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.
