In-service Day

It's In-Service Day here at the ole ranch!  I don't care if you get Ron Clark himself to come in and do the Whip Whip Nae Nae on the desks, I do not like this stuff.  

I show up everyday wanting to believe I'm making a difference for kids.  A day away from kids altogether does not make me feel that way.  Especially when that day away is  over a topic I've had covered, at minimum, 8 times.  

Sometimes, like today, that means I get hours upon hours to catch up on blog posts, Instagram, actual lesson plans, and play on my phone.  And even though I cherish time to work on those things, I'm not meeting my purpose.  

I have had some really good ones in the past.  My favorite one was a Hindi speaker who taught a lesson in Hindi so everyone could see that: a) it sucks listening to a language you don't get all day b) there are simple methods to cuing kids in to what is going on with targeted vocabulary and visual aids  c) most teachers cannot see how hard it is for those kids until they feel it themselves.

Another great one was about how the mind works and how teachers can use that information to get kids more actively engaged.  

The worst in-service was about Tier 3 intervention that made me cry WAY more than 3 tiers of boredom.  

You tell me:  What notable in-service experiences have you had?

Setting a Culture of College as an Expectation

For me, it's important to set goals.  Before starting my Instagram, blog, and YouTube channel, I knew what my end goal was.  I'm not saying I'm meeting it but... I digress.  For us as educators, I feel like the end goal is college.  People who graduate college are statistically likely to make 2x as much as someone who only graduates high school.

That, to me, should make college an emphasis for all students.  Last year, while teaching first grade, I made sure kids knew that was their goal.  We read affirmation statements like, "I'm going to college!" for fluency practice.  

The high school in my school system this year has a pretty great idea going.  Their wall decorations are pennants from local and national universities.  Here's a picture:

Another great idea I've seen is a bulletin board that shows which colleges each teacher went to.  I think it's really important that students know that all of their teachers went to college, and that is why we expect it from them:

Let me know.  What ideas do you have to help students set an expectation for themselves to be a college graduate?  

Parent Teacher Conferences

This past week we had conferences.  I have a love/hate relationship with conferences.  I feel like I relearn everything I thought I knew twice a year.  Parents come in and say things like, "Yeah, last year he had an IEP at his other school."  Or, "Yeah he doesn't talk to us either."  Getting your theories and ideas confirmed or adjusted can be a life saver.  I, for one, wish they could be 3-4 times a year for that reason alone.  

I get why some people don't like conferences.  At some schools, you have to meet with every parent, or call relentlessly until they come in to get sufficient number for funding.  Seeing everyone is a great thought, if it weren't for the fact that some of those parent don't want you to call at all.  Or all three numbers you have for them don't work.  

You also have to stay for an extra 3-4 hours after school.  My school this year is pretty cool in that you go from 10:30-6:30 instead of doing two 12 hour days and then taking a day off.  It's really hard on teachers to go for 12 hours while teaching a full day and have meaningful conversations.

This week I learned:
-One of our students has face blindness (real thing).
-One of our students was getting pull out time last year and no one told us.  
-Only 2/24 parents knew about the grade portal application.  (It was super helpful to be able to explain that).
-At this school, I should keep copies of all the math assignments so I don't have to copy them.  
-I should not translate... ever (That's a long story, that I need booze for).  
-No matter how busy they get, I learn a TON.

Tell me.  What kinds of things to you learn from conferences?  

Teacher's Corner: Sight Word Videos

I made these videos a few years ago, and even though I no longer teacher 1st grade, I am still finding a use for them with my newcomer ESL students.  

Basically I split the 50 kindergarten Dolch words and the 75 first grade words into manageable 7-10 word lists.  I made a video for each list and color coded the cards.  That way, I could send the card sets home together and let kids find which set to work with based on color.  A good amount of my students had a computer that wasn't hooked up to internet, so the color coding also helped when I made CDs based on the audio.  It also explains the annoying bell.    

If you go through my channel, you will find all of the videos.  by sending this home I've seen students go from knowing only 4 words, to knowing over 100 in about 3 months using these videos.  Hope it helps!  Happy teaching.

Bookmentors.org

OMG!  I feel like I've discovered Narnia or something!  Or like I'm the first person to send a tweet.

All teachers love free stuff, especially if it means we can stop forking over our own cash to get the things we need to help our students.  

All free from bookmentors.org (this is not everything, I still get more almost every week)!

Bookmentors.org does that for me.  It's a lot like Donors Choose, but 100% with books.  I discovered Book Mentors (don't tell my boss) during an inservice about something I've been trained in 3-4 times already.  I signed up and started filling out requests.  Within a week I had 2 free hardback copies of Wonder by R.J. Palacio.  I sent an email to the rest of the staff and we set up a simple book drive (took minutes).  Within 3 months we've received 55+ books.  I am able to use these in my classroom library, give them away for home book access, and I've even helped stock our school library.  

You don't get everything at once, but for me, 36 free books over the course of a semester is pretty awesome.  

Some tips:

• When finding books to request, sort by grade level.  I could see all 80 books on hand that worked for me and decide which to request.
• Request in groups of 1-2 books.  I've gotten an order of 10 books before, but that's rare.  90% of my fulfilled requests have been 1-2 books, because it's a manageable chunk for the donor.  
• Put some thought into your school description and book tributes.  The better it is, the more attractive your request is to donors.  
• Share that stuff.  The more people that see Book Mentors working, the more donors there will be.  The more donors there are, the more books I... we will get.  When you get your books, take a picture.  Intagram, tweet or Google+ that stuff all around.

All of my other friends who signed up and joined our drive (three so far) have gotten books.  I hope you find this useful, I really have.  

-Mr. Phillips

Making Audio Book Videos

For the last 4 years, I have been making reading videos for my students.  It started because I needed to read with two kids at once, and this was easier than cloning myself.  I've noticed this really take off on YouTube, compared to where is was when I got started.  It's also a lot easier now with iMovie to take pictures of the book cover or pictures instead of holding the camera and making shaky videos:

Here is one of my newest fluency reads:

It goes with a book we are reading in class.  Hopefully the kids take it home and are able to follow along.  I'm also encouraging them to make a list of words they need help with.  If you have a book you would like me to make a video for, leave it in the comments.  

Teacher's Corner - Sight Words

If you're like me, you don't remember learning to read words like: this, and, it, but, etc.  If I asked you to define them, you might be left searching for an explanation.  You would probably try to use it in an example, like, "I want to go to the bathroom, but there's no toilet paper."

For my ESL students, these can be the most difficult words to teach, since it's hard to define them.  Research shows that words in context work better than drill and kill with flash cards.  Which, is counter intuitive, as most schools use word lists and flash cards to teach sight words, over context in books.  I think a combination of both is the best medicine.  I like to introduce new words in books, but also send the words lists home.  See the sight words link on the right to find my YouTube videos. 

Most school districts or charter systems have their own lists.  Some use Frye or Dolch lists.  As I've moved around a bit, I tend to stick with Dolch.  For me, it's the most consistent list with the most crucial words at the most appropriate ages.  That's why all my videos are from Dolch. 

In addition to the videos, I like to use spellingcity.com.  Their Word Scramble game is almost identical to a game I play with my students using letter tiles or index cards.  

What about you?  How do you teach sight words in your class?