Jordan Baggett

Entry #1

Technique #3
Description:
Stretch It is a technique that focuses on the idea that teaching shouldnt just stop
when a student reaches the right answer to a question, because they could learn so
much more after. The idea is to ask a question after they have given the answer that
first shows how they got their answer in the first place, thus showing the class and
reiterating what their thinking was to the student themselves. Then after that a
teacher can ask a harder or deeper question that will keep the students mind going,
thus getting more out of a single question, and helping them achieve more learning.
Observation/Implementation:
In my Birmingham City placement my 5
th
graders were asked questions
about literature and given about 1-2 minutes to think about the answer before
answering. Then when they answered the question they would wait to see what the
answers are. Then the students have to answer why they came to that answer or
how they figured out what the answer was. I not only saw this in my language arts
class when it came to grammar, but I also saw it with the opening problems given to
the students when they came into math class.
Technique # 7
Description: It is important before you teach content that you make sure that your
lesson is effective and that you have a good reason for teaching it. This can be
double checked by using the 4 Ms method, this is stated with the 4 Ms: manageable,
measureable, made first, and most important. The idea behind manageable is that
the objective should be checked for size and scope, and made sure that it can be
taught in a single lesson for that day. Dont plan to teach something in one day if it
actually is going to take a week, because you will only stress out your students.
Measuring is when you make sure that at the end of the day or lesson that you
should be able to see your students improvement or how effective your teaching
actually was. A great way to do this is to have the students do an exit ticket before
the end of the day. Made first, means that the objective will be more effective if it is
made to lead the activity, not the activity made first and then selecting an objective
to form around this. The objective should always come first. Finally, the idea of most
important is the simple idea is that you should look beyond the fluff and see what is
most important to teach your students to get them where they need to be. This will
help you move the students right along to where they need to be, and help get them
up that mountain of learning.
Observation/Implementation:
I think this is something that we have had to learn as a block together this
year. That first off our objective should come before we try to find a way of doing
the lesson or activity, because that is based on the standard that we are trying to
implement or teach. A foremost we are trying to at the end of a lesson try to do an
assessment with our students to see how they are taking in the information, and
how we did as a teacher in teaching this new material. I think that my teacher at
Trace Crossings Elementary does a great job at following the 4 Ms and seems to
keep the end result in mind when she is planning her lesson or activity for the
day/week. I think that her assessments whether the students do them by
themselves or the one on one assessments my teacher does with literature is very
measureable and has given her great insight to what her students know. I think that
she is great about looking at the end result of her year, and really tries to get her
students to that point, and thus far she really has. I think that it is important in the
class to really look at your lesson or activity first before you implement it to look to
see if you have these four things and that it is really something that is going to help
them climb that mountain to that end result, and that you can really measure their
progress to help see where they are when it comes to climbing that mountain. I
think that my students did a great job with the lessons that Mrs. Harris gave them
this semester, and it was possible because she did a great job with explaining it to
them, and making it clear and having a distinct destination at the end.
Entry #2
Technique #19
Description:
The idea of technique number nineteen is the technique called, At Bats,
which is a basic technique that can be viewed in many classrooms. At Bats means
that you teach the students the basics of the lesson, and then you repeatedly
practice with them. This helps ingrain the skill without stopping just because the
student got one right answer. This technique can be aided with following three
helpful key points. First, go until the student can do it on their own. Second, use
various multiplications and formats so the student can do it many different ways.
Finally, grab opportunities for enrichment and differentiation. This way those that
are accelerated students are given ample opportunity to push themselves on
difficult problems, and those that are struggling have time to practice this new
method of learning.

Observation/Implementation:
My fifth grade teacher at W.J. Christians used the At Bats, technique in her class. I
saw this used a lot with the literacy skill such as summarizing. The teacher, once by
me, then given ample practice sessions, taught them the lesson once and if they did
well on those they could progress to other sessions as well. This really helped the
students begin to nail down the skill, and help them really start to get in the practice
before they were tested on it right before I left. It really helps the students
understand the skill, and with practice comes higher understanding and greater
skill.
Technique # 26
Description:
The idea of everybody writes is that they students are given the opportunity
to reflect first in writing before discussing. This helps them formulate their ideas
before they speak, thus making it easier on the students incase of a cold call. I write
to know what I think. This can help the teacher ask for more ambitious ideas when
they answer a question, because they have had the time to write down their
thinking, so they have less likely of a chance to ramble when called upon. It can help
the teacher select effective responses before the discussion so you know what ideas
might be important to call upon. It also gives those who usually are not called upon a
chance to speak. Usually when you ask a question to the class the same students
raise their hand, with the everybody writes idea, every student should have
something written so those students who are more unsure or nervous will be more
likely to answer, or if called upon will have something to say. To have a student
write down their idea is a challenge it engages them, challenges them intellectually,
and improves the quality of their ideas and even their writing. Also I find this truly
from even my own schooling, but students remember twice as much what they are
learning if they write it down. So this strategy doesnt just improve their quality of
writing, but it improves their quality of thinking that informs discussions at key
points in the lesson.
Observation/Implementation:
As a student myself I really do like this method because I have a hard time
figuring out my thoughts when called on command. It isnt that I do not know the
answer; I just tend to ramble and not get my answer in a clear, concise way to
explain to the class. So when I am asked to write out my answer I tend to do better,
if not only because my answer is right there in front of me. My teacher uses this a lot
when it comes to math. She will have the students explain their thinking on the
paper, and gives them around five to ten minutes to do that before she brings them
all to the rug. She can walk around and see where their thinking is going, and help
them if needed. So when the students make it to the rug they feel a bit better about
answering her questions. Especially with math I think this is important because the
student doesnt fell like youre trying to trip them up, but helping them understand
math just a bit better, because it is a difficult thing to do in 2
nd
grade. Especially
because they are just starting to explain their thinking when it comes to math. I
think it is important to implement this also because it really helps those students
who like to think before answering questions in class get a firm grip on their idea,
and then actually get to share it instead of having that race to see who gets their
hand up first.
Entry #3
Technique # 27
Description: Vegas are the moment, or the sparkle, in a lesson that makes a lesson
more fun. Unlike the J-factor this strategy is an instructional tool in a lesson. It is
supposed to be short, sweet, and on point and when it is done the sparkle is done.
This can be about thirty seconds long and can be an interlude in the lesson. It almost
is like a commercial break within the lesson. It can be something that focuss on the
lesson at hand or reinforce an already learned lesson from a previous time, so that
you are always reviewing. This has to implemented with care, and make sure that it
is quick. Other wise you could be taking the lesson off topic and being doing as much
harm as you are good. For an example in the middle of a math lesson you could take
a thirty-second break to run through a song about the mid-western states. It gives
the students a break from the math going on, but it fills it with a valuable review.

Observation/Implementation
I think Vegas can be a great tool to use in the classroom, because sometimes
our minds just get worn out when using the same tools and strategies for an
extended period of time. My teacher sometimes will take a break in the lesson to go
over math ideas in the middle of a writing session, because the students just need a
break from their work. This sometimes can be really beneficial especially with those
students that are ADD/ADHD because it can be really difficult to focus on one idea
the entire class period. I have seen her also do the reverse side and do this in the
middle of a math lesson where my students have a really hard time focusing. She
might have them stand up and do a silly song or dance, and it gets them moving and
then they quickly sit back down and get back to work. I would implement this by
maybe going over a song that we learned to learn states, facts, science, math, ect..
and it would get them up and moving and go over that information that I really want
them to remember.

Technique #34
Description:
Students needing to get water, go to the bathroom, or sharpen their pencil is
a basic right in the classroom. However, there is a time for this in the day, and
sometimes the students asking during a lesson can be distracting. Any way that a
student can divert the topic of discussion can cause complications in trying to keep
the lesson on course. Not only this but a student yelling out that they need to go to
the bathroom or to get water, can really cut off your train of thought and hurt your
momentum. If you develop hand signals for these needs then you will have less
moments when students are cutting you off, and it will make controlling their basic
needs more efficient. This is done with hand signals, this is done by hand signs that
students can show from their seat and do so non-verbally. It should be subtle
enough to not cause distraction, and these need to be consistent throughout the
year. You can answer these with a simple nod or shake of your head, or show with
your hand how many minutes for them to wait. For the restroom a student can raise
their hand with two fingers crossed to show the need for the restroom. To show the
teacher that they need to get a sip of water the student can raise there hand with
three fingers splayed out to look like a W for water. For a new pencil a student can
simply raise their old pencil in the air for you to sharpen for them, since students
usually more time then needed when it comes to sharpening. For a tissue students
can pinch their nose and raise their hand. I think these are also great because
sometimes it is awkward for the student to say allowed what they need, these are
subtle so that avoids this awkwardness.

Observation/Implementation:
In my 5
th
grade classroom my teacher uses almost these exact same hand
signals to help direct her classroom and the students basic needs. I love these and
have never seen them before this placement, and think that they are very beneficial
and really help keep the class moving along. The students can stay in their desk or
walk up to her and show her the signal and she either nods or shakes her head so
they know if they can go to the restroom or to get water. I think that this really helps
keep the classroom just a bit quieter, and it comes in handy when she is teacher a
lesson because she never really has to break her train of thought. I would like to
implement these in my future classroom, because I believe that they really get the
momentum of the class going and by using these signals you arent going to break
that momentum. I really like the idea of having a signal for a student needing a new
pencil and my teacher doesnt do that one, but I can see the point behind that
because my students tend to take their time at the sharpener. I think that these are
great because it does help the teacher control the classroom, and help not break up
the lesson and her directions.
Entry #4
Technique #42
Description:
This is the basic idea that you should never within a classroom wait to long to
act on something, or wait to long to deliver probable consequences. To earn your
students respect and gain control of the classroom you should administer small
consequences and minor interventions early before emotional situations can get out
of hand. No matter how well you think your wits and charm can work in the
classroom, they wont. Its all about the student believing they can better
themselves. The idea if that you should take action, and make sure you dont get
angry. You need to make sure that you are acting early to the situation, to prevent
major consequences later. Always act reliably; if you are consistent then the
students are more like to trust you. Plus if they can know a guaranteed response
from you then they will focus more on the action than the actual response. Finally
you should act proportionally, start small when misbehavior is small, so essentially
let the crime fit the time. If it keeps occurring then you can start to increase the
consequence, but dont give them a huge punishment the first few go around,
especially when the student is at a young age. Try to be aware if the misbehavior
was deliberate or not, and go from there when determining whether to just give a
warning or a consequence. The best thing you can do in your classroom is
developing a scale system for your students, with consequences that keep growing
in size. Your students will know the punishments, and will know where their
misbehaviors can lead them, so there is nothing to play at.
Observation/Implementation:
When a teacher takes to long to react on an event the students will see this as
a weakness or that the teacher just doesnt really care about the misbehavior. When
this happens then they feel like they can truly get away with anything, and will try to
get away with more. When this happens you start to lose control on the class as a
whole, and those misbehaviors that you had before will start to grow in number,
and will also grow in their magnitude. In my classroom at W.J. I feel that my teacher
has a really quick reaction time, and so the students know that she means business.
She usually states what the misbehavior was quick and swiftly, and the student
knows not to do it again. She has great control of her classroom, and usually most of
the students know what is appropriate to do in the classroom. If you wait to long to
talk to a student about a misbehavior then you run into the problem of them not
even remembering what they really did wrong. The human mind doesnt hold onto
small details of an event for long, and so the longer you wait the more likely the
student wont entirely remember what they did wrong. If the student doesnt
remember the event fully, then you run into the problem of not being able to correct
the misbehavior and them doing it again at a later date, and wont see the problem
with this because you didnt mind last time? So why does it matter now? When this
happens you have lost control completely of the situation and your class, and it is
really hard to rope that back in.
Technique #42
Description:
This is the basic idea that you should never within a classroom wait to long to
act on something, or wait to long to deliver probable consequences. To earn your
students respect and gain control of the classroom you should administer small
consequences and minor interventions early before emotional situations can get out
of hand. No matter how well you think your wits and charm can work in the
classroom, they wont. Its all about the student believing they can better
themselves. The idea if that you should take action, and make sure you dont get
angry. You need to make sure that you are acting early to the situation, to prevent
major consequences later. Always act reliably; if you are consistent then the
students are more like to trust you. Plus if they can know a guaranteed response
from you then they will focus more on the action than the actual response. Finally
you should act proportionally, start small when misbehavior is small, so essentially
let the crime fit the time. If it keeps occurring then you can start to increase the
consequence, but dont give them a huge punishment the first few go around,
especially when the student is at a young age. Try to be aware if the misbehavior
was deliberate or not, and go from there when determining whether to just give a
warning or a consequence. The best thing you can do in your classroom is
developing a scale system for your students, with consequences that keep growing
in size. Your students will know the punishments, and will know where their
misbehaviors can lead them, so there is nothing to play at.
Observation/Implementation:
When a teacher takes to long to react on an event the students will see this as
a weakness or that the teacher just doesnt really care about the misbehavior. When
this happens then they feel like they can truly get away with anything, and will try to
get away with more. When this happens you start to lose control on the class as a
whole, and those misbehaviors that you had before will start to grow in number,
and will also grow in their magnitude. In my classroom at Trace I feel that my
teacher has a really quick reaction time, and so the students know that she means
business. She usually states what the misbehavior was quick and swiftly, and the
student knows not to do it again. She has great control of her classroom, and usually
most of the students know what is appropriate to do in the classroom. If you wait to
long to talk to a student about a misbehavior then you run into the problem of them
not even remembering what they really did wrong. The human mind doesnt hold
onto small details of an event for long, and so the longer you wait the more likely the
student wont entirely remember what they did wrong. If the student doesnt
remember the event fully, then you run into the problem of not being able to correct
the misbehavior and them doing it again at a later date, and wont see the problem
with this because you didnt mind last time? So why does it matter now? When this
happens you have lost control completely of the situation and your class, and it is
really hard to rope that back in.
Entry #5
Technique #43
Description:
This is a short idea that you should always correct students in a positive
manner. Try to always make consistent corrections with your students, and make
sure that theses corrections are positive. You should tell your students what you are
wanting to see them do, so that they can see how they could improve or change the
negative behavior. The idea is made up of six rules: live in the now, assume the best,
allow plausible anonymity, build momentum and narrate the positive, challenge,
and talk expectations and aspirations. First, live in the here and now and tell
students what they can correct from this point forward, not what they did wrong in
the last minute or so, because they cant change what already has been done. Next,
dont just assume that a student was disobeying it could just a misunderstanding on
the students part or be due to a lack of practice. The plausible anonymity is that you
should try to refrain from using a students name and should deliver advice without
names so the student and you are having an understanding that the improvement
comments are between the two of you and not just the entire class so they will be
more likely to try and improve. When you are making comments they should lean
towards the positive and the students should be getting feedback that wants them to
do better and keep going. This will help them achieve momentum in the activity and
learning. You should even try to create challenges in the class, for example by
pointing out the class as a whole was great last week so lets see if they can be better
this week. You can even point out the positive action done by one student, thus
making the others want to copy that positive action so they can receive praise.
Lastly you should try to show that you are caring in the students time and effort and
dont patronize them when they are slow, but let them know I need you with us. It
doesnt sound as harsh, and makes it sound as if you really need their help in the
situation.

Observation/Implementation:
Students generally want to make their teachers and parents proud, and
nothing can ruin their day more than when they feel that they have really messed up
their positive relationship with you. When you frame your observation with them in
positivity then you make them feel like they are still loved and no damage has really
been done to your relationship. However, you are still able to correct the situation
or possible misbehavior, and make adjustments without singling them out in a
negative way. This can also be great because it can work as motivation for them to
work harder, and more efficiently. In my classroom my teacher really tries hard to
talking to her students in a positive way that makes them feel like they arent exactly
in trouble or that she is mad at them. That is when a relationship can truly start to
break is when the student feels like their might now be a crack in the foundation of
your relationship with them. Or they start to believe the, my teacher is just mean,
stereotype. My teacher tries to talk to the students as if she is hoping they will make
a better choice, and not that they did something wrong. She tries to look forward to
the future, instead of harping on them for something they did wrong. This makes
them feel like they can gain back brownie points with her before the day is out, and
that they are still in her good graces, and not completely shut out.
Technique # 46
Description: The way that I would remember what the J-factor is as written by the
book is just the idea that it is the factor of joy in a lesson, that truly makes school
and learning fun in the classroom. The idea is that a great teacher shows energy,
passion, enthusiasm, fun, and humor in a lesson. It isnt to take away from the hard
work in a lesson, but to help the students enjoy what they are learning about and
help get through that hard work. For example playing games in the classroom can
make a lesson more fun, and help them learn new material almost at a stronger rate,
because they can come back on that fun memory of learning the information and it
is more deeply engrained in their mind. Doing drama, song, and dance to learn
lessons is probably one of my favorite ways to bring fun into a lesson that can
otherwise be boring. Songs are catchy and stick in their brains for a lifetime. Some of
the songs I learned in my primary schooling years still stick with me now, and thats
how I remember the information that I was taught. When you also add suspense and
suspicion in a lesson you also help make the student feel like they arent in just a
cycle of work and lessons that can be boring, especially for younger students and
they wont be as likely to tune out the ever important lesson. This is not an
instructional tool, it is a way to make students feel a sense of belonging and that
they are home in the classroom, such as giving them nicknames.

Observation/Implementation:
My teacher in my 5
th
classroom at W.J Christians in my Birmingham City
placement is great about trying to find ways to make her lessons more enjoyable for
the students. Whether she finds funny short stories for them to read together in
groups, or reading to them a novel in front of the classroom. For example when it
comes to practicing literacy in our class she tends to use a lot of games for the
students to use to work on their skills with fluency and vocabulary so that they are
really enjoying themselves, but they are still practicing skills and making the most of
class time. You can do this in a classroom by really adding some fun aspects into the
lesson to make it fun for the students to learn, and they are getting something out of
it. Changing up the cycle of work is great, but usually I wouldnt say it is best to do
this with the younger students only because when you change up the younger
students routine they tend to have a harder time focusing, and they lose that train of
thought and get rowdy. For example on the day that we went to presentations and
our schedule was moved all around my students didnt pay attention nearly as well,
and we had a more difficult time controlling them. I think it is important to add in
that joy factor in your class room, because it will only make the students want to
learn more, and they will get more out of your lessons.