Assessment Day
October 29, 2007
We have been working on Chemistry for the past 4 weeks in my Science classes. During that time, I have used class meetings to write student friendly learning targets with my students based on the state standards and the learning targets developed by the science team here at North Shore. We also used that time to write understandable definitions for the chemistry vocabulary and divide the big topic up into 4 smaller easier to work with topics. Once that was done, the students began to research their topic, do activities, and work with me to further their understanding of the ideas, concepts and targets for each part of the chemistry unit.
Today my students started the first assessment for learning....They were given 4-6 questions that they need to answer to show understanding on one of 4 chemistry topics. The great thing is, it isn't an all or nothing grade. It is my chance to see what they have learned. They can use each other, me, the computer or even their parents to help then figure out the answers to the problems posed. Once they have that done, they will meet with me and further explain or defend their responses.
As an educator, it was extremely gratifying to walk around my classroom today and hear "chemistry talk" from every group. Students were explaining things to each other and asking each other for help. They were coming to me and asking really good questions to further their understanding. They weren't saying "I don't get it" or "this is too hard". They didn't feel "pressure to get it right" or suffer with a failing grade. This to me was utopia. Students were engaged and learning was occurring. I know what they know and they know what they know.....it was GREAT!!!
My students know that I'm looking for quality and that that doesn't happen instantly. To be good at something you have to be willing to work at getting better. That also means that you have to know what quality looks like. My students seem to have a good handle on that and are willing to work at getting to the point where not only do I know they have done quality work, but they know it too.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Quality School Visit
Aspen Elementary Visit
10/19/2007
Vicki, Dale and I spent an absolutely wonderful day at Aspen Elementary in Illinois. It is the only quality school in our area and it was very exciting to see choice theory being used in every classroom and throughout the school. The most amazing thing about the day were the class meetings, and despite there being 550 students in the school the hallways were quiet throughout the day, even before and after recess.
Watching 2 classrooms use class meetings was particularly interesting. In one of the 6th grade classrooms they were discussing the problems the class had when there was a substitute teacher in the room earlier in the week. They discussed what happened without using anyone's name and without blaming their actions on someone else in the class. It was great to hear the students admit that they were disrespectful and out of control. What was even better was that they then came up with a plan for better choices the next time they have a sub in their room. In a "traditional" classroom they would have been yelled at, and threatened with loss of something if they didn't behave better the next time the teacher was out of the room. It was obvious that the students understood that they were responsible for their actions. No one person was to blame, but they as a class needed to figure out the solution. The best statement to come from the class was from a young man who simply stated: "I was looking around and I thought this just isn't us. What class is this?"
The second class meeting that we watched was in a third grade class. During this meeting, they discussed solutions that they tried to problems that were brought up at the last meeting and came up with some more possibilities. From there, they celebrated good things that they saw and shared and they then ended the meeting with compliment time. Those students that wanted to recognize another student for something had the opportunity to do so. Interestingly enough, every student was complimented either by another student or by the teacher. They were genuine words of encouragement and praise.
I was struck by the lack of talking going on during the meeting time. The students were sitting on the floor, as was the teacher and there were NO side conversations going on at all. They sat and listened respectfully and shared when they were either called upon or given the koosh ball.
Towards the end of the day we were fortunate enough to meet with some parents as well as the fifth grade teachers. The parents shared their role in developing the Parent Academy to educate parents about Choice Theory. They did this not only to share with parents what was happening in their child's school, but also with the hope that parents would apply choice theory at home too. In our talk with the parents we learned that students that leave Aspen and go on to the middle school are among the most respectful students at the middle school and are indeed the best problem solvers. They also reported that the students from Aspen are leaders in the middle school and Aspen has the highest number of students getting into the GT programs in high school. It would appear that something is definitely working.
Every teacher we talked to reported that they loved coming to work each day. Our main tour guide was a retired teacher that left Aspen 3 years ago. She missed it and decided to come back as a learning assistant! It would be wonderful if we could partner with them in our quest to be a Quality School. I believe they would be an invaluable resource.
I dream of being a part of a Quality School. It would mean that North Shore Students would have a reputation for being leaders and problem solvers rather than troublemakers. It would mean that we are on a path of excellence rather than mediocrity. It would mean that all teachers at NSMS are trained in Choice Theory and are encouraging their students to take responsibility for the actions and their education. Most of all it would mean that QUALITY is valued and sought....no longer will we be a school that is grade driven.
I hope to see my school move towards a quality school with each year that passes. I would like to be around to see North Shore become the first Quality Middle School in Wisconsin.
10/19/2007
Vicki, Dale and I spent an absolutely wonderful day at Aspen Elementary in Illinois. It is the only quality school in our area and it was very exciting to see choice theory being used in every classroom and throughout the school. The most amazing thing about the day were the class meetings, and despite there being 550 students in the school the hallways were quiet throughout the day, even before and after recess.
Watching 2 classrooms use class meetings was particularly interesting. In one of the 6th grade classrooms they were discussing the problems the class had when there was a substitute teacher in the room earlier in the week. They discussed what happened without using anyone's name and without blaming their actions on someone else in the class. It was great to hear the students admit that they were disrespectful and out of control. What was even better was that they then came up with a plan for better choices the next time they have a sub in their room. In a "traditional" classroom they would have been yelled at, and threatened with loss of something if they didn't behave better the next time the teacher was out of the room. It was obvious that the students understood that they were responsible for their actions. No one person was to blame, but they as a class needed to figure out the solution. The best statement to come from the class was from a young man who simply stated: "I was looking around and I thought this just isn't us. What class is this?"
The second class meeting that we watched was in a third grade class. During this meeting, they discussed solutions that they tried to problems that were brought up at the last meeting and came up with some more possibilities. From there, they celebrated good things that they saw and shared and they then ended the meeting with compliment time. Those students that wanted to recognize another student for something had the opportunity to do so. Interestingly enough, every student was complimented either by another student or by the teacher. They were genuine words of encouragement and praise.
I was struck by the lack of talking going on during the meeting time. The students were sitting on the floor, as was the teacher and there were NO side conversations going on at all. They sat and listened respectfully and shared when they were either called upon or given the koosh ball.
Towards the end of the day we were fortunate enough to meet with some parents as well as the fifth grade teachers. The parents shared their role in developing the Parent Academy to educate parents about Choice Theory. They did this not only to share with parents what was happening in their child's school, but also with the hope that parents would apply choice theory at home too. In our talk with the parents we learned that students that leave Aspen and go on to the middle school are among the most respectful students at the middle school and are indeed the best problem solvers. They also reported that the students from Aspen are leaders in the middle school and Aspen has the highest number of students getting into the GT programs in high school. It would appear that something is definitely working.
Every teacher we talked to reported that they loved coming to work each day. Our main tour guide was a retired teacher that left Aspen 3 years ago. She missed it and decided to come back as a learning assistant! It would be wonderful if we could partner with them in our quest to be a Quality School. I believe they would be an invaluable resource.
I dream of being a part of a Quality School. It would mean that North Shore Students would have a reputation for being leaders and problem solvers rather than troublemakers. It would mean that we are on a path of excellence rather than mediocrity. It would mean that all teachers at NSMS are trained in Choice Theory and are encouraging their students to take responsibility for the actions and their education. Most of all it would mean that QUALITY is valued and sought....no longer will we be a school that is grade driven.
I hope to see my school move towards a quality school with each year that passes. I would like to be around to see North Shore become the first Quality Middle School in Wisconsin.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Perceptions
October4, 2007
Perceived World
What do you picture when I say the word bread? I would be willing to bet some of you, depending on your age, thought of homemade bread just out of the oven, while others thought of money. I have to admit, I'm one who thought of homemade bread, because one of my best childhood memories is of Saturday mornings when my mom would make 5 loaves of bread and the smell of baking bread would permeate every part of the house...it was wonderful! My quality world picture played a big part in my perception of that word.
We talked to students about their perceived world and how perceptions effect their behaviors both positively and negatively. Imagine being called "fat" Most of us wouldn't like it, however in today's slang, "phat" is a good thing and most teens wouldn't thing anything of it. Other words that we used were rap/wrap; beetle; plane/plain. With each of these words there is a positive, negative or neutral connotation depending on your perceptions.
This led us then to a discussion about perceptions at school. If someone bumps into you in the crowded hallway, do you think it was an accident or do you think someone is picking on you? Was it a friend just trying to get your attention or was it done to make you angry? Your perceptions of what happened will have an affect on the behavior you choose. If you look around and see your friends, you are likely to shrug it off and forget it because those people are part of your quality world. If however, you see someone that has picked on you in the past you might just haul off and shove them as hard as you can. Our perceptions of the actions that happen to us play a very important part in our total behavior.
It was interesting tow watch student faces as this started to sink in. I asked my students if we all sometimes jump to conclusions and respond without really thinking about it. They agreed that we do and that this sometimes causes more problems than it is worth. I left them with these questions to ponder...How could you have done things differently? What will you do the next time someone bumps into you ?
The students are starting to really understand Choice Theory. The G/T kids are doing blogs for my literature class. Vicki and I respond to their posts, for the most part with Choice Theory questions that get them thinking beyond just retelling the story. It is great to read their insights into character motivation in terms of need satisfaction and perceived world pictures. I've even had students ask me about characters behavior in terms of need satisfaction. It is fun and rewarding to note that some are really getting it. Others get it a bit and most can tell you what need they are trying to satisfy most of the time which is definitely a step towards more responsible behavior.
Perceived World
What do you picture when I say the word bread? I would be willing to bet some of you, depending on your age, thought of homemade bread just out of the oven, while others thought of money. I have to admit, I'm one who thought of homemade bread, because one of my best childhood memories is of Saturday mornings when my mom would make 5 loaves of bread and the smell of baking bread would permeate every part of the house...it was wonderful! My quality world picture played a big part in my perception of that word.
We talked to students about their perceived world and how perceptions effect their behaviors both positively and negatively. Imagine being called "fat" Most of us wouldn't like it, however in today's slang, "phat" is a good thing and most teens wouldn't thing anything of it. Other words that we used were rap/wrap; beetle; plane/plain. With each of these words there is a positive, negative or neutral connotation depending on your perceptions.
This led us then to a discussion about perceptions at school. If someone bumps into you in the crowded hallway, do you think it was an accident or do you think someone is picking on you? Was it a friend just trying to get your attention or was it done to make you angry? Your perceptions of what happened will have an affect on the behavior you choose. If you look around and see your friends, you are likely to shrug it off and forget it because those people are part of your quality world. If however, you see someone that has picked on you in the past you might just haul off and shove them as hard as you can. Our perceptions of the actions that happen to us play a very important part in our total behavior.
It was interesting tow watch student faces as this started to sink in. I asked my students if we all sometimes jump to conclusions and respond without really thinking about it. They agreed that we do and that this sometimes causes more problems than it is worth. I left them with these questions to ponder...How could you have done things differently? What will you do the next time someone bumps into you ?
The students are starting to really understand Choice Theory. The G/T kids are doing blogs for my literature class. Vicki and I respond to their posts, for the most part with Choice Theory questions that get them thinking beyond just retelling the story. It is great to read their insights into character motivation in terms of need satisfaction and perceived world pictures. I've even had students ask me about characters behavior in terms of need satisfaction. It is fun and rewarding to note that some are really getting it. Others get it a bit and most can tell you what need they are trying to satisfy most of the time which is definitely a step towards more responsible behavior.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Who's Driving Your Car?
October 17, 2007
Total Behavior
I've learned that despite the fact that students are quick to tell you that only they can control themselves, they really don't believe it. Whenever they are asked why they chose the behavior they chose, they will undoubtedly say "because he/she did something to me first" With this in mind, Vicki and I taught the student about total behavior and they now know why we keep asking them Who's driving your car?
We used running as our example. We asked four students to come up to the front of the room. One student was asked to show the action of running, another was asked to represent the thoughts a runner would be thinking, the third showed the physical responses to running and the fourth illustrated a runner's feelings while running.
Once we had all four "wheels spinning" we asked them to stop and then gave them a visual representation of a car in order to complete the analogy. The front right wheel of the car represented the action while the front left represents the thinking that took place. The back left was the emotional reaction to the running and the back right was the physiological reactions the body went through while carrying out the action. I hope you can picture this in your mind, as I have been unsuccessful in importing my drawing of a car.....
We then explained that the front wheels, the action and thoughts, are driving and directing the car while the back wheels, the physiology and emotions tend to follow along. All four part are there at the same time and if we change any one of the parts the others will change as well.
Translated into middle school language this meant that all behavior is total behavior. If they are angry, it is because they are choosing to be angry...no one is making them feel that way. They struggled with this idea because most believe that they can't really control how they feel. In order to illustrate this, we ran through another scenario. In this example, they were having a fight with their parents about something when the phone rings. The call is for them and upon hearing their best friends voice on the other end, they choose to be upbeat and happy rather than the anger of a few seconds ago. We made it very clear that feelings are acceptable, however punching someone because you are angry is not. So when student A grabs your notebook and you get upset, you can choose to grab it back and yell loudly, or you can ask nicely for it back. You can choose to let something ruin your day and possibly everyone else's or you can let it go.
This is tough not only for students but also for adults. We do indeed have the ability to drive our own car....why then do we all at times choose to let others have that control?
Total Behavior
I've learned that despite the fact that students are quick to tell you that only they can control themselves, they really don't believe it. Whenever they are asked why they chose the behavior they chose, they will undoubtedly say "because he/she did something to me first" With this in mind, Vicki and I taught the student about total behavior and they now know why we keep asking them Who's driving your car?
We used running as our example. We asked four students to come up to the front of the room. One student was asked to show the action of running, another was asked to represent the thoughts a runner would be thinking, the third showed the physical responses to running and the fourth illustrated a runner's feelings while running.
Once we had all four "wheels spinning" we asked them to stop and then gave them a visual representation of a car in order to complete the analogy. The front right wheel of the car represented the action while the front left represents the thinking that took place. The back left was the emotional reaction to the running and the back right was the physiological reactions the body went through while carrying out the action. I hope you can picture this in your mind, as I have been unsuccessful in importing my drawing of a car.....
We then explained that the front wheels, the action and thoughts, are driving and directing the car while the back wheels, the physiology and emotions tend to follow along. All four part are there at the same time and if we change any one of the parts the others will change as well.
Translated into middle school language this meant that all behavior is total behavior. If they are angry, it is because they are choosing to be angry...no one is making them feel that way. They struggled with this idea because most believe that they can't really control how they feel. In order to illustrate this, we ran through another scenario. In this example, they were having a fight with their parents about something when the phone rings. The call is for them and upon hearing their best friends voice on the other end, they choose to be upbeat and happy rather than the anger of a few seconds ago. We made it very clear that feelings are acceptable, however punching someone because you are angry is not. So when student A grabs your notebook and you get upset, you can choose to grab it back and yell loudly, or you can ask nicely for it back. You can choose to let something ruin your day and possibly everyone else's or you can let it go.
This is tough not only for students but also for adults. We do indeed have the ability to drive our own car....why then do we all at times choose to let others have that control?
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Catching Up
I've been having some trouble keeping up with my posts, so today I decided that I would fill you in on everything that has been going on in my classroom since we completed Pete's Pathogram.
Vicki and I surveyed our classes about their middle school experience prior to this year late in September. Despite the fact that we asked them to focus on their 6th and 7th grade experiences, we got a few comments on changes to the lunch program and advisory program that took effect at the beginning of the year. Since they brought up these two issues, we felt that it would be important to do another survey that just pertains to this year.
We discovered that a few of our students felt that school was boring....teachers either went to fast and they couldn't keep up, or spent too much time on one idea that they became bored. Overall however, they reported a positive experience here at the middle school.
With those results, I decided to ask my students to write down why they came to school every day. They could list as many reasons as they wanted, but once the list was finished, they had to rank them in order of importance.
57% of the students reported that the most important reason they come to school was for social reasons. Given the nature of the middle school student, this was not surprising.
13% of the students said they come to school because the "have to". It is mandatory that they be here. They would do something else if they had a choice, but since they don't, they come to school....It would appear that this group has a high need for freedom, but I would need to talk to them to learn if this is true or not.
28% reported that they attend school for an education. Many stated that they had plans to attend college and their future careers depend on more education. It was interesting to see that some reported that their future earning power depended on a good education. Power and again freedom seem to be the needs driving this group.
2% reported that they come to school to avoid boredom...it is something to do. I wonder if this same group sees school as fun?
We have decided to ask the same questions at the end of the year to see if there is any shift in their responses. Vicki and I are the only teachers using choice theory with the goal of making learning fun and creating quality classrooms. Their answers to the same questions will go a long way in helping us determine how effective we were. It will be interesting to see how classrooms affect their opinions of school.
Class Meetings
I have been conducting class meeting since mid September, but just recently put a name to our discussion time. It is a time when we push the tables out of the way and pull the chairs into a circle. The student have said they like the arrangement because they can see every one's face and because I seem to be more a part of the group, than their "teacher" I really try to keep this time non-threatening and encourage everyone to share their opinion and I will tell them what I see as well...without blaming or accusing.
During this time, we have discussed school policies that they like and dislike, as well as science and lit related curriculum ideas and issues. The results have been awesome.
One of the things that came up during a discussion was the new food program we have here at school. They reported that often when they get to lunch (they have the last lunch time) the food they wanted was gone. They would also like to see ice cream back on the menu once in a while. Once their suggestions were compiled, they were sent to Dale and he recognized their ideas and discussed it during advisory time and assured the students that he would look into their concerns. That really gave the students a boost. They felt that their opinions mattered and that someone in "charge" would help them out. I was impressed with their ideas and suggestions for improving the lunch situation. We'll see where it leads.
Another issue that was covered in a class meeting was their talking while I was trying to teach, or while another student was responding to discussion questions. I really wanted to know why they, in some cases talked continually. I learned that they were trying to satisfy their need for fun, freedom and power. The power need came out slowly, but they realized that when they talk in my class, they usually get 4-6 other students off task and listening to their conversation. We then talked about needs and I asked them if their needs were more important than mine or another student in the class. They quickly responded NO. I then asked how their need satisfaction might be interfering with others need satisfaction. They quickly noted that they were keeping others from learning and me from teaching. I was impressed, but I really wanted to know if they would take responsibility and come up with a way that we all could have our needs met. They asked if they could have 5 minutes to chat either at the beginning or end of the class. I asked what they would be willing to do for that time. Their response was that some would choose to sit at different tables and that they would listen when the lesson was being given. Worth a try...we all would win if this solution works. I'll let you know after we have worked on this for a while.
The main way I have used class meetings is to get the students more involved in their own learning. In Science, I have used the class meetings to share the learning targets with them. I explained that a learning target was a written statement of what I expected them to learn through a unit of study. I then had them break into groups to look at the three learning targets that have been established for the chemistry unit. I had them talk about what the targets meant and how they would like to show me that they have mastered the target.
Once each of the four groups came up with ideas, we got together in a class meeting format and everyone shared their ideas. I asked questions of clarification and took notes on what they said. I then had them brainstorm more student friendly language for the targets. Once they had that finished, we got together again and chose the one that we all felt best fit our needs and the original targets. The work that they have done is posted on my school web page, and I think/hope that it will help the students not only master the material, but have fun doing it since they had a hand in designing the learning.
I've used much the same process in Literature. We have used class meetings to format our book discussions and our written responses to the various readings that we do in class. I am currently working through what good writing looks like in a response to literature by having class meetings.
I really love this format. I learn so much more about what students value and want. It has made the start of this year one of my best. I feel more relaxed and comfortable with all of my students. They seem to know that I value their ideas and suggestions and they really like determining how and what they need to know. Whenever they come into the room and see the tables moved, they know its class meeting time and have told me how much they enjoy it. I will be collecting a great deal of data over the course of the year to determine how effective this format is in improving student learning.
Vicki and I surveyed our classes about their middle school experience prior to this year late in September. Despite the fact that we asked them to focus on their 6th and 7th grade experiences, we got a few comments on changes to the lunch program and advisory program that took effect at the beginning of the year. Since they brought up these two issues, we felt that it would be important to do another survey that just pertains to this year.
We discovered that a few of our students felt that school was boring....teachers either went to fast and they couldn't keep up, or spent too much time on one idea that they became bored. Overall however, they reported a positive experience here at the middle school.
With those results, I decided to ask my students to write down why they came to school every day. They could list as many reasons as they wanted, but once the list was finished, they had to rank them in order of importance.
57% of the students reported that the most important reason they come to school was for social reasons. Given the nature of the middle school student, this was not surprising.
13% of the students said they come to school because the "have to". It is mandatory that they be here. They would do something else if they had a choice, but since they don't, they come to school....It would appear that this group has a high need for freedom, but I would need to talk to them to learn if this is true or not.
28% reported that they attend school for an education. Many stated that they had plans to attend college and their future careers depend on more education. It was interesting to see that some reported that their future earning power depended on a good education. Power and again freedom seem to be the needs driving this group.
2% reported that they come to school to avoid boredom...it is something to do. I wonder if this same group sees school as fun?
We have decided to ask the same questions at the end of the year to see if there is any shift in their responses. Vicki and I are the only teachers using choice theory with the goal of making learning fun and creating quality classrooms. Their answers to the same questions will go a long way in helping us determine how effective we were. It will be interesting to see how classrooms affect their opinions of school.
Class Meetings
I have been conducting class meeting since mid September, but just recently put a name to our discussion time. It is a time when we push the tables out of the way and pull the chairs into a circle. The student have said they like the arrangement because they can see every one's face and because I seem to be more a part of the group, than their "teacher" I really try to keep this time non-threatening and encourage everyone to share their opinion and I will tell them what I see as well...without blaming or accusing.
During this time, we have discussed school policies that they like and dislike, as well as science and lit related curriculum ideas and issues. The results have been awesome.
One of the things that came up during a discussion was the new food program we have here at school. They reported that often when they get to lunch (they have the last lunch time) the food they wanted was gone. They would also like to see ice cream back on the menu once in a while. Once their suggestions were compiled, they were sent to Dale and he recognized their ideas and discussed it during advisory time and assured the students that he would look into their concerns. That really gave the students a boost. They felt that their opinions mattered and that someone in "charge" would help them out. I was impressed with their ideas and suggestions for improving the lunch situation. We'll see where it leads.
Another issue that was covered in a class meeting was their talking while I was trying to teach, or while another student was responding to discussion questions. I really wanted to know why they, in some cases talked continually. I learned that they were trying to satisfy their need for fun, freedom and power. The power need came out slowly, but they realized that when they talk in my class, they usually get 4-6 other students off task and listening to their conversation. We then talked about needs and I asked them if their needs were more important than mine or another student in the class. They quickly responded NO. I then asked how their need satisfaction might be interfering with others need satisfaction. They quickly noted that they were keeping others from learning and me from teaching. I was impressed, but I really wanted to know if they would take responsibility and come up with a way that we all could have our needs met. They asked if they could have 5 minutes to chat either at the beginning or end of the class. I asked what they would be willing to do for that time. Their response was that some would choose to sit at different tables and that they would listen when the lesson was being given. Worth a try...we all would win if this solution works. I'll let you know after we have worked on this for a while.
The main way I have used class meetings is to get the students more involved in their own learning. In Science, I have used the class meetings to share the learning targets with them. I explained that a learning target was a written statement of what I expected them to learn through a unit of study. I then had them break into groups to look at the three learning targets that have been established for the chemistry unit. I had them talk about what the targets meant and how they would like to show me that they have mastered the target.
Once each of the four groups came up with ideas, we got together in a class meeting format and everyone shared their ideas. I asked questions of clarification and took notes on what they said. I then had them brainstorm more student friendly language for the targets. Once they had that finished, we got together again and chose the one that we all felt best fit our needs and the original targets. The work that they have done is posted on my school web page, and I think/hope that it will help the students not only master the material, but have fun doing it since they had a hand in designing the learning.
I've used much the same process in Literature. We have used class meetings to format our book discussions and our written responses to the various readings that we do in class. I am currently working through what good writing looks like in a response to literature by having class meetings.
I really love this format. I learn so much more about what students value and want. It has made the start of this year one of my best. I feel more relaxed and comfortable with all of my students. They seem to know that I value their ideas and suggestions and they really like determining how and what they need to know. Whenever they come into the room and see the tables moved, they know its class meeting time and have told me how much they enjoy it. I will be collecting a great deal of data over the course of the year to determine how effective this format is in improving student learning.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Pete's Pathogram
September 20, 2007
The lesson today focused students attention on discovering how important the various need were in their lives. Each student was given a sheet of graph paper and asked to make a bar graph with a vertical axis from 1 to 10 and on the horizontal axis they were asked to write the needs (love & belonging, power, freedom, fun) down. Using three different colors and bars, they determined how much of each need they wanted (bar 1; color 1), how much energy they put into getting that need met (bar 2; color 2), and finally how much of that need they felt they actually had (bar 3; color 3). Their graphs looked something like the example below.
Once they had their graphs complete, we discussed them and applied them to their lives in school. It was during this discussion that we talked about nonnegotiable. Nonnegotiable are those rules that can't be broken. We all agreed that each and every classroom must be physically and emotionally safe and no one's individual need satisfaction could interfere with that. We also agreed that all students have the right to learn and again no one's individual need satisfaction could interfere with that.
The lesson today focused students attention on discovering how important the various need were in their lives. Each student was given a sheet of graph paper and asked to make a bar graph with a vertical axis from 1 to 10 and on the horizontal axis they were asked to write the needs (love & belonging, power, freedom, fun) down. Using three different colors and bars, they determined how much of each need they wanted (bar 1; color 1), how much energy they put into getting that need met (bar 2; color 2), and finally how much of that need they felt they actually had (bar 3; color 3). Their graphs looked something like the example below.
Once they had their graphs complete, we discussed them and applied them to their lives in school. It was during this discussion that we talked about nonnegotiable. Nonnegotiable are those rules that can't be broken. We all agreed that each and every classroom must be physically and emotionally safe and no one's individual need satisfaction could interfere with that. We also agreed that all students have the right to learn and again no one's individual need satisfaction could interfere with that.
This was a really good activity to get the students really thinking about their needs. The biggest problem I saw with the day was the length of time it took to get through it, but it was well worth it. As Vicki and I discussed the outcome of today's lesson, we agreed that loosing an entire class period to choice theory was sometimes necessary, however from this point forward we would spend Monday's on choice theory activities and Thursday's would be spent having short class meetings. I've already had a class meeting with my lit classes and it went really well. I will explain them more in my next post.
Basic Practium
Wednesday September 12, 2007
Basic Practicum
On Saturday the 8th, Vicki and I traveled to Chicago to begin the second part of our certification process which is the basic practicum. During this phase of our training, we will meet with a small group for more training and 9 months of implementation of choice theory in our classrooms. This was the first of three meetings and I was really encouraged with the progress I've made in using the "language" of choice theory. I felt very comfortable using the language, almost as if it was second nature, rather than a language I was just learning. The day flew by as we worked to improve not only our understanding of choice theory but ways to bring it to our respective jobs.
On Monday when we return to school, we met with Dale to write an Action Research proposal for implementing choice theory in order to help our students become accountable not only for their behaviors, but to improve their overall learning as measured on both standardized tests and classroom assessments.
I'm already seeing a difference in my students attitude toward learning. I believe that these goals will be met and students will actually look forward to learning and achieving.
Basic Practicum
On Saturday the 8th, Vicki and I traveled to Chicago to begin the second part of our certification process which is the basic practicum. During this phase of our training, we will meet with a small group for more training and 9 months of implementation of choice theory in our classrooms. This was the first of three meetings and I was really encouraged with the progress I've made in using the "language" of choice theory. I felt very comfortable using the language, almost as if it was second nature, rather than a language I was just learning. The day flew by as we worked to improve not only our understanding of choice theory but ways to bring it to our respective jobs.
On Monday when we return to school, we met with Dale to write an Action Research proposal for implementing choice theory in order to help our students become accountable not only for their behaviors, but to improve their overall learning as measured on both standardized tests and classroom assessments.
I'm already seeing a difference in my students attitude toward learning. I believe that these goals will be met and students will actually look forward to learning and achieving.
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