I Am So Stealing This....

Jason Buell(Always Formative) wrote about Positive Deviants and Don't Break the Chain idea for the Soft Skills Convention hosted by Riley Lark at Point of Inflection. Riley's thought was to use the

conference [as] a great opportunity for us to share the way we bring out the shy kids in our classes, handle teasing, build confidence, create opportunities for leadership, and acknowledge the beauty and importance of the blossoming lives for which we are responsible.

It's a great conference that I look forward to each Satudary when the new "sessions" are posted.

One of the many things I'm stealing adopting and adapting is the idea I got from Jason. Students basically WANT to be good students I (we) can't just tell students what we want. They need to see it, do it, practice it. So here comes the Positive Devients. Positive Devients are examples of students doing what you want.

Things I'm Thinking About...

Test Deconstruction
Minute to Win It Centers
Sum of Three
Energizing Brain Breaks

Try Something New For 30 Days?

Model some skill everyday Whatever I assign, I should model its creation in front of students. As teachers, we should model a piece of writing or the construction of an equation from scratch so that the students can see our thought process as we progress from blank page to end result. To paraphrase Kelly Gallagher, "Don't just assign, teach."

We have been reading Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov. My assistant principal has challenged us to try a new technique from the book each week. I had been thinking of trying a technique from the book for MONTHS (since we got the book as a book study last school year 09-10) but have I done it? Not really. I DO use some of the techniques, but they tend to be the ones I am comfortable with.

I feel challenged now, to Try Something New For 30 Days.

What is something new you are going to try for 30 days?