The Best ways to Give your Students the Power in their Learning

It is looking more and more like we will be using distance learning this next year in California. What is your state or district leaning towards? Are you nervous about going back into the classroom? Today I am going to talk to you about giving your students the power to guide their learning this year. I have used this system for a few years in my classroom, but it also seamlessly went into distance learning. I am going to share with you exactly how you can implement this idea into your physical or virtual classroom. 

   Twice a week my students have a designated time called POP time. This stands for Proof of Proficiency. My students use their data to drive what standards they need to continue to work on. While students are working on their POP’s, I am also working with small groups that need to focus on specific skills. I did this whole process in the classroom, but it can also be done during distance learning. The students can work on this independently. This can even be used instead of the math curriculum during distance learning. Ok, so let's jump right into the meat of the topic! 

   The first thing to think about is how are you going to have your students look at their data. I use a data folder. It includes every standard for the subject in that grade level. When the students get an assignment back for each standard that is an 80% or higher, they put a checkmark on the standard. When the student gets two POP’s, they bring their folder to me and I check off that they have mastered the standard. At the start of POP time each day, the students open their data folder and choose a standard that does not have two checks yet. This is all done with student choice. The thing I love about student choice is that it creates buy-in with the students. They love getting to choose and having a say in what they are going to work on. 

   Now that the students have chosen the standard that they are going to work on, they go to the class POP chart in their Google Classroom. This is a document with links that I share with the class. I embed the links right into the picture of the video or the activity.  The document has three to four columns. The first column is just the standard written out. The next column has a video re-teaching the standard for the students. Sometimes I use a video that is already created, like Khan Academy, or if I am not able to find what I want, I will create a video of the content myself using a screencast program. The students are able to watch the video as many times as they need. I love that they can go back and refresh their minds when they get stuck. The third column has an activity for the students to practice, and if I use a fourth column, I embed a Google Forms quiz for the students to take. I don’t always use the last column because sometimes it is best if I assign the quiz when they are ready. It also lets me monitor how long they were practicing the skill, as well as how they were doing on the practice. 

   After the students have watched the video and feel like they are understanding the standard they are working on, they start to practice the standard. I do this in a few different ways. Sometimes I find a game that does a great job of explaining the content, sometimes I use practice that is already created, like from Khan Academy or Zearn, and sometimes I create the content myself. There are even times that a standard is challenging for the students and I will include two or three different activities to make sure the students have had plenty of practice with the standard. There are many times that the students will stop what they are doing and rewatch a video to make sure they are doing the standard correctly. 

   The final section of the POP chart is the quiz. The students can choose when they want to take the quiz for the standard they are working on. When they feel they have practiced and know how to do the standard, they can click on the quiz on their own or the teacher can assign it to them in Google Classroom. I love that Google Classroom lets you assign things to small groups of students. I have three different versions of the quiz based on the level of the students. Level A is for my high students, level B is for the average students, and level C is for the low students. I can always assign different quizzes based on if students need to take the quiz a second or third time. The order of the questions in forms can also be changed around so the students are not just memorizing the questions. If I see that a student is starting to really understand the standard they are working on, I can move them up to different quizzes. 

       Now that the students have taken the quiz, they can immediately see their score. This is one thing that I love about Google Forms. The creator can include the answers so the students can get instant feedback on how they did. Once they click on “View Score,” they can see what their score was. Also if the teacher is using a Google Gradebook, the score feeds right into the grade book. There is no having to input grades after the assignments have been completed. So this saves tons of time for the teacher also! 

   If the students got any of the questions wrong, they can immediately see what they got wrong. They can also use that information to check their work and see if it was a simple mistake, or if it was something they didn’t understand. If they got a three or four on the quiz, they have passed the standard and can move onto a new standard. If they did not pass, they can go back and do more practice and then take the quiz again. This is where giving a different quiz comes into play. 

   Using POP charts is a great way for students to practice and master their standards. I love seeing the students take ownership of their learning. Is this something that you are going to try in your classroom? Is there anything that you are not sure how to do to implement into your classroom? How can I continue to help you? Thank you for stopping in, and have a great day!

The Best Ways to Help Morning Meetings Run Smoothly This Year

Have you ever tried class meetings in your classroom? Do you wonder how to make the most of them?
Morning meetings and closing circles have become a staple in our classroom. This is a time that my
students look forward to each morning and afternoon. It is also a time of day that I get to just sit back
and appreciate my students because they lead the class meetings. You are probably asking, “How does
she do that?” Well let me tell you, it does take some training at the beginning of the year, but you can do
it this year too! It can even be done with distance learning.  Sit back and relax, as I tell you all about
how I run our class meetings each day. 

   

   The first thing you are going to want to do is research what the different parts of the class meetings
are. At the bottom you’re going to be able to download my class meetings packet, so don’t worry, it will
all be there for you. After some research, you are going to want to let the parents of your class know
what you are planning to do. I have also included a letter to parents or guardians to help you out. The
letter should explain what the parts of the meeting are, and how you plan to run them in your classroom.
The letter will also give directions to the parents explaining how the students will participate in the
meetings. 

   For the first month or so of school, I lead the meetings. This allows me to teach the students how the
meetings are run. We always start the meeting with a greeting. This is a time for the students to say Hi
to their classmates. They love getting to go around the room and say Hi to their friends. After the
greeting, I ask a “getting to know you” question. The question lets us all learn a little more about each
other. When we are not in the middle of a pandemic, I have the students sit in a circle around the
carpet. But this next year we will stay seated at our desks, and our greetings will include social
distancing. I will have the students give air hugs, air high fives, and waves to each other. Then I will
let them walk to one or two friends, remembering social distancing, and give their greeting. Then, all
of the students will return to their seats. I will have the students answer our question for the day from
their seats. 

   If you will be starting with distance learning, class meetings can still be a part of your day. You can
have the students take turns giving their greetings and answering their questions while you are on your
meeting platform. The students will love being able to share, and also seeing their classmates. 

   Eventually, you can choose a student leader and decide if you will have the student lead each day,
or for the whole week. I have included two different planning sheets for you. Each of the sheets have
each part of the meeting. The students will use the provided greetings and questions to decide what they
would like to include for that day. Sometimes students like to come up with their own greeting or
question, and I am fine with that. I like to give the forms to the students a week or two before their
scheduled time to lead. This gives them plenty of time to decide what greeting and question they want
to use, and it also gives me time to review what they want to include. I am also able to check if the
greetings and questions they came up with are appropriate. 

   

   The last thing that I do to get ready for our daily meetings is use slides to give the agenda for the day.
I type in the questions that the students want to use for each day right into the slide. This lets all the
other students know what the question is and lets them start thinking about how they would like to
answer. Now I never force anyone to answer the question. They can always say pass and we move
on to the next person. I like to come back around and let the students that didn’t answer have another
opportunity, or for others to add on to their answer based on what other students had to say. I usually
have some type of object that acts as our talking stick. At the beginning of the year, we talk about using
the talking stick and how you must be holding it to speak. So we do a lot of practicing with the talking
stick and raising our hand to be handed the talking stick in order to respond to the question, or add
on to another student's answer. It takes a little bit of time for the students to get used to using the talking
stick, but once they get the hang of it, it works out great! 

   Class meetings are an excellent way to get to know your students and learn more about them. The
students love to learn about one another as well. Every year this quickly becomes one of our favorite
times of the day. I know things are going to look different this next year, but we can still use class
meetings to build community in our class. If you would like to give morning meetings a try, click below
to get your free sample to try it out!