Well, Movember is over and so is the term.  Here’s how we wrapped up:

Nonverbal Communicative Intelligence for Classroom Management

Seeing as management is a concern for all beginning teachers, I wanted to address the topic in some manner before you headed out to your 2-week prac.  That said, the topic is huge, so I wanted to keep the session short, practical, and focused on skills that you could use on the morning of Tuesday, 4 January 2010, if need be.  Thus, I focused on five nonverbal skills:

• Choose voice
• Pause
• Frozen hand gesture
• Incomplete sentence
• Freeze body

that research has proven to be very useful in creating effective learning environments.

Here’s a link to the Prezi I created to introduce the topic:

• PREZI: Nonverbal Communicative Intelligence for Classroom Management

Also, here’s the full article on which today’s class was based:

• ARTICLE: Nonverbal Communicative Intelligence for Classroom Management

We used the Learning Stations strategy to process the skills-based content of the article. Stations are a great way to allow students to set the pace of their own learning.  Here are some links to sites with info on LS:

• Rapid Learning Stations
• Math Learning Stations to DI
• Learning Centers in the Middle School Classroom
• A MiddleWeb Listserv Conversation: Using Centers in Your Classroom
• Tapping Into Multiple Intelligences with Learning Centers
• Ensuring Student Success With Learning Stations

After the station work, I took a few questions and provided suggestions for how management skills can be stacked – done simultaneously – to increase their effectiveness.

If you feel like kicking it old school, watch the classic training video below – “Maintaining Classroom Discipline” – to see how Mr. Grimes teaches and manages his Math class:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHzTUYAOkPM[/youtube]

Bits & Pieces:

Writing this heading reminds me of Kibble and Bits and that product’s TV commercials.  Check it out as we skip down memory lane:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP9dn3j6uDk[/youtube]

Now, where was I?  Oh, ya, bits and pieces:

– 2-Week Practicum Observation of Your Teaching

• Bob and I will see you teach once during this practicum
• We’ll drop by to see you and set up an observation time

– Practicum Binder

• Please set up a practicum binder to house paper copies of your prac-related paperwork
• Please have your binder handy at all times for your SA or FA to flip through
• Here’s the required Table of Contents for your binder:
  • Practicum Binder Table of Contents

– LLED 320 Writing Samples

• Please collect 4-6 samples of student writing (photocopies are fine) to use in your Term 2 LLED 320 class.
• The samples should reflect the range of writing abilities you find in your students.
• The writing samples could be from lessons you teach or from work your students do with your SA.
• We will be completing a writing assessment task in LLED 320 and the best samples to work with for this assignment are:
  • Short stories
  • Paragraphs
  • Poems
  • Essays
  • Reports

Here’s the first page of a sample writing sample:

Pre-2-Week Practicum Letter

• Bob and I will send out a letter to both you and your SAs to outline expectations some point in mid- to late-December.
• Please read the letter thoroughly and be in touch with any questions.

Unit Planning

• The unit plan you’ll be using in January is due a email to both your SA and FA on Monday, 6 December 2010.
• Your advisors will look it over and give you feedback
• Please revise the unit with the feedback in mind.
• You cannot start teaching in January until both your SA and FA have viewed and approved your unit plan.

Inquiry Task One-Pagers

• Thanks for handing in the one-pager with your inquiry question on it
• As you teach, your question will likely evolve
• We’ll delve deeply into the inquiry task in 310 class during January and February

That’s all for now.  All the best for a relaxing holiday.

– Lawrence