Hi there!
We did it! We’ve made it to the final Monthly PD of the 23-24 school year. Our goal was to focus exclusively on classroom management and the teaching strategies that drive it. Let’s recap our journey thus far this year. :
September - Procedures and Routines
October - Classroom Circles
November - Visuals in the Classroom
January - Building Relationships with Students
February - Building Relationships by Asking the Right Questions
March - The Golden Rule in the Classroom
May (you’re reading it!) - Keeping Students (and Yourself) Engaged
Before we begin, I want to say a sincere “thank you” to everyone who has been a part of this adventure. The feedback has been incredible and I’ve been so grateful to hear how much teachers have enjoyed the PD. The goal has always been to make content that honors, challenges, and features full-time classroom teachers. I’m honored to hear that we accomplished that goal.
And if you’re just now finding our work or haven’t had full access to the paid content, you can have the entire year’s worth of material right now by upgrading below. That’s right. You can pretty much have your PD done for next year. Check it out!
As we conclude we’re going to tackle a mission-critical concept: How to Keep Teachers Engaged. Specifically, we’re talking about how to keep the curriculum fresh enough that we stay excited about the important work before us. I hope your teachers love it!
Monthly Staff PD - May
Topic: Keeping Students (and Yourself) Engaged
Staff Objectives:
I (the teacher) can explain the most common driver of student engagement
I can identify one unit to revise
I can identify one unit to recreate
Context:
One of the benefits of teaching the same thing year after year is that you get really good at it. One of the downsides of teaching the same thing year after year is that it can get stale. You start to lose your enthusiasm. And, like it or not, when our excitement starts to wane, students know it!
Today, we’re going to be revisiting some concepts I learned from “Mr. J,” a very inspirational colleague that kept me challenged as I started to lose some of my own gusto. In this video, we’ll also hear from Laura Adkison, a K-8 educator who advocates for the counter-intuitive notion of “reinventing the wheel” when teaching gets dry.
Now, you may be asking, “How does this relate to classroom management?” Well, as I’ve said before, when engagement is high, behavioral issues are typically low. And we know from the research powerhouse of Fisher and Frey that, when students see a direct connection between the task at hand and their personal lives, they are 14 times more academically engaged. And we are most capable of making these connections when we are engaged ourselves.
My recommendation: Cover this content towards the end of this year and ask teachers to commit to making the changes proposed for next year. We know that students and staff are tired this time of year. It’s not the best time to overhaul anything to be implemented tomorrow, but it’s primetime to brainstorm ways to keep things fresh for 24-25.
How to Use this Content:
Open and edit the slideshow linked below as needed. A lot of the details from the video are reiterated here. Pay special attention to the presenter’s notes on the final slide.
Show the video above. (A YouTube link to the video is also included in the slideshow linked below. You can embed it or link to it anywhere you’d like).
Complete the activity found in the slideshow with your staff
