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AUDIO: Dr. Chris Emdin on being Rachedemic 

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AUDIO: Dr. Chris Emdin on being Rachedemic 

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(1 min audio clip from the Harvard Edcast podcast)

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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We used to do a chant of all the grapheme-phonemes we had studied at the start of our foundational skills block everyday. It incorporated movement, built momentum, and provided fluency practice.

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Press question mark to see available shortcut keys

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In this example, the class was working on the habit of returning take-home books everyday. We had established clear routines & expectations to support building the habit, and we needed to incentivize it. After a specific # of successes in a row, we took their photo and texted them to their family. We also posted each photo on a hallway bulletin board. Is there a routine, system, or habit that needs nurturing during RGR? Maybe this could help!

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VIDEO: Gibson RGR Incorporating Movement

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VIDEO: Gibson RGR Incorporating Movement

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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Highlighter Method for RGR Lesson Internalization

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Highlighter Method for RGR Lesson Internalization

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Mark up lessons using 3 highlighters: 1) Teacher voice, 2) Student voice, 3) Tech. Jot additional scripting for routines as needed.

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RGR Student Stickers (print on 2x4" labels)

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RGR Student Stickers (print on 2x4" labels)

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**Be clear on how to earn: Participation? Persistence? Following looks/sounds like expectations?

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As you may have guessed, Flocab is a HUGE advocate for incorporating music into the classroom. It has been known to increase student engagement which, in turn, increases knowledge retention and student mastery.

Need some creative ways to include music as a part of your instruction? We’ve compiled some popular and effective practices to get your students’ heads bobbing while they learn!

1. Welcome students with a curriculum music video

Okay, we can’t guarantee you’ll go viral like fourth grade teacher Dwayne Reed, but we can guarantee your students will be excited about the subject area early on, as they should be. Similarly, dismissing students with this approach will reinforce newly acquired knowledge and keep them hungry for more!

Need some inspiration? Check out his welcome video below:

2. Create a song or playlist to demonstrate mastery

Similarly, students can demonstrate understanding by writing their own song about a content area or concept. Flocabulary’s new Lyric Lab is a great resource that will help you execute this practice seamlessly!

New to Lyric Lab? Here’s an overview:

Creating a playlist is also a great way for teachers to gauge how well students mastered a particular subject area. As TeachHub describes, “If they play happy music during a tragic period in history, they need to review the content again.”

Like the Look of Lyric Lab?

3. Use music for routine transitions

Many of us are familiar with the classic Mary Poppins song, “A Spoonful of Sugar (Helps the Medicine Go Down).” Using music for the purpose of transitioning between activities, subjects or tasks is practically perfect in every way! As Responsive Classroom describes:

Music smoothes transitions and soothes tempers, especially in the early elementary grades. There is a long tradition of early childhood educators using songs to support transitions and clean-up times. Whether you’re cleaning up or lining up, it’s easier with a song!”

We couldn’t agree more!

4. Play music to set the tone for class

Speaking of soothing tempers, music is a resourceful way to manage your students’ energy levels. Want them to shake off that excess energy? Play an upbeat, active tune for the first five minutes of class. Alternatively, calming them down with a relaxing melody is also an option. Scholastic agrees!

5. Use instrumental music to inspire writing

Using music as writing prompts is an especially popular method for ELA instructors. Teacher and Edutopia blogger, Heather Wolpert-Gawron, writes

Picture this. The students enter the classroom. John Williams is playing on the speakers. Maybe it’s the ominous opening from the film Jaws or the flying sequence from Hook. Now write.”

Sounds like an exciting start to class, right?

In addition, a study from John Hopkins School of Education says that playing reflective music while writing holds students’ attention for longer periods of time than without, and was proven when students wrote twice as much with music.

6. Rewrite lyrics to a popular song

Rewriting lyrics to a popular song is yet another creative outlet for your students while they engage in writing. Edublogs shares an example, and we have one of our own! Did we mention Lyric Lab?

7. Teach vocabulary with music

Rap it. Chant it. Master it. This technique has been showcased in a multitude education blogs, articles and sites. We couldn’t be more excited to see the power of music and vocabulary acknowledged and practiced in classrooms all over the world.

Music is a universal learning tool which is why it’s also used to teach second languages. Don’t limit the learning to your native tongue! As Middlebury Interactive shares,“Through learning lyrics, students’ vocabulary can quickly become more advanced, and singing phrases can lead to better vocabulary recall. Songs can also prove helpful in learning paralinguistic and extralinguistic elements, including accents and tones, helping to improve pronunciation and comprehension of the language.”

Flocabulary is Effective Vocabulary Instruction

Our award-winning WordUp! program is proven to boost reading scores.

8. Set up class discussions with music

To segway into our final suggestion, setting up your class to discuss lyrics and interpret the meaning of songs, especially when teaching a second language, is key when it comes to gaining a greater understanding of a particular culture. FluentU elaborates on the importance of this practice: “Communication is as much about language as it is about culture. Often times, miscommunication occurs not because of the words said, but because of cultural assumptions by the parties on all sides that conflict or are not understood. Music stands as the one nearly universal cultural expression. Every culture through history has had music in some form or another.”

So there’s the “rhyme and reason” behind incorporating music into your instruction. See what we did there? Have your own, unique way of using music in the classroom? Share it with us via Twitter!

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8 Engaging Ways to Incorporate Music in Your Classroom

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News, updates and ed tech tips straight from Flocab HQ

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The class talked about what it means to "grapple," and this award was presented at the end of the block. This award celebrated growth and productive struggle over, as oppose to 100% accuracy.

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Press question mark to see available shortcut keys

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Turn the mundane into something exciting

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Turn the mundane into something exciting

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One example: all students start with black white board markers, and during the lesson they can earn a colorful marker to use just for that day. **Be clear on how to earn: Participation? Persistence? Following looks/sounds like expectations?

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This decodable text was written to align to this student's learning goals, but this is just one example of personalizing learning. When talking about graphemes or syllables, why not incorporate student/teacher names, or words from kid culture?

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We're tearing ourselves apart. About pencils.

I kid you not. Pencils. Lines are drawn between those who readily hand out pencils and those who prefer that students bring their own. As I've read impassioned tweets and watched TikToks from both camps, I've grown increasingly concerned. Not about pencils. About us.

Pencils clearly aren't the problem. They are a symptom of the real problem, of our fatigue, our discouragement, and the severe professional exhaustion that is driving too many dedicated teachers from their classrooms and leaving many others depleted of the joy they once found in their profession.

Some say the answer is engagement, that if a teacher is engaging enough, students will behave. But there's no single solution. It's too complex, too human for any one strategy, resource, or ideology to solve. Do we have reason to believe high engagement correlates to fewer classroom management problems? Yes. Is it a guarantee? No.

But there is hope. We can reclaim some joy. These boredom busters are low-prep activities that transform worksheets into engaging, meaningful, fun learning experiences.

Paper Airplanes

Distribute a worksheet, have students put their name at the top, and answer the first problem. Then they each fold the worksheet into a paper airplane. At your signal, they launch their airplanes. Students pick a plane and answer the next problem. Repeat until the worksheet is done. Then students reclaim their original paper, consider all the answers, and correct them as needed.

Musical Desks

Cut apart a worksheet, leaving one question on each desk with a piece of paper. Turn on some music. Students pick up their pencils and boogie through the room. When you stop the music, they sit at the nearest desk and answer that problem. When you restart the music, they leave the paper, pick up their pencils again, and move. Repeat, but now when students sit at a desk, they prove the answer right, solve it another way, correct it, etc.

Variations

Differentiate using different colors of paper. You can copy different worksheets or assignments, each on a different color of paper. Distribute the appropriate assignment to each student, and then students continue the paper airplane or musical desk activity by exchanging with the same color paper they started with. This allows all students to participate in the same activity together while working with an assignment just right for them.

Write essays or solve multistep problems. Each student starts the essay or problem and exchanges with another student before it's all the way done. The next person continues the essay or problem the way their classmate started it. Repeat so that each student contributes to a few essays or problems.

Students can ask the questions! Each student writes a question, and then they do paper airplanes or musical desks to receive someone else's question and answer it.

Frustration Busters

What if a student refuses to get started? You can still reclaim some control. A frustration buster can help us understand our own feelings and help students get past inertia and back to the learning.

First, have the student read or explain the directions to you to ensure they understand what to do. Then offer them a low-stakes choice: "Do you want to start on the first one or the last one?" "Do you want to work at your desk or at the table?" This helps lower the sense of threat and invites engagement.

Next, work a problem with them. Students' perceptions of their capabilities are not always accurate. Working a problem together confirms for us-and them-that they really can do it. Still stuck? Scribe for them. They talk, and you write.

By now, there are probably 17,412 hands raised in your room, even though you have only 29 students. Consider setting the stuck student up with a partner. Give them five minutes to complete another problem or two, then return to check in on them. Repeat steps as needed and gradually extend the independent work time.

Will it always work? No. But maybe it will help both you and the student stay calm, and, most important, keep the focus on the learning.
Powell, author of Boredom Busters, has served as a special education teacher, Title 1 teacher, instructional coach, and classroom teacher. She is currently a director at the Association for Middle Level Education.

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Reclaim Some Joy in Your Classroom! | NEA

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We're tearing ourselves apart. About pencils. I kid you not. Pencils. Lines are drawn between those who readily hand out pencils and those who prefer that students bring their own. As I've read impassioned tweets and watched TikToks from both camps, I've grown increasingly concerned. Not about pencils. About us.

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The Joy of Learning: What it is and How to Achieve It

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The Joy of Learning: What it is and How to Achieve It

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How to Nurture Empathic Joy in Your Classroom

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How to Nurture Empathic Joy in Your Classroom

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A new teacher I know recently shared the reason he decided to become an educator: "Cheesy maybe, but I became intrigued by teaching because of smiles. When a student I am working with smiles, the feeling I get is indescribable."

My friend is describing "empathic joy"- the experience of sharing and understanding positive emotions. When our students feel happy, we feel happy. When our students celebrate a success, we celebrate with them. Empathic joy delights in the good everyone can share. And in the classroom, empathic joy might have academic benefits: Researchers following primarily white teachers in ethnically diverse schools linked teachers' joy to students' higher test scores.

Unfortunately, day-to-day workplace challenges can undermine the contagious sense of joy that may have brought you to teaching in the first place: conflicts among colleagues, budget cuts and layoffs, or high-stakes testing pressure, to name a few.

If you are struggling to recall recent experiences of joy, here are five suggestions for nurturing and developing empathic joy in your classroom.

1. Slow down, and pay attention to the good things

"Withitness" is a term coined by educational psychologist Jacob Kounin to describe the capacity to recognize the dynamics in your classroom as a whole, while still seeing the individuals within it.

But our perception of the reality around us is shaped by many unconscious biases, not the least of which is negativity bias-our tendency to focus on negative events, like the student who is acting out or the parent who criticizes your teaching.

We may also hold biases against our students, unconsciously feeling someone cannot learn due to limitations associated with their race, language, culture, or socioeconomic status. A list of tried-and-true instructional strategies has no meaning if I don't really believe that the squirrely child in front of me has the capacity to learn.

How can you correct for your biases and make sure you're seeing the classroom as a whole, in all its possibilities? Start by pausing and trying to be present, recognizing quiet moments of triumph in the classroom. This is mindfulness-cultivating moment-to-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, and surroundings.

Educator and researcher Patricia Jennings describes how mindfulness helps teachers to slow down, set up a positive learning environment, and strengthen their relationships with students. She features three concrete mindfulness practices that teachers can regularly use in their classrooms, including "centering," "working with difficult emotions," and mindful use of "wait time."

If we develop skills to foster both open awareness and focused attention over time, then we will become more present and responsive to the range of students in our classrooms.

The daily practice of mindfulness can support a teacher in embodying a more attuned presence throughout the school day.

2. Keep joyful memories alive

My friend remembered being captivated by students' smiles early in his career. Can you recall a similar visceral experience that may have enticed you into teaching? A self-contented sigh in a moment of accomplishment? Eyes that brightened with understanding? The eager chatter of students raring to go before a debate? Consider asking yourself the following questions:

When and how did I last experience empathic joy?

Where?

With whom?

Did my student/s sense that I was celebrating with them?

In Hardwiring Happiness, Rick Hanson reminds us that if we consciously take the time to savor positive experiences (for up to 30 seconds at a time), we are more likely to combat negativity bias and to begin rewiring our brains. Over time, we can experience greater pleasure in joyful moments.

As you reflect on experiences in your school and classroom, focus on one or more of the following research-based practices for cultivating joy and a sense of social connection.

Three Good Things: Take 10 minutes at the end of the day (for one week) and write down three things that went well for you. Remember how you felt at the time and what may have sparked this event in the first place. Why did it happen?

Meaningful Photos: Spend a week taking photos of things that give you joy and purpose; then sit down and take a look at your collection. What does each photo represent for you, and why is it meaningful?

Reminders of Connectedness: Identify words, images, and objects in your school and classroom that evoke a sense of community and social connectedness.

After you reflect on your own joy, don't stop there. Keep those memories alive by celebrating them with your students and their families.

3. Share joy to foster connections with students and families

There are many practical ways that you can broadcast joy in your classroom.

Start by sharing one of the practices above with your students. For example, create a bulletin board space for the "Three Good Things" exercise, display the "Meaningful Photos" you collected, or facilitate a discussion around classroom "Reminders of Connectedness."

Leave one or two celebratory post-it notes on a student's desk each day. Capture a moment that you enjoyed as you watched a student high-five a friend or solve a tough math problem with a self-satisfied grin.

Include a classroom meeting exercise where you and your students recall joyful moments. "I felt happy/excited when I saw [students' names] huddled up with their heads together preparing for their book club presentation. It took a lot of work, but they were so energetic and supportive of each other."

Generate postcards and/or emails for a handful of students and their families each week. "This week I really loved watching [student's name] in the classroom. I was so happy to see ... and I just wanted you to know." Short and sweet.

When you actively celebrate successes with your students and their families, you are likely to generate stronger feelings of connectedness and belonging in your classroom.

4. Consciously make micro-affirmations

What about the days when you aren't feeling particularly joyful or empathic? You can challenge yourself to recognize and acknowledge the good in your students.

Micro-affirmations are small acknowledgments of a person's value. They can work to create a sense of connection between teacher and student-and they serve as a counter to micro-aggressions (snubs, insults, or slights directed at members of marginalized groups, whether intentional or unintentional). They indicate that students are both capable and welcome in your classroom.

Here are several examples of micro-affirmations that teachers can regularly model:

Making eye contact with students while they are talking

Calling on students of different races and genders equally in all subjects

Referring to individual students by name

Using inclusive language (e.g., referring to "families" rather than "parents," "mothers," or "fathers")

Openly acknowledging a range of students for different tasks and actions

Showing enthusiasm in the classroom (even when you are tired)

One long-time language arts teacher I know concentrates on specific micro-affirmations (up to three) on mornings when she is feeling tired. "When I focus my energies on modeling enthusiasm, calling on lots of students by name, and thanking them for their participation and engagement, I begin to thrive off of their energy, and it feels like we all start to feel more connected," she says.

5. Take care of yourself

Teachers are notorious for neglecting self-care practices. Some claim that getting themselves to the restroom on a busy school day is cause for celebration. Why do many of us struggle to address basic health needs like getting to the gym, eating breakfast, and taking weekly time to socialize?

It may be because so many teachers are genuinely idealistic and altruistic. The trouble, of course, is that we can neglect ourselves if we're constantly focused on the needs of others. If we want to generate joy and connection in the classroom, we have to genuinely care for our students, and authentic care does not emerge in a vacuum. You've heard it before (and you know it in your heart): Self-care is the only way to build up enough emotional ballast to engage meaningfully with your students.

Self-care starts with self-compassion. Be gentle and understanding with yourself as you move toward new self-care habits. Recognize your common humanity; know that you are not alone in your struggles to find time and energy to take care of yourself, and mindfully hold your thoughts and emotions in balanced awareness. No need to ignore your feelings of depletion, but no need to exaggerate them either. Then you can move toward greater well-being and resilience with these science-based self-care strategies.

If you practice self-compassion, engage in self-care, and consciously remember, celebrate, and share positive moments in your classroom, you may find yourself experiencing more empathic joy-and so might your entire classroom.

Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

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How to Nurture Empathic Joy in Your Classroom

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A new teacher I know recently shared the reason he decided to become an educator: "Cheesy maybe, but I became intrigued by teaching because of smiles. When a student I am working with smiles, the feeling I get is indescribable." My friend is describing "empathic joy"- the experience of sharing and understanding positive emotions.

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Actionable strategies that are transferable across different learning blocks and somewhat easy to implement

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Incentive jars, individual checks, or table points can all be effective tools for building habits or internalizing routines. Is there a way the incentive can be tied to an academic block to make that time more fun? (I.e., a special spot to complete work, a fun writing utensil, a stuffed animal to hold while working...)