Our Classroom Walls

I tried to think of ways we could share our classrooms with one another. In the summer we had talked about seating arrangement and how that affects the work of learning in our classrooms. And we talked about a plan for our walls as well. How do we use every bit of the space and time to take students to the next place in their understanding. So I snapped random glimpses of what some classrooms at Gloucester Township looked like in late September, 2010. I looked for inspiring quotes to go along with the slides but all I could find were these:

"I see if people are around, see what they put up on the walls. I want a little sense of what the feeling is, how lively, how much people personalize things..."

-- Bill Gates

"If these walls could talk... You'd be able to help me keep my fire alight if these walls could talk" --Christelle Duvenage

Rigor and Excellence Classroom Walls

View more presentations from John Zeck.

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Resonate With Students

A literacy newsletter introduced me to the Duarte blog, which is devoted to learning how to make effective class presentations.

One of Nancy Duarte's concepts is to find ways to create a STAR moment in your lesson design -- "Something They'll Always Remember." These moments can come from five possible sources:

• A Memorable Dramatization - might involve a prop or re-enactment to explain your point so the device becomes the defining moment for the learning -- something they'll walk away with.
• A Repeatable Sound Bite - the quick clip or quip that recurs and drives home the message. Recall the slogan "Where's the beef?"
• An Evocative Visual - an image may be the seed for a moment they'll always remember -- a compelling image or photo.
• An Emotive Story - an incredible story that becomes unforgettable because it's linked to a big idea that the learners make meaningful to them.
• A Startling Statistic - this can be elevated to "memorable status" by setting one data bit apart, enlarging it in some way, and giving the class the time to absorb it.
  

In any lesson, it's hard to resist the urge to cover as much ground as possible. There's never enough time to say and make all the points you want to make, yet the most important question probably isn't "Have I covered everything?" if you're trying to create a lesson that moves your class to change. instead, "Have I created a STAR moment here?" pushes you to decide what the defining concept or point is and work to highlight it so your class takes it with them.

Check out this video of Nancy's on the power of storytelling and perhaps you'll add her blog to your Google reader.

The Final Exam

I received this in an e-mail and I thought you might appreciate it....

The Final Exam...

At a local University there were four sophomores taking Chemistry and all of them had an "A" so far. These four friends were so confident that the weekend before the finals they decided to visit some friends and have a big party. They had a great time, but after all the hearty partying; they slept all day Sunday and did not make it back to the University until early Monday morning. Rather than taking the final then, they decided that after the final they would explain to their professor why they missed it. They said that they visited friends but on the way back they had a flat tire. As a result, they missed the final.

The professor agreed they could make up the final the next day. The guys were excited and relieved. They studied that night for the exam. The Professor placed them in separate rooms and gave each a test booklet. They quickly answered teh first problem, worth 5 points. Cool, they thought!

Each one in a separate room, thinking this was going to be easy, they turned the page.

On the second page was written....

For 95 points: Which tire? ______________

Questions?: Now We're Cookin'

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