The Lighting of a Fire
January 1, 1970
Welcome to Issue Seven!The Lighting of a Fire
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” ~William Butler Yeats
September is a month rich with hope. In September, teachers dream of the successful school year that lies ahead. Our dreams begin with wishful thinking, graduate into serious goals and plans, and end with students who not only learn the course material, but courtesy and self-discipline as well.
In September, though, those successes can seem distant. As we grapple with the innumerable start-of-school tasks that loom large, we wonder how we can accomplish “the lighting of a fire” in our students.
Because our relationship with our students is just beginning, it is hard to know which spark will be the one that inspires. Veteran teachers know that in September we have to try a little of this and a little of that. We appeal to as many learning styles as we can, present challenging work that achievable, and make every effort to connect with every child every day.
If you sometimes feel overwhelmed this month, be patient. Soon your tasks will be lighter, your students will learn to master the material, and your September dreams will come true.
"No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.” ~Helen Keller
In This Month’s Newsletter
Here is what you will find in this issue:
• Positive labels your classes need to hear
• Brown bag suggestions
• Three icebreakers
• How to make promises that will motivate
• How to teach students to organize notebooks
• Two tips that can save you time while grading papers
• Suggestions for teaching study skills
• Various ways to use scrap paper in your classroom
• Several useful Web sites
• How to change your thinking to reduce stress
• Two writing-to-learn activities
• A discipline tip
“You can't direct the wind but you can adjust the sails.” ~Anonymous
Positive Labels for Your Classes
(From The First-Year Teacher’s Survival Guide)
“Think of a positive label or two for each class and use these labels frequently. Each of your classes should believe they have a special place in your heart. Here are a few positive labels your students should hear you use at the start of the year:
• Caring
• Motivated
• Intelligent
• Well prepared
• Successful
• Friendly
• Deep thinkers
• Cooperative
• Polite
• Studious”
“I’m not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did.” ~Yogi Berra
Twenty Minutes of Sanity
With just a bit of effort and forethought, you can make your school life much more pleasant. Even though most school lunch breaks last no longer than twenty minutes, lunch can be a time to relax and recharge for just a few minutes. One of the best ways to do this is to pack a nutritious meal and actually eat it in the company of other adults.
Brown bag lunches can save you lots of money over the course of a school term as well as give you the fuel you need to make it through the day. The equipment is simple: an insulated lunch bag, small freezer packs to keep things cool, a thermos to keep things hot, some utensils, and a variety of reusable containers.
Here are just a few of the things you can pack that will take only a few minutes to eat.
• Leftovers
• Pasta salads
• Fruit and cheese
• Cheese and crackers
• Raw veggies (great with various dips)
• Green salads
• Tuna, turkey, ham, egg, or chicken salad
• Unsalted nuts
• Cereal bars
• Soup
• Cereal
• Yoghurt and additives such as fruit or granola
• Cottage cheese
• Dried fruit
• Pretzels
• Sandwiches
• Wraps
• Rice cakes
• Pitas
• Bagels
• Hard boiled eggs
• Peanut or other nut butters
• APPLES (We’re teachers, right?)
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” ~Confucius
Icebreakers Are Not Just for the First Day
Here are three icebreakers that can be adapted to students of almost any age and that can serve a useful purpose throughout the term, not just on the first day. The more you know about your students and the more they know about each other, the better chance you have of creating a positive, tightly knit community in your class.
1. Have students write three statements about themselves. Two should be true and one should be false, but plausible. They should share first with a partner, and then with a group. There are many variations on this activity. For example, a group can make up statements about itself for other student groups to examine for veracity.
2. Put students into groups of three or four. Have them determine ten (more if you have time) things that they have in common. If they write their answers on a large sheet of paper, you can display them. Variations on this activity are to have students determine what their class has in common with the rest of the school or with students everywhere or with other members of the human race.
3. Another effective icebreaker is to have students participate in an informal scavenger hunt. You can ask students to find which classmate wears a certain size shoe, is a good cook, likes tacos, has never seen the ocean, or is a youngest child. Here are some other suggestions you can adapt.
• Was born on a holiday
• Has a dog or cat
• Is named after a family member
• Has ridden in a taxi
• Can ride a bike
• Likes unusual pizza
• Was born in another state
• Has milked a cow
• Can whistle well
• Has the most siblings
• Has been on TV
• Has met a celebrity
• Has won a prize
• Has no favorite color
• Plays a sport
• Has read a certain book
• Likes to hike
• Can tap dance
• Has ever broken a bone
• Has a special talent
• Can keep a secret
• Has an unusual talent
“An army of a thousand is easy to find, but, ah, how difficult to find a general.” ~ Chinese Proverb
“Here’s What You’ll Learn This Year”
One of the best things you can do to keep students motivated is to help them see their progress. Even though many teachers pass out a course outline or a syllabus, these documents do not have the same powerful effect that specific promises can.
Begin by making a promise to your students that they will learn hundreds of new facts, concepts, words…whatever is appropriate for your class and your students. Then, give students a checklist of the skills or material that you promise that they will learn by the end of the year. As you go over this list with students, briefly preview some of the items and how students will benefit from learning them.
Have students store these in their binders and continue to reiterate your promises. Post a master copy and refer to it at appropriate intervals to keep your promises fresh in their minds.
“A good leader inspires others with confidence in him; a great leader inspires them with confidence in themselves.”~ Unknown
Organize Notebooks
Any teacher who has been in a classroom for more than a day or two is familiar with a common phenomenon—the book bag binder. Instead of neatly storing papers in a binder, students will hurriedly cram them into their book bags as they dash out of class. The result is book bags stuffed with useless papers and students who do not have the material they need to be successful.
At the very beginning of the term, you can get your students on the right track in just a few minutes each day. When you show your students how to organize their notebooks and keep them organized, they will be able to find their papers whenever they need them.
Here is how to get started.
• Require that students have three-ring binders. These binders should not be expensive or so large that students do not want to carry them. They will also need notebook paper and paper hole reinforcement rings.
• Emphasize that binders should be sturdy. Keep a pair of pliers handy so that you can repair the rings when they get out of kilter. Wide tape also serves as a good reinforcement for corners.
• Begin by giving your students a blank table of contents page. You can either create your own or e-mail Julia Thompson for a template you can adapt for your students.
• Go over the table of contents page with your students and fill out what you can together.
• Post a copy of the table of contents page in a conspicuous space so that you can keep it up to date and students will have a model to check as they maintain their own notebooks.
• Although there are many different ways to organize and file papers, the easiest way is to have students keep their papers in chronological order.
• Teach students to make sure each assignment is labeled with their name and date. One way that many teachers have found to make sure that students do this is to place a highlighter near where students turn in their work. Ask students to highlight their names and the date before they turn in papers.
• If you notice that a student really has trouble with keeping a notebook in order, a valuable resource to help this student is a classmate. Students are usually very good at helping each other keep their notebooks in order.
“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”~B.B King
Two Quick Tips to Save Time Grading Papers
1. Keep papers organized with old-fashioned wooden clothespins that you can find at stores such as Wal-Mart, K-mart, or Target. Clip papers together with these and you will not have to wrestle with bent paper clips and messy papers.
2. When you grade papers, use two colors of ink. One can be for errors and the other can be for the things students did correctly. If you focus on only a few major errors, students can correct them easily, review their strengths, and move on.
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible.” ~Walt Disney
How to Teach Study Skills
One of the most useful lifetime skills that you can begin right away with your students is to promote good study habits. Many teachers have found that teaching one study skill each day (as part of the opening moments of class, as a transition activity, or as part of the close of class) is effective and not too time-consuming.
In fact, you will save time if you teach your students how to study because you will not have to reteach material throughout the term. Below is a list of study skills to help you get this part of your school year off to a great start. Each one is stated as a tip that you can put on the board each day for your students.
1. Learn to focus while you work. Turn off the phone, music, and other distractions.
2. Use your class time wisely so that you will not have as much work to do at home.
3. Always do your homework. Record the assignments you have before you leave class.
4. Write it down! Take notes in class and as you read.
5. Do not delay learning. Learn the material the first time you see it.
6. Get in the habit of quizzing yourself as you study.
7. Don’t try to cram. Keeping up is far easier than frantically trying to catch up.
8. Make and use flashcards.
9. Get organized and stay that way.
10. Believe in yourself. Have confidence that you can achieve your dreams.
11. Review your class notes within 24 hours.
12. Use colors to help you learn. Write on colored paper or use a bright ink or highlighter.
13. “Looking it over” is a waste of time. Write it down, call it out to a friend, sing it, say it over and over…don’t just stare at the page and daydream.
14. Use your biological clock to your advantage. Study when you are most alert.
15. Plan your work and work your plan.
16. Pay attention when your teacher talks.
17. Make up your work right away when you have been absent.
18. Ask for help when you need it.
19. Take good notes in class and while you read. Then, study those notes.
20. When you study notes, mark them up. Underline or circle key points. Draw arrows to connect facts…whatever works for you.
21. Correct tests and quizzes when they are returned. Learn from those mistakes.
22. When you have a passage to read, preview it first.
23. Become an intelligent test taker. Read the test first and follow directions.
24. Learn a new word every day.
25. Form an informal study group. Many people learn best when they can study with others.
26. Be sure to practice as much as you need to master the material.
27. If you have a large task to accomplish, break it into smaller tasks.
28. Work on the most difficult assignments you have for homework before you tackle the easier ones.
29. Reward yourself when you have completed a task.
30. Set small goals and work to achieve them.
“The simplest schoolboy is now familiar with truths for which Archimedes would have given his life.” ~Ernest Renan
Make Your Classroom Greener with Scrap Paper
Enormous amounts of paper are tossed out each day in school after school. You can curtail some of this wasteful paper flow by taking time to encourage your students to use scrap paper as often as possible.
For example, you and your students can make notepads. To obtain an adhesive that is manufactured for this purpose, check craft stores or click on www.thecraftypc.com. The process is simple, quick, and results in a useful product that all your students can share.
Here are just some of the other uses creative teachers can find for scrap paper.
1. Create bookmarks of all types
2. Make flashcards
3. Make mini graphic organizers
4. Fold into a 3-D triangle with messages such as “Help,” “OK,” and “Finished” on each side so that students can signal you while working independently.
5. Put a word of the day and its definition on the word wall.
6. Write exit slip information.
7. Write reminder notes to students
8. Take a pretest
9. Review facts by writing and self-checking
10. Complete small assignments
11. Practice math problems
12. Make note of interesting words or terms
13. Pose a question for you
14. Make a suggestion
15. Have students write a note to a classmate
16. Write an encouraging note to a student
17. Use as game markers
18. Use as “legal” cheat sheets on tests or quizzes
19. Use for brief sponge activities
20. Use for “yes/no” surveys.
21. Draw illustrations.
“What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.” ~ George Bernard Shaw
Useful Web Sites
You will find two incredible new sites that you can access with just a click in the lower left column on the home page of this site.
The Best on the Web for Teachers is a site maintained by Teach-nology (www.teach-nology.com). Here you will find numerous links to a wide variety of useful sites for teachers: 27,000 lesson plans, over a quarter million reviewed sites, 6,600 free worksheets, and much, much more.
The other new site is one first mentioned in August’s newsletter: The Apple (www.theApple.com). At this site, maintained by Affinity Labs, you will find a growing community of educators, current education news articles, both serious and amusing videos, career advice, state standards for each state, lesson plans, money advice, discussions, products for teachers, and many, many other resources.
Here are some other sites you can explore.
• To create your own class Web page: www.hotchalk.com
• For 720 free power point templates: www.powerbacks.com
• To enter a contest to win $25,000 in a classroom makeover: www.expoclassroommakeover.com
• To access K-8 interactive math activities and tools: Johnny’s Math Page: http://everyschool.org/u/ohlone/admin/JIMS.html
• For interactive reading activities: www.starfall.com
• For reports about many different countries: Library of Congress: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/
• For a large variety of K-12 activities and resources: www.42explore.com
• For interesting history reports: http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com
• For electronic tools such as grade books and Web pages: www.wheremindsmeet.com
“To me the sole hope of human salvation lies in teaching.” ~George Bernard Shaw
Change Your Thinking to Manage Your Stress
The beginning of the traditional school term is often one of the most stressful times of year for teachers everywhere. When you are feeling overwhelmed, it helps to break the enormous task you have of educating a classroom full of students into manageable workloads.
One of the best ways to achieve this feat is to ask yourself specific “how can” questions. Instead of thinking negative statements such as, “There is no way I can cover all of this material,” or “How did these kids ever pass last year anyway?” try asking yourself questions such as these:
How can I strengthen their reading skills?
How can I use writing-to-learn activities?
How can I teach courtesy?
When you switch your mindset to “how can”, you automatically state your concerns as problems that you can solve instead of just mindlessly worrying about them. Having a “how can…” attitude will help you achieve your students’ dreams and reduce your own stress.
“The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder.” ~Ralph Sockman
Two Writing-to-Learn Activities
1. Because an entire sheet of blank paper so often intimates students, microthemes are (almost!) painless ways for students to put their thoughts on paper. To begin, first have students tear a sheet of paper in half and share, or hand out index cards or pieces of scrap paper. Because the writing area is so small, students have to think carefully about what they write. You can ask students to complete brief assignments such as to summarize of reading passage, generate questions about a topic, or defend a position.
2. Another writing-to-learn activity your students will enjoy involves an online site: www.readwritethink.org. (This site also has lots of other reading and writing activities.) Click on the “Bio-Cube” page link to have students generate ideas and write about a person they have studied in class. You could also have them write about each other if you wanted to use this as a team-building activity instead.
“He who opens a school door, closes a prison”. ~Victor Hugo
Discipline Tip of the Month
One of the best defenses against misbehavior is to enlist the support of the parents and guardians of your students. Although this will take effort on your part, the time you spend building a bridge between school and home will reward you many times over during the course of the school year. When students know that teachers and parents are working together, behavior improves dramatically. Even though you will certainly be rushed for time during the month of September, make it a point to reach out to the parents and guardians of your students. Here are some suggestions for this task:
• Send home a letter to introduce yourself. It should tell a little about your background, give your class rules and expectations, explain your homework and grading policies, and present a quick overview of the course. Be sure to include contact information (school phone, school e-mail, etc.) so that parents can get in touch with you. The tone of this letter should be upbeat and inviting.
• If your school has a voice mail system, be sure to use it. Set aside a time every day to keep it updated.
• Set up a class Web site where you can keep parents and guardians apprised of upcoming events, assignments, and other important information.
• Call home right away when a problem occurs so that it remains a small problem.
• Even though it is time-consuming, call home during the first weeks of school to introduce yourself and learn as much as you can about your students. Ask questions such as “What should I know about your child?” or “What have other teachers done that has worked well for your child?”
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
~Mother Teresa