Note: This year I am blogging weekly reflections at my school site (weskids.com) in order to provide more transparency in my teaching for parents, students, and the community (local and global). I will be cross-posting most of the entries here at Bit By Bit as well. You can see the original posts at the “Reflections by Mr. S” blog.
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The 2013-2014 year has finally started! Welcome back to all! It is so great to see everyone and finally dig in! This week in my Reflection Blog, I will focus on how we started the year in all grades.
Student activities included:
- Going over the norms and expectations for the computer lab.
- Establishing seating assignments.
- Reviewing how to get to the “Lab Lessons” on the website.
- Exploring the changes to the weskids.com ”Portal.”
- And (if time allowed), discussing COLLABORATION.
It’s important to review norms and expectations not only on the first day, but everyday. Hanging near the door is a list of our expectations:
1. Help each other.
2. Listen to Directions.
3. One Person speaking at a time.
4. Eyes on the speaker.
5. “3 before me.”
6. No twirling in chair, lying on the ground, going under tables.
7. Do your BEST!
At the end of every single class, students line up at the door and we go over the above expectations. My “Student Teacher Assistant” (I’ll explain that role in a future post), is responsible for leading the conversation with the rest of the class and helping to assess how the class did as a whole with each of the expectations. Students are also asked to reflect on their own individual successes in achieving the expectations.
The expectation, “3 before me,” means that students are suppose to ask 3 other students for assistance before asking an adult. This is to reinforce the idea that students are responsible for their learning (along with others, of course), and helps students gain confidence in finding resources and solutions to problems on their own. The standard that we are working to achieve reads as the following:
Critical thinking and problem solving and decision making:
Students use technology resources for solving problems and making informed decisions.
A good example of how this expectation plays out would be if a student forgets where to go on the website in order to access the lesson. Rather than coming to ask an adult, chances are, they’ll be able to find at least 3 other students who know what to do. Usually, a student only needs to look to his/her partner at the same table to see that the partner has already successfully found the lesson; students rarely need to get out of their chairs to get the information they need.
I use a Randomizer to create an initial seating chart (using the site random.org). Usually, our first seating arrangements work out fine, but I will do some fine tuning in the coming weeks as I get to know the students.
After I assign students their seats, they have time to go and explore the changes on the weskids.com portal. During this time, I go around the lab and record the seating assignments in an electronic database (with almost 500 students, I need to keep them organized!). I really enjoy this part of our first day as it gives me time to go shake hands with every student and ask them a little about themselves, how their summer has gone, what they are looking forward to in Computer, etc.
Things You and Your Student Can Do at Home:
- Ask your student to tell you about the Computer Expectations. Ask if they remember what “3 Before Me” means (note: Kindergarten students have not learned this rule yet).
- Ask them to give you a tour of weskids.com. Ask them where they would go on it to access their favorite links.
