to adjust an activity on the spot or if my plans fell threw and I need a filler quickly.
ReplyDeleteI get a lot of resources from the internet, like many teachers do. But to make those resources fun, engaging, and entertaining I have to gauge my students. There are times when we do a lesson or activity outside, there have been times that I have had them (again, my group of girls) do gymnastics while we are practicing or learning something.
DeleteA lot of my ideas come from other teachers or online resources. Occasionally I'll have an aha moment where I come up with my own and then adjust them as needed. My kids are pretty go with the flow this year so they like to try new things and are just as excited as I am!
ReplyDeleteI wish I would have aha moments. I guess I've had some but not many. I probably feel in the area of entertaining like my students feel about reading. It is very uncomfortable to me.
DeleteWe have kids that when they are assigned something they just want to get it done as quickly as possible and move on and and perhaps never come back to that concept for that lesson or objective. So it is very hard to get them engaged and become interested in the different aspects of academics. I have tried getting suggestions from them on what they would like to learn or even what I could dodifferently or take a survey on what they would like to know, and some surveys or asking them what they want have worked a time or two but it is difficult when they are in school and they don't really have the passion to learn and to become a better all round person in order to have a career or a decent life outside of school. What has been really successful is letting them take charge of a lesson after I have taught it first to them and trying to teach it back to me and to the other classmates. This helps work on their public speaking skills and and trying to lead a group discussion for perhaps a leadership skill. It is really hard to overall get them really motivated to stand up in front of classroom and try to explain or demonstrate something. Where I get my best ideas, I usually do get them when I am outside of school I could be at home or driving in my car and somereally good idea would pop into my brain and yes I don't have something at hand to write that down before I forget about that thought. I really need to do what he does in this book is to use my smartphone or carry around a pad and pencil to write these ideas down and research then and come up with ideas of how to implement them into my classroom.
ReplyDeleteI get ideas from lots of places: Google, other teachers, Pintrest (although there are definitely some failed ideas from there...lol), Teachers Pay Teachers, etc. I love when I can get together with other educators and share ideas. Collaborating is awesome!! One of the weirdest places I get ideas is when I am in the shower!! I do a lot of thinking there and sometimes some amazing ideas come about! :)
ReplyDeleteI get my ideas from other teachers now and when I first started at the school. I would watch some of the veteran teachers, and I saw how the students responded to them and their lessons. In the last year I've also done more online searching of ideas to help me be more entertaining. Finally, I get help from my children and my students. They are also a good source to help me in the area of entertaining. I feel if they are able to give input it means more to them, and they want to come back.
ReplyDeleteI also like to get some ideas from the veteran teachers. I saw a teacher who would ask a question and if only one person seemed to know the answer, she would call on that student and have them say the answer, stand on their chair and say the answer, and then stand on their desk and say the answer again. I thought this was a neat idea, and it gets the other students to pay attention to the question and answer.
DeleteI try very hard to come up with my own ideas, customized to my students' needs. However, I do get ideas from other teachers or I Google a lesson to see what multi-sensory ideas are out there. I get to know my students and how they learn. Sometimes I will ask myself how I would have liked to have learned when I was in school.
ReplyDeleteI get my best ideas in the middle of the night, while I am sleeping. I wake up with a brilliant idea, or what seems brilliant at the time, and by the time I am ready to implement it, I have either forgotten about it or the idea is no longer as brilliant as it once seemed. I also get ideas from other teachers in my building. If I see something that is really working for them, I will try it. If it works for my students...great; if not, I discard it.
ReplyDeleteI am totally like this. I wake up in the middle of the night with a great idea. I have a note pad by my bed. When I have a great idea, I'll get up and jot the idea down so I won't forget it. Then I can .tackle it in the morning
DeleteI like to "sleep on it" too when I'm stumped. Often an idea seems perfectly obvious in the middle of the night :) I need to start writing them down though, to make sure I don't lose them.
DeleteI find lot of good things just looking around and watching other. Youtube has some great letter and sounds video’s, along with Heidi’s Songs videos. Any time I can use a cartoon character that the kids are familiar with they love to watch. Catchy songs whether are made up by you or from online are great ways to teach skills and the kids will sing for days.
ReplyDeleteI can't say that I want to entertain my students, but I most definitely want them to be engaged and for my lessons to be powerful enough that they stick. In the past I have had little time to prepare outrageous lessons, but this year I actually have a planning period! I am thoroughly enjoying teaching all of my classes because I actually have the time to really think through and prepare lesson plans that are much more out of the box. The main thing I am doing is asking myself how I can illustrate how my lessons will actually apply to their lives.
ReplyDeleteI learned to "CASE" Copy and Steal everything! I take pictures with my phone or jot down ideas when I visit other teacher's classrooms. /also I get ideas when I see something I can recycle.
ReplyDeleteHaven't heard the acronym "CASE" used...but love it!
DeleteLove the CASE acronym too. It's new to me, but believe I'll Copy and Steal it :)
DeleteMy para's and other teachers give me great ideas... One of my para's has fifteen years of experience. It is hard to get time to brainstorm with them; but well worth it !
ReplyDeleteOther colleagues, books, internet, previous experiences that I have changed to make more engaging.
ReplyDeleteI love collaboration with other teachers. I often pull a bunch of different ideas from various places to make a lesson fit me and my plans and also my student needs. I of course love pinterest, teachers pay teachers, and talking with other teachers about what they have done in the past.
ReplyDeleteI go on walks or drives a lot and many of my ideas come from my nonstop activity in the head! :) This is from reflection on my own teachings, what has happened that day/week/year and what needs to happen, added to things I've read or heard from other teachers.
The mumble jumble in my brain produces organized thoughts every now and then, but always leaves room for added chaos in which my lesson plans have room to change and improve on the spot or in the future.
Collaboration is so very important. Sometimes it is difficult to find time to do this and I would like to find the time to do it more often. We have so much knowledge a whole as educators and sharing is a great way to gain knowledge and new ideas.
DeleteWell, I am not quite like the author of the book when it comes to being outrageous. I am not even sure how I would respond as a student in such a class. What I have found to be effective is to trick the students into learning. Sometimes it is through playing a game, or having the students come up with a game. Maybe it is telling them a part of my life story (which builds rapport too) or maybe it is just getting excited about the subject matter. Applying what we are teaching to real-life helps them learn to dream. I remember teaching the class "7 Habits of a Highly Effective Teen" where we did a lot of hands on projects and reflection. Each one of those activities had meaning for the students, something to apply to their own life. The learning that took place in that setting was effective because the students actually took ownership in their learning. Some may think there is not room for theater in the classroom but I believe it is not just an acting moment for entertainment but rather an attempt to engage students in order for them to learn. I recently viewed a Facebook post where a co-worker was doing the Harlem Shake with her class. Someone re-posted it 2 or 3 years after it was first recorded. Giving the students some release from work was fun, entertaining, engaging, and they actually got their work completed. So much more fun than complaining to them because they did not do their work.
ReplyDeleteI really like the fact that you try in stories and games into your instruction. Sharing a little about yourself and your own life experiences lets then see it from a different angle and again ties it to the real world.
DeleteBeing open to trying new things is very important when it comes to students engagement. For example I enjoy working out but I hate doing the same workout over and over. This is true for our students when it comes to learning. Repetition is important but repetition int he same way is boring. I try to be open to new ideas , I also try to relate my instruction to the real world. Application that is relevant to my students is so very important in order for them to remain engaged and excited about learning.
ReplyDeleteI think if we relate what we are teaching to the real world, then our students are more willing to buy into what we are saying and teaching. That is true that they have to stay engaged and excited about learning.
DeleteI don’t really do any lesson planning, but whenever I need advice, I ask my dad. He’s been in my exact position, but for 40 years longer, and was REALLY good at his job. He knows what works well in the field, what doesn’t, and has the battle scars to prove it. I also know he’s not going to try to sugar coat things, but will be completely realistic with me. For things that aren’t super school psych specific, I’m BEYOND blessed to be able to work with a plethora of knowledgeable experts across all of the districts that I cover, whether it be interrelated, speech, gifted, admin, reg. ed, etc., etc. Whatever the situation may be, I know I’ll have several great resources available to me to ask questions or just bounce ideas off of.
ReplyDeleteSchool Psychologist's are in a wonderful position to see, borrow, and share a wide variety of ideas being in and out of so many different classrooms.
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