Igniting Curiosity!

Always aiming to create an engaging learning environment, I kicked off my summer learning by reading The Curious Classroom by Harvey "Smokey" Daniels. Smokey mentions that it's "often acknowledged that kids' curiosity somehow disappears by about fourth grade." Smokey totally hits the mark with this book! He provides easy to implement ideas that are sure to ignite student curiosity way beyond the fourth grade.

Questions are at the core of all of the structures Smokey provides in his book. He suggests that in order to build empathy and a sense of justice, we have students ask "Where do we fit in?" (identity) and "What can we do to help?" (power).  Falls perfectly right in line with my goal of the overarching "identity" and "power" themes I plan to carry out this year. Most of the inquiry models featured are short, five to twenty minutes to a couple of days in length where students use research skills and strategies before digging into a long inquiry unit. Grades and rubrics are not suggested for these types of experiences. Below, I've shared some recommendations I plan to try out in my classroom.

Wonder Wall or Notebook 
Provide students with a place to record questions and wonders as they occur throughout the day. Then, reserve time once a week for students to explore these questions during a Wonder Workshop. Students with similar topics can be placed into small teams. However, working independently is fine too. During the workshop, students read articles and record their new learning to share with other classmates. Each member of the groups has to contribute at least one piece of new learning. Students are encouraged to take notes, make illustrations, or create diagrams in order to share their learning/thinking.

Soft Starts
The concepts involves reserving the first 10-15 minutes of class for a quite time so students can explore topics of interest, consider it a scaled down Genius Hour session. It's a way to begin your inquiry based class in a peaceful and individualized manner. The main idea of these soft starts are that they are simple and repeatable, paving the way for further inquiry. There are different ways to implement this concept. Here is how I plan to structure my "soft start" themes:
"
Mondays: New York Times "What's going on in this picture?" Use the provided prompts or simply do a See Think Wonder thinking routine with the class. You will be amazed how much time can be spent analyzing one picture! On Fridays, the details of the photo is revealed.

Tuesdays: "Talking Tuesdays" Students read an article, typically related to an upcoming unit, that's simply meant for pleasure reading. As they read, they mark important, interesting or puzzling details. Newslea and Commonlit are great sources for these types of articles.

Another option I'm considering is "Traveling Tuesdays." I am dropping my geography unit and plan to integrate it throughout all of my units. Darcy Nidey, a fourth grade teacher featured in Smokey's book, incorporates a "destination jar" in her class. She asks the students on the first week of school to "think about the one place in the whole wide world that they would most like to visit someday." Students record their personal dream destinations and drop it in a jar. Every Tuesday, Darcy pulls out a destination slip. This becomes a whole-class inquiry. Students are given a couple of minutes to take notes on a four-quadrant note-taking form recording:

1. what they already know about the place
2. some questions they have about it

Quickly, Darcy requests their research topics so she can partner them up with another student.  Then, a Padlet page is opened with boxes labeled for each research team's name & topic. Students move on to the other two boxes on the note-taking form to fill in information from at least two other different sources. The final step is to synthesize the most important information they have learned and type it up in the Padlet to share with the class.

Wednesdays: "Wonderopolis Wednesdays" Students read, listen to the article, watch the video clip and/or record questions. These questions can be springboards for future inquiries. Another website similar to Wonderopolis to checkout is the The Curiosity Workshop.

Thursdays: "Throwback Thursdays" A fifth-grade teacher, Julie Eisenhauer, in Smokey's book projects a primary source using Padlet. Once projected, students can post virtual stickies of their thinking. Students work in groups of four or five to process the image posting questions, responding to each other, and sharing theories. This is a wonderful opportunity to highlight content that may not be part of my curriculum. I think This Day in History would be a good source and quick way (one minute videos) to implement this theme.  Of course there is no shortage of digital primary sources either, the Library of Congress is a good place to start.

Fridays: "Friday Headlines" A perfect way to catch up and discuss what's going on in the world. There also always seems to be a historical connection we can make to the content we are learning in class. Again Newsela is a good source for current events. Also, try checking out TweenTribune. Students LOVE the Week in Rap. While it's the only source I've provided in this post that's not free, it is well worth the subscription cost.

  

Recreating History Using Spatial Skills

Finding waypoints.

A couple of years ago, the Obama's ConnectEd initiative provided schools with the opportunity to have free access to the online GIS mapping tool ArcGis.  I jumped on the opportunity not realizing that the learning curve would be a steep one for me. However, the project-based learning possibilities involving problem solving, data analysis, and technology integration encouraged me to step outside of my comfort zone. 

Fortunately, it was not a journey I had to take without guidance. Vanderbilt professors, Janey Camp and Steve Baskauf (also a USN alumni dad), generously provided their time and expertise so our 5th graders could dip their toes in GIS mapping. Janey and Steve's passion in this field was inspiring. Their collaboration was instrumental in helping me design a project that would be engaging, yet developmentally age appropriate for 5th graders. The objective of the project was to develop a core set of skills to get students thinking of maps they could design in the future.     

Recreating primary source image with iPad.

Recording changes in the landscape. 

I also wanted the project to be connected in some way to history. In comes collaborator number three, Jenny Winston, USN archivist. Jenny pieced together a collection of images 

Analyzing primary source.

from the USN archives taken on Vanderbilt's Magnolia Lawn from the 1930's to the 1990's. Students, in groups of three to four, spent time in class analyzing the different images using the thinking routine, See, Think, Wonder. Students were told they would take a walk over to Magnolia Lawn to determine the original spot their image was taken and recreate it. Using the iPad, students marked up distinct landmarks on the digital images. It was no surprise that all of the students identified the trees as targeted landmarks. 

  

                  Using Explain Everything app to mark up primary source.

Our next step was for students to learn how to collect data by locating waypoints (latitude and longitude) using GPS devices and to record their observations on field notes. So, off we went across the street to Magnolia Lawn with GPS devices, iPads and clipboards in hand. At first, following the multiple steps required to use the GPS devices brought on a few challenges.  After reading their reflections, what they considered to be a focal point, the trees, in reality became somewhat of an obstacle. Here are some of the student reflections noting the different ways the landscape of Magnolia Lawn & the USN Edgehill entrance have changed over the years: 

Maya: "The tree in my picture was much more decayed and broken down. There was more foliage, so it was hard to identify the location of the photographer."
Eva:  "So much has changed on Magnolia Lawn. Things like trees, bushes, and things that might have otherwise been keys to finding the spot where the picture was taken are no longer there."

Townsend: "There were bike racks along the grass at USN. There are a lot more trees today than in 1950. The doors of the school are brown today, not white.  A lot of the trees in my photo are not there, so it was very hard to find the right place to take the photo."

Lindsey: "I was looking for a crack in the road, but since the road had been fixed, the crack was not there. I was looking for a tree split in half at the bottom with ivy all over it, but the tree was not there. I had a lot of fun doing this project, and I think that you should do it next year. I had fun trying to find the spot and the angle of the picture. Also, it was a little bit of a challenge because a lot of the characteristics that were there in the 1980’s were not there when I recreated the picture. It was like a puzzle, and I had fun finding the pieces."

Philip: "One of the human characteristics that was in my photo and is not around anymore is the white paint on the front of USN. A physical characteristic that is not around today is the extremely heavy foliage of the trees in one of the photos. We ran into many look alike trees, and other things that were confusing, such as which building to choose, as they all had columns. I think we worked very well together, seeing as we found all three photographs. We had a good time in the process, all cooperating together and checking the others' views of where the photograph might be taken from, and often agreeing with each other."

Myla: "There are no longer ridges on the stone wall as seen in the primary source, now it's now just a flat stone wall. We had a hard time finding the exact waypoint of the 1942 photo because there were trees blocking the building, so we couldn't see where we needed to stand. Finding the 1992 image location was challenging because now there is a tree that is blocking the direct view of the building. We found a tree that was in the primary source, but now it is much bigger."

Found the flowering dogwood tree, still standing.
Used PicCollage app to create before/after shots.

                           

                               Street between Magnolia Lawn and USN
                             made this picture tricky to recreate.

After collecting the data, students created maps with location pins, before/after photo images, and text explaining some of the changes. When mapping their latitude and longitude points, some groups quickly realized the importance of accurately recording waypoints. A pinpoint on the map in Alabama or Antarctica was a sure sign something was off!

Final student ArcGis map project.

Judging from the student reflections, everyone contributed towards the common goal using their unique talents for the good of the entire group and had fun in the process! 

Library of Congress, Hits it Out of the Ballpark!

My week at the Library of Congress Summer Institute for Civil Rights has been one of the best weeks of professional development I've experienced. I will not lie, it was extremely intense! I am certain I used up every ounce of brain juice. The analysis of primary sources was a total hook for an organic engagement of inquiry, collaboration and reflection.

Using the Project Zero thinking routines as a framework, each analysis activity had us actively invested in the process in so many different ways.

I was fortunate that I was familiar with the routines and had attended a Project Zero Casie conference all about thinking routines just 3 months before attending the Institute. Visible thinking strategies provide a framework to prompt students to be deep thinkers and synthesize new knowledge. The visible thinking, most importantly, shows the process of thinking not just a final answer. The book provides a menu of critical thinking activities that work with just about any learning opportunity. It's a wonderful way to keep the learning low-risk and open-ended. Visible thinking strategies also dovetailed perfectly with the analysis of primary sources. Some of the routines we used while analyzing primary sources were Headlines (great for synthesis) and Circle of ViewPoints (powerful way to tackle perspectives). 

Map Group Activity Ending with a Creation of a Headline

Another automatic go-to are the Library of Congress primary source analysis tools which scaffold the inquiry process for just about any possible primary source. There is also a web version available.

One of the perks to attending the Institute was the after hours tour of the Jefferson Building's Reading Room. We had total VIP access! I wish I could have bottled up the excitement as we entered the Reading Room, total giddiness. It reminded me of just a few months ago when I was at the Washington Memorial with eighty 8th grade students, and we ran into Usher doing a soundcheck for an Earth Day concert. 

     

We also had the incredible fortune to hear a panel made up of Rosa Parks' dear friends from the Rosa Parks Institute in Detroit: Elaine Steele, Lila Cabbil, Anita Peek, Dr. Roberta McLeod, Ella McCall-Haygen and other friends June Jeffries and Joe Madison. They shared with us Parks' courage and how she valued relationships. The ladies then hung out with us for part of the week. It was a truly surreal experience. 

Ella McCall-Haygen, me & Dr. Roberta McLeod

Panel of Rosa Parks' Friends

One of my favorite parts of the institute was the opportunity to tour the Library of Congress exhibit The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom. We were partnered up and were assigned to an exhibit case. We were then asked to select something that we connected with in the case and later present it to the group. We had questions to guide us in the process. It was jigsaw at its best! I'm totally stealing this idea next time we take our students to a museum.

Some of my major primary source takeaways I plan on using to ignite inquiry are:

• Focus on the voices behind the movement. I plan on highlighting Bayard Rustin, an openly gay man, that was the mastermind behind the March on Washington but is rarely noted.

• Include raw, unfiltered primary sources throughout the year as much as possible. Coming across a Daisy Bates letter regarding the poor treatments of black students at Central High, specifically mentioning Minniejean (visits our school every year during our Civil Rights unit), I consider hitting the jackpot! There is a goldmine of sources available.

• When teaching about the Civil Rights unit, I plan to include primary sources from slavery, Revolutionary War, to current events to represent the long and still much present struggle of social justice.
• During my Native American unit, I will fold in powerful Indian boarding school primary sources . I'm thrilled that there is actually a "Nashville" connection too. Adding this slice of history makes a connection later on in the year with the Civil Rights unit's focus on school segregation and civil rights violations. 

I walked away from the Summer Institute with a better idea on how to maximize the access/usage of the Library of Congress digital sources. The experience has totally transformed me, and I cannot wait to implement new ideas with my students. I've walked away a better teacher with an arsenal of best practice pedagogy and a passion for learning with primary sources. During the Institute, I was in the company of other educators that share my passion for learning and history! I have a feeling some of those friendships will continue inspiring me beyond our time together in Washington D.C.

Learn Like a Pirate!

I absolutely love summer! It gives me time to reflect, learn and act. Over the summer, I always fit in workshops/conferences and reading my highly anticipated stack of books. I learned via Twitter that @PaulSolarz has a wealth of knowledge which he generously shares. I was so excited when I heard he had written a book, no more 140 character limit! Paul Solarz's book Learn Like a Pirate pushed me to think about the way I run my classroom, taught me a few tricks, and now I am committed to create some change.

 I consider my classroom already to be student driven, but Paul's book has some practical suggestions that I can easily implement to iron out some of the bumps I run into.  Here are some changes I am creating in my classroom this year:

• Give Me Fives: What a wonderful way to empower students to step in and take the reins. I typically ask students to step forward to share with the class. By being the sole person to make these calls, I'm positive I am missing learning opportunities that everyone would benefit from, including me! I plan to introduce give me five at the beginning of school along with the rest of my rituals. I have a feeling it is going to be liberating and up the ante of our learning community.

• Post Daily Schedule: I tried this out a few times last year but was not consistent. I aim this year to stick with it. I feel this small change will help with my class activity transitions, which don't always run as smoothly as I wish. When I am in a workshop/conference, I too like to know the agenda.  I owe this piece to my students.

• Pulling Popsicle Sticks for Partnerships/Groupings: Grouping students is one area of my job, I don't enjoy.  I love the popsicle stick idea for grouping on the fly. As Paul states in his book, "Random partnerships help build strong student relationships amongst everyone in the room."

• Good versus Bossy Leadership: Students regularly collaborate in my classroom. Year after year, I run into a few students that hijack a group's efforts. The teacher-student discussion is a total balancing act, because I don't want to discourage the students from leading. Paul suggests in these instances to pull the student aside and ask them if their behavior is displaying good leadership skills or has crossed over into bossiness.  As teachers, we need to nudge the kids to lead with kindness by making them aware of their tone. I plan to front load the discussion when I present the collaborative group expectations, but will not miss out on the opportunity to provide feedback along the way!

• Student Reflection: The last couple of years I have gotten better by factoring in time for students to reflect on their learning. E-portfolios have been a great platform to record reflections. At times, I have overthought the process of guiding the students in this process. I have learned that you are better off by providing students with some guiding questions. Paul has great go-to questions to prompt deeper thinking during and after the learning process that I am totally stealing!

• Describe what happened or what you did during the lesson.
• To explain your learning experience provide: 

strengths and weaknesses

successes and setbacks 

hard and easy

• What did you learn due to the experience?
• What can you do to improve your learning? How will you extend your learning past what is expected?

There's much more in the book to check out including some active learning ideas, resources and 21st century skills. The book has QR codes that link up to Paul's website which is full of examples of student work, a great source for inspiration. Off to the next book in my reading stack, summer is near the end for me!

Historians as Work!

It's always exciting to plan and implement a new project, especially one packed with rich learning opportunities. Our school is turning 100 this year. So in honor of our centennial year, I designed an inquiry based project that would celebrate our school's history throughout the decades. My plan was to promote historical thinking as students analyzed primary sources and shared their findings in a digital story. What I did not expect was the high level of student engagement. Class periods seemed to be cut in half and students left class begging for more, a teacher's dream! I also got sucked in and was actively learning beside them as we uncovered the layers of our school's history.

The first step to creating the project was to identify the targeted skills I could integrate into the project such as:

- working in collaborative groups

- comparing/contrasting ideas

- analyzing primary sources

- inquiry & researching

- close reading, inferencing & summarizing

- sourcing & citations

- interviewing & presenting

Actually, the list of skills seemed to expand as the project evolved. For instance, I decided to weave in literary devices in order to prompt more descriptive writing.  The amount of technology skills embedded into this project was really off the charts too.

Building Background Knowledge

I invited colleagues to stop by our classroom to share stories about our school's inception. I felt this would give everyone a foundation of where and how it had all started. In the process, it ignited curiosity and a sense of excitement among the students.

   

The Time Capsule Hook

In order to kick off the project, I taught a mini-lesson on primary and secondary sources. I showed the students a clip of the 1795 time capsule that was recently found in Boston and another clip that revealed what was inside the capsule. I announced that we were about to embark on a similar mission to in order tell our school's story. They could not wait to start!

Creating an Archivist Mindset

Photographs:
To prepare my students to analyze photographs with a critical eye, I used a class activity I call Zooming In. Using my Smartboard, I revealed a photograph bit by bit, stopping to discuss: What do you wonder? What do you notice? What do you think? It was a great way to slow down the process of analyzing photographs. I would not reveal more of the photograph until all thoughts were exhausted. I was impressed by the questions and inferences students made. Students were surprised by how much information they could get from a single photograph.



Objects:
Prior to starting this project, I visited different antique shops around town to scout out unusual antique objects. Each group was assigned an object to analyze its design and purpose. Then, I brought out the modern day versions of the objects, so students could compare and contrast the objects.

 

Our school is very fortunate to have their own school archivist on staff, Jenny Winston. So, I took full advantage of her expertise and passion for primary sources. First, she and I worked closely brainstorming ways we could use the primary sources from our school's collection. After kicking around a few ideas, we decided on the concept of building decade boxes from the 1920s to the 1970s. She selected an assortment of primary sources, with 5th graders in mind, such as photographs, letters, newspapers, textiles, graduation rings, and yearbooks. She also scanned some of the sources from each decade and shared the Google Drive decade folders. So, the students had access to the digitized primary sources. They also had access to our school's virtual, interactive timeline and digital archives website which holds a larger collection than what could be found in their digital folders.

Decades GDrive folders with digital primary sources

On her first visit to our class, Jenny, brought a few interesting primary sources for the students to check out. She went over how to appropriately handle the sources in order to preserve them, by laying them flat to examine and turning the pages gently at the edge, all while wearing gloves. Honestly, there was something about the idea of students wearing white gloves as they handled the primary sources that transformed their mindset from a typical 5th grade student to a passionate archivist on a mission. It was like the white gloves came with investigative superpowers!

Let the Investigations Begin!

Students worked in groups of 3-4. They selected a decade of interest from 1920'-1970's and were provided a rubric. Each decade's inquiry was anchored with the same essential question, In what ways has USN preserved its traditions and evolved throughout the decade? Students were also provided with suggested focal areas of investigation (academics, sports, club/social, and facilities) but were encouraged to modify them as needed.  The project was easily differentiated based on the complexity of the primary source selection from different texts to photographs. Each primary source naturally provided the students with a breadcrumb trail to another source. Students were totally immersed in the challenge of piecing the puzzle together. One student made the connection of how he felt like Sherlock Holmes as he investigated. It was quite a scene to see their excitement as they connected the dots of their discoveries.

Analyzing Primary Sources

Technology Playing a Part

Technology only enhanced the process of investigating and reporting their findings. Students used the web to access secondary sources to answer questions that came up in their investigations like What is kitten ball? and How do you dance the jitterbug? They quickly discovered that taking pictures of primary sources allowed them to use the iPad as a magnifying glass, so they could zoom in and out on an image. Onsite reporting was a snap with a mobile device. Students used their iPads to take photos of the school and to interview faculty members. Our athletic campus is not located on our school's campus; not problem for my students, they cleverly realized they could use GoogleEarth to obtain street and ariel views. We used Book Creator to produce the digital stories. Students were encouraged to "smash" apps, and they did not hesitate to do it using PicCollage, Explain Everything and iMovie apps. Each student produced their own pages and later the group's pages were merged into one book.

                                                       

                                                               Book Creator Cover

It's Showtime!

Presentations were practiced in class and students were reminded not to read to the audience, but to aim at presenting the big ideas of their decade. They were also required to present dressed in attire representative of their decade. It was entertaining to hear a 5th graders interpretation on their decade such as how teachers never smiled in the 20s.

Changes for the Next Time Around...

It is wonderful when the outcome exceeds the expectations, and that's exactly what happened with this project.  The experience heightened my awareness that the level of student engagement and problem solving mindset increases significantly when primary sources are in the mix. This experience has motivated me to find ways for primary sources to be at the core of my instruction, promoting critical thinking and problem solving throughout the entire learning process. As I reflect, there are just a few items I would consider changing. In addition to the essential question, I provided students with supporting questions. A few students were paralyzed when they could not find answers to the supporting questions, even though they were told they did not have to answer all of them. While a few other students felt like they were done researching once the supporting questions were answered. I meant the supporting questions to be jumping off point not a means to the end. Next time, I would instead provide them with general questions that scaffolds the process of making observations & interpretations with the primary sources.

I feel we also underestimated the use of the digital primary source collection website. Initially, we felt the students would be overwhelmed by the amount of sources. However, once they figured out how to browse with tags, it was smooth sailing. Using the website would eliminate the need to share the decades GDrive folders. Groups collected and sourced their research on a shared GDoc. I might instead consider using Padlet next year.  I would also start off the project with each group researching the main historical events of their decade, before giving them access to the primary sources.

Lastly, I would consider a class trip to the Tennessee State Library of Archives next year prior to starting the research. This would add another level of authenticity to the entire experience.

While we will only be celebrating a centennial year once, I have a feeling this project will be experienced for many years to come!

AM-LEarning 2014!

I can't believe this is my 5th year teaching in the middle school, and I have never heard of the AMLE (American Middle Level Educators) conference until their arrival to Nashville this year. It was two and half days of quite an assortment of learning opportunities. The conference was was kicked off with a group of motivating keynote speakers such as Dave Burgess, Cedrick Gray, Nikki Woodson & Kim Campbell. Mission accomplished, I walked out of the ballroom totally pumped and honored to be an educator.

I'm recording all of the brilliant ideas I saw this weekend before I forget them, or I file them away never to be seen again.

Teach Like a Pirate - Dave Burgess
My first session was the Teach Like a Pirate session with Dave Burgess. I had already read his book a couple of years ago, and his performance strongly reinforced the idea of creating an experience for kids by making the lessons come alive. While his lesson on teaching the branches of government was in his book, seeing it in person completely makes sense now. I am totally stealing this idea!

LGBT - Norma Bailey
Due to the horrible service at the restaurant as I waited for my lunch, I almost missed this session. I am so glad I walked out without my lunch. Norma was amazing! She beautifully stated that gay students are no more special than other students, but they are no more less either. So, how can we break the silence? Her suggestions included:

• Make LGBT issues explicit in the curriculum. 

• Easy to infuse in social studies with current events. Civil Rights unit is a natural path, not everyone has civil rights. A great essential question: What starts a civil rights movement?
• Language arts by using good literature such as:  Annie On My Mind, SP likes AD!, The Misfits (perfect for middle school), I am Jazz (picture book)

• Identify when an author is gay or lesbian.
• Science: genetics unit - Why are people gay?
• Math: Bring in graphs about LGBT data/people.
• http://glsen.org/nonamecallingweek
• How to handle harassment:
• Stop the harassment
• Identify the harassment
• Broaden the response
• Ask for change in the future

Close Reading
I also attended a few close reading sessions. The tying in of text evidence, finding patterns, and the value of questioning was pretty much the focal point in all of the sessions. Some ideas I want to try out are:

• Using metaphors to extend the thinking. "How is _____ like ________?" (example: How is water like electricity?) Then having the kids go back to the text to find text to support it. 
• Using the 5W & 1H to pull key details found in the text, then having students share and anchor it back to the text by having them provide the page number where the information was found.
• Image analysis by 1st asking students "What do you see?" then using a Sense-O-Gram chart
• Ask "What did the words make you see?" instead of "What did you read?"

Motivate & Engage Students to Think Critically through Close Reading of Complex Text - Leah Ames
Love the idea of students experiencing the value of multiple interactions with the text to deepen understanding by using the short clips from www.theinvisiblegorilla.com and the Doritos "Missing Cat Super Bowl XLVI" commercial.

Doritos Commerical
1st view What did you notice?
2nd view How did it happen?
3rd view Why or why not?

Another suggestion was to use songs such as "Brave" by Sara Bareilles, which generated a deep discussion among our group.

Note & Notice by Kylene Beers & Bob Probst
This duo did not disappoint! I had read their wonderful book and am anxiously awaiting their non-fiction version to be published. They ran through teaching kids to notice the six signposts with their accompanying anchor questions. Tell kids to read with their PENCIL in their hand! These strategies are helpful because the kids know the questions, so they will also know the answers or at least be looking for them as they read. Using this method gives the students ownership to the text.

If You Can't Manage Them, You Can't Teach Them! - Kim Campbell
Kim Campbell is an energetic and motivating presenter!  I was so impressed I sat through two of her sessions. I plan to buy her book on Monday.

Here are some of her ideas I plan to use:

• Partner Talking strategy 
• Partner A (talker) & B (listener - smile/nod only)
• Talk for 30 seconds (timers were a big deal, sense of urgency)
• Teacher approaches B to tell her what A said
• Brain Breaks (students can only listen to their age in minutes)
• Pinky and hand movement
• Get the Wiggles Out - 12345 (arm), 12345 (other arm), 12345 (each leg), 12345 (tush), 1234..., 123...., 12..., 1...
• Egg, Chicken, Cow, Human - Rock, Paper, Scissors 
• Rock, Paper, Scissors - sit when you lose, can get back up when their opponent loses to another person
• Groupings
• Index card 4 square to group up, 2 they pick and 2 where you give a criteria, helps with quick groupings
• Signals
• claps
• eyes on me
• hands on head
• chanting "When I say middle, you say school"
• Don't have more than 3-4 pet peeves at a time (try foam sheet for desk tappers)
• Never use "sh" 
• Use EXPECTATIONS not RULES - rules are meant to be broken
• NEVER redirect the same kid about a behavior twice! Hold them accountable.
• Post it Note Review Study Strategy (make extras for the early finishers)
• Write a name of a person, place or thing on post it
• Exchange Post It's (without seeing what the new post it says), put it on forehead
• Ask classmate 3 questions to try to figure it out
• Come back to seat when music starts 
• Draw it! Describe it! Do it!
• 1 or 2 = draw it (Pictionary)
• 3 or 4 = describe it
• 5 or 6 = do it, act it out
• Keyword Prediction - pre-reading strategy. Post random keywords for students to predict with their AB partners, collaborate as they play around with the words, even make up questions then ask teacher question. Then bring it up a notch by showing an image - what do you notice, wonder?
• 20 Word Summary in exactly 20 words summarize the main points after a 10 minute lecture.
• Mystery Participate - put 3 student names in your pocket, if all three of the kids participate get to play a round of Rock Paper and Scissor tournament. Don't tell them who it was if you don't meet the expectation.

AMLE's offerrings allowed me to be put a bit of everything on my learning plate. It was truly satisfying, just what I needed to take my teaching to the next level.