Kellie Hayden's Blog

Posted by Kellie Hayden

Teachers who teach language arts or social studies can connect what they are doing in the classroom. Just the other day, a social studies teacher asked me, a language arts teacher, if we could work together on a research project. His students are not doing well on questions about bibliographies on our state achievement test. We hope to complete a project this year that will have components for both language arts and social studies.

Civil War Connection Ideas

There are many ways to connect to another subject area. For the Civil War, students can write a short story set in the Civil War time period. In addition, they can write a position paper for the North or the South. Or, they can write a character sketch from a novel based on the Civil War or write poetry with a Civil War theme.

World War II Integration Ideas

For World War II, students can write a persona journal about people involved in the war. For a really fun time, students can participate in a recreation of a WWII USO.

Working with a teacher in another content area can bring new insights and great ideas to the classroom. As many teachers are pressured for high test scores, it helps to work together.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

Students attending middle school for the first time are probably filled with excitement and anxiety. The transition can be hard on students as well as parents. Sixth graders are so much smaller than the eighth graders and are easily intimidated. Most middle schools have wings for the different grades. It is important for both parents and sixth grade students to have a positive attitude, to be organized and to keep communication lines open with teachers.

However, the eighth graders may be bigger, but they have just as many troubles. They are feeling like the "big fish in the little pond." Some become lazy, and some start to become apathetic. Parents need to keep communicating with their children about school work and activities. As the children grow bigger, some parents losen up on their discipline because many young teens act like they do not want thier parents around any more. However, these kids need their parents more than ever with all of the peer pressure and impending transition to the high school.

So, parents, your middle school child needs you. Just remember that they may act like they don't want you around, but they really do. And, they probably won't let you know how important you are to their success until much later in life.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

If you have a senior in high school, like millions of parents across this nation, it may be like pulling teeth to get your child to complete almost any task other than texting or hanging out. They are on the downhill slide of their high school career and want to slide effortlessly to the end.

High School Senior Year is Expensive

The problem is that their to-do list is longer than it has ever been, and they need to work a little harder to get it all done right. Hopefully your teen has a part-time job because this is going to be a very costly year.

College Bound Students Should Be Busy

For the college bound student, they need to prepare and take either the ACT or the SAT. Not only does it cost money to take the test, (most take them multiple times) they should prepare for them using books or taking special classes. If a student has yet to take the test one time, he or she needs to sign up quickly.

In addition, many parents took their children all over the nation looking at colleges last spring and this summer. Hopefully, your child has chosen a few in which he or she intends to send an application. These now can be completed online. Make sure that you and your child know the deadlines set by each college to turn in the applications.

So, if you have a senior student in your household, drag them off the couch and put them to work now. It is even harder to move them in the spring.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

For many teachers right now, our brains are a whirlwind of ideas and worry about what we need to do. Here are a few tips to keep you sane:

Be Prepared by Learning New Ideas & Helping Others

To learn about interesting ideas, attend good professional development workshops. This can happen in summer or during the school year. For seasoned teachers, try to become a teacher leader. Good teachers need to stay in the classroom, and young teachers need good mentors.

Be Prepared for the Open House

Right before students arrive early on the first day of school, school districts generally have an open house. These events can be pleasant or they can be painful. Try to have a successful one by organizing the room to be informative and neat. Parents can learn quite a bit by browsing bulletin boards, wall displays, table displays, and posters in your room. Make sure they are taking away positive ideas.

Be Prepared for Rowdy Students

Generally, middle school students give their new teachers about a week of a "honey moon period;" they behave. After about a week, they become comfortable and some become disruptive. In addition to posting classroom rules, have a ton of classroom management strategies ready. This is best way to avoid sending a stream of students down to the principal's office. Keep those disruptive students talking in classroom discussions instead of making you crazy.

So, in order to have a great beginning to the school year, be prepared. It keeps you sane and happy.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

When planning lessons, there is no reason to reinvent the wheel to come up with interesting assignments for your students. Try these ideas that allow students to show what they know creatively.

Save yourself some time by directing students to decorate your bulletin boards to show what they know about a novel in the Student Created Bulletin Board lesson. Another way to decorate your walls with student art is by assigning the Sundae of the Week. Students create sundaes out of paper. Each part of the sundae represents part of the book's characters, plot and theme.

When students talk about the books they are reading, they will gain a a more in-depth understanding of the novel. Try this literature circle or group discussion technique called the Group Discussion of the First Half of the Novel lesson.

To teach the elements of plot, assign the Plot Element Lesson. Students will learn plot basics and apply them to the novel. Another lesson that deals with plot is the Top Five Scenes in a Novel. This lesson makes students describe, draw and write about their favorite five episodes in the story.

To teach literature terms, The Character Type Lesson helps students learn about the four types of characters: flat, round, dynamic and flat. While the Author Style of Influence Lesson, is an in-depth lesson that helps students understand the sometimes difficult idea of author’s style.

All novel assessments do not have to be book reports that take hours to grade. These ideas are fun for the students and allow the teacher to assess understanding quickly.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

To get to know your students, have them all create quilt squares that include the six most important pieces of writing. The writing quilt shows how important writing is in a student’s life. Most are surprised at the variety of items that are attached. The best part is that it is a celebration of writing.

A fun way to get students into the swing of school is to complete the descriptive room essay. Students get to “cyber shop” for item and then design a room. Then, they write a five-paragraph essay. It is creative and allows students to show off their individuality.

To add interest to the school year, ask student to research different cultures. The multicultural research project includes a paper, a presentation and food from other countries. A teacher can even add a culture fair to share what the students learned with the entire school and maybe even parents.

Something to think about for the end of the year is a four-year time capsule. It is a packet of writing that the students will receive their senior year of high school. Students get to self-select items that will fit in one manilla envelope. You can tell them about it the first week of school so that they can be thinking about what to put in it.

This year make students publish their work. It makes writing more “real.” And, the prizes are a great motivator write.

So, this year, try some new and creative writing projects. Your students will like the variety.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

When thinking about how to evaluate a student's understanding of a novel, think about the many modalities of learning. Try some of these creative projects to tap the many modalities.

For the artistic student, the Main Character Shield -- Oral Book Report can showcase a students artistic and creative abilities, while the teacher can assess the understanding of a main character. Another creative report is the Book Talk with Student Created Book Jacket. Students must create a new book jacket for the novel and explain it to the class in a presentation. The Story Episode Lesson allows students to think about the main ideas or themes in a novel and graphically represent them on a poster.

For students who are very opinionated, they may like to try the project, Students as Book Critics. Students can rate a novel critically.

Many students are strong interpersonal learners and enjoy working in a group. The Group Book Report Project offers students a way to read the same book in a small group. Discussion is an intregal part of this project. In addition, some students like to work with only one other person. The Paired Reading Book Project could be a positive experience for this type of student.

These are just a few of the hundreds of creative ideas out there for teachers to use instead of a written book report. Learning how to analyze a novel is important; however, students don't always need to do it in a paper.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

This summer reflect.

Teachers who have completed the National Board of Professional Teacher Certification process or who have become NBCTs, know what it means to reflect. They have to describe their lessons, analyze their lessons and then reflect on their lessons. Reflecting is sometimes the hardest type of writing for many candidates.

Reflection means thinking about what worked and what did not work. It is not really about what the students did. It is what you as a teacher did to make the lesson soar or maybe even flop. The best part of being reflective is figuring out why a lesson did not work. Sometimes the best lessons I have delivered are the ones that flopped the year before that I tweaked the following year.

To fix a lesson, here are few things to consider:

• What came before and after this particular lesson? Was this lesson placed correctly in the unit or in the year plan?
• Did you connect the lesson to state standards, benchmarks and indicators?
• Were the activities student centered? Were the students engaged? Where did you lose the students in the lesson?
• What was the student impact? What did they learn?

Reflective teaching should happen all year. However, this summer take some time and think about the lessons that did not work. Do they need to hit the trashcan or be revived into a really cool lesson for the next year?

Posted by Kellie Hayden

In the spring of every year, students are tested. Most states have now included writing tests that are graded with a holistic rubric. Students usually need to complete two solid essays from writing prompts that are timed.

Problems With Timed Writing Tests

Most students can manage within the time limits, but some cannot stay on topic, write an organized and grammatically correct essay, or write two good essays in the time allotted. Some students can crank out a great first essay, but then they fall flat on the second one because they do not have test endurance. Many middle school classes are only 40-45 minutes long, so students do not get to practice writing for two and a half hours.

Solutions to Writing Problems

Ask the principal or fellow teachers for time that could be scheduled once a month where students write for the whole two and a half hours to practice writing to prompts. This could be done after January.

For the problem of staying on topic, students can practice writing essays. Practice the five-paragraph essay all year. The more they practice, the better. Have the students check every paragraph to make sure it is on the main topic of the essay in the introduction.

Discuss common grammar mistakes that they are making in their writing.

Some students are motivated by prize money and the prestige of writing contests. Ask students to publish their writing. And, some like to write. Allow them to keep a journal of topics that they enjoy.

There are many writing programs out there; however, practice and discussion of weaknesses seems to be the best way to improve writing and hopefully test scores.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

As I slather on sun tan lotion and think about my small bank account, I think about the pros and cons of teaching middle school. In the past, I have taught both middle and high school. When I tell people that I am a middle school teacher, they think I am crazy. Or, they thank me over and over again for taking on such a thankless job.

Cons of Being a Middle/High School Teacher

• Apathy of students
• Student attitudes or "mouthy" students
• Achievement test score pressure
• Class load (I have personally had over 150 students in a year.)
• Preparations for a variety of classes (Right now I have five different classes that I have to prepare for and teach.)
• Pay in comparison to other professionals

Pros of Being a Middle/High School Teacher

• The joy of teaching (Yes, I really do enjoy my job!)
• Enjoying pleasant students
• Helping those in need
• Teaching a favorite content area
• Summer vacation and spring break
• Being able to be home with own children on breaks and holidays

So, as you relax in the sun this summer, are you fuming or smiling? Teaching is hard. If anyone tells you different, they are not exactly telling the truth. However, nothing worth doing in life is easy. So, those of you thinking about leaving the profession make a pros and cons list. It may make you want to come back the following year or maybe not. You have to decide what is important in life.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

Poetry terms generally are on the achievement tests, and students enjoy writing poems on topics they love. At first, students may whine when you tell them that they will be studying poetry. However, if you write poetry with them and share your work, they will stop the whining and want to share their work with you.

Assign students to create a themed poetry project. In this project, students will learn about poetry techniques, such as hyperbole, alliteration, rhyming, personification, similes, metaphors, and onomatopoeia. These techniques add pizzazz to any writing assignment.

After the students have mastered the poetry techniques, they can learn about poetry types, such as syllable count poems, free verse poems and shape poems.

In addition, poetry can be written in conjunction with holidays. For Saint Patrick's Day, assign students to write limericks. For Valentine's Day, ask students to write a love poem.

To get students to publish their work, poetry is a great place start. Poems are generally short and students feel confident sending in a short poem. Plus, there are many poetry contests where students can be successful.

So, add creative poetry writing in your lessons. It is fun, and it probably will show up on the achievement test.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

With almost 50% of teachers leaving the classroom within the first five years, something has to change. Teacher morale does matter. A new study finds that building relationships is also very important.

Vick Dill and Delia Stafford report in “Teacher Retention a Critical National Problem” [EdNews, March 14, 2008] that Dr. Martin Haberman found that the three most important attributes of teachers who remain in the classroom are "content knowledge, pedagogy and the ability to build relationships with children, parents and school leaders." The ability to build relationships seems to be very important.

So, how do teachers build better relationships with their students, parents and school leaders?

• Listen more and talk less. Students will tell you a lot when you stand around in the hallways and ask them about their day.
• Attend community functions. Students and parents love to see educators at sporting events, musicals, band functions, etc. It is something they remember and talk about when they are talking with their neighbors.
• Shop at the community stores and eat in the local restaurants. Having a nice conversation at the local pizza shop with parents will help if the same parents are called about their disruptive child later in the school year.
• Ask principals if they need help with anything. Being ready to go a little above and beyond cements a good relationship with the bosses.

These are just a few tips to build better relationships. Most importantly, relationships that teachers build are truly valuable and can help a teacher stay in the profession. And, I believe this in turn builds better schools.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

As I sit writing this blog, I am mentally checking off the items in my pool bag. The sunscreen is getting a little low, and I need to buy some more healthy snacks.

Summer Planning is Less Stressful When Completed in the Sun

However, I am also thinking about next school year too. I love having time to think through issues of the following year in a low stress environment. Here's a short list for newbie teachers of middle and high school students to do over the summer:

• Read books or textbooks that you may want to use in the classroom. It is much easeir to read them on the beach than during the school year when you are trying to juggle grading, family, and over a hundred students.
• Rethink projects you did this year. Look at what worked and what did not. This is a great time to tweak those projects to make them better for next year. I love to think about those items poolside.
• Skim lesson plans and units from last year. Does everything fit together? Could units be moved or deleted? Do new rubrics or assessments need to be created? Are any indicators not being taught?

Remember, summer is a time to relax and refuel for the following year. However, the best school years start when planning begins during the summer, poolside.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

School is out for summer! This song is a favorite of mine; they always play it as the students exit the building on the last day of school. It is tradition that the teachers go outside and wave to the busses, a few do cartwheels.

But before the teachers can leave, there is a mountan of things to do. Let's face it. Teachers are tired at the end of the school year. So, think smart.

• Allow students to help you take down bulletin boards, organize closets and run errands. They love to do it. I used to think middle and high school students wouldn't want to help. Boy was I wrong! They love to help and little treats make them smile when they are done. A can of soda will motivate any middle school student to help after they have completed the class assignement.
• Copy the syllabus in the last days of school before summer break. It is one less thing you will have to do in August.
• Organzie files, which means throw out what you won't use the next year. Purge the items you haven't used in a couple of years. Next school year you will be able to find things much easier. My file cabinet was so stuffed I couldn't get anything in or out until I drug the large trashcan over and threw away things I hadn't used in years.
• Put desk items in one box and put it on top of the pile. You can start with it before school starts again in August.
• Organize gradebook for next year. Some schools have class lists at the end of the school year.

These are just a few tips to end the school year on a great note. And, you can start the following year with less stress.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

End the last week of school with a bang. Finish up final exams a few days early so that teachers have time to complete paperwork, and students can head home happy.

Teachers Can Plan the Following for a Few Days of Fun at the End of the Year

• Cook lunch outside and have a “play day.” Even high school student like to sit out in the sun after a great lunch.
• Have an awards assembly during the last days. The kids go home with awards and a smile.
• Invite parents in to help teach activities. Periods can be shortened and students can learn to knit, sew, play cards, play chess, scrap book, make a collection, play tennis, etc.
• Create a beach volleyball, tug of war, or softball bracket so that student teams end up playing the teachers.
• Have a dance for a whole class during the school day. Teach students to do line dances and dance with them.
• Watch movies that go along with class reads.
• Go on a field trip to a local museum or movie theater.
• Take one grade level a day to the local pool or beach.

These ideas could make everyone's last few days as painless as possible. Once the exams are over, students and teachers should relax a little to boost morale.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

Ending the year with a bang instead of muddling through to the end is difficult when students take high-stakes tests in the last moths of school. The weather becomes nicer, and students wish to be outside instead of cooped up inside a classroom.

One idea that my colleges and I do is to let creativity reign. We complete a cross curricular project called When We Were Your Age. Teachers complete cross-curricular lessons on pop culture, historical events and what is really was like when we were their age during this week.

We hold a style show showcasing the music and the clothing fads of the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's. Students model clothes, lip sync to the "oldies but goodies" and dance. Students get to showcase their talents on stage.

Another day is spent watching a movie, usually "Back to the Future". Then an assembly is held where students come dressed in outfits from the various decades. Prizes are given for the best outfits, best hula-hoopers, best hands with a yo-yo and the best music trivia knowledge. The week ends with a dance at the end of the school day where only the "oldies" are played. All of the students line up to do the Hustle and Pop Corn dances.

This project is a great way to end with enthusiasm. Students have fun, and they even learn a little bit with a smile.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

Computers quickly and easily give students information at school. Most teachers know that students enjoy using computers and the technology associated with it. Students use computers for gaming, Internet surfing and social networking outside of school. However, should these reasons be enough to chuck the textbook?

Is Technology Better Than a Textbook?

On the Teacher Magazine website, the article Technology-Rich Classrooms Render Textbooks Useless by The associated Press shows a fourth grade class in Garden City, Kansas that has all but replaced textbooks with technology.

Personally, I like to integrate computers in the classroom. Computers are great for research, word processing, presentations, and video activities. However, I don’t think that students need to be reading longer text information, novels and short stories online. And, computers don’t always work as they should. Books are a personal passion and to replace them with a lit screen is somewhat scary.

Are Computer Only Schools a Reality?

Most schools have a computer lab or two, which need to be scheduled in advance and cannot be used on a daily basis. For every student to have a computer, the school district would have to dig deep into its pockets. Currently, many schools are concerned about how to pay for gas to bus the students to school.

I think that the Kansas fourth grade class is neat; however, I am not ready to scrap my textbooks and novels for blurry eyed students staring at a computer screen. I would much rather that they fall asleep reading their novel than slumped over at the computer desk.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

Where does freedom of speech end and the world of work begin for high school students, college students and teachers with online websites? It is something that all people who have a MySpace or Facebook account need to ponder.

Many students, as well as teachers, have a MySpace or Facebook site. These can be private places to put personal photos, poems, discussions, etc. for friends to view. However, many employers are checking these sites before they hire someone. A few teachers have been dismissed over having improper or “raunchy” photos on a site.

The article When Teachers Go Wild on the Web by Ian Shapira [Washington Post, April 28, 2008] gives examples of where teachers who thought that their websites were not open to the public were found by parents and students. Some teachers were given a warning about what was posted on their sites, but some were let go.

Teachers are not the only ones who need to be careful about what they post. Alison Doyle in Alison’s Job Search Blog reports that employers will check social networking sites, blogs and chat rooms of potential employees. It does not matter what type of job the person is seeking: full-time employment, summer employment or even an internship.

So, next time pictures are taken at a party, think twice about posting them on a social networking site. Not only is Big Brother watching, but so is everyone else.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

Bulletin boards and student work taped to the wall can make a teacher's room look inviting or cluttered. It is a teacher's preference how to decorate a room, but the jury is out on the effectiveness of this practice.

Bulletin Boards in the Classroom

I am a middle school teacher and am not as artistically inclined as my elementary counterparts. However, I do create bulletin boards, and I do hang work on my walls. I find that middle school students (boys and girls) love to help design and make bulletin boards. Sometimes I ask students to either design bulletin boards or to put them up for me as a time saver. Pre-service teachers can be a big help too.

Many high school teachers do not use bulletin boards as a teaching tool, unlike most elementary teachers and some middle school teachers. It seems that the older the students are that the bulletin boards are used less.

Student Work Displayed on the Walls

Sometimes my room looks like a tapestry of student work on the walls, and sometimes they are blank. To reinforce key concepts, I like to hang student work. I don’t just pick the best pieces; I like to hang them all up on the walls. I find that this inevitably helps bolster the quality of the work for all students. Students show others their work, and they talk about the best ones. The key for this to be effective is to take it down after a week.

On the flip side of “plaster the walls with student work”, I have had teachers tell me that this is a distraction or too much stimulation for struggling students. So what is a best practice when it comes to bulletin boards and student work? I think that variety is the key.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

Now that computers are used as a learning tool and students have MP3 players, programmable calculators and cell phones the size of a credit card or smaller, students are using these electronic devices to cheat.

How They Use Computers, MP3 Players and Cell Phones to Cheat

• Students "borrow" or buy essays off the Internet
• Student text message answers to each other during an assessment
• Students put answers on MP3 player or programmable calculators before assessments
• Students log on as another student to take assessments on the computer for activities such as Study Island (practice questions on an Internet site for achievement test) or Accelerated Reader (students take tests over books that they read to reach a goal)

These are just a few of the ways that students are using technology to cheat.

How to Try and Stop Electronic Cheating

Schools need to have strong rules for individual use of the computer. If students take assessments for other students or use the computer to cheat, they should lose their computer privileges along with consequences from the principal and parents.

Schools need to make strong plagiarism rules for students. If students copy papers, there should be strong consequences such as taking a zero, serving a detention or if the problem persists, receiving a suspension from school.

Teachers need to discuss these problems with students. Students need to understand that cheating is a serious offense. Some students do not think it is a "big deal."

Of course, there are some students who will always try to cheat. Some will get caught and some will not. Teachers are educators and not the police. However, there are a few things that educators can do to help deter it.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

Rural middle and high school children do not have the experiences that urban and suburban children have; therefore, they should be considered a special population. They experience many difficulties in realizing their gifts and talents, mostly due to being isolated geographically.

Rural Schools Struggle to Help Students Reach Their Academic Potential

Rural schools have certain characteristics such as being too small. This sometimes makes it difficult to provide challenging academic programs. Plus, many of the schools are under-funded due to lack of industry and tax base. Many homes are literature poor without newspapers, magazines or books. So, many young students come to school several steps behind their urban or suburban counterparts.

Probably the strongest but least cited reason talented students do not get to reach their potential is that rural parents want their children to stay in the country and not go off to the city. Parents and community leaders fear “brain drain” because there is little work to keep them coming back home.

Rural Communities and Schools Instill Survivalist Attitudes

However, the rural attitude of “pull yourself up by your bootstrap” and “don’t be a burden on someone else” has produced many talented adults. These successful rural adults may not receive the proper academic gifted classes, but their parents’ work ethic and survivalist attitude instill in them a desire to succeed.

Rural Students Need Additional Attention and Adequate School Funding

I believe that rural children should be considered a special population. Many students come to school miles behind their suburban and urban counterparts because of their isolated homes. Most have never been to in a museum, a zoo, or a concert until they reach school. They need special attention and adequate funding to compete with other urban and suburban students.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

Hosting a student teacher can be beneficial to the teacher and the students. Consider sharing expertise and hosting a student teacher this year. Student teachers come with excitement and usually a high amount of motivation. The students think they are “cool,” and they can give a harried teacher a break.

When some seasoned teachers are asked to take a student teacher, they think about it and turn it down. Student teachers do take some extra effort and work, but once they get going in the right direction, they are a great help to the teacher.

Student Teachers Can Start Helping Right Away

First, get student teachers helping with grading, making bulletin boards and working with struggling students. After a student teacher has been in the classroom a couple weeks or several days, he or she can start teaching individual lessons.

Within one to three weeks, most student teachers are ready to completely take over. This leaves the teacher time to work with struggling students, catch up on grading and critique the student teacher.

Don't Refuse a Student Teacher, Embrace The Opportunity to Help

The main reasons that most teachers refuse to take a student teacher are that they need total control of their classroom or that they have had a “bad” student teacher in the past.

I, personally, have had a couple of “bad” student teachers in the past 10 years, but I have had so many wonderful ones. So, next time a principal asks you to take a student teacher, give it a try. Your students will thank you for it, and you may learn something from the student teacher. I always do.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

With the robins returning for spring also comes prom season. Because hundreds to thousands of dollars can easily be spent on this one night, it is good to have a plan.

Parents, do you have a plan or better yet a budget for prom night?

Expense for the Young Lady

If you happen to be the lucky parent of a daughter, dig deep in those pockets. She will need the following:

• Dress
• Special undergarments
• Earrings, necklace and bracelet and possibly hair accessories
• Shoes
• Bag
• Make-up, lotion, and perfume
• Tanning package
• Hair appointment
• Nail appointment

The shopping time for the dress can take months. Some girls are known for asking their parents to whisk them off to another state to find better shopping grounds so that they do not have the same dress as another young lady. Others spend every weekend scouring malls and specialty shops from January until they find the perfect dress.

Expense for the Young Man

Parents of boys, you just have to worry about renting a tux and the shoes. And, maybe making your son get a hair cut.

Expense to Be Decided

Who will get to pay for the prom tickets, ride there (many rent limos), pictures, dinner before and activities afterward? Parents, it is best to converse with the prom date’s parents before the big night to decide who will pay for what on that oh so special, yet oh so expensive night.

So, make a budget and discuss the night with your child and the date's parents several weeks before prom night.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

Let me start by saying that I love to talk and was guilty of passing a few notes in class during my days in middle school. The trick was to fold it just right so that tape was not involved in sealing the hand written letter and passing the note when the teacher was not looking.

That being said, I am a big girl now and have my own classroom. I watched out of the corner of my eye as one of my university field experience students found a student with a letter. He brought it directly to me and was quite affronted that one of my students had a note. I smirked.

When does note passing require a consequence?

I think that note passing is a right of passage at the middle school. I don't get too bent out of shape if I see them on a student's desk. I throw them away without reading them when they end up on the floor.

But...

I do take care of business when

* the student is disrupting the class by passing the note

* the student is not taking class notes but writing a personal note

* the student writes horrible things about another and reads it aloud -- yes, this happened in a class

So, I am betting that most of you have your note passing stories. I just think in the schools today where students worry about drug dogs in the halls, bullies in the lunch room and gangs on the corner that note passing is not that big of a deal. You may disagree.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

Spring Break....

Ah yes, a time for the sun and a break. But, in teacher speak, when spring break time roles aroud, it means more PDA in the hall, grades are due, the students are antsy and the teachers are wooped.

So, how does an overworked educator survive?

Five Things a Teacher Can Do Before Spring Break

• Make packets of review for upcoming achievement tests. They may be drill and kill worksheets, but it will keep the students busy. It never hurts to review!
• Assign Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) -- In other words, quiet reading means teachers can get paperwork done. And, reserch proves that reading improves vocabulary.
• Create a game where students keep track of their points and earn prizes for good behavior before spring break. Middle school kids love prezels and pop or soda. Pretzels are cheap!
• Organize a project where students are making items and are learning independently. This takes care of their energy. Busy hands mean less discipline problems.
• Get a movie or documentary that goes along with your unit of study. Yes, movies on a topic they are studying encourages connections and learning. And, what a great break for the students and the teacher.

Enjoy your spring break! Most students think it is for them. Little do they know that it is really for the teachers.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

It seems that lawmakers believe that testing is the magic bullet to fix education. Unfortunately, this means that students are tested repeatedly. Schools, teachers and principals are held accountable for those scores. So, teachers need to do their best to have their students be successful on these high stakes tests.

To prepare for the stress and the tests, here are ten suggestions and ideas:

• Know content standards and create lessons that relate to them
• Pretest students early to find out what they already know and understand
• Cover all standards, but focus on the ones where students struggle
• Practice test taking with old tests; it helps for students to be familiar with test language and format
• Use “drill and kill” practice some, but find other ways for students to learn standards as well
• Do quarterly assessments to see where students need assistance
• Create a word wall of difficult words that are used on the test; each week a couple of new words can be introduced
• Find creative ways to motivate students, such as games and interesting projects for review
• Talk to students about importance of tests; however, students should not become overly stressed about them
• Give peppermint candy, drinks, and breakfast food on day of test. This gives students energy, and they can help relax students

The main thing is to keep a positive attitude about the test. If the teacher has a good attitude then the students will too.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

Getting middle school students to read can sometimes be a chore. I have found that if students find an author that they like, they will read everything by the author and enjoy it. Many times students get excited about reading and cannot wait until the author publishes another book.

After teaching middle school for several years, I have found the following authors to be favorites of my students:

• Meg Cabot: Princess Diaries series (Volumes 1-9) [Harper Teen, June 2001-Decemeber 2007]
• Eoin Colfer: Artemis Fowl series (Books 1-5) [Miramax, May 2002-September 2006]
• Margaret Peterson Haddix: Shadow Children series (Boxed Set, Books 1-3) [Aladdin, September 2004]
• Anthony Horowitz: Alex Rider series (Boxed Set, Books 1-5) [Scholastic, 2007]
• D. J. MacHale: Pendragon series (Series 1-4) [Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, September 2002-September 2003]
• J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter series (Boxed Set, Books 1-7) [Arthur A. Levine Books, October 2007]
• Lemony Snicket: Series of Unfortunate Events series (Boxed Set , Books 1-13) [Harper Collins, October 2006]

There are many other great writers with books in a series, but every year students reach for these books. If a student stands in the library looking too long, I can usually suggest one of these books to the student. Generally, the student takes it and reads it.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

As a parent of a teen driver who has had a few accidents, I can actually say that I am surviving. As 38 Special deftly put it, I “hold on loosely but don’t let go.”

If you live far from school activities, it is almost imperative that your teen drives, especially, if the teen is involved in extra curricular activities.

Once the teen is driving, the cell phone becomes an invaluable tool for parents. A parent can call and find out where the teen is and when the teen will be home. The problem is that teens want to talk on it while they drive. Teens are increasingly becoming distracted not only by talking on the phone and driving but by texting while they drive as well.

So, what is a parent to do?

I believe in turning off the texting option on a phone. The cell phone company can do this for you.

Also, I believe that teens should not be talking on the phone while driving. This is a hard rule to enforce. The best way to check up on a teen is to look at the cell phone bill. Most companies give phone numbers and times that calls were made.

In conclusion, I believe that teens need to focus on one thing when they drive – driving. So, hold on loosely and don’t let go of your teen as they walk out of the door with the keys. Know where they are going, who they are with and how they are using those cell phones.

Posted by Kellie Hayden

As a teacher, I worry about my students becoming overly stressed about taking the high stakes tests. Middle school and high school students have achievement tests to take. High school juniors and seniors must worry about college entrance exams. Teachers are under extreme pressure for their students to pass the tests. In most cases, their jobs depend on their students doing well on the tests.

So, how do students and teachers cope with the stress?

• As a teacher, I do my best to prepare my students for the test. I hate drill and kill activities and try to do more creative ones that deal with the test indicators and standards.
• My school uses computer generated practices as well. It gives the students immediate feedback on how they are doing on test questions.
• At the middle school, our staff even created games with achievement type questions on them. We rotate students through the different subject areas. Teams compete against each other. It is quite fun.
• The parent organization at my school donates breakfast foods and snacks for the test days to calm nerves and to give the students a full stomach to begin the test.

These are just a few ideas to help prepare students for the big test. The key is to have a positive attitude with the students about the tests. If the kids see value in them, generally they will try their best.