So it's your first year of teaching...

So your first year of teaching is coming up. You have graduated college with a degree in education yet you have a ton more to learn about teaching in your first year. And your second year. And your third year. And every other year for the rest of your teaching or education career. You are now a professional educator, yet it is such a unique profession because it is difficult to learn certain things in college. There is an "on the job training" aspect to teaching.  Never stop learning. Be a life-long learner.
So now that you have your first job, the real work begins. The actual work of teaching students and helping them learn. Helping them reach their full potential. You are no longer just trying to pass student teaching, or get high scores on lesson plan rubrics. You are no longer trying to plan awesome lessons to impress your university supervisor during an observation. Now it is the real deal. It is time to put into action what you've learned and heard the last few years.

Here are some tips for you as you enter your teaching career:
1. Begin building relationships with your students on day one. And never stop until you retire in 35 years.

2. Don't try to be friends with the students.

3. Attend extra-curricular events to engage students in other environments. They notice and it means a lot to them to see you at their activities.

4. Read Teach Like a Pirate every August.

5. Reflect constantly. Every day. After everything you do. "What you did" - "What happened" - "How did it go" - "good/bad and why" - "What you will do differently next time."

6. Make sure your priorities are in order each day when you enter the building: You are not there to just socialize with your colleagues. The #1 reason you are there is for the students so rather than spending your whole prep period in the lounge talking about the weekend, spend your time creating a new and engaging activity for your students.

7. Stay out of the "good old boys" club.

8. Find passionate teachers that care about kids and have a growth mindset. Surround yourself with these teachers. Ask them questions (but don't be needy or annoying). Stay away from the teachers who have bad attitudes and a fixed mindset.

9.  Get to know the support staff of the school: Secretary, custodians, the tech person and the food service workers. They may give you an extra chicken nugget on those days!

10. Don't feel like you have to teach the way the previous teacher did. Find your own style. It may take a few years, but eventually, you will find your own unique style and what you are good at.

11. Engage on Twitter. It is a great place to expand your resources and grow professionally.

12. Stay in contact with your professors for ideas, help, questions, to vent, etc. They are here to continue to help you and want to do so.

13. Don't do worksheets every day.

14. Keep a balance between your school life and your social/personal life. Don't let the profession overwhelm you and burn you out the first year. True, it will be busy, but a healthy balance will keep you healthy and sharp.

15. Don't use technology just for the sake of using technology. The best way to do something is NOT always with technology. Only use technology when it improves the learning, makes the learning/work more efficient/effective and/or allows you to do things that otherwise would not be possible.

Good luck as you embark on your teaching adventure. It's quite a ride!

Summer time!

Summer break is bittersweet for me. I enjoy getting to spend a lot of time with my kids, especially Hazel since she's at such an awesome age (4 yrs). I enjoy getting to have some "down" time to read and just reset.  I also enjoy having time to run, but so much for that! (Thanks, Achilles tear). However, I miss my students terribly. It seems the semester goes so fast and then, poof! They are gone and off to student teaching.  I find myself having a hard time waiting for the next school year to arrive because I'm excited to get to work with a bunch of new students.   So what do I do during the summer?  I'll share it here. Not that you probably need any help with coming up with stuff to do in the summer. But, nonetheless, my summer plans:

1. Read YA social injustice books - A great way to continue to build empathy within me and be able to build a library of books to recommend to students. Also, I'm always searching for a new book to use in my social injustice unit.

2. Read one book from Dave Burgess Publishing. Let's face it, Dave Burgess is the man. He pumps out a lot of awesome books for teachers that are powerful, yet not difficult to read. The book I am going to read this summer is called "Wild Card" by Wade and Hope King. I suggest you do the same.

3. Read a bunch of novels. I feel that reading novels sparks my imagination which helps me become more creative. The imagination is a powerful thing - feed it!

4. Create a simulation - I look at my curriculum, dive into some content and try to create at least one rockin' simulation for the upcoming school year. Simulation is my favorite teaching strategy because of the transformative nature of it.

5. Mine Twitter  - At least once a week, I fire up Tweet Deck to mine for new tech tools,   resources, ideas, etc that I could use in the upcoming school year.  Choose a hashtag and just spend 30 minutes looking through the tweets. I suggest #tlap, #games4ed, #xplap, #ditchbook, #sdedchat.

6. Incorporate a new tech tool in a meaningful way. I am NOT a believer in trying to use as many different tech tools as possible. I like to master one and use it in a meaningful way. I don't like using tech just for the sake of using tech. So I look at my tech tools google doc and think about what tech tool I could add to my courses in a meaningful way.

7. Unplug for school for a while. I feel it is healthy to check out from school and thinking about school. It can get to be too overwhelming if you are always in "school mode." However, even when I am "checked out," I keep school in the back of my mind just in case I come across something that would be useful for the school year.

8. Limit the amount of time I am on my phone. As the days, weeks and years pass, I am becoming more and more anti-iPhone.  It is a powerful device and I use it regularly, but it can be such a time-consuming thing! This is a real struggle for me but I am making a huge effort this summer to get off my phone, look up more and engage with the world.

9. Fly somewhere. I really try hard to fly somewhere each summer (or each year) because if you are flying somewhere, that means it was too far to drive, which means you are going to a totally new/different place in the US or World. See as much of the US/World as possible. Fly somewhere and broaden your horizons and increase your appreciation for culture.

10. Read Teach Like a Pirate, Part 1.

--

What do you do in the summer to recharge, prepare for school, or just have fun?
Enjoy the summer. You've earned the time off.

-Dan Klumper

Flippity.net: A most useful tool

If you haven't already, you should check out Flippity.net! It's a very useful tool. It is part of Google Drive and uses spreadsheets to create all sorts of tools for your classroom. 
A few of the highlights: 
*Jeopardy style Board: Ask questions with point values. All sorts of different ways to use this, other than the boring jeopardy style version. 
*Spin the Wheel: Spin the wheel to randomly choose something
*Tournament: Enter teams and Flippity will create a nice looking bracket for you
*Flashcards
*Memory game
*Hangman
*Crossword puzzle
*Bingo

User-friendly interface, which provides a demo, instructions, and template for each tool. 
You do all the work in Google Sheets and Flippity does the rest! 

Check it out and spice up your classroom a bit! 

Appear.In: Video conference tool

Google Hangout and Skype are far inferior to this new video conferencing tool: Appear.In. The video quality and sound quality is so much better than Hangouts and Skype.

*With Appear.In, you can your own URL, which is your "room." So the link to your room is always the same.

*It's Free.

*You can "lock" your room so when people click on your link, they will have to "knock," which will alert you someone wants to get into your room. Then, you can let them in, or not.

*You can use emoji's and stickers during the video conference.

*There is a text feature so allow you to have side conversations during the video conference.

Try Flipgird. It's awesome.

Perhaps you have seen Flipgrid and/or used Flipgrid. Perhaps not. Well, I am strongly encouraging you to use it, if you haven't already! It's a dynamite tool for student learning.

*It gives your students a voice by allowing them all to share their thoughts, insights, opinions, questions, etc. without the intimidation of a full class of peers.

*No sign in/username/password. This makes it so accessible and easy to use. No more forgetting passwords. Password protect the grid so it's not viewable by the public.

*Public Vs. Private. Students can see each other's videos and respond with their own video. However, you can also have the videos visible only by you with the moderation feature.

*Fun! The emoji's, stickers, and drawing feature for the video Thumbnail "selfie" is a lot of fun and gets kids excited about using it. Use this feature with meaning by having them design their selfie to represent whatever they are talking about.

*Direct link. It's never been easier to get something out to your students. Just give them the link!

*Resource Feature: Add a youtube video, google doc or any number of resources for your students to use and respond to with their video.

*Compare/Contrast: I posted a video of the "Great Race" myth of the Lakota people. I also attached a document of the Great Race in text form. My students are comparing/contrasting the two items in their flipgrid post. (See picture posted)

Sign up today! Use Promo Code: DANKLUMPER to receive 45 days of Flipgrid Classroom for Free.

Things I would do if I were a Principal

Sometimes, it is fun to play "If I were King for a Day" or another version of the same game "If I were President for a day." Well, I have decided to play a third version of the game, "If I were Principal for a Day." 

So, if I were a principal for one day, here are 5 things I would do: 

1. Hire the most compassionate, helpful, kind, patient, understanding, friendly person I know to be the secretary. When people come into my building, I want the first thing they experience to be an extremely positive thing. It sets the tone for the school, really. 

2. Give every teacher a copy of "Teach Like a Pirate" and force them to read it. Wait, I know what you are thinking: Whoa, whoa, whoa--"forcing" teachers to do something? Surely, you can't be serious!  Yet, I am serious. The book needs to be read by educators. It injects teachers with passion and inspiration! Not only would I force the teachers to read it, but I would require them to show me what they learned from the book and how that learning is playing out in their classrooms. I want to see action!  I am not big into forcing teachers to do something but I will make an exception here. If a teacher needs to be forced to read "Teach Like a Pirate" then I seriously question their mindset and attitude about why they are here. 

3. Hold an in-service/workshop on Twitter to show how it can be used in education to help them with their professional development. I would require all teachers to attend this Twitter workshop so they are at least exposed to Twitter and how powerful it can be. I wouldn't force teachers to use Twitter, but encourage them to try it for a month.  Hopefully, after my session, they would see the benefit and begin using it.

4. Encourage my teachers. Make every teacher in my building feel valued and respected. #1 priority. A school is driven by the teachers so I want my teachers to feel like they are an important part of the school because they are! I want my staff to work hard and seek out ways to reach all students and in order to do that, they need to feel respected and valued. I would make a point to provide words of encouragement to my teachers regularly. 

5. Hold teachers to a high standard. The days of textbook/worksheets every day are over. Students need more than that. They need to be empowered and engaged. Their curiosity needs to be fostered.  There are so many ways to do that, both tech and non-tech, that it's simply not acceptable to roll out worksheets every day.  This could ruffle feathers, but I'm okay with that because it is what's best for the students and as principal, that is my job. I would also hold teachers to a high standard of putting forth the effort needed to build relationships with the students. No more screaming at kids. No more making students feel anxious or nervous.  "The cup of kindness needeth run over" throughout the halls and classrooms. 

5 things students should leave school with

There's so much to teach! Standards, skills, knowledge, content, soft skills, citizenship, etc. The list goes on! As a student travels the k-12 journey, by the end, what should they have to show for it? In other words, what should students absolutely get out of their k-12 experience? We are kidding ourselves if we think they will retain EVERYTHING we are teaching them. So, when they leave school, what are the essential things we, as educators, want them to have?

1. Ability to read. No doubt, we need our students to be able to read and comprehend. The ability to read (and more importantly, the love of reading) can unlock so many doors and opportunities for them in life. No matter the content or the age level, getting students to increase their ability to read and comprehend sets them up for major success in their future. So what should they read? Novels! No student ever gets excited to read a textbook. Perhaps a few, sure, but if you want to spark that love of reading, get them hooked with a gripping story. ELA teachers especially are in a prime position to get novels into the hands of their students. Castaway that textbook nobody likes to read and get a novel into their hands. Who doesn't love a good story? Power in storytelling. Power in novels.

2. Curiosity. The only thing that a teacher can do to make me angry is if they crush my own child's curious spirit. If curiosity is gone, then that's a bad thing. I strongly believe that students enter school extremely curious. Watch 1-4-year-olds play and they are all over the place, checking out everything! They are curious and hungry to learn about the world around them. When they enter school, this should be fostered and allowed to grow! A curious mind craves learning and that is a great thing we can provide our students.

3. Confidence. If I could instill a computer chip into my own kids' brain with one characteristic, it would be confidence. A confident person allows so many negative things to fall by the wayside. A confident person does not get bullied. A confident person believes in themselves and believes they can accomplish great things. A confident person helps those less fortunate. They help the weak, the down and out. Confidence helps students through tough situations and gives them the ability to handle things. With confidence, comes all sorts of other "soft skills" that students will need in life.

4. Ability to think and wonder. When faced with a difficult situation or problem, we want our students to think about it and try, not shut down right away and have the fixed mindset that they can't do it. We want our students to have the reaction of "I'll think it through and work to come up with a solution." We want our students to think for themselves and not blindly follow the herd of sheep. We want our students to be able to let their mind wander and imagine.

5. Empathy. There's perhaps no greater characteristic than empathy. If our students leave school with empathy towards and for others, they are going to make the world a better place because they will be impacting people. Empathic students are not entitled. Empathetic students seek out those who need help. Empathetic students are the impact makers. Developing empathetic students means they are able to pop their own little bubble and see the world around them.

Pencils are made all wrong!

I have a big problem with the way pencils are made. They are made all wrong. Think about it--when using a pencil, what runs out first-the lead or the eraser? DUH! It's obvious. The eraser always runs out first. Why? Because it's EXTREMELY small compared to the pencil lead. I was sitting in a classroom the other day looking at a cup full of pencils. There were about 30 of them. EVERY pencil had no eraser. It had been used up, worn down to just the metal. See, here's the thing--pencils are all wrong because the way they are made, with such a small eraser that gets used up so quickly, discourages risk-taking. When you take risks, you might make a mistake, which is OK! With such a small eraser, the students are not able to fix their mistakes. They are discouraged from trying because if they mess up and need to try again, they have no eraser left to do so. Think about it--if you look at a pencil and that really small nub of an eraser, it just screams at you: "Don't mess up too much because you have a very limited eraser here!"  Rather, the eraser should be much bigger and longer because then, the students get this message, "Go ahead! Try! Take a risk! And if you make a mistake, that's okay because you can erase it!" Too often, students hold themselves back from trying something new or difficult because they "don't want to get it wrong" or they "don't want to mess up." But that mindset needs to change. Taking risks and trying new things is how real learning happens. Deep learning comes from students trying something, potentially making a mistake and learning from it. It's the power of the reflective process! 
So if you know someone who works at a pencil factory, tell them to increase the size of the eraser!

"Insert Learning" - Make the Internet More Powerful

If you are interested in making internet articles more powerful and more efficient, look no further than "Insert Learning." This tool is a Chrome extension that allows you to customize online articles you find for your students.  With this tool, you can highlight text, insert sticky notes, add questions and add discussion right within the article itself. Then, after you have created what you want, can assign it to your class via Google Classroom, making it a very smooth process. The free version is limited to five "assignments" but check it out and perhaps this is something you would want to have your school buy for you.

Here is an example: https://insertlearning.com/v1/share/32uidqf1 (Add the Insert Learning chrome extension and check out the example).

Rulers Rule. Leaders Lead. There's a Difference.

People obey rulers out of fear and obligation. People follow leaders out of love and respect. Just because you are a ruler, doesn't mean you are a leader. Just because you are in charge, doesn't mean you are a leader.  It's quite simple actually, yet astonishing how so many miss the mark on what it means to be a leader.
A ruler (boss) is really good at telling people what to do, but not much else. A leader is in it with their people. Those that are being led feel like their leader is right there, in the thick of it, with them. "In the trenches" so to speak.  Not disconnected from some Ruler on Mount High that has nothing to do with them. At the end of the day, a leader makes their teachers feel valued. They encourage them. They listen to them. They seek out their opinions. A leader understands they are nothing without the teachers, therefore does everything they can to inspire them and help them.  Leaders routinely say, "Hey, I really appreciate you." or "Thank you for covering that extra recess duty." Or "Nice job working with those students. We are lucky to have you." Teachers should be saying the same things to their students.  It's so simple to say those things! So just do it. Be a leader.

Have you ever heard of a "servant attitude?" A leader should have this. It's when the leader acts as a "servant" in a way--by approaching it like, "How can I help you?" or "What do you need to do your job better?"  The reason these questions aren't asked more often is that some don't feel secure in their position of power because they can feel those under them only obeying out of obligation. They need to make sure everyone knows who is "in charge." If you have to remind people that you are in charge, then you are no leader.

If teachers/students walk away from a full day of work and feel dejected and/or worthless, that's a problem. That means the person in charge is far from being a true leader.  A teacher should walk away feeling encouraged and hopeful. They should be eager to get back to school the next day and work hard for their students but to also want to work hard for their leader. Students should be excited to return to school the next day and work hard for their teacher leader.

It's amazing how many don't get this.