classroom success stories

Tips for Grading Essays to Save Time

Aaaaah. The grading essays burden of the English teacher. It’s a very real struggle for sure. A little while back I did a series on teaching writing, so I’d like to think of this post as an encore to those ideas. (Get started reading that series here at the first post.) Below I’m sharing five practical tips for managing the load.

– Working Those Deadlines:

First is planning time in the writing process to have check points that students submit via Google classroom – or whatever method works for you. Students submit thesis statements, works cited drafts, or even first paragraphs. Then I have a day in class that I “virtual conference” with them. While I’m leaving notes on their drafts, they continue with research typically. They can fix mistakes early and that saves me time later. Plus I’m already familiar with the essay to a certain degree.

Offer extra credit to kids who want to turn in the papers early, and then you can grade them as they trickle in. That helps alleviate the pile of material that comes in all at once.
Last, plan to show a movie or do something hands-off after the due date to carve out a little time in class to grade. I can spend 8-12 mins on a 500-700 word essay, so I have to plan and block that time off to the best of my ability. I usually choose a film of a novel that I won’t have time to cover in class but that I know students would benefit from seeing. Read more about how to make showing movies in class more productive here…. and take a look at my collection of no-prep literary movie guides here.

– Scoring Like a Pro:

I have a carefully crafted rubric that is specific to the task, so it’s easy and quick to mark and when students get their grades back, they can see the areas of strength and weakness. I use a separate rubric for grammar. This might seem like it takes longer, but I score content, Grammar, and MLA separately. For me, it’s actually faster that way, so I can just focus on one thing at a time. Those rubrics are in my complete writing curriculum.

Next, I made a codes sheet to make marking quick and easy for the same mistakes or remarks over and over. Download that sheet free here. But I do elaborate where needed, especially if it’s a weaker writer or earlier in the year.
Last, even though it may not be the “English-teacher” way, I don’t always mark every single error, and if an error is made over and over, I usually just mark it and take off points the first couple of times. That saves time, but also it’s not necessary to “rub it in their face.” In this department, I try to show a little grace. Then in the final note (see what else I say in final notes here), I remark that it’s something to work on for next time.

– Setting Essay Requirements:

If you have any control of the word or page requirements, make that work for you. I set word minimums and maximums. Struggling writers need those minimums to meet the requirement, but my excelling or over-achieving students have trouble with the maximum barrier. I hold students accountable at both ends.

– Giving Yourself a Break:

Be honest with students about how much time it takes to grade an essay, and don’t promise grades back in a short amount of time.
Try to space out your grading during the day or over a few days, so your brain doesn’t get tired. When I try to grade straight through a stack of papers, I really start to lose my focus after a while.
Practice self-care. Really – stay hydrated, and sit in a comfortable position with good lighting. I love to score papers on my front porch early in the morning, or by the big window in my office.

– Go Green:

If it works for you, have students submit papers electronically. Sometimes typing comments can be a lot faster than writing them. You can even use apps to leave audio feedback as well.
I use Google Docs and have students share with me or submit to the classroom. In this format, you can switch to suggesting mode to leave comments along the side of the screen.

Students get instant feedback.
I will still have students turn in the hard copy of their rubrics for me to use as a I grade, but you could also use a virtual rubric as well.

Just remember, that not everything works for everyone, but the most important thing at the end of the day is the fact that students do need more than just a number or letter on their essays. That’s certainly part of the package, but in order for student writers to become stronger, they need solid feedback from the pro – that’s you! In that process, though, we can’t overwork ourselves because it takes more time and effort to go that extra mile. This essay-grading burden is unique to the high school English teacher (and that is not to say that no other teacher has stacks of papers to grade). However, most other subjects aren’t assigning 500+ word essays as their unit’s culminating task multiple times a semester. The reality, though, is that teaching students to write well sets them up for a better future, and that is burden worth bearing.

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What My Trip to the Magnolia Silos Taught Me About Teaching

My husband and I visited Waco to tour all things Magnolia back in June. It was an amazing trip — I love going on trips to new places because I can let my brain relax, and I feel so inspired. Magnolia was no exception – inspiration is everywhere. So, I said I can let my brain relax, but what really happens is that it just gets filled up with all kinds of new ideas at every turn because of all the awesomeness around me. Chip and Jo have truly built an empire that personifies their greeting “Welcome Home.” If you read my previous blog post where you toured my classroom, then you know my classroom theme is the journey, but it’s focused on reminding students that home is at the center. It doesn’t get much more perfect than that for inspiration. So, here’s what my trip to Magnolia taught me about teaching – and you’ll see that these are things I can do in my classroom, changes and implementations and thought processes that require nothing from admin or anyone else – just me.

Make my classroom a place where “Everyone has a seat at the table.” The first place we visited on our trip was Magnolia Table, the newly renovated restaurant. We had, of course, watched the episode where they remodeled it, and I remember Joanna discussing how she wanted it to be a place were all people could come together and enjoy great food and great company. The restaurant is beautiful, as expected, and she has a variety of seating arrangements. Above one of the larger community tables is the beautiful metal artwork sign made by Jimmy Don that reads, “Where Everyone Has a Seat at the Table.” It has a huge presence in the restaurant, and it spoke to me immediately. The students who come into my classroom are from all different families, friend groups, backgrounds, experiences, and ability levels. Because we are a very small, rural school, a lot of times we do know each other’s names at least, but when I think about a table symbolically, there’s so much more there with that idea. To me, it reminds me to get to know the students beyond that and see from their point of view, and I want them to do that for each other, too. I want to invite all voices to speak in discussion. This one is especially difficult because students are so shy or uncertain or they think what they have to say isn’t good enough. I work for weeks getting all kids to open up. Sometimes I have to just sit and wait – it’s that important. When I make worksheets, I need to represent as many different types of students as possible. Reading selections should be carefully curated so that all students have an opportunity to see themselves and see others. I want them to know that when they walk into my classroom that they – each student as an individual – has a place.

Take something that seems like it’s nothing and make it great. If you watched Chip and Jo’s show, Fixer Upper, then you know they are in the construction business to buy houses and fix them up to sell. Many of the houses they have chosen to remodel have been forgotten by the masses. Nobody has “the guts to take on a fixer upper,” so these houses with beautiful bones are just rotting to the ground. My husband and I do some work with construction and remodeling, and often times we get into some we want to run from. But, we have to step back and see the potential- it has good bones, they say. This one hits home hard when I think about the students in my classroom. From struggling learners to excelling learners to the well-behaved student to the trouble-maker, there’s always something that can be transformed in them. It’s when I had the struggling learners for so many years that it sometimes became hard to even want to look for the potential. We sometimes want to run in the other direction or complain about what students come into our classroom. Eventually this became my prayer: God, place the students who need me to see them and their potential in my classroom and give me the grace and strength to get the job done. Any kid who comes into our classroom has the ability to grow and be transformed, and we have to be willing to pick up our tools and go to work. I don’t want to run from the challenge, but rather I want to be part of the before and after – the amazing reveal – at the end of the year. I’m honored to have been selected and placed in the role of having a small part in helping to build these students into who they will be someday.

Seek feedback and put it to use. At breakfast, we had a lovely conversation with one of the managers who was a friend of Joanna’s mom. She, of course, asked us about our breakfast (which was amazing. More on that later.) She told us that since they are relatively new to the food industry, they are always learning. Part of that process, she said, is gathering and implementing feedback. At Magnolia, they ask visitors to give feedback via their website, and they have learned everything from how to improve processes to what new items to add to the menu. One of the things I’ve learned over the years is to ask my students their thoughts on lessons, assignments, projects, the novel excerpt, etc. So how does that look? After we finish a lesson, I ask them what else do they need to know or do to have it. After a virtual discussion with them on their thesis checkpoints, I’ll ask them was that enough help. Do they have enough info to go forward? After we finish a project, I’ll ask them was it interesting, helpful, useful, etc. I ask them what works and what doesn’t. Some responses aren’t helpful, but most actually are. I genuinely want and need to know what I can do to help them. Plus, this process helps them to help themselves, too. The process of me asking for feedback teaches them not only how to think critically from outside an assignment, but it also shows them that I genuinely care and value their role in their own learning and in my teaching. It lets the wear the teacher tool belt, of sorts.

Differentiation is a must. I have been having health issues for some time, and at the beginning of the year, I found out that I was going to have to change my diet completely. I am now 100% gluten free, and I also have to stay away from certain foods that aren’t low FODMAP. It has been a process, and in many cases I can’t enjoy what others are eating. So, when I’m traveling I’m always apprehensive about what choices I’ll have. Magnolia is obviously largely about enjoying food, but I had just planned to make the best of it. To my surprise, Magnolia Table has several amazing gluten-free options and so did the bakery! I was thrilled to be able to have the french toast and the avocado toast at breakfast (we ate there twice LOL). This was amazing for two reasons: french toast is my favorite breakfast dish and the avocado toast was one of Jo’s specials. Then we visited the bakery, and while I didn’t get to try the “wow” cupcakes (according to my hubby), I was able to select from three tasty cookies. Even one of the food trucks on the lawn at the Silos had a unique option for me to try. Now, not every dish was available in gluten free; no cupcakes were either; and not every food truck was able to make a gluten-free creation. The fact still remains, though, that some of the most important items had been differentiated. In our classrooms, differentiation is important because some kids have specific needs that must be met differently in order for them to be healthy – educationally speaking. One size certainly does not fit all when it comes to instruction. We have to offer a different creation that they can digest. That is not to say that everything we do needs to be created all anew. If I did that for every class of 28-34 students I had for three sections, I wouldn’t survive even one semester. It is not feasible to make 20 different flavors of this or that or 20 different math worksheets. What we can do is recreate what is necessary, and work to provide extra support and options on other items where time, energy, and personnel allows. Menu boards, task cards, video links, pre-annotated texts, or dictionaries all provide differentiation in ways that make it possible serve all learners without exhausting yourself. In some cases, we may even have to face that not all students will complete all tasks – but what we can ensure is that all students complete the task that allows him or her to grow and feel fulfilled.

Give them an experience. One of my biggest take-aways from my trip to Magnolia was the feeling of the environment. Not only was everything beautifully created and designed (and I loved all the shout-outs to books and literacy), but it smelled good, and it was clean. Most importantly and impressively, though, at every door there was a staff member to open it for us, smile, and say hello and welcome. Welcome. The feeling of being invited and wanted. I want my students to know they are welcome and wanted. Like I said before we are in a very rural area where many students live in transient housing and family lives are unstable, but that could be true in any demographic. Students are in my classroom for just a short time each day, but I want to be there to welcome them and let them know they are wanted. Your room doesn’t have to be beautiful or amazing, but a nice smell along with some sense of cleanliness and order does help the learning experience. It is often over-quoted, but the old saying of “People won’t remember what you say, but they will remember how you make them feel” is so true. Welcome home, students, welcome home.

As school starts soon for me… it’s almost #demoday! In fact, aren’t we all just a bunch of fixer uppers?

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Best of 2017

It’s been my tradition the past few years to reflect on my best teaching moments of the year. I’m so fortunate to get to work with such amazing students, so it’s hard to pick just a few moments that have been amazing! But I have selected five times throughout the year when I have been most proud of my students! Plus you get to see some more snapshots of the resources from my store that I use in my classroom.

The American Dream Project – There are SO many possibilities for teaching Gatsby. When I have time in my schedule, I love to have students complete the “Making Your American Dream Come to Life” project to end our Gatsby unit. The details, instructions, and rubric are all in my Gatsby complete movie guide. I do hope all their dreams come true!

Vacation Bible School Maker Fun Factory – This year my husband, mom, sister, dad, and I had the task of teaching the nightly lesson to our church’s vacation bible schoolers. Our church had chosen the theme of Maker Fun Factory: Created for a Purpose. We knew we wanted to convey the message that each kid was created for a purpose and God is working on them – shaping and molding them to be something great. So… we transformed our classroom, where students could come and hear the lesson every night, into the inside of a machine! I crafted the lesson each night to tell the story of an important bible character who did great things because they were sensitive to God’s call and were willing to fulfill the plan and purpose He had for them. Those people, our precious church members, dressed like the bible characters, entered as a special delivery, and told the story from their point of view. Each night, the students couldn’t wait to enter the Fun Factory, and they were talking about going into the machine forever! See my entire catalog of kids for Christ materials here!

Break Out Escape Box Games – I had been seeing and hearing about break-out games and escape rooms and even people using them in the classroom, but I’d never seen or done one before. I knew it was something I wanted to try, but I have to admit, I was really apprehensive. So, I attended a training, and the facilitator conducted a game with us, and after that, I knew it was something I had to try with my students. This semester, I’ve done several, and my students are crazy for these games! Since I felt there was such a huge learning curve for me to figure out how to conduct one of these games in my classroom, my escape box games are super user-friendly. They include a simple print-and-go pack of clues for students, three ways for you to play the game, and a video tutorial where I explain everything to you! I have several already prepared for you in my store, so if you are ready to unlock some fun, check them out! All my escape games can be found here!

Canterbury Tales Puppet Show – I’ve never done a puppet show before with my secondary students, and certainly not any seniors. But when I was deciding how to teach the Tales in a modern and engaging way, for some reason a puppet show came to mind! I assigned students in my class one of the tales, and they had to read (from the Prologue) about that character. Everyone took notes on his/her travel log during the show! Then using the super cute clip art puppets I made and a puppet show curtain I borrowed from my nieces, voila! We had a puppet show. My students really got into it, and other teachers have shared their success stories with it, too! The puppet show materials can be found in my Canterbury Tales complete teacher’s guide.

Generational Interview Project with Fahrenheit 451 – When my seniors read 451, the project I assign during part 3 of the book is inspired by the passage where Granger reflects on how his grandpa influenced his life because of the things he was able to do and leave behind. I ask students to close read that passage and answer a set of questions. Then they are required to interview a person several generations older than them and write a report of that interview to share in class. I encourage them to interview a grandparent, and most do. When my seniors presented this year, it was overwhelmingly impressive how many of them took it seriously… and personally. When your seniors cry during a class presentation, you know it just got real. All the materials to conduct this close reading lesson and interview project can be found in my 451 Close Reading Lessons pack or in my 451 Complete Teacher’s Guide.

Please share in the comments below what you tried this year that worked!

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What I Learned About Test Prep from My Handgun Permit Class

Last week I took a handgun safety/permit class. My husband had accidentally let his expire, so we did it together this time around. I wasn’t super sure it was something I wanted to do, but I accepted the challenge. While I was taking the class, it dawned on me that I really hadn’t been a student in a really, really long time, and I’m really glad that I had this opportunity. As a result, after the second day of class, which was the performance test, my head was swimming with ideas for this blog post – super fitting for this test-prep-time-of-year. Thus, I’m writing this blog post from the point of view of a student, but I’m going to throw in a few teacher take-aways along the way.

Practice – Prior to the class, my husband prepped me some at home with the firearm. We practiced what I needed to know for the performance part of the test because that was the hardest part. He set up a target in the back yard, and gave me a quick tutorial of what I needed to know about loading the gun and shooting at the target. The whole time we were shooting the wind was blowing, and the teeny, tiny target he set on the ground fifteen yards away kept moving. Honestly, it wasn’t doing much for my confidence level. He assured me I would be fine, and we wrapped up the practice session. It wouldn’t be until the performance piece of the test that I would realize the value of the level of “hardness” of that practice session. The instructors of class also provided a run-through of the performance segment of the test, too, and in that exercise we learned that we would be shooting a target much closer than what my husband and I had practiced at home, which was actually good news. And when we got to the range, we saw the targets were posted high and steadily on a board.
- Teacher Take-away #1) Once at the range, I felt really prepared for the actual test because I had practiced with someone who knew the test. My husband had already taken it once, so he had an idea of what would be expected. It’s really hard to prepare for something unfamiliar or unknown. That gave me confidence in him as my tutor, and it allowed him to teach me what I needed to know to be successful. Anytime I can go to training for assessments that my state offers, I do because knowing what’s expected is half the battle.
- Teacher Take-away #2) We practiced at home with circumstances that were way harder than the actual test, and I think that was critical. If I had practiced with something too easy – which it isn’t in my husband’s nature to let me off the hook anyway – then it would have been very likely that I would have struggled with the actual test. It helped tremendously that my practice session was set up harder than the real thing. I don’t test my students in class with the easiest prompts or questions. In fact, I go overboard sometimes with the difficulty level, so I can truly push them. Then, when test day comes, they are relieved at how prepared they were.
- The left picture below shows what my husband had set up for me at home…. and it was so windy that day, so the little yard sign with the little orange dot was waving in the wind. The right picture shows the targets at the range, and you can see the other people back there setting up. Look how closely they are standing and large the targets are!! LOL!

Vocabulary – During the lecture segment of the course, one of the main components the instructors focused on was the vocabulary. As a student, this was really important for me because I didn’t really know all the terminology I needed. It may be odd to consider that I would even need vocabulary words to be able to handle and shoot a gun properly, but it really is key. For example, during the performance test, the instructor told us to load our magazines and hold them up. In my domain, a magazine is something you read. In this very different domain, a magazine is what holds the ammo. Without an understanding of the vocabulary for this domain, I wouldn’t have known what to do. The vocabulary also showed up all throughout the standardized test, as well, and it either helped me choose the right answer or eliminate wrong ones.
- Teacher Take-away: I had to know the terms in context in order to understand what I was expected to do on the multiple choice test and at the range. On some of the questions I had to use process of elimination with the answer choices based on the vocabulary. I am also thankful we covered key terms because many of them were used in the questions. The same is true for state standardized tests; without an understanding of crucial vocabulary, students may not even be able read and understand the questions. And it’s really important to learn the words in context. I rarely give my students just lists of words to memorize; we take words from the texts we read and do a lot of work with context clues. I use this list of vocabulary words for my high school English class.

Scenarios – For someone who hasn’t been in a situation to use a handgun or need one (and hope I never am), it would have been really hard to work through some of the questions on the test since all this was pretty foreign to me. A key component of the course, along with the vocabulary and hands-on demonstrations, was the use of scenarios. They not only gave scenarios for when to use a firearm, but also when not to use a firearm. For me, it helped me not to just memorize the information, but I was truly able to internalize it, and I still remember those scenario/stories days after the test.
- Teacher Take-away: Brain research says that teaching strategies such as role playing and storytelling are effective because we remember what we are involved in, and the brain remembers stories because they are connected together with a beginning, middle, and end. When I giving examples and demonstrations to my students as well, I try to bring in examples and non-examples to show the actual target.

The Right Tools – During practice at home, we used a semi-automatic. I wore protective eye and ear gear. I practiced my stance and how to hold my hands. I loaded the gun myself. When we got the class, some people shared they had practiced with revolvers, and some shared they hadn’t previously practiced at all. The latter wasn’t really as big of an issue as the first. The instructors wanted everyone to qualify with a semi-automatic because they can shoot more rounds, and it’s faster since we had so many people in the class. So, the people who had practiced with a revolver prior or who had already been shooting and developed bad habits struggled quite a bit during the exam.
- Teacher Take-away: When we do practice for testing (because that really is a thing that must happen), we must do so with circumstances as similar to the real thing as possible. When my students take a practice writing exam, I run copies of the lined paper they will actually use. I set timers for the exact time limits. When we can, we even go test in the same rooms. The unknown and unfamiliar can be uncomfortable, and I want to eliminate as many curve balls as possible.

Encouragement – My instructors and husband were so encouraging and uplifting the entire time. They weren’t worried about failure, but rather so confident of success. I needed that because I just wasn’t so sure of myself. I tend to fear failure, and I can let it get the best of me – to the point I shut down and won’t keep trying. Thankfully, their positivity and confidence helped me do my best.
- Teacher Take-away: I am very guilty of pushing too much – review, practice, review, practice, review, and so on. I don’t mean it to seem this way, but I think that can convey the message that I don’t have confidence in what students already know. So, this year I packed up my intimidating, draining test review materials and made a conscious effort to use games and positive projects to keep my students’ self-esteem built up. And words. Just the power of positive words. Take a look at this lesson that I created earlier in the week with some words to inspire.

Going into to the class, I knew there would be a standardized test and performance test. So, I had to concentrate and focus, even if it was at the end of a long day and even if it was going to be a lot of new material that I had to learn quickly. Honestly, I was nervous; in fact, a wave of anxiety hit me when the instructors were handing out the test. I thought, “This is exactly what my students must feel like.” I hadn’t been in this place in YEARS. I am really glad that I had this opportunity if for nothing else than that reason alone. Sometimes we forget to put ourselves in our students’ shoes, and that paradigm shift was just what I needed to help me help my students through this testing season.

What do you do to help your students de-stress before the test? Leave me a comment below!

Keeping Kids Tuned in at the End of the Year: A Secondary Linky

It’s getting to be that time of year when things get a little crazy – a little sideways. Students – and teachers – are starting to tune out! Join me for a fun recap of some ways to keep students tuned in this time of year. I’m sharing tips for secondary English classrooms, and since that’s where my experience stops, I’ve enlisted the help of other secondary teachers in all subjects to link up great ideas below!

In a middle or high school English classroom, this is an excellent time of year to start that novel you’ve been wanting to teach or to try a new project. So hopefully, these few ideas will make those even more creative for you! Plus, they are all student-centered and standards-based, so the kiddos stay engaged, and your job is easy!

Make It Real – When the CCSS started to roll out and there was so much emphasis placed on nonfiction, I’ll be honest – like many other “old English teachers” – I was nervous about giving up so much class time to that over my beloved classic fiction texts. Now, I’ve changed my tune completely. I love finding nonfiction texts that stand alone and/or that pair with my fiction. And, honestly, the kids LOVE it when they know it’s real. Sometimes I have them go searching on their own for real information – like in my mini research project on banned books in my Fahrenheit unit. Or other times, I’ll pair the info for them and have them dig into the material in class like in my lesson on the LeRoy HS outbreak after we read Act 1 of The Crucible.
Make It Personal – We all know that secondary students can be ah hem… self-centered. So anytime they get to talk about themselves, there’s pretty good buy-in. My seniors just completed my Generational Interview project as part of their reading tasks for the last section of my Fahrenheit unit. They – and their grandparents – really enjoyed the projects and the kids learned so much about their families and themselves. This was an out-of-class assignment, but they did share in class. Now that’s an easy prep! Another way to make it personal and keep kids tuned in is with poetry that speaks to them. In my treating senioritis poetry pack, I’ve selected several poems that draw on students’ personal experiences and the follow up activities ask students to reflect on their past, present, and future.
Make It Interactive – I have to admit that I’d never used puppets in the classroom before with high school students, but now that I have, I can’t stop. I also have to admit that it was partly my students’ idea to conduct the first puppet show. When my seniors read The Canterbury Tales, I had made little cards with the characters on them. I wanted each student to read and research about that character to share with the class. One student was holding up her card and thought she was being funny when she said, “We should do this as a puppet show.” I said, “Actually, that’s a great idea. Yes, we should.” That night I glued Popsicle sticks on the cards and borrowed a puppet curtain my mom had made for my nieces. Voila! The next day we had a puppet show! After that, I let my emoji addiction get a little more out of control, and I made emoji puppets for accountable talk, review, point of view, and more! See my Facebook post about them!
Make It Project-Based – Projects don’t have to be a lot of work for you. Nor should they be a lot of work to prep. One year I wanted something new and fun for Earth Day, so I rummaged through my junk drawers at the house and had student create uses for the various items. The skills we covered? Propaganda, Info-Text Analysis; Speaking and Listening, Presenting. That project is for sale here! This time of year, my yearbook students also work on projects to keep them busy until the books come back. They would be excellent for a yearbook class, business, art, or technology class.
Make It a Movie Day – Let’s be real for a minute. We can’t always show a movie, but if we are talking about getting tuned in, well, we can’t ignore the obvious. If you missed my post about how to incorporate media effectively, click here to go check that out. I will say that my seniors are going to be watching The Hunger Games next week. Why in the world, right? It was their idea – and it wasn’t because they just wanted to watch it randomly. In fact, they’ve been asking me all along our 451 unit if there’s a sequel to Bradbury’s magnum opus. (Can we pause to just say how awesome it is that they want to read MORE 451?!?!?) Then one day, it dawned on a student that there was quite a bit of intertextuality between 451 and THG. I had noticed the parallels before because I love THG! He made a pretty good case for it, and since I don’t show the 451 movie because it’s so old and not even worth the time, I thought this would be a fun way to end the unit. They’ll have to write something showing those parallels, of course!

Also, if you haven’t already followed over at my Facebook page, I’m doing a promo right now to give away The Shack when I reach 200 followers over there! You’ll need to follow and then go comment on that post, so I can enter your name!

The Power of “I Don’t Know” – As a Teacher

We’ve all been in that situation where we had something come up and we didn’t know the answer. Or we’ve had the nightmare of feeling like we weren’t prepared with all the answers. It all feels awkward, uncomfortable, or embarrassing. When I first started teaching, I would have nearly died when I had to admit to students that I didn’t know the answer to something. I’d like to say that I handled those situations with grace instead of stuttering around – or worse, making something up. But, I can’t be certain. I just know I didn’t want to say, “I don’t know.” In the past few years, though, I’ve really begun to embrace the power of the statement “I don’t know.” I don’t view it as a “cop out” because I’d never in one-hundred years let my students use it as an excuse, either. If students tell me “I don’t know,” I say, “Tell me what you do know,” and we go from there. But, what I’m sharing today is something a little different – something I hope will offer a paradigm shift to alleviate maybe just one bit of stress we feel as teachers.

Remember that nightmare I mentioned? The one where you’ve been in front of a class when students asked you a question to which you didn’t really know the answer. If you are like me, you felt horrified. It’s the little stuff I’m talking about here that students ask that would make me squirm if I didn’t know the answer. For example, what’s for lunch? Really! I just always felt like I had to be on top of everything 100% of the time. Honestly, that is just one more thing I don’t need on my plate. No one gives me the lunch menu in email or in my box. I would have to make a special trip to get it. So, no. I don’t know what is being served for lunch, what clubs are meeting Friday, or who is taking the bowling field trip next week. Not my circus. I don’t need that extra info floating around in my head! Kids just expect that since we are the teacher, we should know ALL the answers. Frankly, that’s just a lot of extra pressure I don’t need. “Let me help you find someone who does know” – that’s my response. It’s so liberating to free myself of the pressure of feeling like I must to respond to every question a student asks, but I never leave them hanging without a way to find the answer they need.
However, there are those times when questions come up related to class – or at least semi-related to my lesson that would make me really nervous when I couldn’t answer it. In my senior English class, we do a lot of work with British literature. I’ve studied and researched just as much as I needed, honestly, to teach the lesson and set the groundwork for the text. Some students are really curious about the extreme details of medieval life because they see it their video games, etc. No, I don’t know the name of every king and queen to rule during those times. Other times, we are having book club discussions about a novel and something comes up. With three different novels from three different classes going all at once, often my wires get crossed, or I just simply forget or overlook certain details that they pick up on. A couple of weeks ago while discussing Columbine in our Friday book clubs, a question came up about the gloves Eric and Dylan wore during the massacre. I knew that was an important detail, and the kids had a great point about the symbolism of it. Then that led to a question where they wondered if one boy was left or right-handed to pursue that thought even more. I remembered that detail from somewhere along the way, but I just couldn’t recall it. So, we just looked it up. In fact, it turned out to be an unresolved question in the investigation.
How many times are students doing something you don’t have a clue about? I could make a list a mile long – or longer. Sometimes I ignore their newest fad, but other times, if it somehow relates, or if I’m curious, I’ll ask them to teach me. Just this week I learned how to dab! Last month, they introduced me to Danielle Bregoli – and ONLY because her infamous statement showed up on one of their Canterbury Tales memes, and I wasn’t going to let it fly because I didn’t know what it meant. I literally said, “I have no idea what that even means. No, you can’t use it.” Laughter erupted from the entire class, and they quickly told me the entire story – complete with video. I am now scarred for life. All in all, I really don’t need to know who Danielle Bregoli is or how to dab, but the real benefit is that I’m keeping the channel open between us, so they know I value their knowledge and expertise. Sometimes it’s really useful info. 🙂 For example, once we were reading an article about horror movies, and students were trying to recall the part of the brain that handles fear. Um, yeah, I’ve read about that, but I really didn’t know the name of it. Some of the anatomy students had just studied the brain, and they were able to chime in and explain. I think that’s awesome for them to share their knowledge, and all the pressure wasn’t on me to have the answer. That’s a classroom success story to me.
Every now and then the students will ask a question to which I should know the answer. I am reminded of a time from this semester when I was introducing The Canterbury Tales to my seniors. The slideshow I created mentions that Chaucer didn’t complete all the tales he set out to write. Almost immediately a hand shoots up – “Why not? How many did he finish?” My throat jumped into my stomach. I hadn’t taught the unit in a few years due to scheduling, but I taken for granted that I was familiar enough with the material to launch the unit anyway. I had failed to really refresh myself of all the details. Of course, I could play the “We will look it up card,” but since this really IS my area of expertise, I should’ve remembered that. So, sometimes having to say, “I don’t remember… I don’t know” reminds me not to slack. Thankfully, my students weren’t facetious enough to keep questioning me. I just told them the truth – that I had forgotten that detail, and I would let them know tomorrow. I really did lose some sleep over that one.
Questions are important. In fact, I LOVE for students to ask questions – even to question me sometimes in a curious, productive way without that teenage arrogance (I guess that’s a topic for another day). Now days, though, there will be some questions for which I just don’t have the answer. End. Of. Story. Sometimes I think kids want to see if they can catch you off-guard, or they want to see you squirm, or they are being arrogant. Being transparent, and even vulnerable, really just shows them you are human, and it’s so much less stress to be in that mindset. Ultimately, I’m showing students the value of research and the power of knowing how to look up answers – the right way. A great teaching moment – not embarrassing at all.

Another couple of really powerful “I don’t know” statements come to mind, too. And these are really some of my favorites:

“I don t know when I’ll get around do that because I’m so swamped.”
“I don’t know if you know how proud of you I am.”
“I don’t know that it really matters if…”
“I don’t know why people do bad things…”
“I don’t know what might happen next because of…”

What can you add to the list? Have students ever caught you off guard? What’s the best/worse question you’ve ever been asked by a student?

Formula for Classroom Success Series Post #4: How to Make Struggle Productive

I’m back today with the next post in my
classroom success series. Today’s topic is the struggle- and we all know the
struggle is real. However, many times the
struggle does not always result in a deeper understanding of the essential
learning standard or an “ah-ha” moment. Sometimes, the struggle results in
frustration, lack of confidence, lack of willingness to stay engaged, behavior
problems, or worse, complete shut down for the rest of the day. I’m a believer
– cue THE MONKEES here – in the struggle
because I know how valuable it can be. But there are a few behind-the-scenes
tips and tricks that you need to know in order to have a successful classroom
experience. Here’s what I’ve found to
work for me over the years – aka How to Make Struggle Productive.

1) Have a reason for the
struggle. I find that
most frustration that students experience bubbles up when they do not see or
understand the goal or purpose up front.
I like to set up my lessons with an essential question, or I provide a
brief outline of the lesson at the beginning so students know what they are
trying to accomplish. Only rarely do I give students something brand new and
turn them loose. I’ve tried that, and it’s never been successful. (You can see a previous post in this series on the I do, We do, You do strategy.)
Another way to ensure students know there is light at the end of the
tunnel is to provide them with a detailed rubric up front. The feeling of accomplishment once students
have persevered is immensely gratifying, but I also think providing something
for positive reinforcement at the end builds motivation to keep trying. My rubrics usually consist of line items with a certain amount of points for each item. Within that framework, I can allow partial credit for the different requirements. Pictured below is the one I use for short research projects, and it allows me to give three different grades on the project. Separating the rubrics out by categories also allows me to offer revision opportunities in one area at a time or instead of another. For example, my essay rubrics are similar to these, but the grammar is broken out. That’s so students can revise the content, but not the grammar. Because, as you may know, most times students just go in to edit – not revise – the paper hoping for a few more points for correcting a spelling or comma mistake here and there. If that’s not my goal, this type of rubric sets my grading up in a way that helps students see the different parts and that all the parts are significant and separate.

2) Teach growth mindset and
create community where mistakes are seen as pathways to discovery not failure. I like the following graphic to
explain the difference between fixed mindset and growth mindset. Students need to know that a classroom is a
place where learning is a process. So, how to do that? Working with honors students, particularly, I’ve seen that they want to have a perfect score right out of the gate – even on new material. Or, they don’t want to approach new material because it may not result in that 100 in the grade book. One way to try to instill the idea that
learning is a process and to learn from criticism is to offer a revision
policy. My revision policy is not a “Here, redo this for a better grade; take this same test again; let me go over the answers so you can write them down and turn them in” type policy. It’s a “nitty-gritty; you have to work for it” type policy. I’ve done this several ways in my high school English classroom.
Sometimes I’ve allowed students to revise one essay from the year – content only. Other times
I’ve noticed that an entire class needs work in a certain area, so we workshop
that and then they revise. The fixed
mindset usually rares its ugly head when students are forced to revise, but if
scaffolding and a clear purpose, they begin to embrace the challenge and see
its benefits.

3) Scaffold with
checkpoints. Some students come into class ready for a
challenge and know how to pace themselves along the way. Other students, for various reasons, try to
swallow the elephant all at once. Honestly, I tend to be that person who gets
anxiety looking at a big project because I try to tackle it all at once. To help students to learn how to take it one
step at a time chunk sections of the task, provide mini-deadlines, or offer
checkpoints. I usually start the year scaffolding larger tasks for students
until it becomes more ingrained, and they learn to do it on their own. My
yearbook class comes to mind specifically when I think about giving them time
and space – well, really my yearbook class comes to mind with all of these. But
making 192 page book in six months from scratch can be very overwhelming and
frightening. We take it step by step, a
page a time until they figure it out.

4) Give them time, space,
and choices. To allow students the full experience of the
productive struggle, sometimes teachers have to hold back. We don’t want to see
students fail, so we feel the need to swoop in and “help” before letting them try
on their own. In my classroom, I tell
students that I love “awkward silence.”
It’s kind of a funny way to let them know that I am going to wait on
them to answer without bailing them out, but it takes the awkwardness away because
I dispelled it up front. In yearbook
class, for example, it would be very easy to do quite a bit of hand-holding or rescuing
because the outcome is so high stakes and time is extremely limited. But I hold back as much as I can when I
know it’s something they really can accomplish on their own: writing a caption
or headline, uploading photos, or creating a photo presentation. It’s just a matter of knowing your students’ knowledge set and where you know they can go. The amount of space or
time that is logistically built into the schedule for completing the task is another component. If we
want students to work through the process and do a great job, they need time to
plan, think, practice, create, proof, and finalize. Sometimes that could take
days! I also like to offer students choices when we are going into a project or
task they will be working through on their own.
Choices can come in the form of a menu board with different project
options; three different stories from which to choose when constructing a
literary analysis; or simply allowing students to choose their own research
topics. There’s something psychological
about making a choice, and it’s a strategy I’ve found that really works to get
buy-in. The menu board pictured below is from my Columbine unit (coming Summer 2016) and allows students to choose their own project, topic, and grade. Most of the time, I use this type of assignment as the culminating task.

5) Know when it’s not
productive and shut it down. There are a few times when
students just aren’t going to be able to get there alone, and that can be for a
couple of reasons. Once I assigned a cause and effect writing prompt, and my
juniors worked the entire period, and even the best student only had a couple
of paragraphs done. Others had not been able to grasp the concept well enough
to write on the actual topic. The rest just really didn’t have anything. At the
end, they were frustrated and really confused about what I had wanted. I stepped back and realized that prompt was
faulty. I didn’t need to give them more time the next day to experience the
struggle. I apologized, we brainstormed
a better prompt together, and their new essays turned out much better the
second time around. Other it may be that the students just need a little more direction, guidance, or time. I want the struggle to be
real, but only when it’s really worth it.

I liked this video from the Teaching Channel by Carol Jago about productive struggle.

Keep calm and risk productive struggle for amazingly successfully classroom results! Get the cute poster below in my Back to School Survival Kit for any subject 7-12!

Formula for Classroom Success Series Post#1: Classroom Management

Lately, I’ve been so blessed by so many of you sharing your classroom success stories with me over at my TPT store! It is the highlight of my day to read those messages from teachers who have tried my classroom creations and had positive results. You can have your own classroom success stories, too! Sometimes it’s just trying something new or being willing to try a different approach. Sometimes it’s just our own enthusiasm that can inspire students. Sometimes it is providing enough examples and then giving the space to allow students to have productive struggle. I’m really excited to share with you my newest blog post series: A Formula to Having Your Own Classroom Success Stories! I’ll be posting one piece to the formula every week for five weeks, so I hope you’ll enjoy reading my musings on what has worked for me over the years! My comments are open below, so I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Formula for Classroom Success Series Post#1: Classroom Management

You can have the best lesson planned in the world, but without the right classroom management in place, it could potentially just fall apart. What does successful classroom management look like? I think it looks like anything that ends in an environment where students can learn. Here’s what I decided my classroom management plan for high school looks like.

#1) Students are engaged – not just busy – on something in my classroom from bell to bell.

I believe in the power of a great bell ringer. By “great bell ringer” I mean something that matters. Actually, that “something that matters” philosophy applies to everything I do. I’ve seen cutesy bell ringers, and those are fine and better than kids running amuck at the beginning of the period, but I choose grammar for my bell ringers because I know my kids are preparing for ACT, SAT, and/or writing test and they need/want to improve their grammar scores. There’s my engagement, my buy-in, and my motivation.

#2) Forgive and Forget.

This one is so hard, but really, we are adults. Kids are kids. They are going to mess up – and so are we, for that matter. But what good does it do to hold a grudge against a teenager? It does no good, actually. It creates tension and a ripple effect. Once kids see you mistreating one student, either they will do the same, or they all turn on you. It’s not pretty. I think this one ties in with the idea of consistent and fair discipline and consequences that make sense. I’ve never been a big fan of letting the admin fight my small battles for me. For example, why does a child need to go to the office to be punished for not having a pencil? Just give him a pencil and move on. Why create a barrier against his learning? Sometimes that pencil is a symptom of something larger, and it’s worth checking out, but that’s a topic for another day. Sometimes it’s a kid testing to see how far he/she can go. I once had a student not bring a pencil to my class every day for a week straight. He was doing it on purpose. On the 5th day, we had “the talk.” This kid was used to being screamed at and sent to the office. I think that’s what he wanted. Instead, I told him that I needed him to bring his own pencil so he could show me he respected me and my class, and that was the end of it. No screaming, no nagging, no office visits. He brought a pencil every day for the rest of the year.

#3) Listen to students.

It was only recently that I began to learn the value of allowing students to reflect on the lesson and their own learning. I often spend time debriefing with students at the end of the lesson to have them tell me what worked and what didn’t work. The 3-2-1 strategy is really simple, and students can do it alone, with a partner, or as a whole class. I change it up, but we do three things that worked in the lesson, two things that could be changed, and one thing that didn’t work at all. Other times I’m less formal, and I’ll just ask students to tell me what they need me to teach. For example, when seniors are doing a writing unit, instead of preplanning a list of writing workshops I think they need, I ask them to make me a list. Another way listening works in my favor doesn’t really have anything to do with class. Sometimes kids just want to talk about the game, their job, how bad lunch is, or their prom dress. Does this happen during class? Of course not. So, I have to be available every now and then before class, after class, and sometimes during lunch. It’s the relationship concept – a healthy relationship – that opens up the respect lines. Kids who respect you – and see you as a real person – will go so much further than kids who feel isolated, insecure, and undervalued.

#4) Have a plan and procedure, but be flexible.

I once wanted my students to get into groups with their desks to complete an assignment. It was the beginning of the year, and this was the first we had ever done an activity like this in my classroom. I just said, “Go” and expected them to get into groups beautifully and work productively. It was a disaster. Kids were sitting every which way and half didn’t even have a clue what was going on. I was frustrated and mad at them, and they were so confused. The next day I apologized as soon as class started. I don’t know what came over me that day to just turn them loose like that, but is has NEVER happened since. Now they don’t move until I give the signal, so I can make sure everyone is clear on the directions and that I’ve given enough examples. I even show them how to form neat groups. We know who will be in the group first and foremost. I even have numbers hanging from my ceiling so that students know exactly where to sit when we number off for groups. It may seem like micromanaging, but in a short class period with 25+ kids, it’s the only way to get things done so that we have plenty of time for the task at hand. There is a difference, too, between rigid and organized. Kids feel uncomfortable with rigid – a “my way or the highway” attitude, but they appreciate organized. Routines are healthy and productive. Chaos is not. (Can you have effective chaos? Again, another topic for another day.) Read more ideas for classroom management and get a few ready to go tools in my Back to School survival kit.

#5) Discipline doesn’t have to be mean.

A few weeks ago I was asked to watch a group of kindergarten boys in the Awanas class at church. It just so happened that these were the rowdiest boys in the bunch, and they were all in the same class. The coordinator asked me if I would watch them and told me, “You can handle them. I heard you were mean.” She said it as a joke and without any malice, but I guess it did indicate that someone had noticed my kids are usually well-behaved, listening, and on task. The assumption someone made, of course, is that I must be mean if my students behave. So, it got me to thinking. I’ve seen teachers scream. I’ve seen teachers get rough with kids physically. I’ve seen teachers call kids names. That’s mean. I’m not mean. None of that is my approach. I set up a plan, and execute it. I deal with minor stuff when necessary, and I don’t nitpick. I am consistent. I take what we are doing seriously, and I expect them to as well. I find what motivates kids and capitalize on it. Kids have to see that doing what’s right is right because it gets things done, and it allows me to be proud and brag on them. More importantly, they learn to be proud of themselves. Is this how it goes down every day? No – only in a perfect world. But never does discipline have to be mean.