Creating a Safe Learning Environment

As the semester comes to a close, I can't help but think about all the people who have made my learning possible.  My professors and peers allowed me to be myself.  There was never judgement, only support; there was never a "wrong, try again," but a kind "you almost have it...keep going."  This is the way I want my classroom to be!  I want my students to feel silly, I want them to be comfortable enough to make mistakes, most of all I want them to be comfortable enough to share.    I found this great list on Edutopia and just had to share.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-tips-create-safe-learning-environment-rebecca-alber

THIS is what it is all about, THIS is what will make the learning environment a place everyone wants to be, THIS will make life teaching enjoyable,  THIS will help me be a better teacher!

Twenty Tips for Creating a Safe Learning Environment

I visit a lot of classrooms. And I'm always fascinated by the variety of ways teachers launch the new school year and also with how they "run their rooms" on a daily basis. From these visits and my own experiences as an instructor, I'd like to offer my top 20 suggestions for keeping your classroom a safe, open, and inviting place to learn.

1. Community Build All Year Long. Routinely include strategies and activities in your lessons, such as Save the Last Word for Me, that allow students to express their thoughts and ideas, build relationships, and practice collaboration. This will help grow and maintain a feeling of emotional safety in your classroom.

2. Post Student Work. When displays of essays, poems, projects, and exams dominate the walls, there is student ownership of the room. When they look around and see their own writing and thinking, they certainly experience a higher level of comfort than if they see store-bought posters. That said, if informational posters are needed, ask your students to create them.

3. Have Non-Negotiables. Along with classroom rules and procedures, students must know non-negotiables right out of the gate. My biggest non-negotiable? Name-calling. This resulted in an immediate consequence (a call to the Dean and removal from the classroom that day). We have to tackle such things as name-calling head on or else kids won't feel safe to be themselves, let alone learn.

4. Admit When You Don't Know. Students appreciate when we show our humanity. Saying "I'm not really sure. Does anyone else know or might they like to look that up for us?" is powerful stuff.

5. Read with Your Students. The message this sends: I like to read. I don't just tell you this and grade you on how much you read, I read side by side with you. You see my facial expressions as I struggle to understand something difficult and you see when I feel emotion at a sad or funny part. I am a reader, too.

6. Remain Calm at All Times. Once a teacher loses it with a class or student, it takes a long time to rebuild that feeling of safety and trust within those four walls. Step right outside the door and take a few breaths. It's worth it.

7. Take Every Opportunity to Model Kindness. They will follow.

8. Circulate. Mingling lets you monitor their work, yes, but it also gives you a close view of any tensions or negative energy brewing with groups or between students. Also, circulating gives you great opportunities to overhear a student sharing an idea or question that you can use with the whole class.

9. Address Grudges Early On. If tension is building between a couple of students, create time and space for them to talk it out while you mediate.

10. Write with Your Students. The message this sends: I like to write. I don't just tell you this and grade you on your writing, I write side by side with you. You see me struggle as I am drafting a poem or letter, and you see me contemplate new words, cross-out old ones and take chances as I revise. I am a writer, too.

11. Model Vulnerability. They will appreciate this. If we are asking kids to write and talk about times they have felt scared, alone, confused, etc., we need to be willing to do the same.

12. Follow Through with Consequences. A consequence must proceed a non-negotiable. Students need to know there's a consequence for those serious infractions. They need evidence to believe they are safe in each classroom.

13. Smile Often. The antiquated saying in the teaching profession is wait until Christmas to smile. This is just plain silly. Let the children see those pearly whites often and genuinely. The more smiles we offer to students, the more we will receive.

14. Use Every Opportunity to Model Patience. They will notice.

15. Give Kids a Chance to Problem Solve on Their Own. It's so much better when ideas and solutions come from the student. This is a chance for us to ask rather than tell: "What might be some things you can start doing so you complete your homework on time? How about I write them down as you tell them to me?"

16. Laugh with your Students. The message this sends: Learning doesn't have to always be so serious, nor do we. Sometimes, when tensions are high, like during testing or when crazy things are happening out in the world, we need to laugh together. It's okay.

17. Offer Options. If we start an assignment with, "You will have three choices," kids may even get excited and are often much more willing than when we say, "The assignment is...." By giving kids choices, we send a message that we respect their decisions.

18. Keep the Vibes Good. Students, no matter how young, know when a teacher is not happy. Joy can be contagious, but so too can misery. Maybe a vacation, a massage, watching a TED Talk, or even changing the grade level you teach will help re-kindle the flame between you and teaching when you are in a slump.

19. Sit with Your Students. Sitting in a chair made for a child is not the most comfortable thing for an adult. But joining a group of children at their table takes us off stage and let's us, even just for a few moments, become a member of the group. We might ask a strategic question, inquire about the group's project, or simply listen.

20. Art and Music Feed the Soul. (And they starve the beast.) Incorporate both of these routinely in your lessons.

Cinquain

Cinquain?   What is a Cinquain?  That was my reaction!  However it is much easier to do than to say.

A cinquain (siNGˈkān) is a five-line poem that describes a person, place or thing.  In class we did a cinquain poem about our neighborhood.  I think this would be a great way to start the school year or introductions to poems during Language Arts; have the students create one about themselves.

The cinquain is much easier than one would think;

a one word title, a noun that tells what your poem is about

two adjectives that describe what your writing about

three -ing particles that describe what your poem is about

a phrase that tells more about what you're writing about

a synonym for your title, another noun that tells what your poem is about

This is also a great way to help students identify adjectives, nouns, synonyms, and particles.  Teachers could make it a lesson for example Mother's Day, let's create something special for our moms.  Teachers could create a LEA by opening up a rich discussion about ways to describe (adjectives) moms and go from there.  Students could also be given random pictures of history and asked to write about what they see and feel from the picture.  Teachers can help students build self-esteem by writing about themselves.  So many possibilities; let's get started!

More information of cinquains

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/composing-cinquain-poems-with-43.html

Cinquains with a twist (building vocabulary)

http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/balancedliteracydiet/Recipe/00067/

http://www.layers-of-learning.com/learning-word-roots-activites-and-printables/

http://www.pinterest.com/amyfortner11/cinquain/

Field Trips

Remember when you were younger, weren't field trips the number one thing you couldn't wait for in school?   Today, due to budget cutbacks, students don't get to experience all of the wondrous field trips.  Does that mean we have to take away all the wonder from the classroom?  Absolutely NOT!  Take your students on a virtual field trip.  Let them explore the wonders of a place they may never get to visit.  Bring excitement back to Social Studies and other content areas.

Are you studying geography in your classroom?  

Visit the Grand Canyon!   

http://www.nps.gov/grca/photosmultimedia/virtualtour.htm

Not only will your students be able to identify where the Grand Canyon is on a map, but they will get a feel for being there.  With the link above, students can get updated news about the canyon such as daily alerts that are in effect, history, culture, nature, science, a virtual raft or hike and much more.  There are even links to help teachers plan for the virtual field trip.

Teachers and students can create passports at the beginning of the year and make entries for each place visited.  Virtual field trips are not limited to places within the United States of America, travel out of the country and explore different cultures.  Create a track-star or Webquest for students to choose where they are going to travel.  Add extensions for students to describe how they would get to their destination, what would they take, why?

Field trips are great, but when they aren't possible or unachievable, travel with the resources you have.  I know that these tools would have been much more interesting for me than reading from a text!  In order for teachers to be effective facilitators we need to be able to teach students with the tools they are interested in.  For many of them, the Internet is that tool.  Take advantage of the tools you have and watch your students academic growth!

Making Social Studies F U N !

Making Social Studies fun...I would have never though that possible until recently.  When I was in school, many years ago, Social Studies was one of my least favorite classes.  I hated trying to remember all of the dates, people, times, etc.; it seemed like a waste of time.  I feel like all we did was read and test from the book.  I don't remember any fun activities.  However, during this semester I learned many valuable ways to incorporate FUN and EXCITEMENT into Social Studies!  

One way is to make the student think and act like a historian.  Give them a job to do.  Instead of just reading from the book, incorporate a fun prediction discussion.  Let the students tell you what they know or their opinion of what happened.  Then look have them look for supporting claims.  Provide them with opportunities to collaborate with other peers, let them recreate documents and present them to the class, act out scenes, question the characters and let them be part of the history.  In doing so they will remember the important facts that were learned while expressing themselves.  

Other ways to make Social Studies fun is to incorporate music.  The Internet and World Wide Web offer so many options that were not available when I was younger.  As an extension, encourage the students to create their own song to remember content.  Encourage students to recreate what the scene looks like in their head as they read about the civil war or the Boston Tea Party.   Have students create their own cartoon script of the events.

There are so many ways to make learning fun!  The more fun students are having, the more engaged they become, the more engaged they are the more they are learning the content and not just memorizing it for a test on Friday.  

Here are some websites to help you get started...

http://www.teachhub.com/5-ways-make-learning-fun-again
http://www.pinterest.com/rachris/making-learning-fun/
http://www.makinglearningfun.com

Empathy

Empathy....the ability to understand and share the feelings of others.   Empathy; how can you teach another person to understand and feel?  With music and pictures!

Teaching students of a technological, materialistic world to understand a time when these things did not exist is difficult.  We want our children to feel safe and loved, but at the same time I believe that it  is important that they learn how fortunate they are.   How do we get them to understand how life was like without all of this stuff?  Pictures!  One picture is worth a thousand words.  Students can take a "picture walk" through a specific time period.  A picture walk allows students to develop an idea of when, where and what life was like.  Looking at picture without a script lets the student try to put themselves there and try to imagine what it would be like.
( http://www.handsandvoices.org/articles/education/ed/V11-2_picturewalk.htm )
Adding music to specific images can enhance the students ability to actually understand and feel what is happening.

In class we created a music video with historical images, mine was about 9/11.  This was a time in history that we were all in shock.  For those of us who were old enough to see what was happening know that there are so many words to describe the thoughts and feelings of that day.  However, the children who were not yet born or too young to understand will find it hard to feel the same way.  Combining music with images of that day puts together a story line they can see and feel.  Music is a way to release feelings.
( https://iu.box.com/s/z7ir4txunlc86l5gd3c5 )

Shoe Box Project

In this picture you see two ladies that appear to be looking at a cell phone, but that is not the half of it!  During this class we had participated in a Shoe Box activity where we were pretending that if we had to leave immediately and there was not room for everything, what would you take?  Your clothing, cooking supplies and other necessities were on the truck (or wagon depending on what time you are studying) you have a shoe box for anything else.  What do you take?  What do you leave behind?  What can you sacrifice?  Living in a society that values things it was a hard choice.  Many of us choose items that represented family, religion, and things that we needed to have a healthy life.  In my box, I choose my flash drive (believing that we would have technology and they can store so much), family pictures, my cell phone, and my medication.   Others choose items such as those from family that had been passed down for several generations and daily journals.  Items like these document a story for future generations to look back, observe and learn about how we live today. 

I really enjoyed hearing about everyone's most treasured items.  Sharing pictures, journal and family traditions opened a door more into the lives of my friends.  As I listened to them talk about their items I could sense their pride and love.

Later, as we discussed ways to use this in the classroom, I wasn't sure that this is something that I would or would not do.  However, after much deliberation about the topic I was reminded that no matter how poor a family is every child has something that is special to them.  This would be a great way to introduce being thankful.  Have the students bring in a shoe box and ask them to fill it with one to four items they are thankful for.  The students could share during our closing circle or  one-on-one, rotating every seven minutes.  

Teaching With Music

Think back to when you were in school?  What subjects or lessons do you remember?  Chances are the lessons that you remember are those that you were taught with music.  In pre-school and kindergarten students learn body parts (Head, shoulders, knees and toes; knees and toes) and ABC's to songs.  As students grow they learn catchy songs that help them remember grammar, punctuation, math, states & capitals and much more.  Using music in the classroom can make a boring lesson on how a bill becomes a law more interesting.  Students are also left with a catchy tune that they can replay to themselves during assessment time.

Lucky for today's teachers, we have a huge mixture of technology and music at our finger tips.  The School House Rock series has been around since the early 1970s, but is just as popular and interesting as it was then.  There are 52 songs and videos filled with all kinds of content rich information.  If you can't find something from School House Rock, you can look at these sites

http://www.songsforteaching.com/socialstudiessongs.htm
https://www.flocabulary.com/subjects/social-studies/

Each site is filled with a overwhelming amount of songs to help students learn and remember content.  As you plan your next lesson, think about what you want to teach, how you are going to teach it, and can you integrate music to help students gain a deeper connection.  Your students will look at learning as fun.

For more information about integrating music into lesson, read the following article.
http://listeningandspokenlanguage.org/Music_as_a_Teaching_Tool/