Some Tools and Ideas I Learned From AMLE Conference in Philadelphia (Part 1)

           Last week was my first experience at an Association Middle Levels Education Conference, and it was certainly a worthwhile trip. Being only my second year teaching at the middle school levels, it's awesome to have an opportunity to learn and add some tools to my tool box. There were some amazing speakers and plenty of great sessions to teach and inspire. Here are some of the things that I learned an look forward to implementing into my classes

Kim Cambell's Presentation  - If You Can't Manage Them, You Can't Teach Them

One of many amazing keynote speakers, Kim Cambell's talk gave me several new ideas to consider and apply:

• Formal Time vs Informal Time: This one I applied immediately. Discuss and enforce the difference between formal and informal time. Formal time requires a stricter set of procedures and expectations. Speaker in charge, raise your hand if you have a comment. Be very clear about what formal time procedures are, have them permanently displayed somewhere, and be very clear about when the class is operating on formal time. Informal time obviously still has procedures and expectations, but students recognize this as when they can move around if needed, engage in discussions with their classmates etc... These are basic classroom expectations that I've always had, but this gives it a very clear on and off switch, making it easier for students to understand and follow. 
• 10 x 2: Visit with a tough kid for two minutes for 10 days in a row. Experts say behavior will begin to change.
• Student Greetings: When standing at the door greeting students as they enter your class, pick a different kid each day to join you to welcome kids to the class
• Water to help De-escalate: Whether there's an actual physiological effect or just a needed brain break, I don't know, but would love to learn more about the science behind it. Regardless, the point is: water can help bring down Cortisol levels (when a kid is elevated)
• Authoritarian vs Collaborator Styles: Being a straight authoritarian style teacher is likely not going to work - at the very least it won't create a healthy teaching and learning environment. Good classroom managers are collaborators, but great ones have one other thing: not afraid to be authoritarian when needed. Recognizing when and how to be authoritarian is something I'll need to work on, but it's good to know that this is in fact sometimes needed.

Kristine Gibson - Write to Learn: (check out collinsed.com for more information into their program)

Some very practical ideas about various types of writing that can be used in the class. Rather than re-type everything (and likely break copyright laws), I'll just provide the link:  http://collinsed.com/approach/five-types-of-writing/ 

This breakdown of the types of writing really helped me realize all the missed opportunities in my lessons. As a Language Arts teacher, of course I focus on developing students writing skills through Type 3 and 4 Writing tasks/assignments. However, this session got me excited about all the places and ways I can incorporate more Type 1 and 2 writing tasks into my lessons - not only for Language Arts, but my Science class as well. This should help improve literacy and engagement. 

Rick Wormeli - 21st Century Homework Success: Principles; Practicalities and Products

Another professional level speaker, Rick was funny, engaging, and could inspire like no other. You can follow him on twitter at @rickwormeli2. Again, out of fear or breaking copyright, I'll just say google this guy. He's written books and published loads of material. 

It was great to see that most of what he had to say about 21st Century Homework already aligned with my own beliefs and practices. None the less, here are the key points I felt were worth noting, and further inform my own classroom practices:

• Homework should be practice for something they already learned in class. Unless they’re practicing correctly, they’re making things worse. Homework should be given when the teacher decides more meaningful practice is needed.
• Purposes of homework: Practice, Interactions, Application; Extension; Preparation - NOT to learn the material
• Kids need rich life experiences to make insightful connections. Ie: less time doing homework, more time in clubs, teams, exploratory activities.
• No homework should be the default, when you do give it there has to be a good reason for it.

That's it for now. Be sure to check out Part 2 of this post for more great things I took away from this conference.