China Day 7
The day started out with “Roar” by Katie Perry. We use this everyday for consistency. It also provides a lot of energy. These teachers are working incredibly hard. Their day is a long day. They start promptly at 8 a.m. The last session ends at 8 p.m. They are truly working incredibly hard. They are learning lots of different strategies, different processes and procedures. They are doing difficult brain work. Starting with something that energizes them is crucial.
You next consist song is “We Are Family”. This time, we had everyone in the auditorium form a huge circle around the room. They could dance, clap along, sing, do whatever. The important part is that they were participating.
I’m a teacher rap – (to Ridin’ Solo by Jason Derilo).
Candy ice breaker. Several students selected between 1-3 pieces of candy. Based upon the candy, they had to answer that many questions. Starbursts were used. The color of the candy dictated the question.
The presentation of Myths and Legends continued. A Story was presented and a graphic organizer was completed.
Homeroom
Bad Joke. What do you call a belt that has a timepiece in it? (A waist of time). I gave them a couple of other jokes, including “Why was 6 afraid of 7? Because 7,8,9” I wrote this one out on the board both ways. We talked about it.
Next, we gave them time to finish working on lesson plans. They worked very hard on these. One table chose to work together on producing a single lesson plan. A couple of other teachers worked together in pairs. However, most of them worked individually. I’m impressed by the questions that they asked and the work that they did.
Once the teachers seemed to be set with creating their first lesson plans, we introduced them to the Gallery Walk strategy. We posted their lesson plans around the room and gave them post it notes. We had them find their 2 o’clock buddy and visit each lesson plan. On each one they were to discuss the lesson plan. Then each teacher would write out a post it note with either a question or a positive comment.
Once this was complete, we had them gather up their lesson plans and review the comments that they were provided. Then we talked about the Gallery Walk process. We noted that when they first arrived, they said that they wanted to practice their English, learn about lesson planning and learn strategies. This lesson allowed all of them to talk, (instead of one person presenting at a time, all of the teachers were talking and evaluating as they went), create lesson plans, critique lesson plans and see and use a variety of lesson plans.
Presentation of the Homework.
WOW. What a terrific exercise! The teachers did such a wonderful job of the presenting the 23 non-action verbs combined with a children’s song. They sang, they laughed, they clapped along. Almost all of them nailed it. One group didn’t have every member singing (they all participated) and we noted that. Several of the groups were very creative.
Then, we processed why we did it this way. Could we have just told them to memorize the 23 non-action verbs? Sure. We noted the amount of work that they put in. We talked about the joy, the excitement and the energy in the room. We asked them how they felt about the assignment. Then we asked them to compare how they would’ve felt if they were just told to memorize them.
Next we started the process of Collins Writing with them. We gave them their three FCA’s and a formatted paper. They are to take one of their Story Cube stories and expand upon the story. The story must be 125 words. It must use the words appropriately.
Finally, we had them complete their Reflective Notebook. This was a day packed with information and learning.
At the very end, I wrote two rules on the board:
- No working on PD tomorrow.
- See rule #1.
They got at kick out of the joke. We really want them to relax and take a break tomorrow. They have been working extremely hard. It is time for them to relax and let some of the learning soak in.
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