CLASS MATTERS is Launched!

Just in time to be ready for a new year, but still kick back and enjoy summer.  Check it out!

CLASS MATTERS: Planning, Teaching, and Managing Secondary Classes includes handouts and printables to meet teachers' wants and needs in these three focus areas, and also offers posts that suggest how, when and why the various  focuses will be most useful to them.  Although some of the information here is self-explanatory to rookie and veteran teachers, other ideas become clearer with short discussions. And sometimes …sometimes we just need a heads-up on how to use a new item-especially during Teacher Week because of all of the meetings- when we just. don’t. have. a. free. brain. cell. to. think. about. it.

This 100-page teacher resource bundle is divided into sections: PLANNING, TEACHING, and MANAGING CLASS MATTERS. Within each segment I have interspersed blogs to show teachers how to efficiently create flexible lesson plans, classroom rules, and behavior standards. Numerous teaching ideas, handouts and classroom management forms will meet many of your wants and needs in ONE PLACE to save you searching time. In the final pages, I invite you to take a break from all of your planning and organizing, and to kick back and relax with two posts: A Labor Day Lesson: A Contemporary Tale, and In Defense of Teenagers.

This bundle includes Freebies and paid products from my TpT Store, posts from my website, and many new ideas and printables. Here is a summary of the planning, teaching and managing secondary classrooms that comprise this 100-page teacher resource:

PLANNING pages 3-22

·        Let's Begin- Classmart Lifesaver List

·        When Planning- The Rule of Three Rules

·        Plan Up! Getting Started

·        Common Core Anchor Charts Grades 6-12

·        Bloom's Taxonomy Wheel

·        Class Matters- Keeping Track: Assignments Form

·        Class Matters-Keeping Track: Grades Form

·        Plan Up! Creating the Agenda (Using Animal Farm, George Orwell)

ü  Teacher Notes

ü  Student Calendar-Animal Farm

ü  Unit Structure Sample Form

ü  Unit Structure-Blank Form

ü  Unit Structure Activities Plan-Blank Form

ü  Response Letters: Alternative Animal Farm Activity

TEACHING IDEAS pages 23-55

·        Quartet of Ideas – 4 Freebies from my TpT Store

ü  Ten Sentence Format

ü  Analyzing Novels using the Elements of Literature

ü  Reel in Readers with Magnetizing Hooks

ü  Just say, NO!" to Dull Writing

·        First Day Activities- 3 Freebies from my TpT Store

ü  First Day Writing Assignment

ü  First Day Activity- Four Corners

ü  Writing Activities (First Day)- What About Me?

·        Friday Night Lights- Hook Students with a football and fall Non-fiction Unit

·        Teaching Ideas- Teaching Tip #1

·        Teaching Ideas- Teaching Tip#2

MANAGING CLASS MATTERS- Proactive Prevails pages 56-93

·        Five Teaching Tips That Eliminate Classroom Chaos

·        Managing Student Behavior: Obligations & Expectations

·        Managing Student Behavior: Alleviating Off-Task Behavior

ü  UhOh Bag

ü  UhOh Bag Writing Consequence Form

ü  General Incident/Consequence Form

·        Managing Classroom Behavior: Proactive Prevails: 3 Teacher Survival Lessons

·        Managing Class Matters: Form, Function and Flexibility

ü  Getting to Know You: A Teacher's Back To School Assortment of First day Forms and Activities

ü  Teaching Lifesavers: Twelve Classroom Management Forms

1.      Lesson Launch: Writing Warm-Ups (Teachers)

2.      Lesson Launch: Writing Warm-Ups (Students)

3.      Honor Statements

4.      Book Sign-Up Sheets

5.      General Essay Grading Rubric

6.      Late Homework Request

7.      Tardy Sign-In Sheet

8.      Restroom Pass

9.      Hall Pass

10.   Completed Assignments/Graded Assignments Folders

11.   Incident Form

12.   Closure: Exit Pass

·       Class Matters: Oh No! I Need a Sub

Relax and Enjoy-Two Posts

·        A Labor Day Lesson- A Contemporary Tale

·        In defense of Teenagers

CLASS-MATTERS-Planning-Teaching-and-Managing-Secondary-Classrooms-Bundle-3935206

I sincerely hope that you are thrilled with these PLANNING,TEACHING and MANAGING CLASS MATTERS posts and printables. For more ideas, check out my products for the basic secondary English curriculum as well as for two of the most important electives –in my opinion- journalism and creative writing in my TpT Store -  Store/Connie. 

CLASS MATTERS

AND

CLASS MATTERS ALWAYS MATTER!

Enjoy a Teach It Now Day Every Day,

Connie

Class Matters Coming Soon

DAYS AWAY FROM LAUNCHING: CLASS MATTERS

Since I am always concerned with What Teachers Want besides What Teachers Need, whenever the chance arises, I ask classroom colleagues these two questions. Although a fine line exists between Want –desires for a  satisfying  career- and Need- what is necessary for a successful career, all too often during a school term, we teachers know the lines cross instead of remaining parallel. Statisticians rely on quantitative answers. Me? I prefer qualitative knowledge - what I learn from my colleagues. The following list reveals  some of the answers to years of asking, “What do teachers Want?”.  I have compiled  CLASS MATTERS: Planning, Teaching, and Managing Secondary Classes to meet the wants and needs of my classroom colleagues leading students in grades 6-12.

1. Students should come to school ready and excited to learn.

2. I would be a happy camper if students completed their homework on time. I assign it so they can increase their knowledge, and so I can see how I can help them understand what we are studying.

3. Oh, to never again hear, “Oh, that’s right. We’re having a test today. Well, I forgot to study.”

4. When I ask for their thoughts and analysis, I don’t want students to answer what they think I want to hear. I want them to think and to share their thoughts.

5. What is  most aggravating is that it’s usually the kids who don’t turn their work in on time who complain when I don’t hand their papers back the very next class. How is this respectful?

6. Can they please, please get to class on time? It’s not fair to the others when I have to repeat what I have already covered.

7. Although my colleagues and I work together to follow the criteria set by the Program of Studies and how to weight our grades, we have different class rules., and that should be respected by students, colleagues, administrators and parents.

8. Students need to understand that school rules are in place for their safety and well-being and to create a positive and courteous learning environment. Running in the halls, texting, listening to music on their IPods, or whatever, foul language and dressing inappropriately for school are detrimental to this goal.

9. All I ask is that students just try in each aspect of school life, be it academic, social, behavioral, or extra-curricular areas.

Not only does this collection include handouts and printables to meet  both your wants and needs in these three areas, but it  offers posts that suggest how, when and why the  various  focuses will be most useful to you.  Although  some of the information here is self-explanatory to rookie and veteran teachers,  other ideas become clearer with  a short discussion. And sometimes …sometimes we just need  enlightenment on how to use  a new item because we just. don’t. have. a. free. brain. cell. to. think. about. it.

This 100 page teacher resource is divided into sections: Planning, Teaching, and Managing. Within each segment I have interspersed blogs to show  teachers  how to efficiently create lesson plans, classroom rules, and behavior standards. Numerous teaching ideas , handouts and classroom management forms will  meet many of your wants and needs. In the final pages, I invite you to take a break from all of your planning and organizing, and to kick back and relax with  two posts: A Labor Day Lesson: A Contemporary Tale, and In Defense of Teenagers.

Stay Tuned, and remember- 

CLASS Matters, and CLASS MATTERS always matter.

Connie

teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Connie

facebook.com/TeachitWriteLessonPlans

Six teaching tips that remove chaos from the classroom

Dear Classroom Colleagues, 

Although I originally wrote this post in August 2014, I find these teaching tips never go out of style. These slightly revised Six Teaching Tips will always offer teachers a workday life that is more calm than chaotic.  Personally, they head my Classroom Management repertoire because they stop off-task and behavioral brushfires from turning into forest fires.

Teaching Tip #1

Stop the Chattering

When a few students are disrupting the lesson with repeated chatting, giggling and other verbal interruptions simply stop talking.  Stand or sit quietly and just stare at the class with blank look.  In a few seconds you’ll hear a few students go, “Shh,” while others nudge each other. Within a minute, the class will be quiet.  Do not address the talking issue at all; just continue from the point where you stopped.  Before long the students will catch on to this method, and will quiet down more quickly.

Teaching Tip #2

Guess Who’s Tardy?

Place a small table by the door with spiral note book. Tie a string around a pen and attach it to the spirals. On the top of the page, write the Day of the Week and the Date. Below that write, “If I have to remind you to sign in when you are tardy, you will stay after the period dismissal bell for 30-seconds.”

Next, make two columns.  The left one should be titled: NAME, and the right one should be: TIME.  On the first day of school, explain to the students that if they are tardy, they must sign in with their name and the time that they came to class BEFORE they sit down. You will have to remind them a few times until this becomes a habit for them. If a student tries to slip past the table without signing in  just say, “Sign in,” and continue with your teaching.  Remember to keep this student after class since you had to interrupt the lesson to remind him/her to sign in.  This gives you a list, in the students’ handwriting, to keep in your Attendance Folder. It comes in handy in parent/student/administrator/teacher conferences.

Teaching Tip #3

Organize With Colored Files

This idea saved my sanity and insured that I took home the right folders every time that I had papers to grade. 

1. Choose two file folders for each period, both the same color. Each period should be a different color. Example: Period 1-Red, Period 2- Green, etc.
2. Label both folders of the same color with the Period Number and Course Name. Example Period 1/English 12; Period 2/ Journalism 
3. Working with the two folders of the same color, designate one as WORK DUE; label the other GRADED WORK.
4. Choose a place close to your desk to line up the WORK DUE folders. 
5. You want these near to your desk so you can keep an eye on them. If you have a plastic file tray for each folder, this really helps keep the work organized. 
6. Place ONE folder in each tray. Explain to the students, that the day work is due, each one of them must place his/her work in the proper class folder. Clarify that they are never to hand in their work to you.
7.  On your desk, place a vertical plastic file organizer with the same number of spaces as you have classes. Place a GRADED WORK folder in each slot.
8. When you have work to grade for a class, pick up the folder for that period and grade the assignments, tests, etc.
9. After you have graded the papers, place them into the coordinating colored folder labeled GRADED WORK on your desk, and place the empty WORK DUE folder back in its tray.
10. This colored folder system makes it easy for you to grab the correct WORK DUE folder quickly.  When it is time to hand back the graded papers, you will have the folder in plain sight on your desk. If someone was absent the day you passed back the work, you will know right where to find this person’s papers.
11. This method saves you time, and guarantees that the correct papers are in the proper class folder.
12. Another plus- this method puts the responsibility for turning in assignments on the students-where it should be.

Teaching Tip #4

Students are Responsible for their DUE WORK

Teaching Tip #4 corresponds with Teaching Tip #3. A good way to save the stress of students blaming you for losing their assignments is to never, ever let them hand the completed work to you. The first day of school, show the students the colored WORK DUE folder for their class period. Explain that the day an assignment is due, they are to place their papers in this folder.

1. If a student comes up to you at some point in the class and says, “Here’s my work,” as they shove the paper in your direction, respond by asking, “Where are you to put it?”.

If a student waves the work in your face and asks, “Where do I put this?” don’t say a word, but just point to the correct folder.

When an occasional student repeatedly asked me this, he or she was usually greeted with my raised right eyebrow silent, and “REALLY?” stare. More often than not, this solved the problem.

Although this method took an assignment or two before every student caught on to the system, before long, they all followed it without hesitation.  No one wished to be the recipient of the raised eyebrow frown.

2. Make it very clear that they should NEVER try to hand the work to you.

If a student comes up to you at some point in the class and says, “Here’s my work,” as they shove the paper in your direction, respond by asking, “Where are you to put it?”.

If a student waves the work in your face and asks, “Where do I put this?” don’t say a word, but just point to the correct folder.

When an occasional student repeatedly asked me this, he or she was usually greeted with my raised right eyebrow silent, and “REALLY?” stare. More often than not, this solved the problem.

Although this method took an assignment or two before every student caught on to the system, before long, they all followed it without hesitation.  No one wished to be the recipient of the raised eyebrow frown.

Teaching Tip #5

Remembering to Laugh

For this tip, I’m paraphrasing Randle McMurphy from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, when he expressed this thought, “Lose you laugh and lose your footing.” On any given day in this wonderful field of education, anything from the sublime to the ridiculous can, and probably will happen. Also, matters best described as nonsensical, unreasonable, and/or preposterous are guaranteed to erupt on the days you feel the least able to deal with them.

This…this is when you truly need to remember McMurphy’s words. Stop, take a deep breath-or two-or three-, turn your back to the class, or walk in the hall if you can, silently primal scream, and then throw back your head, lift your shoulders and remind yourself that someday you will laugh about this incident, and then force yourself to  smile.  Believe me, this works.

Teaching Tip #6

Be Prepared

Plan lessons, activities and projects for the whole first month BEFORE the First Day. Being prepared to teach allows you to expend your time and energy on Back To School administrative duties, planning for Parent Night and-most importantly-on getting to know your students’ academic needs, personalities and viewpoints. When students feel that they come first, they are more willing to be engaged in becoming life-long learners. 
Get this and other planning forms:https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/EBook-The-House-of-Comprehension-1557114

We teachers expend so much of our time and energy on our students’ needs-where it should be- and on our professional duties and responsibilities-where it is often required, that little is left for us- and we need it the most if we are going to be the best we can be. I hope that these Six Teaching Tips will work for you.

Thank you colleagues still leading classrooms for creating your magic by so willingly sharing your knowledge, abilities and skills with your students and peers.  Kudos to you all for creating joyful, inspiring and safe classrooms for each and every one of your charges, especially for those who might not experience such pleasures in their worlds.

Have a fantastic school year.

Enjoy a Teach It Now Day Every Day. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Connie