Get Them Reading: Weekend Challenge

Last Friday when 13 of my 22 students in third-period Eng 9 signed on for my Weekend Reading Challenge, I tweeted my delight:

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I have been asked to explain what my Weekend Challenge is, and I'm happy to oblige. Independent reading is not graded in my classroom, but I honor 10 inviolable minutes of SILENT reading at the beginning of every class. We set the timer, sink into our books, and read. It is by reading daily that kids keep their momentum, keep their plots moving, and--often--keep their interest high enough to motivate reading outside of class as well. (But I'll save all that for another blog--)

The Weekend Challenge started spontaneously when I noticed kids with 30 or 40  pages left in their books and asked them if they thought they could finish over the weekend. That's it. Kids love a personal challenge, and I've only rarely had a student reject my challenge. My prizes for finishing the book vary, usually pushing the limits of the Healthy Kids Act. 

But last week when I began asking kids if they could finish over the weekend, hands kept popping up. Before I knew it I had ten volunteers, some with hundreds of pages to read! I told them I'd never had that many before, and announced that if ALL TEN met their challenge, we'd have breakfast pizza. At that point three more kids jumped up to join the team. (Funny that by joining they actually lowered the chances that all would finish...but the idea of being part of a group earning the class a treat outweighed their mathematical reasoning.)

We then set up a group text and email contacts to use for reminders and motivation. I also emailed the parents and told them that their children had accepted a weekend reading challenge and would need a reminder and a quiet place to read.

All 13 (plus I) finished books by Sunday night. I'm always looking for ways to high-five my kids for reading. I'd love to hear ideas from the rest of you!

Favorite Classroom Management Strategies

On the first day of school, I like to rattle off the various jobs I've held over the years: pizza maker, ice-cream truck driver, factory worker, grocery clerk, security guard, writer, janitor...

I then invite kids to guess which of the jobs I listed is NOT TRUE. The answer? Security guard. 

This little game gives me the chance to share some of my history and leads into an important feature of my classroom: I am not a security guard. I am not a police officer. I am not the gendarme, nor the constabulary. And do I want to be. In truth, I would be a terrible police officer. I am not good at making and enforcing rules. Rather, I am a teacher. My energy goes to finding ways to help kids learn. With this understanding established, I explain my methods for keeping order in our room:

I will plan highly engaging lessons that they'll want to take part in. Each day will include opportunities for movement and discussion. (These are marked with a * on the whilteboard, as reminders to all of us that activity is planned.) 

That is my discipline strategy: keep them engaged, thinking, wanting to be a part of the learning. On days when my kids are off task, I can invariably trace their derailment to my own failure in planning. That isn't to say I blame myself for kids' misbehavior. But if I have an off day of teaching, my #1 method of getting back on top of my game is to plan the heck out of the next day's lesson. And because I live by this, I have very few discipline issues. Still, I have a few. Here is how I address them:

1) The sleepy kid - Offer her a lemon drop. 

2) The kid who is only pretending to read his book - Give him a choice: "Would you like to change books, or power through the next 10 pages?" I also ask the kid to rate the book on a scale of 1-5. If he doesn't give it a 4 or 5, I suggest a new book. There are too many great books out there to waste your time on a 3.

3) The kid who is distracting others from learning - "Would you like a drink of water?" This question, whispered softly to a student is my code for "Please get up, go out in the hall, get a drink, and get a grip." I explain on the first day that it is never my intent to embarrass them, but there might be times when I need them to step out of the classroom, get their act together, and re-think why I might have asked them to leave for a minute. I explain that "get a drink of water" does not mean wander the halls. It means go get a drink, then either come back in with their behavior/attitude under control, or--if they prefer--wait outside the door and I'll come out and talk to them soon.

I am not Pollyanna. My classroom is not perfect and my students at times need reminders to shape up. I know my style would not work for everyone--but the fear-of-god method doesn't work for me. A well-planned lesson, a well-stocked lemon-drop jar, and a nearby drinking fountain are my tools of the trade.

  

Fill 'er Up - Favorite Filler Activities - #ReflectiveTeacher Challenge

Week 1, #ReflectiveTeacher Challenge Your favorite filler activity

While some teachers say "Class dismissed," I shriek "Oh no!" The hour races by too quickly for me. But on the rare occasion I have tied up loose ends before the bell, I have a few quick tricks up my sleeve.

1) Line them up at the door. I do this by grabbing my old deck of "Blurt" cards and reading a definition to two students. The one who shouts out the word defined first, wins and gets to line up. I then move on to two more. The definitions are simple: appliance used for baking = oven; water from the eye = tears. Fun + wordy + easy = win.

2) Recite a poem! I know dozens of various lengths. Breaking into poetry is a way to remind students that poetry is a gift.

3) Play "Would you rather?" Would you rather read a story by Edgar Allan Poe or a poem by Emily Dickinson? Would you rather learn the meanings or the spellings of ten words? Would you rather find an allusion or onomatopoeia in a poem? Would you rather use pathos or logos to prove your point? This game can be used to reinforce learning.