What We Really Mean When We Talk About Gamification in Education

For every article I read pointing to gamification as a key part of the future of education, there seems to always be a counterpoint about it being some kind of fad. It is admittedly a buzzword, and it will likely fade out of our vocabulary at some point (as all buzzwords eventually do). What it really means will remain a critical part of successful classrooms.

Gamification is not about making everything into a game, engaging players through fun and competition. At it's heart, when we're talking about gamification, we're really talking about positive feedback and reinforcement. Badges, levels, progress meters--these are all simply ways to say you are on the right track. Keep going. You're almost there.

Done right, there's usually no need for material rewards, just the external psychological motivation we all need sometimes. Finding ways to encourage your students to succeed is at the heart of good teaching.  Gold stars, a "Student of the Week" board, positive phone calls home, showing up at a student's athletic or academic competition... these are the most effective badges we can award our students.

Whether or not you explicitly try to gamify your classroom, the game is being played there every day. It's up to you to find out how to help your students win. 

Weekend Reader on Using Music in the Classroom

How Music Can Become A Bigger Part Of Your Classroom [Edudemic via Twitter]

Spitting Rhymes and Firing Synapses: Freestyle Rap Battles Could Boost Student Creativity [GOOD]

Swapping C.R.E.A.M. for STEM: Wu-Tang's GZA Helps Kids Learn Science With Hip Hop [GOOD]
Jake Scott on YouTube [via The Educated Reporter] - This high school math teacher has been combining rapping with instruction.

VIDEO: Why Music Moves Us [Explore] - A little more on the science behind the power of music.

Using music in the classroom also happens to be one of the lessons in my book Teaching is Not a Four Letter Word. You might like it.

Finally, here's the now infamous Domain & Range Song that I adapted a few years ago:

5 Awesome Articles to Share With Your Students

How I used to share awesome articles with my students.

10 Amazing Jobs You Could Land With the Right STEM Education [Mashable!] - Discuss this one in class and watch their eyes light up!

MIT’s Free Creative Learning Class Teaches You How to Learn Almost Anything [Lifehacker] - Discuss question: What would you want to learn, if you could do it for free?

What if students designed their own schools? [GOOD] - Ask your students what their school might look like. You can use the short video as the kickoff for your discussion.

Mark Hyman, MD: Why Cooking Can Save Your Life [Huffington Post] - Home Economics isn't too easy to find these days, but that doesn't mean the skills are unneeded for your student's long term health.

How to Self-Publish Your Very Own Children's Book [Wired:GeekDad] - In the digital age, anyone can do this. I would suggest to use Lulu.com for the self-publishing, since they have done right by me with my two books, but otherwise, there's nothing stopping your students from being able to do this. You could do this as a very low tech in class project, but if you have access to tablets or similar tech, why not create the physical product? Your students would be much more invested if they were creating something not only tangible but that could actually make them some money.

What Will It Take For "Zero Tolerance" Policies To End?

It's not too surprising that as a nation, we're all out of outrage for stories like Boy Suspended From School For Making “Gun” Out Of A Pop-Tart and Florida high school hero gets suspended AFTER preventing school bus shooting.  It seems that in recent years, stories like this have become as much of a media cliche as "local boy makes good."  They still illicit some sort of reaction, but it's not sustained or strong enough for us to make a serious change to the now standard "zero tolerance" policies in school districts across the country.

An artifact from my earliest teaching experience

"Zero tolerance" sounds great when the most common school story seems to be about mass shootings.  Of course, that's why we have these policies to begin with.  The reality is that "zero tolerance" runs counter to anti-bullying efforts as well as common sense that every good teacher uses within their classroom.

Bullying is nothing new.  I was bullied in middle school (this was years before Columbine), and when I stood up for myself and it inevitably led to a "fight", we were both punished equally.  This was wrong then, and it's wrong now--if a student is bullied and stands up for themselves, or someone defends themselves after someone else starts a fight, it should not result in both students being suspended or otherwise punished.  Obviously, a student intervening to prevent a Columbine-like tragedy should be honored, not punished.

In short, "zero tolerance" discourages anyone from intervening and preventing bullying or other violence--including bystanders--because the consequences are doled out so thoughtlessly. 

This brings us to the second problem: great teachers follow the main theme of Teaching with Love & Logic, the best book ever written about teaching. Great teachers know that the ladder of consequences or any other rigid system simply doesn't work. Every incident should be considered on a case-by-case basis, like it is in exemplary classrooms.  This idea hasn't spread to the school or district level, like many common sense ideas that come from the classroom, but that's because it's easier to follow mindless, blanket policies.

The solution to this problem is very simple: districts and ultimately principals consider each case on it's merits and hand out appropriate consequences accordingly. This would end the practice that led to the Florida teen and any kid that makes a mere gesture of a gun getting suspended.  Keeping "zero tolerance" in place not only fails to protect innocent kids, but also adds to the list of reasons why students are so increasingly disengaged with the entire school system.

Our students deserve a system grounded in reality, like the rest of the world around them.

New Ideas for Basketball Review Games in the Classroom

Recently, a reader emailed me to ask about one of the first lesson ideas I ever shared on the blog:

I am hoping you won’t mind sharing some info with me.  I love the basketball hoop in your blog picture.  I’m going with a “slam dunk seventh” theme this year and would love to get one for my classroom.  I’ve seen a lot of little tykes and fisher price versions on craig’s list, but those look weak for seventh graders.  Who makes yours?

Best,
Melissa

The hoop in question, which is the basis for Idea #9 from my book Ten Cheap Lessons, is this Monster Basketball Set.

Unfortunately, it seems to no longer be available for $20 as it was back in 2007.  I think that's alright, however, because what I learned after trying to reuse it a couple of times is that it tends to spring leaks that are nearly impossible to find and patch.  The best part about it was that it is huge, colorful and bouncy, which strangely enough why it works with older students (even high schoolers).  It is way over the top visually, and kids immediately think it will be easy to shoot baskets (it's not).  I haven't found a suitable replacement yet, but I also hadn't been actively looking for one.

Now that I'm returning to the classroom full-time after a couple years away, I want to find something similar but better.  $100 for something that can only be used once or twice is not worth it, no matter how ideal it looks in the photo.

After some online searching, I like this humungous Super Hoop, but it's too big for inside the classroom--we'd have to take class outside, which is okay.  It is also a bit pricey (just under $200), but if it can hold up for multiple uses, it might be worth it.  A cheaper alternative would be to get this inflatable hoop designed for swimming pools and put it on top of a desk or table, but it's not quite the same.

As I've reflected on this idea over the past few weeks, I wonder if I should adapt technology for the same purpose: why not use a Wii or Kinect-based basketball game, projected on the big screen?  There's a 3-point shooting contest inside Wii Sports Resort, along with bowling, archery, watersports and more.  That one game could provide just enough variety to allow you to revisit the same basic team-based review again and again (see the original Basketball Review Game post for a primer) without losing the novelty.

Have you seen any basketball hoops or other types of games that you could use for review inside the classroom (the cheaper and easier to set up the better)?  Know of any Wii or Kinect titles that would serve the same purpose using engaging technology?  Share your resources, ideas and questions in the comments.

A Micro-reminder About Using Microcredit in the Classroom

A couple of weeks ago, I got an email update from Kiva letting me know that I had enough money in my account to reloan it ($25).  I chose to contribute to a young man named Robert who's trying to make his own way in Uganda.  For about $75, I've helped fund 9 projects in 8 different countries over the last 2 years.  It never ceases to amaze me how far a dollar can go in developing countries.

To follow up on my 2009 article 3 Ways to Use Microcredit to Invest Your Students, I'm bringing this topic up again as a possible end-of-year project for your classroom.  The last month or two of school is difficult to trudge through, and this kind of outside-the-box project can grab your students' attention and provides an opportunity to connect to the real world in a tangible way.

It can work in just about any subject or grade level: In a social studies course, your students could analyze the economy of the host country.  In ELA, you could use the description of the person or group you're loaning to as a springboard to creative writing about their life.  In math, start with finding the conversion rates for money and take off from their.  In short, use it as you would any thematic unit.

Plus, updates from the project might not come until after the school year has ended, giving your students an excuse to visit you next year!

Kiva also just announced a "Green Loans" program, so if your kids are interested in environmental projects (and so many are these days), it's just another reason to try it out.

Have you experimented with Kiva in your classroom or with your kids at home?  Share your experiences in the comments.

Have Your Students Make New Year's Resolutions, Too

Whenever I started the spring semester, the first "Do Now" prompt I gave my students was to set New Year's resolutions for my class and for outside of class:

My New Year's resolution for this class is...


My New Year's resolution for outside of this class is..

After giving them a chance to think and write, discuss their resolutions as a whole group.  You might want to talk about why people make New Year's resolutions, perhaps giving them a bit of history to explain the tradition.  Let your students define "outside of this class" however they like.

Also, you must, must, must share your resolutions, and as always I'd advise you to be frank and honest about what didn't go well in the fall that you want to fix.  Your "outside" resolution is a chance to let your kids get to know you a little better as well.
 
This is essentially a chance for reflection on the fall semester and a goal-setting exercise for the rest of the year, which is a cycle that you should be following when it seems like your students aren't buying in to what you're doing.  It's also an example of taking advantage of things going on in the real world to create a context that engages and invests your kids.

One thing I didn't do that I would recommend is to have your students write these on a notecard or something else you can easily collect and save.  Then you can share them with your students at the end of the school year to see if they followed through (because as you know, everyone sticks to their resolutions).

Just remember, this is a time-sensitive activity.  If your new semester has already started, use it tomorrow or Monday.  If you start next week, you only have that first week to do it before it will lose it's relevance.

What to Do When You Take Over a Class Mid-Year

Just before winter break, a friend of mine revealed that she was unexpectedly switching assignments at school, taking over for a teacher who was leaving mid-year. Worse yet, the switch happened one week before the break began, meaning there would be little time to plan the crucial first days with her new class. It was not the ideal situation.

In Boston, I faced this situation myself. Heading into the school year, I was all set to teach Algebra I. The day before school started, my principal emailed me to explain that I would also have to teach a section of Algebra II. A few months later, I took on an additional Algebra II class that had been moved over from a colleague in order to even out class sizes, resulting in students shifts that fundamentally changed the culture of all classes. In essence, I had to take over new classes twice in the same year, so I had quite a bit of unsolicited advice to offer.

If you're in this situation, I'll tell you the same thing I told my friend: first, DON'T PANIC. Secondly, your first day with your new classes should be treated like the first day of school.  This means that your primary goals are:

• Get to know your students
• Start to build strong relationships with them
• Let them get to know you better
• Invest them in ambitious goals

The course content, while important, is secondary to building the foundation needed for a successful classroom. You can and should try to pick up where your departed colleague left off, but in a way that allows you address the goals above.

For example, one suggestion I made to my friend for the first week was to give students assignments that they could work on independently or collaboratively for the most part (addressing the necessary content), and pull students asides individually for a few minutes each. In these short conversations, you could get their perspective and feedback on the transition, ask what you as the teacher can do to help make this student successful the rest of the year, and tell them the particular way they can contribute to the class going forward.

To facilitate the transition and these kinds of conversations (whether you have them individually, in small groups or as a whole group), start by giving the students simple, open-ended surveys (see below).  Use them to inform what you discuss and how you discuss it.

Besides your philosophical approach, you should think about your new classroom aesthetically. The classroom needs to look different to help put your students in this "let's start over" mindset. Everything from the desk and furniture layout to what's on the walls should reflect this. (Side note: an aesthetic change in the classroom like this helps when you're turning around your own classroom mid-year.)

To help you with your transition, I've collected my most relevant resources to draw from:

• New Spring Semester Student Survey
• Mid-Year Student Surveys
• Five Questions You Should Ask Every Students
• Questions to Ask Yourself to Be Ready for the First Day of School

If you're frustrated and stressed out about this, I wanted to also give you an idea of the kinds of struggles I've had even after years in the classroom.  Perhaps it can give you a little perspective:

• The Day I Realized I Lost My Students' Respect (Or Never Had It In The First Place)
• Special Series: "On Failure" & "On Success"

I'm happy to help people who have specific questions or need other kinds of resources.  Just ask.  If you have your own advice (or opinions about mine), please share them in the comments.

Your #Snowpocalypse Reader: Video Games & Education

If you're on the East Coast or just about any U.S. region besides my beloved Rio Grande Valley, you're likely snowed in due to Snowpocalypse 2010.  What better time to catch up with new ideas and resources for video games in education?

Video Games Boost Brain Power, Multitasking Skills

Learning by Playing: Video Games in the Classroom [NY Times via edReformer & This Week in Education] - A deep look into how video games help kids learn, framed around a profile of the innovative NYC school Quest to Learn.

Project-Based Learning, Yes PLIESE [Wired: GeekDad] - In this project-based learning example, a child is deeply invested in designing everything from the storyline to the artwork and level design for their own video game (in this case, a new Mario game).  Even without using the technology directly, the structure can provide a context that kids can understand and want to throw themselves into.

When the White House announced an ambitious STEM Video Game challenge in September, I was excited as it seems my dream of educators and game developers working together to create immersive, engaging educational games is close to fruition (see No Need to Reinvent the Wheel to Revolutionize Educational Video Games, my guest post on Educational Games Research).

Physics Gaming [via EdReformer] - Tons of games using that use classic physics problem archetypes like bridge building and predicting an item's flight path in fun ways.  All free, courtesy of the math games gurus at Manga High.

Get a Youth Volunteer the Recognition They Deserve

Do you know a middle or high school student who's already an amazing, dedicated volunteer? If so, Prudential is offering a great chance to recognize them:

The Spirit of Community Awards has been honoring tens of thousands of middle and high school students for their volunteer work over the past 15 years. And now is the chance to get your students involved! On behalf of the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, I invite you to encourage a young person in your life to apply today!

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards is the largest youth recognition program in the country based exclusively on volunteer community service. And what better way to recognize our young heroes and inspire others to follow their lead than honoring them with these prestigious awards? If your students are from grades 5-12 and have demonstrated outstanding volunteerism over the past year, then encourage them to complete an online application at http://spirit.prudential.com. State and national honorees will receive a cash prize, a trip to Washington, D.C., and an engraved medallion to thank them for the great work they have done.

To find out more, please view this special PSA video: www.westglen.com/online/18379A.wmv

Please spread the word to your neighbors, colleagues, friends and family!

The Importance of Selling Your Students on Your Big Goals

The last couple of years I've had the opportunity to help out new high school math Teach for America Corps Members get ready for their first day of school in the Rio Grande Valley. TFA asks their teachers to make qualitative (problem solving skills, college readiness, etc) as well as quantitative (test scores, grades, etc) yearly goals well before school starts, which is a good idea for everyone to do.  Last year, a new teacher who had put a lot of work into her ambitious course goals asked me, “How do I invest my students in these goals?”

First, I assured her that preparation goes a long way towards setting the stage for student investment. Genuine enthusiasm for your subject and the big goals you set, the professional and confident way you carry yourself in the classroom, and the welcoming environment you create for your students send a clear message to your students without saying a word:

"I am here to help you learn. I care about your success. I will do what it takes to help you succeed. These goals carry importance for you far outside my classroom."

A lot of this preparation will show itself on the first few days of school, when most students will make up their minds about whether they're going to buy in your goals. I told her that the environment you create sends a message, but that you have to be as explicit as possible in stating what your goals are and why they are important. The “why” part is maybe more important than the goal itself—if you don't know the answer to the “why” question, it probably shouldn't be one of your goals. I guarantee you that your students will ask you “why” as well, whether it be in the form of, “Why do we need to learn this,” or “when are we ever going to use [lesson objective] in the real world?”

Let's say one goal is for students to be able to know how to solve problems on their own, something this teacher and I had discussed. Solving challenging problems is not a course-specfic skill by any means, so you can tell your students that the skills you learn in math class are going to help them in every class they take. You should also connect this kind of skill to being prepared for college, and for being an independent adult in the real world. The message, as I said before, will be clear: This is going to help you for the rest of your life.

Of course, just conveying these messages on the first day of school will not be enough to fully invest any given student. You have to revisit your goals throughout the year. It will frame your design of a Do Now that accesses prior knowledge; it will be something you clearly state when kids get that “what is the point of this” look during a lesson. You'll design lessons and projects with these goals either implied or in plain sight.

There's also a reason why your goals should be not just about scores but skills: your multifaceted goals will allow you to tailor your message to particular students. The kid who has never passed a state test will like the idea that you will get them to pass and won't give up on them. The kid who's already decided they're going to college will be excited by the idea that you're teaching them real skills they need, not just teaching them a test they're already going to pass. And a whole lot of kids will buy in to the idea that you really care about them.

Good luck and keep planning--it will pay off over the long term!

Five Questions You Should Ask Every Student

One of the easiest and most powerful ways to build relationships with your students is to ask questions. The mere act of asking tells your students you care, and what you do with the information you gather will largely determine how effective you can be with those particular kids. Many times knowing what to ask just involves taking their lead, such as asking about an interest or achievement they express in class. Sometimes, though, you need to jump start the conversation.

I’ve found that there are a few seemingly straightforward questions that can open up deep, powerful conversations with students. You may need to adjust them slightly to fit the grade level you teach, but these five questions will prove essential for all students.

1. What do you want to do after high school? In other words, what are your goals for the future? This opens up avenues to discuss college, supporting yourself, living in the real world, and what they need to do now to reach their goals later.
2. What do you want to be when you grow up? This is not the same question as the first one, largely because students don’t always see the connection. You can help them make it. You can also encourage them during your regular class activities when something related to their desired career pops up. Even if they end up changing their minds several times over (as we all do well into adulthood), it’s another way to show you care.
3. How can I help you do better in class? This core question takes different forms depending on when you ask it. At the beginning of the year, you might ask for the one thing you need to do to help them do well. By the end of the year, you should be wondering what you could have done better.
4. What do you think about school? Learning a student’s opinion about school helps shape your approach to helping them achieve.
5. Do you think you’re smart? You’ll be surprised how many bright, talented young people say, “No.”

In truth, this list could include fifty questions, but these five are key to opening up the hearts and minds of your students.

Veteran teachers, share your ideas and questions to ask every student in the comments.

All About My New Book: Teaching is Not a Four Letter Word

It took over a year of work and innumerable delays, but my new book is finally here. Teaching is Not a Four Letter Word: How to Stop Worrying and Love the Job is about overcoming the challenges that lead to abysmal teacher retention rates across the country.

The book is based around a single question: “What is the most important advice I can give to other teachers?” None of my answers are revolutionary, but rather straightforward ideas that teachers often take for granted (myself included). You’ll find a lot of common threads throughout the short lessons in the book:

• Creating a positive classroom environment
• Building strong relationships with students
• Working constantly to learn, grow and improve
• Finding an elusive work-life balance
• Trying to influence change in and out of your classroom
• Dealing with and avoiding problems with colleagues, school leaders, and your district

These are really the keys to surviving and thriving.  I don’t really focus on classroom management or lesson delivery too much; there are plenty of other books I would recommend for those topics. This book is about keeping you happy, sane, healthy and in the classroom or any position where you can deeply, positively impact students.

We’re on the cusp of the back to school season, and Teaching is Not a Four Letter Word is something you should consider giving to anyone you know who’s headed back in to the classroom—new and veteran teachers alike. It would certainly spark a lively debate and/or discussion in your teacher book club or PLN. No matter how you plan to use it, it’s a quick, easy read that you can literally carry with you (it’s pocket-sized).

Right now, the book is available exclusively through Lulu.com, but it will soon be available on Amazon and elsewhere. You can also download a PDF version and save some trees. Either way, I appreciate your support.

Thank you for reading, subscribing to and supporting this blog over the past 2.9 years (we’re about a month away from our third anniversary). Without you, there would have been no Ten Cheap Lessons, let alone this new book. I hope I can continue to pay you back for all the support you’ve given me over the years.

Teaching is Not a Four Letter Word: How to Stop Worrying and Love the Job by Tom DeRosa (paperback / download)

March Madness Probability Activity & More

I've been glad to see an upswing in the number of different March Madness math lessons being shared online recently (see below for links).  Each one seems to be focusing on different parts of the tournament or looking at it through a different lens.  Designing an interesting probability activity based around the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament has been a goal for years, so I'm excited to unveil this first version.

The main focus of this activity uses the success of teams by seed (since 1979).  First, students find the probability of a given seed winning the tournament both as a fraction and percent.  Then, they use those numbers to answer a number of questions.  There's an opportunity to talk about the difference between experimental and theoretical probability, as well as compound probability (see the challenge question).

I would follow up this activity by having students fill out a bracket using the statistics they've learned or whatever method they choose.  Personally, I enjoy picking the winners based on which mascot would win a no-holds-barred steel cage match.  After each round, you can have students update their brackets, recalculate their probability of winning, and compare theoretical with experimental probability again based on the results.  After the tournament is over, have students tally points for the correctness of their bracket (1 point for each opening round game, 2 for the second round, and so on, with 6 points for predicting the correct champion).

This is the kind of obvious real life math connection that almost any student can understand and get excited about, so we should do what we can to work it into our curricula.

March Madness Probability Activity
NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament bracket [via ESPN]

Here are some other lessons, activities and ideas based on the big tournament from around the web:

1. Figure the Winner - Focuses on percentage, measures of central tendency
2. Elements of Binary in the NCAA Basketball Tournament - Focuses on binary trees, logarithms, laws of exponents, geometric series and sequences, and probability (among other advanced topics)
3. March Madness web quest - Designed for middle school math students.
4. Interdisciplinary March Madness project - For grades 4-6
5. Scoring March Madness - How to score brackets after the tournament.
6. Adding Academics to the Big Dance - The Quick and the ED discusses graduation rates of the teams in this year's tourney.

Turn a Super Bowl Office Pool into a Classroom Project

This past Sunday, I watched the Super Bowl with a group of friends who weren't football fans by any stretch of the imagination.  Yet they were watching the game (and the commercials) intently because they desperately wanted to win our Super Bowl pool.  Shortly before kickoff, we predicted everything from the final score to how many times Kim Kardashian would be shown during the game.

I've been to Super Bowl parties in the past where it seemed like I was the only person who actually wanted to watch the game, while the others were interested in just the commercials (or just the company).  I realized that even though I was totally into the game itself, my friends who weren't into football needed the pool to get invested in the game.

You might argue that their investment wasn't authentic, that they weren't really invested in the game because they weren't invested in football in general.  Yet don't we deal with these same issues in the classroom every day?  Our students rarely care as much about our subject matter as we do, so we have to appeal to their intrinsic motivation or create an extrinsic one with a constantly evolving array of strategies.

So here's a crazy idea: let's create a "Classroom Pool" modeled on these Super Bowl office pools to motivate and invest students at a much higher level.  Let's have students make predictions on all the happenings in your classroom over the course of, let's say, a week.  I think that would get quite a few students to pay close attention for the duration of the project, and likely beyond. 

Here's a list of potential question stems you could use:

1. The first assignment we'll get this week will be...  A. worksheet  B. project  C.  reading & writing  D. interpretive dance  E. other
2. How many total [tests / quizzes / projects / assignments ] will we get this week?
3. How many times will [teacher name] say [funny or quirky thing you say all the time] this week?
4. How many times will [teacher name] do [funny or quirky thing you do all the time] this week?
5. The first day we'll [see / hear the items from #3 and #4] will be...
6. The first student to ask ["What are we doing today?" or other irritating phrase] will be ...
7. The first day we'll hear [the phrase from #4] will be...
8. My grade on this week's quiz will be ___ (letter grade).  BONUS: closest number grade (without going over)
9. How many times will [kid who does funny thing] do [that funny thing] this week?
10. Total number of class interruptions (announcements, calls from office, people coming into the room, emergency situation, etc) this week: ____
11. How many snow days will we have this week?
12. My class participation percentage for the week: ____  Class average: ____
13. My homework completion percentage for the week: ____   Class average: ____

You could craft any or all of these questions to lead towards a desired outcome.  Instead of leaving many of these open ended, you could make them multiple choice, and have all of the choices be things you would be happy with.  For example:

How many times will [teacher name] have to stop the lesson for disruptions? 
A. Zero
B. Once
C. Twice

You could do the same with #12 and #13 above, making the options something like 80%, 90% and 100%, which will certainly motivate some students.  There's an infinite number of ways to adjust it to fit your needs.

As for prizes, I think the competition of the game will provide all the extrinsic motivation needed.  The winner(s) will probably be happy with something intangible like having their name up on a bulletin board so they can brag on their mad skills.  This way, it's ultimately about you doing whatever you can to get your students invested, and they will try harder merely because you are trying so hard.

I'm not proposing this as a long term solution to your problems, but one more thing to put in your toolbox.  I hope that you will look for inspiration in unlikely places in order to come up with new and better strategies to get your kids to the ambitious goals you've set for them.

Have ideas for additional questions or ways to extend and adapt this?  Share them in the comments or link to this in your own blog post.

Reclaiming the Lost Moments of Your Teaching Career

I frequently ask my students for feedback, both formally and informally.  Arguably the most important feedback I get is from mid-year and end of year surveys that ask a lot of probing questions.  Normally I look at the results just after the school year is over, but last year was different.  I had a traumatic year, both personally and professionally, that shook me to my core.  I questioned my ability and desire to continue subjecting myself to the internal and external pressure that had overtaken me.

Needless to say, I wanted to distance myself from the events of the past year as much as possible.  Last year's end of year surveys were filed away quickly, and although I did look at them, I completely blocked it from my mind until I found them this week.

I've always preached that you should find the good in everything, whether it be a useless professional development workshop or that one class that drives you crazy.  I've spent a good deal of the time since last June thinking about everything except last year, failing to confront the issues and emotions that basically crushed my soul.  I neglected to follow my own advice, and in doing so, I threw out the good with the bad.

Today I was finally ready to go back and look at what my students had to say at the end of the year, both good and bad.  As I consider my options for the upcoming school year, I needed to confront these issues before I could move forward as a teacher.  Below you will find some very interesting responses that I wanted to share.

If you found out that your friend/family member was going to be in Mr. D's class next year, what would you tell him/her?

"That Mr. DeRosa is an excellent teacher."
"I would say that Mr. D's class is the best class that have PCA honestly is more better than other classes!" [from an ESL student]
"Don't do it to yourself (JK) He is a really good teacher you just have to pay attention."
"That you can actually learn something in his math class, and you probably won't forget it."
"He's a good teacher and speaks Spanish."
"Listen because he can teach you alot and when you need help he is there."
"To be prepared for all the hard work cause its going to be a long ride."
"Well what I would tell them is that I was a pain in the [butt] and every teacher should have one."
"He is always on point and he is very smart.  He is willing to help you with anything."

What did Mr. D do well this year?  What should he keep the same when planning his classes for next year?

"Improve his attitude, kept his class going even when the boys who sit in the back were making it hard on him."
"Everything, if I was a teacher I give him A+... you don't have to change anything"
"He has good teaching skills. He is also a good friend, he jokes around & talks to us.  Explain things in all the ways possible.  He should keep all this the same."
"You did everything good this year but when your mad dont take it out on us. :)"
"He kept me on track telling me to do my work."
"Give us opportunities to make up all our work to get grades up." [ironically, that was from a student who didn't take advantage of most of those opportunities!]
"Controlled his temper :) Cuz he never exploded at me."

What did Mr. D NOT do well this year?  What should he change when planning his classes for next year?

"He wasn't tough enough."
"Did not kick out the boys from the back"
"He lets people get to him and he takes it out on everyone he is a really good teacher but needs to control that."
"...make the class a little bit more exciting and with more discipline."
"...he should learn to try not to take his anger out on us when he's having a bad day."

What is the one thing you will remember most about his class?

"He's a warm hearted person and love his students."
"Getting A's in math (a subject I don't really care for)"
"Mr. DeRosa's teaching and his Domain & Range Song, 'To the left' "
"All his fun activities M&M project, carnival game, dice game."
"Mr. D being the funniest teacher even though he'd be grumpy half the time!"
"When Mr. D brought his guitar and sang."
"Comedy, understanding math"

Anything else you would like to tell me?

"I love you Mr. DeRosa!"
"I wish you the best Mr.  Hope your new place brings you good things.  We'll all gonna miss you.  Keep being the smart good teacher that you've been to us!!"
"Mister, you're the best I wish you would be here next year.  I had fun in this class, especially our arguments & making me laugh.  YOU'RE AWESOME!"
"Thank you for teaching Mr. DeRosa.  I'm going to miss you even if you don't think so.  I know your going to miss me and my attitude too. Thank you!" 

What would your students say to these questions?  Have there been periods of your career that you've all but blocked from your memory?  What would you find if you went back and revisited those times now? 

Tear Down the Ladder of Consequences: How to Become a Master of Classroom Management

This is the latest from my teaching advice video series "Dear Mr. DeRosa". I love the randomly selected still picture (thanks, YouTube!).  It says, "I can chop you right in half!"

Check out or subscribe to my new YouTube channel to see the rest of the series and future videos as well!

Interactive, Educational Webcast from Chevrolet and Weekly Reader

After reading the cover story in this month's Inc. magazine about all of the new businesses growing out of the nascent electric car industry, I'm convinced this is going to be a big part of the future of our country.  So when I received an email related to it I had to pass it on:

Hi! I'm writing to tell you about a cool new program from Chevrolet and Weekly Reader. The companies are partnering with Harvard-Westlake Middle School in Los Angeles to webcast what could end up being one of the world's largest show-and-tells. Teachers and students across the country are being invited to participate remotely via live video webcast as nearly 800 Harvard-Westlake middle school students and teachers learn about the basics of electricity, including why it’s important and how this common energy source can be used to transform the way we drive. With the launch of vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt less than a year away, now is the time for students to learn more about the advanced technologies that are leading us into the future of transportation and what it will mean to them in the future.

The presentation and event will take place next Monday, Nov. 30 from 9:40 to 10:30 a.m. PST. You can find out more information at this link:
http://www.weeklyreader.com/emails/gmvolt/index.html

Teachers and students across the country are registering to attend this webcast, and you're welcome to join, too, if you'd like. Register by Sunday, Nov. 29 at
http://bit.ly/ChevroletVoltSchoolWebcast in order to submit your questions.

If you'd rather just watch the streaming webcast, you can do that at http://WeeklyReader.com or http://ChevroletVoltage.com.

I realize some of you might be skeptical about exposing your students to a corporate-sponsored event like this, and I certainly share your concerns.  Nevertheless, if it's something that will get students excited about science and math and the big possibilities that this technology offers, I think it's worth taking a risk on.

If anyone decides to take advantage of this at school, please let me know how it goes.  I'm going to try to watch it and report on it as well.

Ultimate Number Line Game: Number Sense on a Massive Scale

When I wrote about games and puzzles recently, Mister Teacher left an interesting comment about his frustration over students' lack of number sense. He teaches 3rd graders, but my high school students always had the same problems. One tool I used, even at that level, was the number line.

Number lines are used for a number of topics at the elementary level, but they pop up when least expected in higher grades. They help with counting and measurement for younger students and later become part of measures of central tendency (box-and-whisker plots) and graphing inequalities. By using it, you're modeling something that appears throughout all levels of mathematics but is still criminally underused.

So I was considering this issue and was struck with the idea of creating a giant number line that student could actually walk along. I envisioned all ages of students rushing up and down the line frantically, as I used to do when we played a version of Ship to Shore in PE in elementary school.

This game is designed for 1st grade and up, and is scalable and adaptable for higher levels of difficulty.

Ultimate Number Line Game

Creating the Number Line

You need space to make a huge number line on the floor or ground. Try to secure as large a space as possible (the bigger the better):

1. Classroom: Use brightly colored painter's or electrical tape to mark several parallel number lines on the floor. Create enough hash marks as possible (-10 to 10 at an absolute minimum). Move desks, tables and chairs out of the way (out of the room if possible).
2. Gym: If there's any lines already on the floor, use them as the hash marks of your line, but create the line students will follow as described above.
3. Outdoors [large sidewalk/playground]: Use sidewalk chalk to mark number lines.
4. Outdoors [football field]: Perhaps the best option of all, especially if the field is lined but not numbered, in which case you don't need to do anything except get out there.
   

Parents and homeschoolers: you have a distinct advantage if you try this game--there's no excuse not to use the largest space available.

Game Procedures

1. Students stand at zero to start. If you're in the classroom, use teams and have students rotate out when they're eliminated (see below).
2. Teacher calls out problems with ample pauses between numbers and operators ("8... plus... 3... next: 2... minus ...7!"), allowing students to move accordingly. If someone stops on the wrong result or is the last to get there, they're eliminated. Eliminated students stand off to the side, and are welcome to help with answers and identify cheaters or other problems.
3. Increase the speed and difficulty of problems until the round is done.
4. Start over and encourage improvement, but accelerate the game more quickly. The ultimate goal is that the class will get to the point that everybody is moving to the right spot almost as one!
   

Introducing the Game

Discuss the type of problems you're going to do. Some questions you might ask, depending on the level of questions you'll be working on: "How many of you know how to add? ...subtract? What happens when you subtract a bigger number from a smaller number? What is a negative number?"

Introduce or review the number line. We start at the first number given in any addition or subtraction problem. We move right for addition and left for subtraction (and if you're using negative numbers, that sign reverses your direction). Explain the game procedures outlined above.

Options and Considerations

1. How do you want students to move? Do they make big steps over large intervals, hop (as we draw on paper number lines often), or can they run?
2. Are you going to announce problems separately (which will require more movement) or just add or subtract to the last answer (which might be quicker)?
3. How difficult should the problems get? Will you just add and subtract positive numbers, positive and negative integers, fractions, or decimals? Will you change your intervals to 10 or 100?
4. Who do you need to talk to in order to use one of the spaces outside your classroom? The unique setting and large scale of this game is what will make it more memorable and effective with your students, so you have to do everything to get the most possible space.
   

Why This Will Work

Notice that I didn't suggest students could do this on a paper at their desk; of course they could. Yet that would miss the entire point: this is an engaging, fun, kinesthetic activity. Students will be paying attention, quite literally on their toes, and that's a big deal in and of itself.

More importantly, the number line is an easy to understand model of addition and subtraction, especially for more difficult problems like subtracting larger numbers from smaller ones, and adding and subtracting positive and negative integers.

This game avoids any written component, by you or them. You're helping them develop number sense by solving the problems quickly and mentally, with only a slight aid from the number line. By not even seeing the written problem, let alone being able to work it out on paper, they're forced to use the natural math ability we all have.

To go back to Mister Teacher's example, imagine starting at zero and giving students the problem "0 minus 8". It sounds like in his class, you'd have half of the students go to 8 and the rest to -8. Who's right? Can one of the students explain the answer? It's a great teachable moment that will stay with your students.

Moving around the line doesn't take too long, so you have the opportunity to do a lot of problems, multiple rounds, and reverse and repeat problems that students struggle with.

By the end, you should be able to call out almost any problem and have everybody moving to the right answer simultaneously! In other words, it should get to the point that they don't need the number line by the time you're done.

Homework

If you attempt this in class, please report back with your experience! I'm really excited about the possibility that this simple idea will make a difference for your students.

Have you done anything similar on this topic or others? I'd love to hear about that as well.

Stay tuned for more games for students young and old!

Making Learning "Cool" is Easier Said Than Done

In this month's Wired magazine, Daniel Roth wrote an article entitled "Making Geeks Cool Could Reform Education", in which BetterLesson founder Alex Grodd takes center stage.

A venture capital firm in New York recently hosted an education conference (why is not explained) that started out with discussion of tech innovations, but took on a different tone when Grodd explained why most of their ideas wouldn't work:

"The driving force in the life of a child, starting much earlier than it used to be, is to be cool, to fit in," Grodd told the group. "And pretty universally, it's cool to rebel."
... "The best schools," Grodd told me later, "are able to make learning cool, so the cool kids are the ones who get As. That's an art."

The author goes on to give examples of this idea at work in successful charter schools across the country. Of course, therein lies the problem: nowhere is it discussed how we would even approach such a fundamental change in a traditional public school setting.

It's not that this is an inherently bad ideal to work towards, but the realization of what Grodd and the author proposes is nearly impossible for two reasons: the system isn't set up to accommodate it, and charter schools are not like traditional public schools.

Traditional public schools are too busy trying to meet minimum standards to encourage the level of creativity, academic focus and recognition that would be required. Those of us that have taught honors, gifted & talented, Pre-AP or AP classes know that those students are pretty much left to their own devices; schools assume they'll pass all their standardized testing. We give lip service to challenging them and raising standards, but are content to raise the lowest students to the middle while letting the best drift downward to about the same place.

Thus shifting school culture would first require the complete realignment of our country's educational standards and goals from the White House down to every schoolhouse. That's no easy task, obviously, but even if we were to free our schools from this "race to the bottom," it would still be incredibly difficult to pull off what the charter schools mentioned in the article have accomplished.

Everything they're able to do stems from the freedom to build charter schools have by nature. If they have the culture, curriculum and staff to make this focus work, it's because it's written into their charter, and every incoming student has to buy in or find a different school. I'm not begrudging what charter schools can do; I hope they continue to do it. I'm just pointing out what should be obvious: traditional public schools can't do what charters do.

There is, however, one possible way to make this work: on the micro level, in individual classrooms. Making learning cool is entirely possible in a classroom where a great teacher has built a positive culture. The aura of coolness will likely fade away quickly when your students leave class and head back into the soul-crushing reality of growing up. It sounds hopeless, but the academic focus and recognition they receive from you can make all the difference in their lives in the long term.