G.+Du+Pont

=Pre-work for the first webinar=

First Assignment

Reflection and Practice

Question 1: Steps and Expectations

A) Entry Routine Expectations: Students should be calmly and quietly completing these steps from the moment they walk into the classroom, and they should be working on the Do Now within 1.5 minutes
 *  WALK into the classroom with a SMILE
 *  At the Work Table, hand in homework and pick up Do Now
 *  WALK to your seat and sit down
 *  Write down homework and reminders from board in organizer
 *  Begin working silently on the Do Now

B) Exit Routine Expectations: Students should be calmly and quietly completing these steps from the moment Miss du Pont says go. They should be in line in 1.5 minutes.
 *  Place all class work, finished and unfinished, into the appropriate folder/binder
 *  Pick up all personal materials and WALK to the Work Table
 *  Turn in all materials from class, pick up homework and put in folder
 *  Line up at the door for official dismissal

C) Passing Out/Collecting Papers
 *  Paper Passer (student) will SILENTLY collect papers from Miss du Pont, hand the appropriate number to each row/table, and return to seat
 *  Students will pass papers along rows/around tables WHILE listening to rest of instructions

Expectations: The Paper Passer is a position of great responsibility and should be treated as stuff. Paper passer is responsible for not distracting classmates and for going as quickly as possible. Other students are expected to be silently listening to the teacher during this time.
 *  Students will pass papers to one end of the row/one person at the table
 *  Paper Passer will collect papers from row/table and place them in the designated spot on the Work Table

D) Props Expectations: These are isolated breaks from the lesson as a reward. They should take 2-4 seconds total, and students’ attention should return IMMEDIATELY to the lesson.
 *  Individual: “Pat yourself on the back” OR “Give yourself a high five”
 *  Group: “Snap twice, stomp twice”

E) ???

Question 3:

A) Bathroom: crossed fingers, I will respond with either yes, no, or five fingers (meaning “wait five minutes and ask again)

B) Broken Pencil: Students will have two pencils at their desks for the whole period. Should they break both of these pencils, they should hold up their pencil in their fist and I will come give them another. This signal may only be used if they actively need to be writing at that moment.

C) Trash: it will be communicated to students on the first day that unless we are in lab or I direct them, they will keep all trash at their desks until the end of class

Discipline: "the process of teaching someone the right way to do something or the state of being able to do something the right way" 146 Management: "the process reinforcing behavior by consequences and rewards" 147 Control: "your capacity to cause someone to CHOOSE to do what you ask, regardless of consequences" 148 Influence: "process of instilling belief" 149 Engagement: "busily engaged in productive, positive work"

I want my students to be scientists. To me this means that they will be constantly asking themselves and others "why" questions. It is not enough for them to just //ask// these questions, however. They will learn and know how to //answer// their own questions and questions others might ask them in a systematic and logical way that will guide them to the correct answer. They will be asking themselves these "why" questions every single day for my class, and over the course of the whole year they will begin to become experts at figuring out how to answer them. Although this could feel forced and awkward at first, it is a hallmark of true curiosity and it will teach students how to be curious and how to act on that curiosity to find answers.
 * 1. What are the big goals that you want to set for your scholars this year at Ranson (Year bound, middle school bound, high school bound)**

At the end of the year, my students will be self-sufficient when it comes to school (specifically science). This means that they will be self-motivated, self-organized, and self-monitoring.

They will believe that they can go to ANY high school they want and college will be something that they EXPECT to have a choice about: to go or not to go, which school to attend, what to major in. This means they will have a solid understanding of both college and future careers.

Although asking "why" questions will be strongly associated with science in my class, I will be sure to convey to my students that "why" questions are vital to everything and anything they might study or do in their lives. These "why" questions might take a different form in different areas, and might be answered in different ways (e.g. a lab report vs. an essay), but underlying all questions is the same idea: answering a question driven by curiosity in a logical way.
 * 2. What connections will you make between the content you will teach and success in school, other content areas, in high school and in life?**

I believe that science is one of the easiest subject to connect to life in general because it is so tangible and concrete, it deals with real-world things. Being knowledgeable in science content and methods makes it much easier to understand what is going on around us; it makes it easier to read/hear and correctly understand the news, books, TV, movies, etc. A solid foundation in science and in the way that a scientist //thinks// (always questioning, never accepting) means that students will be much more informed and aware of current events and daily occurrences.

Science has boundless opportunity for students to engage deeply with the material in a very hands-on, interactive way. Particularly in middle school, this represents a huge advantage. Students are much more likely to be engaged and to take joy in their learning if it extends beyond just a teacher lecturing and books. The opportunity to EXPLORE that science presents is, in my opinion, the best way to invest students. They should be excited by the questions they ask and by the process of finding the answer! That will take creativity and planning on my part, but it can be done!
 * 3. How do you plan on investing students in these goals? (How will you inspire and motivate?)**

I will use the examples of a variety of scientists (famous, unknown, local) to show my students how vital self-sufficiency is and how they truly must believe that they can do anything, even if others tell them they can't or if the initial evidence doesn't point that way.

__**Peer Teacher Observations**__

I visited Caitlin Collins' classroom early in the week, and I saw a whole bunch of things that I really liked. At one point, one students started clapping for another student's answer, which was great to see. She did a "things we will do and things we won't do" at the beginning of class to frame their learning. She had a "ten seconds to get it out" time where she allowed her students to get all their laughter and craziness out. She wrote names on the board of people who got off task, and then put marks next to them when they did it again. I really like that because it was a visual reminder for the students and because it would help me to keep track of who I've given warnings to and who I haven't, which would keep my classroom more fair and equal (sometimes I give lots of warnings to the same person before stepping it up). She framed her directions as "in the next 20s you will...", which would help me and my students save time and be more efficient. I thought that the project (letter writing to the mayor) was very cool and practiced a lot of real world and science skills. Additionally, she had one great moment where a student was kind of talking back or arguing with her, adn she just said "end of conversation," which really appealed to me. I'm going to try it.

I also observed Sarah Goldstein for a bit, although her class was just doing individual review for a test, so it probably wasn't the best time to have observed because they were mostly working independently. I did see some things I liked though. One was her "yo, yo, yo, listen up listen up" call and response, which I may try out in my classroom. I also thought it was awesome when two students were copying and she just took their papers, drew zeros on them and walked away. She also presented some of her students with individual "challenges" to be on task and doing their work, which I know many of my students (particularly boys) would find useful.