Starting+a+New+Class

Starting a New Class
It was hard to see how my AT does this at first because he as taught about 95% of the students he had before in previous grades as he teaches rotary science to grades 3-8 and grade 7/8 math. On Thursday, I finally saw him teach a class he hasn't taught before. I think the thing that struck me the most about my AT was that he knew all the students names, faces, abilities and interests. He drew on them in class. In every class he teaches he has the students set up their desks in the same way and has the same routine for all of them. The one class he hadn't taught before was only half the class because it was a split class and so he used the students in the older grades to show the younger students what was expected of them. He also knew which students needed extra help and was always going around during quiet work time to make sure they weren't lost.
 * Building Rapport - Knowing names, faces and abilities (Amy K)**

My teacher used TRIBES this week! Each Friday, my AT holds a "community circle". At the first community circle my AT introduced her class to the TRIBES agreements and told her class that this was something that was very important to her and that she would encourage passionately. She then introduced her class to TIGGER! Tigger is a stuffed tiger (Tigger from Winnie the Pooh). When in the community circle, only the person holding tigger can speak and everyone else must show them mutual respect and actively listen. In the first community circle my AT asked everyone to share their anxieties and fears about their first week of school, including herself! She then asked her students to do "appreciations" and to go around one by one saying one thing they were appreciative of. I thought this was an incredible way for my AT to build rapport with her class, especially when she revealed her own anxieties about the first week with them!
 * Building Rapport - Community Circle (Eddie)**

On the first day of school I observed my AT do something extremely simple, but that was also extremely powerful in building rapport in the classroom. On the first day of class, when my AT was doing attendance for the first time, as she called out each students name she would pause and then say "Hello George", or "Hello Sally", and if she knew something about the student (such as sports they played or new an older sibling) she would ask about them. This one very simple act went a long way. It was clearly visible that as she welcomed each student to her class one by one, by saying their name and with a warm smile a rapport was being built. Immediately her students felt welcomed.
 * A Simple Hello, How are you? (Eddie)**

A powerful rapport-building technique that I observed my AT do was to wait outside her door each morning and welcome each student as they walked in. I thought this was a great start to the day. Each morning my AT would stand outside her door and with a warm smile on her face, welcome each student into the class with a warm and open "Good Morning". I felt this was a very simple yet extremely powerful rapport-building technique.
 * At The Door (Eddie)**

I was so moved by the activity my AT had the students do this week in order to build rapport! She assigned them each a personal written letter addressed to her, that each student was encouraged to open up and tell stuff about themselves. ..not academic-wise, but things they liked/hated/were good at/proud of, etc, etc, etc. I wasnt sure what to expect and didn't know if some of the quiet students would open up, or if the loud, chatty students would take it seriously and do what was really asked of them. My AT allowed me to read over them with her and WOW they were amazing! I was amazed by some of the voices various students had and it was so moving to read a lot of them! Not only is she doing the letters, but once they finish their letter they are to sign up for an appointment (either before or after school for 25 mins) with her to talk about "stuff" and gett that personal connection with each individual! She really makes an effort to not let anyone fall into the shadows!
 * Building Rapport - Writing a Letter (Jessica)**

Each student upon entry to the classroom found a student profile which asked questions including favourite and least favourite subjects, what they wanted to learn, as well as asking about favourite colours, TV shows, and movies. Some of these answers were incorporated into an activity the students used to get to know each other. In addition, after the first day, students took another profile for the parents to answer. This asked about their hopes for their child, and their opinion of their child's strengths and weaknesses. I thought it was a really smart idea to ask these questions to both the parent and the child, so that it is easier to piece together and compare information to get a greater understanding of what to expect from each student.
 * Getting to know the Students = Personal Profiles (Amy)**

He gave them ample freedom to decide for themselves where they wanted to sit, but also assured them that the seating plan would change based on the dynamics of the class.
 * Providing Choice for Seating (Chris)**

My AT gave freedom to decide where to sit. There is the understanding that if students are disruptive, they will be moved, but there is also an understanding that students will be moved regardless in a month or so, to mix up the people a bit. My AT often gives choice in homework situations, as well. For instance the students have book summaries as homework. The expectation is one book per week. However if students are choosing big font, easy to read books, they can do so, but have to summarize two of them in a week. Likewise, if students are reading large thick novels, they're allowed to submit one every two or three weeks. The same is true for gym class. As long as students are trying, that's what matters. The more skilled athletes have higher expectations than the less althletically skilled students. I feel this is completely fair, and reminds me of the activity that Julian posted. 
 * Homework Choice (Nathan)**

A Reading a Math Story (Liz) I have been placed into a very intricate classroom which is a 7/8 split and has several special needs students with very detailed IEP's and require various accommodations. Three new students arrived on the first day; no knowledge of past school records however they have already experienced many hardships (foster homes). Luckily my AT is a very passionate, and an experienced teacher who has spent the last two days, focusing on social behaviours, and school rules. On the beginning of day one, the AT read a book to the class called "Little Girl Who Did What ....!!?!" this really set the stage to begin talking about narrow-mindedness. And have you ever experienced this, or have you been the narrow-minded person? All the students received an exercise book and began writing their first entry. This was my AT's way to allow the students to become humble, work on personal respect and understand that everyone has a right to learn and at times one student may need a little more help to receive the same outcome. To see how the children reacted, this motivated me and I found a book called the Math Curse. It too is a great story and if you are working in a core homeroom, you may be required to work on literacy as I am, so you can get the bang for your buck with 2 potential lesson plans.
 * Reading a Story and Diversity (Liz)**

The initial seating plan of the class were groups of desks. Two groups of 8 and one of 10. She numbered these groups and handed students a number when they entered the class, telling them what group to sit at. The students were allowed to choose their location in the group. Today, we created a seating plan for the students, but they were allowed to list 2 students they felt they worked well with. These suggestions were used when the seating plan was created to make diverse groups, but ones where students were comfortable.
 * Seating Choice (Greg)**

He made them laminated name plates so that I or any other guest in the class would be able to learn their names easily.
 * Name Plates** **(Chris)**

He also gave each student an agenda, a few handouts for them and their parents, pencils, pens, rulers, erasers, red pencils, and personalized USB keys. The keys were interesting as he acquired them cheaply due to the fact that they were relatively small in size. Also the red pencils were designated to them to have the opportunity to edit their own work.
 * Supplies** **(Chris)**

The majority of the day was spent on going over the class rules, school regulations, fire safety reminders, and announcements about extracurricular activities.
 * Rules** **(Chris)**

Relating a summer event that happened in during their break that related to a summer movie plot in some way.
 * Activities** **(Chris)**

I found this sheet prepared by my AT helpful (see attached PDF file); it allows the student to present something personal about themselves, gives the teacher some insight into the student, allows the teacher to 'reach-out' to the student by finding a common topic. On the reverse side is a call log for any correspondance with the students parents. It is a quick reference tool that allows the teacher to keep track of any issues with the student. For a teacher with fifty students, an excellent resource.
 * Intoduction/Management (Brian)**

My AT spent most of the first day getting to know the students in the class. Since the school I'm at is very small (Approximately 250 students), my AT knew many of the students already. But the first day was dedicated to rules, misc classroom stuff and an "About Me" activity. Each student was given a piece of paper and had to draw pictures of things that they were interested in. Later that day, language was devoted to letter writing. Each student was supposed to write a letter to the teacher. They could talk about anything they were interested in such as what they did that summer, their hobbies, a poem they wrote, etc. Later the AT went through and read all of the letters. Letter writing will apparently happen all year, so he wrote responses to a number of the students this time, and will respond to other students when they write letters next time.
 * Getting to Know Students (Lisa)**

I have been placed into a very intricate classroom which is a 7/8 split and has several special needs students with very detailed IEP's and require various accommodations. Three new students arrived on the first day; no knowledge of past school records however they have already experienced many hardships (foster homes). Luckily my AT is a very passionate, and an experienced teacher who has spent the last two days, focusing on social behaviours , and school rules. On the beginning of day one, the AT read a book to the class called "Little Girl Who Did What ....!!?!" this really set the stage to begin talking about narrow-mindedness. And have you ever experienced this, or have you been the narrow-minded person? All the students received an exercise book and began writing their first entry. This was my AT's way to allow the students to become humble, work on personal respect and understand that everyone has a right to learn and at times one student may need a little more help to receive the same outcome. To see how the children reacted, this motivated me and I found a book called the Math Curse. It too is a great story and if you are working in a core homeroom, you may be required to work on literacy as I am, so you can get the bang for your buck with 2 potential lesson plans.   **Be enthusiastic (Christe M.)** It takes but a few seconds for observers to “read” a teacher's warmth and enthusiasm, and thus to predict their course evaluations. Some people are naturally expressive; others are less expressive (the poker players). It has been shown that even inexpressive people are less expressive than expressive people acting naturally. The moral: If you're a low-key person who needs to express more enthusiasm, don't worry about overdoing it. What's more, fake it and you may make it.   **Puzzle Pieces - Building Rapport (Michelle K)** Each student in the class was given a piece of paper with a drawing of a puzzle piece. On this the students were to write their name and draw anything of interest to them may it be hobbies, dreams or goals. The pieces were then cut out and placed together like a puzzle. I found this a creative way of getting to know the students.
 * Focusing on Social Skills**

One thing my AT did during the first week was have the students fill out a multiple intelligences survey. I thought this was a really good way to get to know how each student learns, so that she knows how to teach to each student. Once the students filled out the survey, she had them create pie charts for their results, and colour them in. She then posted the results on a bulletin board so that everyone can see that each student is completely different.
 * Multiple Intelligences (Greg Leverton)**

My overall experience was very informative. I saw how my AT began starting her classroom management and structure. She started the year off with the desk in rows; she says she leaves them like that until around the end of October when she will then move them into groups of four. We spent the first day of school making classroom agreements. This was set up by getting the class into groups of four. Each group had to come up with 5 classroom agreements. Things that they thought were fair and necessary. Then two groups combined their ideas and had to narrow it down to 5 agreements again. Then the whole class came together and out of all the ideas 5 had to be chosen. Most of the agreements were very similar and could be combined to narrow it down to 5 classroom agreements. I thought this was a good idea besides the fact that it took almost 2 hours for the class to complete the task. And the task kept getting interrupted by a school wide assembly and recess. I am very much looking forward to going back to placement. And I am excited to begin teaching the class.
 * Students Create Class Agreements (Nadine) **