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A great routine is having students confer with each other. Watch this video to see what it can look like.

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ELA.W.7.5

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

W: Writing Standards 6-12

7: 7th Grade

5:
With some guidance and support from peers and
adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed
by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying
a new approach, focusing on how well purpose
and audience have been addressed. (Editing for
conventions should demonstrate command of
Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade
7 on page 52.)

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. According to the teacher, what are the two goals of peer conferencing?

2. What steps does the teacher take to ensure productive peer conferences?

3. What strikes you about the peer conference featured in this video?

School Details

Shaw Middle School
4106 North Cook St
Spokane WA 99207

Data Provided By:

Teachers

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Students in Aaron Allen's 7th grade English Language Arts class work with a partner on a four-step, peer conferencing protocol designed to help them improve their personal narrative drafts. In this video, we see the teacher modeling what effective peer conferencing looks like and two boys working through and discussing each step of the protocol.

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Ron Ritchhart and Intellectual Character

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Ron Ritchhart and Intellectual Character

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A chapter on thinking routines

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Routines: the backbone of daily classroom life

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Routines: the backbone of daily classroom life

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"Routines are the backbone of daily classroom life," writes Linda Shalaway in her book "Learning to Teach...Not Just for Beginners." Anyone who has experience with children will agree with Shalaway's statement. Structure and routine are essential to keeping children focused and your stress level down.

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/how_7643156_establish-structure-routine-classroom.html#ixzz2fsDLIMgD

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Girls raising their hands in a classroom.

Discipline often comes to mind at the mention of classroom management, but the crucial component of teaching is much more. Classroom management creates a set of expectations used in an organized classroom environment. It includes routines, rules and consequences. Effective classroom management paves the way for the teacher to engage the students in learning.

Effective Teaching

A disorganized classroom without routines and expectations makes it difficult for the teacher to do her job. Students don't know what to do, so they might get off task or cause disruptions. When the teacher is constantly redirecting students or handling behavior problems, she loses crucial teaching time. Classroom management strategies help create an organized classroom environment that's conducive to teaching. Kids know the expectations in different types of learning situations. For example, kids would know that when working in small groups, they talk in quiet voices and take turns talking. They might each have a specific job within the group.

Efficient Use of Time

Taking time before school starts to create routines and procedures saves you time in the long run. When the children know what to do, it becomes a natural part of the routine. After a few weeks, you don't need to tell them what to do. The students know they get their planners out, write in homework assignments and gather all of their materials at the end of the day, for example. You can get your kids out the door faster at the end of the day. When you train them how to do each part of the school day, you don't spend as much time giving directions.

Consistency

A teacher with strong classroom management skills creates consistency for his students. The kids know what to expect every day when it comes to the routine activities. Your students may fare better when you're gone if you have set expectations for everyday tasks. They know how the classroom runs so they are able to help the substitute run the classroom. For example, if the kids know they're supposed to enter the room and start working on a math problem on the board, a substitute doesn't have to spend his time corralling the kids or trying to keep them occupied while everyone arrives. You can also create consistency throughout the school by aligning your management strategies with the schoolwide standards. If your school focuses on respect and responsibility, incorporate them into your classroom management techniques. The students will hear those words throughout the school and know that the expectations are the same anywhere in the building.

Fewer Behavior Problems

The main goal of classroom management is to reduce misbehavior in the classroom. Effective classroom management gives the students little time to misbehave. Because the expectations are clearly explained, the students know what they need to do. Transitions in particular are easier to control when a teacher has strong classroom management skills. For example, if you have dots on the floor for lining up and call one group at a time, the students know to listen for their groups and stand on a dot when called. Kids aren't bunched up since the dots help space them out. They won't rush and push if you only call a few students at a time. The expectations for behaviors that are part of a classroom management plan give students boundaries, as well as consequences.

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Why Classroom Management Is Important | Synonym

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Girls raising their hands in a classroom. Discipline often comes to mind at the mention of classroom management, but the crucial component of teaching is much more. Classroom management creates a set of expectations used in an organized classroom environment. It includes routines, rules and consequences.

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CHAMP: A WAY OF THINKING ABOUT ROUTINES/RITUALS

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CHAMP: A WAY OF THINKING ABOUT ROUTINES/RITUALS

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Making good use of routines and rituals:

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Making good use of routines and rituals:

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Getting a new academic year off to a successful start can pose a challenge, especially for newer teachers, in this era of austerity in schools. But good preparation and a well-organized game plan can help. Consider the following suggestions that have made teaching and learning a bit easier for my students, their parents and me:

The routine of organizing lessons, weekly tasks and activities and student notebooks: Be consistent with the format of your lesson plan. It helps students to understand the expectations inherent in the delivery of your instruction.

Think of your lesson as having a beginning, middle and end. Consider these questions: How will I engage or motivate my students at the beginning of the lesson? How will I build the necessary background for students to complete the lesson and its tasks? How can I conduct a mini-lesson or supply them with models that will help them to achieve the standard or competency I have proposed for them? How will I know if they have met the goals I have set for them (assessment)?

This beginning, middle and end structure can also help you utilize reverse planning. Attempt to plan out the major projects, benchmarks and assessments for the semester so that you can implement a weekly class structure that will help students to succeed.

For example, my recent playwriting class was structured in the following way: Monday = Review, revision and skills building. Tuesday = Reading drama. Wednesday = Reading drama. Thursday = Scriptwriting. Friday = Workshop read-aloud and reflection.

Finally, experiment with an organized student notebook requirement. Students number each page of their notebooks except the first five pages which are used for a Table of Contents. Students log in to this table each day. Each ruled line records the topic for the day's work. Left margin = date. Between margins = lesson's aim or focus question. Right margin = page number where that day's work can be found.

The last 10 to 20 pages can be used as a skills/vocabulary/conceptual terms/storage section.

The rituals of accountable talk and a class blog: Setting aside time each day for students to engage in critical dialogues is an empowering class ritual that benefits students' learning because it teaches them to think critically and respond to each other's thoughts while also learning how to defend their thoughts and perspectives about a given topic or idea.

It also helps to build a sense of community within the classroom and motivates students to question themselves and their teachers (for more information please visit: www.ascd.org. Click on Books under Publications. Click the Browse Books tab, then the Title tab. Scroll down to "Content-Area Conversations: How to Plan Discussion-Based Lessons for Diverse Language Learners" and click it. Then click Chapter 5. Procedures for Classroom Talk).

Maintaining a class blog is another powerful ritual that can further build class community and transcend its traditional borders. A class blog allows teachers to communicate with students and their parents.

At www.blogger.com you can quickly and easily create a blog in order to effectively reinforce the importance of student attendance and learning. You can post important classroom news, reminders and upcoming assignment due dates.

I like to use a service called Scribd in conjunction with my blogs. This service, which can be found at www.scribd.com, allows you to seamlessly store linked assignments, PowerPoint presentations and other notes of information on your blog.

When a student is absent, he or she knows that a visit to the class blog to retrieve missed work and notes is mandatory.

One last note: Don't forget to notify parents via phone, e-mail or snail mail about the class blog.

Classroom management: With so many students in one classroom, proximity is essential. Consider a circle or a U-shaped desk format to facilitate your movement around the classroom.

It can focus students' attention and make group work arrangements and transitions easier. It also allows you more freedom to use nonverbal classroom management techniques to minimize interference in instruction such as: 1. Eye-to-eye signaling; 2. Writing signals or questions on small sticky notes and placing them on a student's desk. 3. Simply standing next to a student's desk.

Finally, this desk arrangement works nicely with one-to-one conferencing and differentiated tasks and instruction.

Next, don't underestimate the power of the phone. With the rise of cellular technology, it is easier for teachers to contact parents. Don't hesitate to call when one student or a group of students has become unruly in class. This can't be stressed enough. Act quickly!

Last, any type of meeting that addresses the concerns of students and teachers can help classroom management. These meetings allow teachers the opportunity to confer about the issues and breakthroughs that have occurred in their classrooms.

They are the ideal time to share best practices, offer advice, become aware of trends and assess what is working or not working for students and teachers. A principal who encourages and enjoys partaking in meetings like this is a bonus.

For more on "routines, rituals and classroom management," please visit a previous New York Teacher article of mine entitled "The two-minute bell."

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Making good use of routines, rituals and classroom management

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Getting a new academic year off to a successful start can pose a challenge, especially for newer teachers, in this era of austerity in schools. But good preparation and a well-organized game plan can help.

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What are examples of routines and rituals? The two minutes bell

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What are examples of routines and rituals? The two minutes bell

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http://www.uft.org/teacher-teacher/two-minute-bell

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EDITOR'S NOTE: From time to time, the New York Teacher publishes professional advice for our readers from their classroom colleagues. We invite all members to consider sharing the secrets of their hard-earned successes for publication.
By JOHN POWERS

Unlike the two-minute timeout in football or the seventh-inning stretch in baseball where the players and fans get a chance to relax for a moment, run to the bathroom or stretch their legs, the last two minutes of a class lesson can be a time of restlessness and vexation for teachers and students, especially if the lesson is being observed by an administrator. We teachers know that even with the best planning, organization and instruction, our lessons may end a minute or two early and thus invite criticism of the need to teach "bell to bell." To make matters worse, students will sometimes begin packing up and making their way to the door; their last class before lunch or the end of the day will sometimes exacerbate these actions. What is to be done?

What follows is a short list of strategies I have used successfully and have shared with colleagues over the years.

1. Position yourself near the door as you end your lesson to send a "silent" signal that walking toward the door is unacceptable.

2. Ask the class to write down one thought about the day's lesson. They can use these sentence starters: Today's lesson taught me that ... One thing that confused me about today's lesson is ... One thing I really liked about today's lesson is ... One thing I would like to know more about today's lesson is ... I can relate to today's lesson because ... etc. Some of these responses can be shared aloud depending on the exact amount of time left in class. Or you can ask students to switch papers and do a "Think-Pair-Share." These responses can be used as "exit slips" when students leave class.

3. Go around the class quickly and ask students to share verbally any of the aforementioned ideas (no writing). Students who do not want to share their thoughts can say "pass."

4. Use the last few minutes of class for journaling purposes. You can ask students to respond to specific "summary/synthesis" questions. Their responses can be shared for critical dialogues the following day at the beginning of class and/or collected and used by the teacher to gauge students' learning and class progress. Students can then design and create a booklet of their journal entries to be handed in as a final class project. For more on creating "summary/synthesis" questions, refer to "Bloom's Taxonomy" [http://www.bestonlinecollege.org/blooms-taxonomy/].

5. In lieu of journals, students can be given the option of using comic book templates where they can draw and write down their responses. These, too, can be used to create a booklet of responses.

6. Divide the class in half and ask trivia questions based on the day's lesson.

7. Students can complete a "geometric cloze" exercise. Ask them to select either a circle, a triangle or an arrow and then draw it in their notebook and do the following:

1. Circle: explain how the day's lesson helped to complete something you already knew and helped you to gain greater perspective on a particular fact, idea or concept.

2. Triangle: explain how the day's lesson shifted your thinking and created an entirely new angle, perspective or insight about a fact, idea or concept.

3. Arrow: explain how the day's lesson made you aware of a fact, idea or concept and what steps you must now take given what you have learned.

Please feel free to add to and/or critique this list by contacting me via the New York Teacher.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: From time to time, the New York Teacher publishes professional advice for our readers from their classroom colleagues. We invite all members to consider sharing the secrets of their hard-earned successes for publication.