1. Reflect on any engagement strategy you have used that did not work well. What do you think went wrong? Were the problems with the strategy, your implementation of it, the curriculum or classroom context, or your students? How big a role in a strategy's success do you think you play?
2. Do you ever have a hard time getting buy-in from your students? If so, speculate why. What are some ways you could modify your teaching to increase student buy-in?
3. Do you and your colleagues build positive relationships with students? What are some ways you could build stronger relationships with your students?
Many times I think that I have explained an assignment correctly and when students turn in their work, I realize I haven't. I think that it's because of the way I am explaining it. Also I should try things like using less words and tell the students more of what I want instead of what I do not want. I think that I play a big role in whether this strategy will work or not if I can apply it correctly.
ReplyDeleteI do have a hard time getting students to buy in. I think this is mostly because I do not have rewards for them that are exciting enough. Maybe I should let them take more part in choosing the rewards.
I believe that our school does have strong relationships with students and their families. I think these relationships can become stronger if we have more things such as family night, take-home projects, etc. This will allow parents and families a chance to be more involved with the student's learning and realize the big part they play as well in their child's learning.
I agree. The key to helping children is to keep their parents involved. Parents need to feel welcome. I think Iron Station does a great job at this. Our office staff is wonderful at this.
Delete1. The strategy that I find most difficult to work successfully for me is embracing clarity. Many of the students I serve have some sort of language delays. If I don't clarify information that I present to them or if I am vague in presenting my message, they do not understand what I am requesting of them. I cannot cut corners with the information that I am providing them. It is imperative to meet IEP goals to present information in a concise manner that will be fully absorbed by my students.
ReplyDelete2. I probably have less difficulty getting "buy-in" from my students than most classroom teachers. This is because a majority of my students like coming to Speech because we have fun activities for motivation. They know they are going to get to talk/share and play with their peers, and let's be honest--they get 30 minutes to be out of their classrooms. Occasionally, I do get a group who are uninterested in the game or activity for that day. At that time, it can be difficult to get them to "buy in" to the speech session. I might ask them what activity they would prefer within reason. That being said, it is impossible for me to switch activities with every group; time just does not permit.
3. I feel that we build very strong relationships with our students. Something that we do in speech at the beginning of every session is open the floor up to discuss anything that might have happened over the weekend or that is important to the student that they want to share. Doing this daily serves two purposes. It establishes a rapport with the students that they can feel free to share with me, but also gets whatever is on their minds out so they can focus during the session and not feel the need to interrupt to share once we have begun.
Kelly I am in agreement with you on clarity. Language delays make it more difficult to understand lesson objectives. Exposure to language in early years is crucial to a child's academic success and we cannot cut corners when meeting IEP goals.
DeleteI have used an engagement strategy that did not work because I was not excited about the subject. The students quickly picked up on it. I had to reteach the standard showing a lot more passion for the content. When I did this a difficult lesson was more interesting and motivating.
ReplyDeleteMy own teenagers have stated that school is an obligation. My oldest son has told me that the constant testing causes students not to like school. I have observed how it impacts reading and the love of reading. I think that the buy-in engagement strategy is most important. This is the area that I want to improve in my classroom this year. I want all of my students to want to participate and choose to learn.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about the impact on the love of reading, Lisa! That is such a sad but true statement. It's a shame that so many kids don't realize how reading a book just for fun can be such a pleasure! If there is an area that the buy in strategy needs to be implemented, it's in reading!!
DeleteAmen, Lisa! It makes me so sad to see that kids are not developing a love of reading because they are being pushed to pass a test. One of the things I love about fourth grade is that we have several novels that all of the kids love to read. They learn about NC history, but they also realize that they can actually enjoy the act of reading. I try to help my kids find things to read that give them that sense of joy so that they want to pick up a book.
DeleteI agree with Lisa about the testing and the loss of the love of learning. Creativity and ingenuity are hard to categorize. Testing can't easily measure these. I asked 5th graders why they aren't reading and what would get them to read more. Their comments were from the obvious "reading is boring" type statements to "give better prizes". If a prize is the end result of reading a book, the journey and pleasure when reading a book is lost somewhere along the way.
DeleteI think that our third grade team works very hard to have positive relationships with the students. We want the students to know that we care about them and want them to do great things . We all have favorite teachers that have motivated us and inspired us to always do our best. Unfortunately, we probably have also had teachers that seemed like they didn't like children.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you!! I believe our team has great relationships with our students.
DeleteI agree that our team works hard to create positive relationships with the students. If our students know we care about them and want them to be successful, we have a better chance of reaching them.
DeleteWhen I am unsure of the content I am teaching, that's when engagement takes a hit. It's especially true when I find the subject to be uninteresting myself. I play a huge role in whether or not my students are engaged in what I am teaching. It's my responsibility to figure out a way to make it interesting, like it or not.
ReplyDeleteMe too Donna! I also feel self-conscious if I think another teacher is listening to my lesson. I worry that I am not teaching it the way they would or that it doesn't live up to their expectations. Being in a testing grade I feel pressure to teach everything to 100% but because I feel so unsure about things I find I don't give it the enthusiasm it deserves. This makes the kids not buy-in to the lesson.
DeleteI find that I also take an engagement hit when I am nsure of content. That is particularly clear to me having changed grade levels. This is a challenge for many elementary teachers because al though we are trained to teach a range of grades each grade is different and a new learning process for us. I often find myself getting to the end of the year and feeling I didn't do enough because now I really understand where we were going in a way I didn't at the beginning of the year.
DeleteThe second question ties closely with the first. Buy-in is hard when I am not passionate about what I am doing, or when the kids don't feel like I am relating the learning to THEM. Making relevant connections to the kids is important. Sometimes something as simple as using their names in the math problems makes math more interesting.
ReplyDeleteI see plenty of folks in this school building positive relationships with kids. Even though I am only here a couple of days, I see the teachers here as being willing to take part in the "special days." The atmosphere here is warm and inviting, not just to kids, but to new people like me. Building positive relationships with kids can happen just by having real conversations with them and listening to them tell you about all the things they think are so exciting. Lots of times kids just want someone to look at them and hear what they say. We need to be real and sincere with kids and let them see that we aren't perfect. Relaxing enough to laugh at ourselves and admit when we make mistakes can go a long way toward building a positive atmosphere in the classroom.
ReplyDelete1. I typically find that if I am not "engaged" with my students, I will have a room full of sleepy, bored kids. For example, if I sit at my desk and put notes on the board while lecturing, my students will not be engaged. I usually have much more success when I am moving around and motivated about what I am teaching. I have to be sure that my kids are excited about what we are learning, even on days when I'm not excited or not feeling so great. Sometimes it's hard to pull that off.
ReplyDelete2. I definitely have a hard time getting buy-in sometimes. As I said earlier, my level of excitement matters, but there are still plenty of times when I feel like I'm talking to myself. I see my students become the most engaged when they work on something that they really care about or are truly interested in. I need to continue to look for opportunities to tie our curriculum in with the things that fourth graders care about.
3. Most of the staff at Iron Station seem to work very hard to build strong relationships with the students and families. I think this is one of the most important things we do as teachers. We have no idea what these children come from and school may be the safest, most stable part of their lives. Every child deserves to be greeted with smiles, hugs, and/or personal comments every day. I think the most important part of building that relationship is for the kids to know that we really do care and for them to recognize our sincerity.
ReplyDeleteI so agree. I feel to our students we need to be a stable, safe, encouraging, and loving environment. As I listen to the any stories students share, sometimes as soon as they walk in the door, I wonder if anyone even communicates with them at home.
DeleteSince I see several classes per grade, I have noticed that my enthusiasm makes a huge difference in the success of a lesson. Either the 4th time I feel like I am repeating myself and my enthusiasm Is not as high or the 4th time goes very smoothly because I've worked out the quirks. A very smart teacher told me a long time ago to tell students what you want them to do, not what they shouldn't do. Simple, but so incredibly true. Staying positive and enthusiastic can be a real challenge when certain students test your patience. I do believe every employee at ISES tries to have a positive, developing relationship with students at the school. It's just tough to spend time getting to know students when there is so much to do in a day.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree Suzanne. Sometimes my enthusiasm in not so great by the time I teach the same lesson for the sixth or seventh time in one week. I agree that it is tough to spend time getting to know all of the students that we teach!
DeleteI can totally understand. This might be why I am constantly coming up with new units to teach. It keeps me excited about the concepts...
DeleteMrs. B, I can honestly say that your enthusiasm and fun hands-on lessons keeps my kiddos (and us) very engaged!
DeleteI agree with Jen G. Coming up with new material to teach the same concepts keeps me excited, therefore; the students are excited.
DeleteSince looping with my students I have built a great relationships with most of my students. However, I do believe that they are getting really comfortable with me and I have to change up my classroom management all of the time. It's pretty important that I stay consistent as much as possible!
ReplyDeleteI feel like I have a hard time getting the students to buy-in on my lessons. My students are developing the 'I dont care about my grades' attitude. I'm trying to encourage as much as I can, but I can only say it so many times. I try to find quick engaging videos on the subject we are learning about. I have also thought about implenting a "guest teacher" role for my students.
I feel like our school is great at making students feel welcome and safe. Just smiling at students you do not know well could change the outlook of their day. The way I've built relationships with my students over the past 2 years is to listen to them. I let them tell me about their weekends or dance competitions, etc. I hope my students know I care about them!
I agree that looping creates great relationships! I don't officially loop, but have my students several years in a row and that enables us to really get to know each other :)
DeleteEmbracing Clarity is an important engagement strategy that requires a lot from my end. Sometimes, I find that I need to give simpler directions and state my expectations more clearly. I think I have explained myself, but then I find that students have the same questions. Instead of becoming frustrated with answering the same type of questions twenty times, I gather the class back to whole group to clarify the directions. Recently, I focus on saying more of what I want from students instead of the things I do not want, and I am able to see a difference.
ReplyDeleteI do find that some topics are hard to get students’ buy-in. It is important that I use strategies like the “bigger kid” challenge because my third graders like to think they are learning topics older students are learning. My students like to be challenged when compared to older students. I also like the phrase, “I really should not be telling you this, but...” or “I don’t know if anything’s done this experiment before…” (27).
I believe that my colleagues work hard to build positive relationships with students. I believe in the statement, “students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” In order for us to reach the students, they have to know we care about them and want them to be successful.
That is Mr. Harkey's favorite quote! :)
DeleteI also thought of Mr. Harkey when I heard that quote. I believe it to be true. If you treat students with respect and show them that you care for them, then they are more likely to respect and care for you.
DeleteClarity has been difficult for me this year with Kindergarten. It is very challenging to go from 5th grade one minute to 1st grade or Kindergarten the next. There have been a few times when the Kinders look at me like I have 2 heads! I have to really think about how to say things so they will understand.
ReplyDeleteBuy-in is pretty easy in Art because they all want to get to the fun stuff. My students love to try new media and create artwork. The hardest part is getting them to buy-in to assessments and critiquing their own work.
I think that we all have strong relationships with our students. I believe the after school clubs have helped build relationships as well as the parent/child activities and other events at our school. I always see teachers speaking to students in the hallways. I try to learn every student's name as quickly as possible at the beginning of the year. Special area teachers have an advantage at relationships with students because we have them every year. Some of my fifth graders are like my own kids.
Jen Gemberling
ReplyDelete1. Reflect on any engagement strategy you have used that did not work well. What do you think went wrong? Were the problems with the strategy, your implementation of it, the curriculum or classroom context, or your students? How big a role in a strategy's success do you think you play?
I can't think of one off hand , but I will say many times I will adjust my train of thought based on my groups of students. I find that each year I teach will determine what "BY INs" I use. Three years ago my class could not do any programs/engagements that involved at home activities, so my fun activities where all school based. It was more geared towards self-help goals. Two years ago I had to change programs based on behavior. This year based on good behavior but 1/2 home participation.... I strongly believe teachers could be the best salesmen ever. It is our job to make school safe, fun, educational and beneficial to the child.
2. Do you ever have a hard time getting buy-in from your students? If so, speculate why. What are some ways you could modify your teaching to increase student buy-in? Yes , I think there will always be a child that you need to work harder on, than the others. It could be because of behavior, it could be home life, academics... It is up to us to help that child understand we are here for them. Communication is key when this happens. Also make it safe and positive.
3. Do you and your colleagues build positive relationships with students? What are some ways you could build stronger relationships with your students? When I walk through the halls of Iron Station my heart swells with pride in how we treat our children. A lot has changed over the past ten years, but teachers continue to have a vested interest in these students and the community. I am not sure how much more we could change.
G, I couldn't agree more with your statement about how it is our job to make school "safe, fun, educational, and beneficial to the child."
DeleteI love how you say to make it "safe" and "positive". This is what we all aim for but it is so hard to do when we are in the thick of things and needing that positivity. (personally I think you could lead a workshop on the whole positivity thing! Kindergarten teachers rock!) It is a good reminder for me to strive to keep those positive tones with the children when I see other teachers in the hallways doing the same.
DeleteThe first part of engaging students in my classroom is be excited about the lesson myself. It is shown on my face, in my voice, and in my actions (be it jumping up and down or swinging arms left and right!). It may be letting them feel that they are doing an activity that I taught years ago in 3rd grade ( I may tell them, "I did this with my 3rd graders but I think you are able to do this too.") Or it is simply a challenge that I am presenting to them. Today I just simply told them I needed their help editing a writing that was presented to me and they loved helping me correct the mistakes.
ReplyDeleteA month ago I introduced a word in our phonics lesson and I expected some of them to know the meaning. Instead, they connected it to an acronym that means something totally different in their household! I understood why many of my students gave that definition but I did not anticipate it while planning! Which takes us back to how well do we know our students. Our faculty is exceptional at knowing each student's home environment. We know what to ask our students each day when they are with us, we know what their interest are and can use those to create a positive environment while at school, and we know when our students come in not being themselves. We may not write these questions and comments in our instructional plans, but we do "plan" to do them each day!
I have had many occasions where some of my lessons were total flops, I believe this is a natural issue and provides opportunity to change. Often I feel the problem comes down to communication, did I explain it well enough to the kids and adults? There are times where it is difficult to get buy in from my students, but working with students with significant cognitive disabilities it is a natural occurrence. Change and work can be really difficult for most so that is where the struggle comes in. From my internship work attending grade level meetings, I believe our school does well understanding students' backgrounds and levels of support at home.
ReplyDelete1. I think that many times I struggle with getting my thoughts across in a clear way. Because I feel that I have the excitement about my subject down, I can often speed up and not break my lessons down into manageable steps. Sometimes I underestimate just how much I need to break something down that I already feel is a simple concept. When I fail to put things on the children's levels, they can't engage in something that is going overt their heads. This is certainly a challenge for me.
ReplyDelete2. I think that sometimes the "buy-in" is initially there or not based on their perceptions of their music ability. When I ties other concepts in from other areas it seems to engage more students than simply focusing on the music aspects alone.
3. I believe that the overall relationships with students are wonderful between students and teachers here at Iron Station. This is certainly a family atmosphere that encourages knowing students in ways that will in turn motivate them and engage them. I have no complaints there and I do think that this is one reason why our teachers are so successful. The students know that we care about them and, in turn, want to do well for us for the most part.
Aubrey, I can really relate to your comment about clarity. My biggest challenge in classroom lessons is breaking it down into chunks they can digest. For example, I'll present something in a way that third grade would jump at, but second grade is just a little confused. I can see it in their faces. I've learned to "read" my students very quickly, so I can stop, tell the kids we will start over and then go from there. That actually gets their attention-when I laugh at myself and say "Oops, I messed up. Let's start over." That was very hard to do when I first started doing guidance lessons. Didn't have enough confidence to do that, so the lesson just fell flat. Better now.
DeleteAs attitude was mentioned in the first rule for engagement, I agree that the teacher plays a central role in student engagement. Thinking back to times of failure in the classroom for me almost always involve a lack of preparation and passion on my part. I like the solutions he offered for getting "buy-in" from students. I could have used those last year for sure! They were a tough crowd to sell. :) Several of these solutions could be used in cooperative groups or pairs as well. I do think we have positive relationships with our students, but there is always room for improvement. We can do this by being intentional and finding out about our students every day. "If you don't get to know your students better every day, your odds of success just dropped." (p. 24)
ReplyDeleteI agree with the part about getting to know your students better. For me, I only get to see them for 40 minutes a week, so getting to know them outside of that has been tough. It is also my first year at ISES so I came in not knowing any of them or what their backgrounds are. It also helps with handling each child differently. I found myself dealing with each student the same way early on in this school year, but each student needs to be handled differently because they are all coming from different places physically, mentally and emotionally. If you don't know them though, dealing with them and whatever issues are going on in class makes it tough, makes it hard to build positive relationships, and makes it difficult to get the buy in that you need.
Delete1. Clarity would be a strategy that I have had break down this year at Iron Station. Using Kindergarten as an example, it may seem like it makes sense to me, but not necessarily to them. I play a huge part in this as I am learning how to communicate effectively with elementary students. I have to learn that they younger the more simplified and concise I need to make my assignments. Also, I must learn to exhibit more patience with the elementary level of student learning and continue to improve positive reinforcement strategies over negative reinforcement.
ReplyDelete2. I do experience issues with students buying in to PE. Some of these reason include disdain for exercise, self esteem issues, obesity, not understanding the importance of health, exercise, and nutrition, etc. Some things that I can modify or change would be to continue to develop as a 21st century teacher and find creative classroom activities that incorporate all students and not select groups. Look to increase incentives or build an incentive program into my curriculum rather than just "trains". Try to incorporate more cooperative games to pair various students together to increase success rates whole also building relationships while they work towards a common goal. Continue to learn and evolve as an elementary teacher and the improve communication with this age group as I am still new to it and used to Middle and High School students.
3. I know that many of the teachers and staff at Iron Station build positive, healthy relationships with the students as it is on full display each day in the halls and in the classrooms. I know that I need to work on this aspect as much as anything because I do believe this will improve buy in my class. I feel that as a Specialty Teacher, having limited time each week with student's, limits the opportunities to reach out and build relationships with all students as I must spend my 40 minutes a week implementing the curriculum while also dealing with other issues that come up in each class (not following rules, bullying, horseplay, poor student to student communication, safety, etc). I have found that interaction in the halls and in the lunchroom or during special events at school has helped me with some relationships as it provides a better opportunity for me to be more open and engaging than in the small block of time given in class that becomes more Teacher/Student/Curriculum related.
1. My struggle is showing passion everyday & for every topic. When I do a lesson I want to present it so that ALL students get it & I wrestle with how to do that. I let my doubts smash my passion for what we are doing. I don’t feel confident in what I am teaching because I am afraid I will make a mistake. I want to do everything right so I don’t confuse the students. I often feel I don’t have enough different strategies or approaches to meet all students where they are in their understanding to scaffold their learning to grasp new material. I play a huge part in the success of all my lessons, which is a heavy responsibility.
ReplyDelete2. I have mixed buy-in from my students. I truly feel my confidence when teaching a particular subject makes a big difference on student buy-in. Attending workshops & input from my colleagues has been a great help in boosting my confidence & comfortableness with subject matter. I believe teaching the same grade multiple years will help me improve a well.
3. I attempt to build positive relationships but I see a LOT of my colleagues doing it each day. They know a lot of students by name, family member, & extracurricular activities. So when they speak with students there is that sense of knowing them personally as well as academically. I continue to get to know my students by giving them time to tell me about their weekend or family activities, listening when they answer questions & make connections, as well as volunteering with extracurricular activities at the school to discover their interests outside the classroom
This five rules for engagement were very interesting to read. We see each other employ positive attitudes, salesmanship, and work on building trust and respect with our students. At the same time, we are working to create plans that enable us to teach with passion and clarity. To have these five factors as guidelines for engaging students and impacting their learning is powerful in itself. We all recognize good teaching when we observe it or when a lesson that we teach is successful. I know that students can tell when we are excited/passionate about a unit of study.
ReplyDeleteThe area that I most need to work on is embracing clarity. I plan with purpose and use language that is appropriate for the students that I am instructing, however, I am guilty of being too wordy or giving too much away. Instead of letting them find their way to new knowledge, I find myself providing more information than I had originally intended. I spend a lot of time reflecting on my day and how I feel students performed when completing tasks and activities. During this reflection, I sometimes feel that I gave away more than intended when introducing an activity.
It is vital in my new role as reading teacher that I am targeting only areas where there are specific gaps or needs. By scaffolding my instruction with the instruction of classroom teachers I can best serve the students in my groups. I was amazed by the data that said that the effect size for teacher clarity was 0.75. That serves as a reminder of the importance of clarity.
I don't have much of a problem with buy in during small groups. For the most part, students enjoy their time working with me. Some students take a little more work to pull them in to an activity or game. This is mostly due to the fact that he/she is worried about missing out on outside time or a special classroom activity.
Iron Station Elementary School is amazing and I am proud to be a part of this caring staff. Our staff does a great job of looking at individual needs and situations. The support system that we are providing for our kids is making a difference. We cannot know how great of an impact our words and actions can have on all of our students (whether low income or not). Which makes it vital that we treat everyone with respect, listen with understanding and love them as individuals. A way that I could work to build stronger relationships with my students is to be a better listener. I only have them for a brief amount of time and I am guilty of jumping in to the instruction due to time constraints.
1. Reflect on any engagement strategy you have used that did not work well. What do you think went wrong? Were the problems with the strategy, your implementation of it, the curriculum or classroom context, or your students? How big a role in a strategy's success do you think you play?
ReplyDeleteGetting my students to work together productively is a strategy that does not always work well. Too often one student just wants to call out the answers, another is simply working along independently and still another is getting frustrated and angry becuase the others in the group are working too fast and will not wait. I think the problem lies with my implementation of the lesson as well as with the students themselves. I have high expectations for my students and I want them to be prepared for life after school. One skill they need to know is that of being a team player. As they work in groups I monitor and encourage them to change the behaviors they are demonstrating; I offer other suggestions and model the language structure they can use in their dialogs with each other. In order for the strategy to be a success I have to believe in it and once the students see the importance and take ownership of the skill they will be successful as well.
2. Do you ever have a hard time getting buy-in from your students? If so, speculate why. What are some ways you could modify your teaching to increase student buy-in?
Attitude and excitement get students to buy-in. Do you watch Dancing with the Stars? This season Patti Labelle, singer/song writer is competing. Jensen mentions her in this chapter along with her song "New Attitude." He is not wrong when he says "you can turn things around by embracing a new, postitive attitude" (22). Patti is 70 years old! If she can do it, so can we and our students. I don't mean compete in a dancing competition (LOL); I mean be postitive, optimistic, excited about learning new things. "Feelings are contagious" (31). One area I have a difficult time getting my students to "buy-in" is during board work with Corrective Reading. They love every other part of the program but for some reason not the board work. I tend to get upset when I hear them say, "Not board work, I don't like doing this, why do we have to do this, can't we skip it and just read the story?" I think next week I will try the suggestion Jensen makes when I present it and be more positive.."I know you guys don't usually like doing this, but..." (32). I'll let you know how it works out.
3. Do you and your colleagues build positive relationships with students? What are some ways you could build stronger relationships with your students?
Iron Station is phenomenal when it comes to student relationships. Students know when they come into school in the morning they will be greeted warmly and by name (more times than not). My relationship with students and their parents continues on through high school so I try to build relationships on trust and respect. I share with my students my anxiety about testing and they think its funny that I had to take classes to learn strategies and ways to cope with the stress. I am a strong advocate for my students and I encourage them to be strong advocates for themselves; in middle and high school we work together to set goals that have meaning for them and help them in life after high school.
Reflect on any engagement strategy you have used that did not work well. What do you think went wrong? Were the problems with the strategy, your implementation of it, the curriculum or classroom context, or your students? How big a role in a strategy's success do you think you play?
ReplyDeleteI have used all of the engagement strategies over my 31 years of teaching. Currently, I feel the upgrading of my attitude is on that doesn’t always work this year! I can be as bright and positive as I possibly can be and I feel like a popped balloon by the end of the day!!!
2. Do you ever have a hard time getting buy-in from your students? If so, speculate why. What are some ways you could modify your teaching to increase student buy-in?
Buy-in is a great technique that usually works for me with my students.
This year, with the challenging diversity of ages and levels, I have modified my teaching to establish 10 different buy-ins for each individual student. This creates challenges…
The fact that “once the task begins, it will provide its own motivation” p.27 is a rare occurrence with my students who have severe autism.
3. Do you and your colleagues build positive relationships with students? What are some ways you could build stronger relationships with your students?
At Iron Station, it is evident that there are positive relationships with students. Our children are very engaged and happy at school. I think we just need to continue our already established good practices to continue to foster strong relationships.
If I were to list them number of strategies that I have done wrong and did not work within my classroom, it would be a very long list. I identifies with his description of the new teacher who always tried something new. This something I have done a lot, but SLOWLY I am learning to overcome. These strategies fail for any and all of the reasons listed.
ReplyDeleteYes, buy-in is hard and I am willing to try the suggestions in the book. I am at fault for this lack of buy-in because I do put that test worry and necessity first in my thoughts words and actions. I need help finding the balance between making them prepared and ready for the test and engaged in learning. Positives relationships abound in our school. I think I can improve my connections with my own class by pausing to think if I am placing them in a situation that will embarrass them. I tend to call on students I know are not engaged. My goal was to tune them back in to the lesson, but this chapter made me realize that by putting them on the spot I am sabotaging their engagement.
I agree that these strategies are a learning process and will take plenty of time to get all students to have buy-in.
DeleteI agree that these strategies are a learning process and will take plenty of time to get all students to have buy-in.
Delete1.An engagement strategy that works with lower grade classes is telling them that I usually only share this with upper grades (like telling first graders that I only share this with second graders, etc.) And then I say how their teacher and I have noticed how responsible and mature they are and that they are definitely ready for it. With upper grades, anything that is social and involves interacting with their peers, they're in! So if I tell them up front that they will be working in groups, they sit up and listen. What doesn't work is when I talk above their heads (like talking to second graders in language that has more meaning for third graders)-not breaking it down. And this still happens to me, after being here all this time--you would think I would get it by now! But like I said in my comment to Aubrey, I've learned to read their faces, stop myself, laugh and tell the kids this was my mistake and start over. They love it when I say, "oops, I messed up." It also models a safety in taking risks and learning from your mistakes. Learning to laugh at yourself is a life skill essential for mental health!
ReplyDelete2. Buy-in is directly related to how passionate I am (or am not) and how much prep I have put into guaranteeing that my subject relates to their everyday life. They read me as much as I read them. They know when it matters to me. And then it is my job to make sure I present it in a way that matters to them. And then we have buy-in.
In my small group counseling, buy-in is easier. Smaller target audience, subject geared specifically to them, with tangible rewards. The thing that will kill buy-in in small groups is if I don't have a personal relationship with each of the children (outside of the group), or if I am not "present" with them in their group time(i.e. distracted, preoccupied, etc.)
3. I think the staff here is amazing in their relationship building with the children and families. I have learned so much about that from being a part of Iron Station. I am surrounded by great examples of caring adults making a difference in our kids' lives. It makes the work I do with the kids have so much more meaning, because they know they are loved here.
I think that have failed at all of these strategies at one point or another. many times the problem is my attitude or how I present it to my students.I feel that for the most part teachers are entertainers. We must "sell" what we are teaching and hold the students interest long enough to pull them in.
ReplyDeleteJust like my attitude plays a big part, so does student attitudes. But as the teacher I have to learn to work with the students where they are and I do more adjusting then they do. Eventually they will come around but it takes more time with some students. Don't ever give up or think that a student is hopeless.
I try my best to have a positive with all my students. Some are more receptive to the relationship we build for the and carries over into the next year. Some students are happy in the classroom while they are there but then never act like you were their teacher the next year. I can appreciate both of these reactions from my students. Greeting students each morning, calling on the positive you see instead of the negative and listening to them when they talk makes a huge difference.
1. Reflect on any engagement strategy you have used that did not work well. What do you think went wrong? Were the problems with the strategy, your implementation of it, the curriculum or classroom context, or your students? How big a role in a strategy's success do you think you play? I feel that one strategy that I use at times that has not worked well would be clarity. Being a second year teacher I noticed that I still at times need to give clear and simply direction. I also need to try and not have so many steps of direction for an activity. I want them to stay focused and have interest in the upcoming activity and not lose interest before the activity begins. I have also learned that when planning new lessons and activities for my kindergartners that I should introduce them to the students during certain times of their day. If I have an activity that requires the students to sit in their seats at their tables then I would not introduce this when it is midday and they need time to play outside.
ReplyDelete2. Do you ever have a hard time getting buy-in from your students? If so, speculate why. What are some ways you could modify your teaching to increase student buy-in? I know that kindergarten students really enjoy hands-on activities and games. When I want to introduce new academic skill or lesson in math I will always have a game or hands-on activity to teach the new lesson or skill. I want them to gain interest in the new math skill and playing games to learn the new lesson is one way to increase their interest.
3. Do you and your colleagues build positive relationships with students? What are some ways you could build stronger relationships with your students? Yes, I do believe my colleagues and I have positive relationships with our students. I know that teachers wear many hats everyday and in kindergarten I feel that my colleagues and I wear many, many hats. We are caring for their many needs. We are comforting them when they are sad, hurt, and sick. Greeting them each morning with a smile because they need to see their teacher happy to see them at school.
1. For me, I think that embracing clarity would be a challenging one for me. I think teaching Kindergarten, we as K teachers forget they are just 5 and 6 years old.
ReplyDeleteComing from an Early Childhood background, I know what is appropriate and not for that age. However, due to what is required of them by the state, we forget just how old they are and how much they can do. I know at times, I give them three and four step directions and tell them what not to do in a lesson instead of keeping it simple and use less words. I know I could work in this area.
2. I think I do my best to encourage the students to buy-in to the lesson. I try to do fun hands on lessons to help them engage. Sometimes, it is hard and you have to be creative due to resources. Some lessons, I would like to do more with but it always includes spending extra money out of my pocket, which I don't always have.
3. Yes, I feel my collegues and I do build positive relationship with our students. I feel like ISES staff are all looking for ways to help build relationship with students. I think we have some very dedicated educators and we all want the best for "our kids"
I feel like most of the time my kids are "buying in". I am willing to use any strategy it takes, incentives, walking around with a handful of candy, passing it out as they working out problems, other incentives for turning in homework daily, whatever it takes. I do feel like we try to build positive with relationships with our students. I like the solution about sharing stories about your family with your students. My students know lots about me, my husband, and my girls. I ran into one student getting pizza for dinner the other night, and she begins telling her Mom a story I had shared with them about one of my girls. It was quite funny. I think that helps the students feel more comfortable, and to know that some of the things that are going on in their family might be going on in ours as well. I also use lots of facial expressions. Most time I do not have to say a word and students know what I want, or what point I am trying to get across.
ReplyDeleteDeebai, I agree, I too like pizza.
DeleteOh, also..I agree that building personal relationships with the students goes a long way into gaining their respect.
A strategy I use is to build personal relationships with the students by giving them an insight into who I am. Once they get to know me, they will allow me to get to know them, and this in turn establishes a feeling of mutual respect. Even if they screw up it gives me a chance to show them that I am disappointed but that even through my disappointment I still care about them. Once I have their respect, they are easy to manage!
ReplyDeleteA strategy that I use and what a lot of teachers especially in our school use is building relationships with their students. I have found that if you allow your students to know things about you, they are more willing to give you respect and to share things that may be affecting their school life and home life. With this respect the students are more willing follow the directions you are giving.
ReplyDeleteI feel that my students buy in to the majority of the lessons but I feel that there are times when it is either the incentive is not enough or maybe not enough enthusiasm on my part. I take those days and learn from them and try different buy-ins on other days.
A strategy that I use and what a lot of teachers especially in our school use is building relationships with their students. I have found that if you allow your students to know things about you, they are more willing to give you respect and to share things that may be affecting their school life and home life. With this respect the students are more willing follow the directions you are giving.
ReplyDeleteI feel that my students buy in to the majority of the lessons but I feel that there are times when it is either the incentive is not enough or maybe not enough enthusiasm on my part. I take those days and learn from them and try different buy-ins on other days.