ENVoY

ENVoY  (Educational Non-Verbal Yardsticks)  A guide to classroom management
Michael Grinder, Founder

In June I attended the two-day training seminar for this systematic approach to non-verbal management.  I'd like to share my following brief summary.

While I am teaching, I will try to keep in mind the power of influence with these four focus points:

Body
     Posture (straight, weight even on both feet)
     Proximity (silently move to routine place in front of class)
     Location (stand still & settle in a freeze-body position)

Voice
     Volume (use ABOVE (p a u s e) whisper! )
     Speed
     Tone

Eyes
     Where (varies for certain situations)
     When                    "

Breathing
     Break & Breathe (use this technique when needed)
     Low and deep

The Book Whisperer

The Book Whisperer is amazing!  Donalyn Miller synthesizes years of research along with what she has tried in her own sixth-grade classroom to motivate students to become life-long, passionate readers.  

She starts by stealing every available moment for students to read their independent books.  Donalyn references Stephen Krashen when she states "no single literacy activity has a more positive effect on students' comprehension, vocabulary knowledge, spelling, writing ability, and overall academic achievement than free voluntary reading.   Students enter Donalyn's classroom, get out their books, and start reading.  If the phone rings during the middle of a lesson, students know to start reading their books.  If they finish early, they read.  Donalyn admits, kids are busy.  "If I don't make time for them to read in school, why should they make time for it in their life?"

Resolve to edge in a little reading every day, if it is but a single sentence.  If you gain fifteen minutes a day, it will make itself felt at the end of the year.     -Horace Mann

Students in her class are expected to read 40 books a year.  They are given some guidelines about genres, otherwise they are free to make choices about what books to read.  

Donalyn teaches content lessons.  Students practice in pairs with mentor texts and then they practice individually using their independent reading materials.  The results for her have been positive.  Students are engaged, behavior problems are minimal and test scores are up.

This book makes me wonder what giving up time at the front end of my class and having high expectations for book reading would look like in my classroom.  Do I have enough books in the different genres to support this approach?  Should I reorganize my classroom library by genre?  What is the best way to ensure that each student is engaged and reaching their potential while reading independent books?  How could technology support this mind shift?  I think I will read Visible Learning for Literacy before deciding.

Hacking Writing

For those of you not familiar with the term "hacking" in education it is a term used to rethink, examine, and challenge the status quo in education. There are a few books that fit this type of thinking (e.g., Hacking Assessment, Hacking Writing, and Teach Like a Pirate).

The picture above is from a popular game called Clash of Clans (CoC). I am sure a few of you have seen some of your students playing this game during class or in the halls ways, right? Well, why not use this powerful game to your advantage. I see multiple ways that students could translate this game to meaningful learning. Let's look at a few of them.

Maybe the most obvious way is the application to social studies. What about comparing a battle on CoC to the Battle of Gettysburg or or Stalingrad. Students could research the battle then compare the forces used in both. What type of weaponry and military tactics would be different on CoC? Of course there are a plethora of ways to enrich learning. Just think of the worst ideas. Often times they are the best ideas.

Another way to use this is for math and ratios, calculating and saving (a life skill that many adults need). For example, I have three gold mine producing 3500 units of gold per hour. I need 103,000 more units of gold to upgrade my defenses. How long will it take me to earn this gold? Students would have to prioritize what is more important in the game and blog about it. They could defend their reasoning by talking or blogging to comments from other students. So many ways to inspire students to learn these critical skills.

I have lots of other ideas about how to use games and gamification in the classroom. If you have and interest or comment, please let me know.

Happy Fourth of July.