I was very inspired by Joanna’s talk and took extensive notes that are posted below. She ignited the idea that I might actually enjoy teaching middle school. There were so many creative teaching approaches and ideas that she taught us.
Take attendance using a mood board. E.g. guinea pigs. Can show verbally/non-verbally. Mediaeval owls. Link them to the curriculum. Class-created bulletin board. Let students have lots of control. Ss get to design the room. Feel-good Fridays, write each other letters and notes. Start low risk, a question such as “how do you feel about this grade?” build up throughout the year. Have an olympics- mental, physical. Include drawing at bottom of pages. Use memes. Start each day the same. Joke of the day/class playlist/would you rather. Do a student survey. Surveymonkey. What type of learning works best for you? How do you like to sit? You can never have too many visuals. Visual schedules. When coming back from lunch- calming music, individual reading. Share your interests with you pets. Picture of you at their age. Model what each of the proficiency scales looks likes (emerging,, developing, proficient). Peer-review. “Scale”, “why”. Co-create rubrics. Show a sample you made- ask them what they observed. Flipgrade- add stickers. When include digital media, shy students can be themselves. Flipgrid. Freshgrade- digital portfolio site. WordPress- portfolio. Parents can comment on the work. Assessment- submit their best wokr to freshgrade. Add a comment about why they chose those things.Make a coat of arms to represent your identity. Sandwich writing- instructions on how to make a sandwich, using transitional words. Use mentor texts. Start with getting them to write creatively about themselves to get to know them better. If ss are talking over you- use hands, count down from 5. Timer on the board. Tone bell. Thank them for listening, seeming alert and putting your things away. Content is suggestions. Competencies (skills) are what we’re looking for. Imad suggested a youtube movie: Humans.