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"Many secondary teachers incorrectly assume the students know what to do." Me. The first week, maybe two, really still, I'm always shocked at the difference I see from the second semester 7th graders I student taught and the first semester 6th graders I am teaching now. I was not prepared for that going in on the first day. I still find it shocking when a student doesn't know or has forgotten what to do. I have to keep breaking this assumption.
I try to use this example of Explain, Model, Student explain or model, Group, Whole class when lining up for lunch, but I always seem to either run out of time so we just have to go, or I end up getting to lunch early in front of Sawdaye's class. Not sure which is a worse problem...
I also like the last section of this chapter, my students always have a hard time coming in from the hallway, maybe we'll just spend 20 minutes practicing!
I do think I'm going to have a lot of work to do when I come back after Thanksgiving Break as they've spent so long with a sub. And I'm fairly disappointed in the feedback I've gotten about 2 of my classes. I'm going to have to really keep this welcoming but firm and structured thing in the back of my head. I'm afraid of being one of the two extremes Smallwood mentioned. I feel like I have built really solid relationships with a lot of my students, so I'm going to be really really stoked to see them and hug them again! But also, I can't let them become so slack after these two weeks without seeing me on procedures. It's going to definitely be a challenge. So I am very grateful to have read this chapter at this point in time! (Although, I could have used my quoted sentence above before school started!)

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This chapter highlights on why clear expectations are important. Students are able to thrive in a well structured environment, knowing exactly what is expected of them. I personally can achieve more success in an environment that has rules and regulations. Mass chaos completely overwhelms me and I shut down--not accomplishing anything.  I get very distracted! I'm sure this is the case for many of my students, whether or not they would like to admit it! I actually asked my students to answer a creative writing prompt regarding their perspective on school consequences. An overwhelming amount of students understand why rules and consequences are in place and truly appreciate them.

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I liked this chapter! I think something I really struggle with internally is the how of teaching my students. I'm fairly creative, and I come up with some really great things, but I also have PLC and pacing to think about and sometimes I just battle over what I want to do, what I think the students want to do, and what I think other people want me to do. I don't know my exact like "style" yet.
In school, I was always told my lesson plans were monstrous, same thing in student teaching. I told them the plan was not to necessarily get through everything on the plan, just to make sure I didn't have any dead space! I feel like I'm generally solid there, although there are a lot of days where I'm completely just thinking off the top of my head. Comes with the job I guess.
Also, Quizlet is awesome! That is one of my go to early finisher activities. Vocabulary is so hard for a lot of students anyway, why not practice in a totally engaging and often competitive way? It's actually really valuable. They seem to love it and think of it as a game too, so it doesn't fall under that category of being some busy work that punishes them for being early finishers.
I also find that keeping students engaged looks different every single day, and in every class. My 5th period LOVES class discussions. So we do a lot of it. I also have one student who constantly says she doesn't like the way I explain stuff, so during those discussions, other students who get the concepts take turns at explaining it differently. 2nd and 6th period really love Pear Deck, I LOVE Pear Deck! I think it's really engaging. But at the same time, 3rd and sometimes 5th can get bored of it. So it is important to know your students and realize that not every student, not every class, is going to stay engaged the same way. My goal is to think about this more in my lesson planning. Just because I do something on way in my first class doesn't mean it has to be done the same way in every class.

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I tend to feel overwhelmed when focusing too much on the varieties of instructional strategies that are available and how they can benefit each student. I try to teach using different methods every day: I typically begin the week with direct instruction and following throughout the week with stations or a different activity that gets the students up and moving out of their seats. I think it's helpful to take note of what works and what doesn't. I know that interactive notebooks work well with some of my classes, but definitely not for another one. It's important to be flexible as a teacher and willing to make adjustments as needed depending on student needs.

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I like reading this book. It reminds me of a lot of things I learned in college, but have forgotten over the years. I too have been recognizing positive behavior and trying to focus less on negative behavior. This is easier said than done. I have been putting a lot of effort into putting a positive spin on things when correcting behavior ( as modeled by Ms. Bruce in our last meeting.) It definitely isn't something that comes naturally to me, but I believe it will become second nature if I do it more often. I do have a class incentive program for "exceptionally great behavior" , but I also believe a school wide incentive program would be beneficial. When I attended NWMS in the late 90s, the school awarded "gold and silver cards" to students based on behavior and honor roll status. These cards included a free sweet tea at lunch, homework pass etc. I think implementing a program like this would motivate students to behave and perform better academically .

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It's funny, like this book goes over so many things that I remember learning in my Education classes that maybe I don't always remember or use. You get that feeling like "yeah, yeah, I know...." but then look at what you're actually doing in the classroom and realize, THIS is why they're telling me AGAIN.
I have made a recent conscious effort to begin bragging on the positive behaviors I'm seeing in my classroom, with fist bumps (more sanitary than high fives), energetic verbal praise, candy, sticky notes with complements from me, whatever I think of. I also like letting them know if I'm planning on contacting a parent about awesome behavior, sometimes they have a preference on which parent, or they just make sure that they remind their mom or dad or guardian to check their email that day.
Sometimes I feel that our consequence policy should be stretched out a little bit more. Like this chapter noted, once you send them to the office you've lost a bit of power. And I feel that that point can come too quickly when other, less serious, teacher interventions could erase the problem much more quickly. I try to manage this, using the teacher interventions while also following the school's consequences plan, and sometimes I just have a lot of trouble with it.
I also want to echo Smallwood and Langford here, I do believe a schoolwide positive reinforcement plan would be beneficial and AWESOME! Where I student taught, we had wristbands, like the kind you get at the fair or something. When you earned a wristband that day, it meant you could sit at any table in the lunchroom, not just the one with your class. (We had a staggered lunchtime to, so of course they could sit with the class for a few minutes and then move, or come back to the class once the other class left). Wristbands were SO VALUABLE to these kids. And it was really easy. Different color for each day of the week, write their name and date on it, if they lose it...oh well. I'd love to see some schoolwide PBIS.

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In PE, there are not many expectations, but the few that we have, determine how classroom culture progresses. Students are expected to change clothes, work cooperatively, and give effort.  I communicate these expectations clearly every class period. This book is very encouraging and I have picked up a ton of tips by reading over these chapters.

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My instructional strategies vary class to class, and lesson to lesson. My 6th grade instructions tend to be lengthier and more detailed. The reason for this is that they are new to middle school, new to changing in the locker room, and new to more time to be independent. 7th and 8th grade instructions are some times less detailed because older students know the routines and the rules of the games. In PE my biggest challenge is to motivate and get the larger, un-athletic students to move and give effort. But everyone can learn and I enjoy seeing kids discover new limits that their bodies can reach.

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I always try to congratulate good behaviors in my classroom. Many times I give high-five’s, “Way to goes!”, and sometimes a Gatorade after class. In PE, discipline looks a little different in the gym rather than a core classroom. I try often to handle discipline as quickly as possible. I would love to see NWMS have an incentive based discipline program.

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Chapter 7: "With the smile paired with the clear and firm expectations, she has now shown her students that she will be caring, yet structured.""Students who perceived teachers as decisive, deliberate, challenging, and dynamic also reposted greater affect and behavioral commitment toward the teacher, class, and the subject content." I've talked with other teachers who ave echoed this, and I also know this to be true based on what I remember of my own teachers. The classes that were most rewarding and enjoyable were not the lax classes with low expectations; they were the classes wherein I was challenged and pushed to grow. However, the firm and clear expectations should be paired with the smile mentioned in the first quote. Some teachers are smiley and warm but don't require a lot. Others are firm and structured but don't ever smile. Both extremes are dangerous when considering student engagement. Teaching is definitely an art of being able to balance both.

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Chapter 7: "With the smile paired with the clear and firm expectations, she has now shown her students that she will be caring, yet structured.""Students who perceived teachers as decisive, deliberate, challenging, and dynamic also reposted greater affect and behavioral commitment toward the teacher, class, and the subject content." I've talked with other teachers who ave echoed this, and I also know this to be true based on what I remember of my own teachers. The classes that were most rewarding and enjoyable were not the lax classes with low expectations; they were the classes wherein I was challenged and pushed to grow. However, the firm and clear expectations should be paired with the smile mentioned in the first quote. Some teachers are smiley and warm but don't require a lot. Others are firm and structured but don't ever smile. Both extremes are dangerous when considering student engagement. Teaching is definitely an art of being able to balance both.

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Chapter 6: There was a lot of good stuff in this chapter, but I think what applies to me most is giving myself a little bit of grace as a first year teacher and focusing on simplicity--trying to focus on just one way to engage students in a meaningful way until I have had time to develop my knowledge of instructional strategies over time. I also loved the end, which mentioned that we should make it a priority to believe that our students can achieve at high levels. I think so many of our students have come to believe that they can't achieve at high levels, but they can if they have the right amount of support and encouragement.

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Chapter 6: There was a lot of good stuff in this chapter, but I think what applies to me most is giving myself a little bit of grace as a first year teacher and focusing on simplicity--trying to focus on just one way to engage students in a meaningful way until I have had time to develop my knowledge of instructional strategies over time. I also loved the end, which mentioned that we should make it a priority to believe that our students can achieve at high levels. I think so many of our students have come to believe that they can't achieve at high levels, but they can if they have the right amount of support and encouragement.

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Chapter 5: I really enjoy this book because it reminds me of things that I've learned and that I know but that aren't always natural without conscientious practice. For example, the book suggests that question one (what will you do when students follow rules?) is more important that question 2 (what will you do when students do not follow rules?) and that we should focus more on positive behaviors the majority of the time we are managing out classrooms. This seems obvious--positive reinforcement is something we talk about so often, but sometimes I find myself calling out poor behavior more than positive behavior. I have really been making an effort to call attention to positive behavior more than the negative behavior. This goes beyond my classroom, but I wonder what this might look like if Northwest were to integrate this idea into the consequence policy. We have consequences for students who demonstrate inappropriate behavior, but I wonder if it would be beneficial to set up school-wide incentives as positive reinforcement if positive behavior is what we should be focusing on the majority of the time. Just like it mentioned in the book, it's obviously not realistic for teachers to raffle off the latest technology device at the end of each week as a reward for positive behavior, so I don't imagine the school setting up anything crazy, but I wonder if the school policy could model this emphasis on positive reinforcement to reward those students who regularly exhibit the positive behavior we hope to get out of our students.

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Chapter 5: I really enjoy this book because it reminds me of things that I've learned and that I know but that aren't always natural without conscientious practice. For example, the book suggests that question one (what will you do when students follow rules?) is more important that question 2 (what will you do when students do not follow rules?) and that we should focus more on positive behaviors the majority of the time we are managing out classrooms. This seems obvious--positive reinforcement is something we talk about so often, but sometimes I find myself calling out poor behavior more than positive behavior. I have really been making an effort to call attention to positive behavior more than the negative behavior. This goes beyond my classroom, but I wonder what this might look like if Northwest were to integrate this idea into the consequence policy. We have consequences for students who demonstrate inappropriate behavior, but I wonder if it would be beneficial to set up school-wide incentives as positive reinforcement if positive behavior is what we should be focusing on the majority of the time. Just like it mentioned in the book, it's obviously not realistic for teachers to raffle off the latest technology device at the end of each week as a reward for positive behavior, so I don't imagine the school setting up anything crazy, but I wonder if the school policy could model this emphasis on positive reinforcement to reward those students who regularly exhibit the positive behavior we hope to get out of our students.