New School Year - Connections are the Crucial Element in a Successful Classroom!

Connections...being connected...being a part of the community of classroom...its a bold statement to say that this is the most crucial element but I truly believe it is.  If a student is not connected, not a part of the community of the classroom, then they simply become a seat filler, another paper to grade, another voice.  Think about how often you have walked into a room, a wedding, a party where most of the people know each other, have a shared connection and you are the "odd man out".  How do you feel?  While there are a few people who could jump right in and walk up to people, most people wait for someone to approach them, to bring them into a circle.  As teachers, that is our job - to bring our students into a circle, a community, a safe place where they can learn, grow, explore.  So how do we do it?  How do we make that connection, build the community that our students need?

1.  Be tuned in.  When you are in your classroom, be there mentally as well as physically.  So often we are in our classes physically, but our minds are consumed with the forms we need to complete, meetings we need to have, our families at home, what are we doing for the weekend and 1,000 other things.  As hard as it is, we need to shut those things off or at least try to and focus on being present mentally when we are in the classroom.  How this occurs is different for everyone.  It may be featuring artwork from your kids or pictures of your family so they are "with you" but not your primary focus.  It could also be making a "To-Do" list of everything you need to accomplish so that you don't forget but can focus your mind on other things.  Whatever it is that works for you and allows you to be tuned in, do it!  Your students will thank you!

2.  Create an environment that is safe.  Students, whether they are in Kindergarten, their senior year or anywhere in-between are still kids.  (If you don't believe me, just break out the crayons and see what happens! :)  They still need to feel safe and secure in order to be truly successful.  They need to know that there will be supportive words to encourage them, a safety net if they fail and accolades when they succeed.  They need to know that they won't be ridiculed by their peers if they have questions and that it is a safe place to express their thoughts.  In order to create this safe environment I suggest starting by with clear expectations (I go into more depth about this here) about what is and is not acceptable in they classroom, establish clear norms about how discussion will occur and more importantly be tuned in to what is happening in the classroom.  Do not let behavior slide for some students but come down hard others for the same behavior.  Be fair and consistent.

3.  Partner with parents.  As both a parent and a teacher I know first hand how important it is to be in a partnership with parents and not a competition.  Communicate with parents about the spectacular things that their students do, not just the negative.  I had an experience with past year where I would get notes home from my son's teacher about how his day went.  They were a checklist of six areas of behavior and rated with a smiley face, straight face or sad face.  He got quite a few sad faces, so many at one point that I started dreading getting the note at the end of the day.  I would start to have that anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach when I would see his backpack.  This teacher never sent home a note when he had a great day, just when he had a bad day.  BTW - my son is 5.  After a few weeks of this, my husband and I requested a meeting with the teacher where we expressed our concerns.  We found a way to partner with the teacher.  The communication got better, our son got happier and the behavior improved.  You can partner with parents with written communication (notes, e-mails, etc.), verbal communication (phone calls or meetings) or through practice (become the teacher that impacts their student(s) in a positive way to make a positive impact).

4.  Make a personal connection.  Humans are social.  We love to talk, to interact, to communicate and to share of ourselves.  Being a teacher allows a million ways to make a personal connection.  Notice the things that change about your students - a new haircut, cool new shoes, etc. and comment on them in a positive way.  Remember the things that a student tells you - an upcoming vacation, a new puppy, a job interview and follow up to see how it went/is going.  Attend after school activities when possible - a club, band concert, sporting event and then mention it the next day.  Share of yourself and common interests and experiences.  The more human you are, the more you can connect with your students.

5.  Nurture skills that will help them to be part of a bigger community.  We have our students for a short fraction of their lives - a semester, a year, maybe two and it is our job to help them to move on to the next part, chapter or adventure that their lives will offer.  At the high school level this means teaching them job skills, social skills and other skills that will help them to be successful in getting their first job.  We get the opportunity to help them figure if the job market, college or the military is where their strengths lie after high school.  We have the responsibility to help mold them into the (young) adults who will lead future generations.  We can give them these skills through conversation, prodding and modeling them ourselves.

Whatever you do, make connections with your students.  They really will translate to greater success for your students and for yourself as a teacher.  How do you make connections?

Task Cards - A Fantastic Resource at the Secondary Level

The first time I heard the term "Task Cards" I thought they were index cards that gave students directions for a task.  I wondered why teachers couldn't just tell students the directions verbally...  As time went on, I heard the term more and more but still never saw a concrete example of what they were.  So, I did what all curious people do - I Googled it!  While that gave me some clue, it was still not a definitive reason as to why I should pursue their use in my high school classroom.  I mean, let me be honest here - high school is overrun (like all grade levels are) with standardized testing, CCSS, and forty-seven things you must accomplish every day.  I had no time to add something new. 

Then I looked at my students and saw that something just wasn't working in my day-to-day structure.  So, I started looking for ways to better address student needs and learning levels WITHOUT adding extra work to myself.  While there were multiple options, I kept coming back to Task Cards as a viable solution.  After I tried them a couple of times, I saw some amazing results.  Students were picking up on concepts that they had struggled with, discussion in class had students participating that I had rarely heard from and most importantly, grades were rising.

So, let's talk about Task Cards!

1)  What is a Task Card?  
A task card is a card, piece of paper, piece of card stock (basically whatever works best for you) that features one problem, question or work task. (I prefer printed on cardstock and then laminated to save on costs).

Beginning Concepts Task Cards

Why only one problem/question?  I questioned this at first too, but found that it helps the students focus on just one problem, idea or skill at a time without getting overwhelmed.  It is easier for students to see on problem at a time instead of facing "I have 15 problems to complete and I can't even get number one done".  

(Most task cards can be created to be four to a page that you then cut apart into individual problems like the ones at the left).




2)  How do you use a task card?  
There are so many ways to use a task card.  A few are:

Congruent Triangles

      a)  Pair students with a partner and have them pass the cards from pair to pair every 2 minutes.
       b)  Separate the cards by concepts/difficulty and have students work in small groups depending on
             their abilities.
       c)  Use the cards as part of a larger station activity.
       d)  Have students complete one (or two) as an exit card to test for understanding
       e)  As a warm - up or bellwork assignment
       f)  Laminate a set and post them around the room for students to rotate around.  This is great for students who need/want to be up and moving around.
  
3)  How do task cards allow you to differentiate?  
Since task cards feature only one problem you can write the problems to be at individual levels.  For example, when I teach Segment Addition I can use a variety of cards.  I can use some that are just simple adding and subtracting, some that feature algebra in a one or two step equation or some that are a challenge where the problems are multi-step with variables on both sides of the equation. 


This is an example of four different levels of task cards that I use when doing the Segment Addition Postulate. It allows me to differentiate by giving students cards that are at their individual level and still assess all student understanding of the same concept!  It has been a real lifesaver!

Coordinate Distance and Midpoint

4)  How do I create a Task Card?  

The first step is to decide how many cards you want per page.  I find that four works well since it gives room to create the problem and is neither too big as to waste paper nor too small as to make it hard to read the problem/question.  You want to have a clear idea of the different levels of the concept as well as to how you want to phrase the questions being asked.  I find that laying it out first makes it easier to create them.  Once you have decided on a layout and the different levels of questions, you can start creating.  I will admit, creating task cards is a time-consuming process but once they are created, they are done!  (I find using PowerPoint the best program if your task cards require layering like mine do!)

5)  How I best utilize my resources and save myself time?  

I recommend printing your task cards on card stock, laminating and then cutting them out.  Unless you really find it necessary for students to be able to write on the cards, there is no reason to recreate the wheel every hour and print them on paper.  Additionally, if you print them on card stock and laminate them, then students can write on the cards using dry erase markers and then "erase" when they are done without damaging the card !  

Similar Triangles

I always make sure to include an answer sheet with mine for students to hand-in when they are done.  This allows me to hold them accountable and again saves on the need to continually reprint the task cards. 

All in all, I have yet to find any drawback to using task cards!  I highly recommend trying them out.  If you are a Geometry teacher, like myself, and want to try them before dedicating large pockets of time to creating them, I recommend shopping on TeachersPayTeachers.  I have the multiple sets illustrated above individually and in a money saving bundle in my store (with many more on the way!) but a search will turn up task cards on many, many topics!