Friday, June 29, 2018

25 Questions For Planning Your Classroom Procedures

       I've always been a big believer in the power of planning and teaching classroom procedures.  I can still remember my first year when I thought that  I would just go over the rules on the first day and start teaching on the next day!  It only took me that first year to realize how much more goes into setting up your classroom in a way that works.  I spend time every single year setting up my classroom procedures.

      Usually, the first time I start to think about my classroom procedures is at the end of the year school....no, that's not a typo!  I said the end of the year.  I always start thinking about changes that I want to make for the following year in May.  The end of the year is the perfect time to begin the reflection process because that is when you know what is driving you crazy!  Some of that stuff is just the normal stuff that always drives you nuts at the end, but perhaps some of these pet peeves could be improved or fixed with different procedures.  Kids not coming to class prepared?  Maybe you need to rethink your beginning of class procedures.  Not happy with the time spent checking homework?  Perhaps revamping your homework procedures could help.  Usually in May I start a Google Doc that has a list of what needs to change for the next year.  At this point, I may not have all the solutions, but at least I know what procedures I need to think about and look for ideas over the summer.



       Once I'm ready to start planning, deciding my classroom procedures for the school year is always the first thing that I do to prepare.  Once I know the procedures I want to use, I can be more effective with things like classroom set up.  I can make sure that my classroom set up supports my procedures.  I can make sure that if I buy something, it will really be what I need for the year to come.

     When I'm planning out my procedures for the year, I always start with my list of things that I wanted to change.  Then I try to think through what a perfect class period would look like from bell to bell.  This vision is what drives my procedures.  I'm always thinking about how my classroom procedures can support my vision of what class should look like.   Personally, I like to be as specific as possible and plan as much as I can in advance.  In addition to the "regular" day (if there is such a thing in middle school!?!), I also try to plan out stuff that doesn't happen every day, but is still important.  For example, knowing how I want to handle study guides, tests and retakes is important in my planning.


Here are some of the things you will want to consider when planning for a new year:

  • What materials do you want students to have for class each day?
  • What are your expectations for students when the bell rings each day?
  • What do you plan for students to do each day for the first few minutes of class?
  • How do you plan to take attendance?
  • How will you manage student absences?
  • What materials are available for students to borrow?  
  • What will you do about students that don't have the necessary supplies for class (books, calculators, pencils, etc...)?
  • How are you going to handle student requests for drinks and bathroom breaks?
  • How do you want students to handle sharpening pencils and other tasks that might require them to get out of their seats?
  • How are you going to assign homework?  How will you grade it?
  • What is your grading policy going to be? Will you have categories (tests, quizzes, participation, etc...)?  What percent of the total grade will go to each category?
  • How will you get your student's attention when they are working?
  • What do you want students to do with graded papers?
  • How do you want students to organize notes and notebooks?
  • Where will students turn in papers?  
  • Who will return graded papers?
  • Will you have any classroom jobs that students can do for you?
  • Do you need to have any procedures in place for technology in your classroom?
  • How will you handle the end of class?  Do students need to wait to be dismissed, or can they leave then the bell rings?
  • What clean up procedures need to be in place for the end of class?
  • What will your retake policy be?
  • What will your late work policy be?
  • What is your policy for calculator use?  Use of other technology?
  • What other procedures are important in your classroom?  (Examples include effective group work, classroom discussions, how to respond to feedback, etc...)
  • Will you have some structure set up for challenging students or early finishers?
       Personally for me, I organize all of this into a Google Doc.  I find it easier to group them into categories, and then each year I can update and change easily.  Then I just change the date at the top, and I've got my procedures planned out for the year!  Then I'm ready to start on the rest of the tasks that need to get done before the new year begins.

Friday, June 22, 2018

Favorite Technology Part 3: Quia

       Today's favorite is actually one that I pay for, but it's worth the $49 a year to me.  Quia has lots of ways to create online practice activities.  There are a total of 15 activities that you can create for your students.  My favorites are Battleship, Challenge Board, Cloze, Flashcards and Rags to Riches.


        Battleship is just like the board game.  Students play against the computer.  Each time they answer a question correctly they get a turn to try to sink the computer's battleship.  It can be a fun way to get my kids practicing.   Rags to Riches is similar to Who Wants to be a Millionaire.  This is another game where students play against the computer as they answer progressively harder questions to practice.  The flashcards allow students to play Memory.

       The Challenge Board is also fun.  It is basically a version of Jeopardy.  This is a fun one because it does allow students to play individually or with a partner.  It's also a great way to review since you can create different categories.

       These are all fun ways for students to practice and get feedback....but they are actually not what I love about Quia.  Quia is what I usually use for online quizzes.  As much as possible, I use Quia to give formative assessments because it is such an easy way for my students to get useful feedback that they can learn from.

       There are three main reasons why I love giving quizzes on Quia.  First, I love that the grading is quick and easy.  Quia will grade multiple choice and multiple mark items for you.  It will also grade short answer questions for you, based on whatever answers you have indicated are correct.  It is also easy to override the automatic grading if a student gives a correct answer that you didn't think to list in your answers.  Quick feedback is good for student learning, plus a the online grading is a major time-saver for me!

     The second reason I love giving quizzes on Quia is that I can give students feedback AS they take the quiz.  Yes, you read that right....AS students take the quiz.  This is really the reason why I'm willing to pay for Quia.  You can set Quia to give students one question at a time, and to show them feedback as they go.  Using these settings, students get feedback on the quiz as they take it!  So I always base my feedback for incorrect answers on what might be a common mistake or misunderstanding.  I just love the idea that students could be learning AS they are taking an assessment.

       The third reason I love using Quia for quizzes is still about feedback.  Once all of the students have taken the quiz, you can look over each question one at a time and give even more feedback.  For example, if a student made a different mistake from what my feedback for incorrect answers anticipated, you can give customized feedback just to that particular student (or to all of the students that made the same error by copying and pasting).

       I have tried using Google Forms to give quizzes, but have just found that it takes me longer to create a quiz with the same feedback.  I also find it takes me longer to give individualized feedback through Google Forms than through Quia.  I use Google Forms for surveys and other things, but generally for short quizzes, I prefer Quia.

        Giving feedback to students is hands-down one of the most effective teaching strategies that we can use in our classrooms.  I feel like Quia gives me a hand in effectively doing this in a very timely manner!