PART 3 - The Type I Toolkit
The following are sections from the resources from the toolkit that I believe in and/or will begin to put into practice.
Create Your Own Motivational Posters - I concur. I firmly believe that the there should be a requirement for all classrooms, school offices and any other highly visible spaces have some form of motivational posters of some type and form. That was one of the first things on my shopping list when I began teaching. I strategically placed them around the classroom. At first, I thought they were ignored, but eventually students started coming up to me to tell me that they liked the poster or that they wanted me to explain it to them. What surprised me about this was when I would have visitors in my classroom, other teachers or administrators, or community members, I would usually get compliments on having the posters, posted around my classroom. This was surprising, because I thought this was a common practice and wasn’t something that was expected. After a few years, I realized that it wasn’t. As a coach, when I meet with new teachers, that is usually one of the first tips I give them. It also made me happy to pass on my motivational posters to one of my BTSA Participating Teachers when I became a coach, because I knew that students needed it.
Type I for Organizations: 13 Ways to Improve Your Company, Office or Group
Carve Out Time for Noncommisioned Work: Turn Your Next Off-Site Into a Fedex Day
Of the 13 ways, this one called my attention, because we currently have something in place; however staff is not required to “deliver something.” So now I’m thinking, if we were to change it to where the idea would remain, but now we would require a deliverable of their choice at the end of the day, how would that be received? After so many years of doing it this way, should we just continue, or be risk-takers and ask for a product of their choice?
I also thought about the work I’m currently doing. Representatives of 5 content teams have agreed to work on curriculum two weeks before school starts, and they are being compensated. This project follows the Fedex Day idea more closely. The only directive was to complete a curriculum guide, course outline (summary or curriculum guide) and quarterly assessments, all of which were near completion at this point. Watching these 5 groups work, was amazing. All of them have completed the minimum requirements; yet they have decided to continue working and design lessons, presentations, other assessments and more. It made me realize the passion that exists and caused me to reflect on the factors that helped to create this motivation amongst these groups. Now I have to figure out how to replicate this process in the future.
Type I for Parents and Educators: 10 Ideas for Helping Our Kids
Turn Students Into Teachers - “One of the best ways to know whether you’ve mastered something is to try to teach it.” As one of my colleagues would say when in agreement, “Word.” I must admit that many teachers have their students present information. However, I believe that presenting and teaching are different. If students were to be given appropriate guidelines and models, they would rise to the occasion. If we added some choice to what they were going to teach, or as Pink states, “a different aspect of the broader topic you’re studying,” I believe that we would be pleasantly surprised. Students like to learn from one another, but we have to guide them so the process is positive and effective. If the climate and culture are conducive to learning, students will happily take on the challenge of teaching their peers.
The following are sections from the resources from the toolkit that I believe in and/or will begin to put into practice.
Create Your Own Motivational Posters - I concur. I firmly believe that the there should be a requirement for all classrooms, school offices and any other highly visible spaces have some form of motivational posters of some type and form. That was one of the first things on my shopping list when I began teaching. I strategically placed them around the classroom. At first, I thought they were ignored, but eventually students started coming up to me to tell me that they liked the poster or that they wanted me to explain it to them. What surprised me about this was when I would have visitors in my classroom, other teachers or administrators, or community members, I would usually get compliments on having the posters, posted around my classroom. This was surprising, because I thought this was a common practice and wasn’t something that was expected. After a few years, I realized that it wasn’t. As a coach, when I meet with new teachers, that is usually one of the first tips I give them. It also made me happy to pass on my motivational posters to one of my BTSA Participating Teachers when I became a coach, because I knew that students needed it.
Type I for Organizations: 13 Ways to Improve Your Company, Office or Group
Carve Out Time for Noncommisioned Work: Turn Your Next Off-Site Into a Fedex Day
Of the 13 ways, this one called my attention, because we currently have something in place; however staff is not required to “deliver something.” So now I’m thinking, if we were to change it to where the idea would remain, but now we would require a deliverable of their choice at the end of the day, how would that be received? After so many years of doing it this way, should we just continue, or be risk-takers and ask for a product of their choice?
I also thought about the work I’m currently doing. Representatives of 5 content teams have agreed to work on curriculum two weeks before school starts, and they are being compensated. This project follows the Fedex Day idea more closely. The only directive was to complete a curriculum guide, course outline (summary or curriculum guide) and quarterly assessments, all of which were near completion at this point. Watching these 5 groups work, was amazing. All of them have completed the minimum requirements; yet they have decided to continue working and design lessons, presentations, other assessments and more. It made me realize the passion that exists and caused me to reflect on the factors that helped to create this motivation amongst these groups. Now I have to figure out how to replicate this process in the future.
Type I for Parents and Educators: 10 Ideas for Helping Our Kids
Turn Students Into Teachers - “One of the best ways to know whether you’ve mastered something is to try to teach it.” As one of my colleagues would say when in agreement, “Word.” I must admit that many teachers have their students present information. However, I believe that presenting and teaching are different. If students were to be given appropriate guidelines and models, they would rise to the occasion. If we added some choice to what they were going to teach, or as Pink states, “a different aspect of the broader topic you’re studying,” I believe that we would be pleasantly surprised. Students like to learn from one another, but we have to guide them so the process is positive and effective. If the climate and culture are conducive to learning, students will happily take on the challenge of teaching their peers.