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

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Teachers can and do, and do, and do!

Tomorrow, May 8th is National Teacher Appreciation Day. Better than that, some places celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week from May 7^th-11^th. My former school district chooses to honor their teachers with a full week of goodies. That makes my colleagues still leading classrooms very happy.

In appreciation for all that teachers can do and choose to do, and do, and do, here is an alphabetic listing of just a few of the people who enable us to enjoy lives that are healthier, happier, safer and enriched.

Athletes; Air conditioning and Heating service people; Air Traffic Controllers; Artists; Architects; Accountants; Administrative Assistants; Auto Mechanics

Bookeepers; Bakers; Butchers

Chefs; Caterers; Counselors; Clergy; Computer engineers, analysts an programmers; Curriculum designers; Construction managers and workers; Chauffeurs

Doctors; Dentists; Dairy farmers; Dieticians; Database administrators

Engineers; Electricians; Estheticians; Epidemiologists; Exterminators (insects and rodents)

Fire personnel; Financial advisors; Farmers

Geologists; Gynecologists; Geneticists;

Historians; Home designers; House decorators; Hair stylists; Human resources specialist;

Intelligence and counter-intelligence personnel; Internists; Information Security Analysts; Insurance agents

Judges; Journalists; Janitors; Jewelers; Jockeys

Keyboard operators;  Kiln builders and operators; Kitchen supervisors

Lifeguards; Lawyers; Laboratory technicians

Musicians; Military men and women; Mathematicians; Meteorologists; Marketing researchers and analysts; Manicurists; Maintenance workers 

Nurses; Nutritionists

Obstetricians; Ophthalmologists; Opticians; Occupational Therapists

Pilots; Police; Professors; Physicists; Psychologists, Psychiatrists; Physical Therapists; Physician Assistants; Pharmacists; Plumber; Paramedics; Principals

Quality Control personnel; Quilters

Ranchers; Respiratory Therapists; Real Estate agents; Receptionists; Restaurant servers

Software developers; Scientists; Social Workers; Statisticians; Speech Therapists

Thespians; Teachers; Technology specialists; Taxi drivers

Urologists; Underwriters; Upholsters; Utility workers

Veterinarians; Vacuum Cleaner service people; Van drivers

Writers; Web developers

X-Ray Technicians

Yacht designers and builders

Zoologists

And the list goes on, and on and on.

What do all of these professions and careers have in common?  They include people who do what they do because teachers taught them how to read, write, add and subtract, speak various languages, compute, invent, create, think, reason, analyze, try and try again, and then do.

Teachers Appreciation  celebrations - be they a Day or a Week - remind us to thank teachers for all that they can do, and all that they choose to do, so that we can successfully do what we do. What an awesome profession!

Thank you, Teachers!!!

Enjoy a Teach It Now Day Every Day

Connie

Lessons For Those, "Oh No! I Need a Sub!" Days

Oh No!  During the night, the cat clawed your washing machine hose and  water sprayed your laundry room until you turned the water valve to Off and duck taped the holes. Your 7-year old daughter chose that moment to throw up last night's beef stew in her bed, and you feel like that tin monkey playing cymbals is marching through your head.

After leaving an EMERGENCY! message for the plumber, bathing your daughter and tucking her into your bed, and then tossing her soiled sheets into the bathtub, at 5:45 AM you crawl to the phone to call in sick. The very, very last task you can bear to consider-even if you wanted to- is to create Sub Plans that will keep your students engaged and on-task with  only a blip  in their learning.

Thankfully, you don't need to worry because here are two packets with lessons and activities that are specific to secondary English classrooms and are easily adaptable to core programs of study that showcase Reading Comprehension, Writing, Grammar and Vocabulary.  With minimum tweaks, you can slip them into your Substitute Folder and also tie them to your pre-planned agenda as you sigh, "Phew! That was simple."

As a firm believer of the Rule of Three, I plan every class period around this triune teaching concept because it focuses on students' attention spans- a factor important to any lesson, but absolutely crucial if a substitute is to avoid classroom chaos.

By including these two packets in your Substitute Folder ahead of time, and keeping plenty of copies of the student handouts available, all you need to do is leave notes for the substitute to follow.

A terrific aspect of these lessons is that you can easily incorporate them into your plans throughout the school year because the concepts they strengthen benefit from continual reinforcement.  This way, if you have students work on the activities with you leading them, when you are absent, they will be familiar with the requirements, offering a smooth transition for the sub.  More importantly, students will not feel that these are "just sub plans," and therefore, "not important".

Suggested Schedule - the class times are for a 55-minute period. 80 minute block times are in the parentheses
1. Warm-up - 15 minutes (25)
2. Main Activity - 30 minutes (45)
3. Sharing/Closure -10 minutes  (10) 

1. Warm-Up

You should introduce the Just Say "NO!" to Dull Writing activities into your plans as soon as possible by handing out the Taboo Words and Phrases List (p.3) and 15 Days to Lose the Taboos (p.5), Whenever you want students to revise their writing instead of writing something new during Warm-Up time, have them choose one exercise to complete, following them in chronological order, using their writings-from warm-ups to full-length essays.  This way, they will be familiar with the activities and can select the next exercise(s) on the list the  day(s) you are absent,

Mark which Teacher Notes directions that you want the sub to follow.
 https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-Just-Say-NO-to-Dull-Writing-1555338 (FREE)

2. Main Activity Nonfiction Analysis: Reading and Writing Activity

Like with the Just Say "NO!" to Dull Writing packet, you can use this lesson as many times as you like throughout the year.  Just copy and hand out pages 4-5 when you want to introduce it, and instruct student to always have these papers in their class folders. 

Have stacks of pages 6-8 on hand in a location where the substitute can easily find them.  In your Substitute Folder, keep a complete copy of this packet. On the cover page, leave a note as to where the page 6-8 handouts can be found. On the Teacher Notes pages (2-3) highlight /specify which Lesson Option(s) you want the students to follow (see Bullet points 4 &5). 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Comprehension-Activity-Nonfiction-Reading-and-Writing-Analysis-706269 (FREE)

3. Sharing/Closure 
The sub should select students to share a Warm-up revision or a summary of the article they read for the main activity. After that, he/she should collect students' work according to your directions.

With these sub plans and all of the others in this valuable blog hop, you will never stress about any day that you cannot be in your classroom-planned or when fate sends you tumbling into the Emergency Zone.

Thank you Pamela Kranz http://desktoplearningadventures.blogspot.com/ and Darlene Anne Curran http://meatballsinthemiddle.blogspot.com/ for  creating this awesome blog hop. Colleagues, as Pam and Darlene say on the image, "Need sub plans?  We've got you covered".


Enjoy a Teach It Now Day- Especially on  a Sub Day.

For more program-specific lessons and activities that will keep students learning on a sub day or any day, check out the Custom Categories in my store https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Connie


An InLinkz Link-up

product links:

An InLinkz Link-up

A WInter Tingly,Jingly Jam for My Classroom Colleagues

I am so, so thrilled that the wonderful editors for the C.L.A.S.S. newsletter published my poem, A Teacher's Winter Holiday Jingle in the December issue of this classy publication! If you are a secondary ELA or Social Studies teacher, you should check out this awesome newsletter. In it you will find a plethora of great articles, ideas, and freebies for secondary ELA and Social Studies Teachers! Besides learning about using vision boards, you will find loads of  engaging FREE and Priced TpT products.

The newspaper link is 

http://us9.campaign-archive2.com/?u=d5224951c615ea59a4a31abb8&id=e29b8169d7&e=5cf4aeef71.

The link to subscribe is http://eepurl.com/ba-6I5. 

When you subscribe, you will fill your mind and teacher's bag with stimulating lesson ideas and engaging classroom ready activities. 

And here is the big bonus - you can submit your own articles and TpT products for publication. Talk about a WIN-WIN situation, this is it!

For all of my colleagues still leading classrooms and creating lifelong learners, enjoy this reprint of my poem, followed by links for three December ACTIVITIES.

A Teacher's Winter Holiday Jingle

As the December calendar grinds its way toward the much anticipated winter break, my mind can’t stop contemplating how teachers would transform the holiday song lyrics that burst from radio stations, prance through television commercials and ring-a-ding from every street corner Santa’s bell.  White Christmas, written by Irving Belin in 1940 and made famous by Bing Crosby who sang it at The Kraft Music Hall on December 25, 1941, continually resonates through my head. For that reason, I decided to borrow the format and paraphrase the lyrics for my version,  

A Teacher’s Winter Holiday Jingle.

 

I'm dreaming of a big pay raise
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the zeros increase, as stress they release
And the thoughts of dollar signs make me glow.
 
I’m dreaming of free planning periods
With every midnight lesson I write
May PLC meetings be constructive, not trite
And may all of my data collecting tasks be light.
 
I’m dreaming of involved students
Just like my summer visions show
Where kids’ academic desires increase, as their indifferences decrease
And the “I got it!” moments make their faces glow.
 
I’m dreaming of supportive principals
With scholastic goals that cause delight
May these leaders build an atmosphere that’s bright
And may my teaching passion they ignite.
 
I'm dreaming of a caring school board
Who loads my bank account with dough
Where my headaches decease, as annual COLAs increase
And respect for my teaching and me they bestow.
 
I’m dreaming of supportive parents
With every grade report I write
May dads and moms not retort with barks or bites
And may all of our correspondences be polite.
 
I’m dreaming of a giving PTA
Just like those I’ve mostly known
Where bagels and coffee increase, as my burdens decrease
And their financial aid makes my face aglow.
 
I’m dreaming of a winter rest
With each work-filled December night
May my lessons be engaging and forthright
And keep my students learning with much delight.

 
Happy Holidays to all of my colleagues still leading classrooms. If any of these words match your dreams, I do hope that they see the light of day and the inside of your bank accounts.
 

And now for THREE DECEMBER ACTIVITIES

December Character Comprehension Project: Winter Wonders

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/December-Character-Comprehension-Project-Winter-Wonders-440505 FREE!

Comprehension & Writing Activity: Seasonal Similes and Mouth-Watering Metaphors

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Comprehension-Writing-Activity-Seasonal-Similes-and-Mouth-Watering-Metaphors-171190 $2.00

Literature Analysis Activities - Dancing Through December

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Literature-Analysis-Activities-Dancing-Through-December-2224756 $2.50

Enjoy a Teach It Write Day Every Day, and a Wonderful Winter Break!

Make a Home for the Unit Plan-'Neverhome'

Image from Amazon  http://amzn.to/1NF0O71

From the first page of Neverhome by Laird Hunt, I was mesmerized. Was my absorption due to

~the first line, “I was strong and he was not, so it was me went to war to defend the republic”? 

~ the knowledge that women masqueraded as men to fight in the Civil War?

~ Laird Hunt’s ability to spin mere words into vivid and emotional word pictures, such as, “…but there had been a bite of sorrows in that empty place made me glad to think we had found another spot and weren’t going to return,” (21)? As an avid reader, I give three solid, “Yes” votes to these questions.

As a teacher, I appreciate the societal/cultural links, as well as the reasons why this 243-page novel provides a rich cross-curriculum unit of study that secondary school English and Social Studies teachers may share.

Societal/ Cultural Links

~ Constance Thompson, AKA Ash Thompson, is a woman who succeeds in a man’s world, though she has to disguise herself as a man to do so.  The two recent graduates of Ranger School, First Lieutenant Shaye Haver, and Captain Kristen Griest also excelled in a – previously -men’s only domain.

~ Some reasons for the Civil War, from both Northern and Southern Points of View are presented.

~ The interpretation of historical persons, places and things as well as their symbolic meanings is timely.

Cross Curriculum Ideas

~English teachers can share elements of literature activities such as Character, Plot/Conflict and Theme with social studies teachers.

~ Social Studies teachers may share activities that deepen students understanding of the people and places of the Civil War, especially those that are shown- with literary license- in this novel.

~ English and Social Studies teachers could “guest teach” in each other’s classes.

What does this 103-page Unit Plan: Neverhome  offer teachers?

Here is a shortened version of the Table of Contents:

Objectives and Teacher Notes

A Unit Activity Plan (specifies the Common Core Anchor Standards and 

Bloom’s Taxonomy verbs for each activity)

Pre-Reading – What Do I Know?  How Do I Know It?                                                      

Research Project

Debate Project

Historical Footnotes

Vocabulary Activity

Section Analysis Activity (3-pages; one set is designated for every reading division section

that I created- three each for the author’s book divisions that he names, One, Two and Three.)

Group Activity –Ash’s Journey 1862-1864    

Character Activities (6)

Plot/Conflict Activities (5)

Setting Activity - Setting Up Ash(1)

Symbols Activities (2)

Theme Activities (2)

Tone Activity (1)                                                                                            

Figurative Language Activity

                 

Points to Ponder/Discussion Topics (10)

Essay Topics (8)

Project Topics (9)

Assessments/Division Quiz

Assessments Unit Test

Answer Keys: Historical Footnotes, Vocabulary, Neverhome Unit Test

This product, Unit Plan - Neverhome,  provides a plethora of teacher notes, activities and assessments that enable students to ~deepen their reading comprehension and their understanding of the Civil War and its impact on contemporary society.

~grasp the fact that what happens in the past always impacts the future

~ strengthen their writing depth and their higher level thinking skills, and, to

~ create lifelong readers and learners.

Download it from https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Unit-Plan-NeverhomeLaird-Hunt-2053138

Enjoy a Teach it Now Day, Every Day

Follower Advantage

For an automatic Heads-Up! email about Updated and New  products, and also for Sales and other promotions, please click on the Follow Me star under my Store Name, https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Connie

                                                                               

               

Make the Most of May with this Independent Novel Study Plan

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

These lessons students want to complete

When the crazy testing schedules of May

Cause learning to take a back seat.

(Thanks to Lewis Carroll for his Jabberwocky inspiration)

Between  A.P. exams and the state standards of learning tests, May is a crazy month to teach. In my three decades teaching at the secondary level, every day anywhere from three-fifteen students missed English class due to the testing schedule. Plus, my colleagues and I had to monitor tests during our "Free" periods. Keeping teenagers inspired and the learning momentum smooth while maintaining my sanity made this month of May not so very merry.

Before I created Making the Most of May, trying to teach that one final required novel unit before the school year ended, while making sure that all of the students were up-to-date with their class work, was nearly impossible. 

I likened it to putting a straw hat upside down on the floor, tossing 25 balls in the air and waiting to see which ones made it into the hat without my being clobbered.

With this independent study plan, though, students are responsible for completing the assignments and projects and for being prepared with the work that they have finished for the mini-conferences. This enables them to be the leaders of their learning while the teacher takes an advisory roll.

The lessons and activities included in this packet ensure that the learning doesn't stop just because test review and reinforcement is done. Plus, students not only know that their fourth quarter grade is dependent on their work, but also they truly are engaged and inspired because they chose what to read and what assignments to complete.

The flexible plan takes absences due to testing into consideration, too, since students choose the novel that they will study, and they also create a daily reading and writing calendar that coincides with their scheduled exams and the teacher’s due dates. This creates a learning environment that engages students and promotes responsibility.  

To begin, teachers have two options. They may select six to eight grade-level novels from the book room for students to choose to read - up tp 4 students may opt to read the same book, or students may choose a book that meets the teacher's length and genre requirements. 

Once this aspect of the unit is completed, students will set their reading and activity completion schedules.The required activities included in the packet are:

1. General Novel Packet with four aspects: Book Notes, Plot Diagram, Memorable Quotes and Theme worksheets
2. Full-length Projects or Essays 
3. Group Project: Threads-Making Connections.

Every day the students will either 

• read for half of the period, or 
• work on their packets for half of the period.

The second half of the period, they will

• participate in a whole class writing session, concentrating on a facet of writing, or 
• discuss various aspects of their chosen novels with peers. 

NOTE: Each student in the group should be reading a different novel. Members take notes on the discussions. These will enable them to complete the Threads-Making Connections activity.

By managing their class time wisely, students will only have to complete any typing they had previously begun, and compile the required activities at home right before the final packets are due. They should bind all of the components together in some way - a folder with pockets is best.

Teaching time won’t be interrupted and chaotic because of testing when teachers choose this unit plan as their May learning keystone.  Its effectiveness stems from dual factors

• students hold the ownership for what they are learning, and 
• when they are learning. 

Teachers do need to 

• specify minimum length, genre and anything else they deem necessary for their charges.
• mentor students’ progress with mini-conferences where students bring their partially completed required work to discuss.

And you, my teacher friends, will appreciate the fact that your students are challenging themselves mentally as they increase their reading comprehension, their critical thinking and their writing skills with substantive activities and no loss of learning continuity.

Making the Most of May, which is aligned with Common Core Standards and Bloom's Raxonomy, includes detailed Teacher Notes and a Project Grading Rubric.

Download Making the Most of May from https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reading-Comprehension-Activities-Making-the-Most-of-May-681650 ($), and


Enjoy a month of Teach It Now days,