MVMS Advisor/Advisee Wiki

I was thrilled to catch a post from Kim Hilton in the Mountain Valley Middle School First Class conference this morning. Being a proponent of the simplicity and utility of wikis, I was delighted that Kim had just set one up, called MVMSAdvisor, for resources in their advisor/advisee program.

Many schools seem to have a variation of this program, but all too often some busy teachers, with many irons in the fire, have difficulty in finding resources and activities to make the best use of this time. Enter Kim's new wiki!

For additional resources, see Process Skills at LIM Resources.

Want to have your own wiki? See Using a Wiki to Collect Internet Resources.

MVMS: Using Classroom Management Resources

Place: Mountain Valley Middle School Media Center
Time: 3:00 - 5:00

Agenda

Classroom Management at LIM Resources Wiki (Feel free to edit)
Behavior Management at LIM Resources Wiki (Feel free to edit)
Process Skills at LIM Resources Wiki (Feel free to edit)

Wicked Decent Learning Podcast: Classroom Management: "Can I Speak to the Manager?"

Technology Adoption: 4 Step Process

from Marc Prensky at Edutopia: Adopt and Adapt: Shaping Tech for the Classroom

1. Dabbling
2. Doing old things in old ways.
3. Doing old things in new ways.
4. Doing new things in new ways

Marc Prensky's Essential 21st Century Skills
Marc Prensky's Open Letter to the Obama Administration

Characters

Randy Judkins both entertained and inspired us with his performance tonight.

His question:

Who has made a difference in your life?

The essential question: How do we make a difference in someone's life?

Related resources:

Randy Judkins Home Page
EduEyeView Blog Post on Randy's Keynote

Who
Biography
Autobiography
Character
Process
Diversity

Other Institute news: Mark Spahr will be live blogging sessions at the conference. Check it out here.

Tell us (comment) . . . who DID make a difference in your life?

Photo Credit: Sarah Sutter

"It takes a village . . . "

Essential Question: How am I responsible for the communities that I am a part of?

Paul Houston of AASA speaks of acting locally:

"Every educator is familiar with the African proverb that “it takes a village to raise a child.” It is a nice but inadequate sentiment for modern America.

I have visited African villages and seen their focus on children. In Kenya, the Masai greet each other with the question, “How are the children?” America would be better off if we could say that to each other with meaning. But we don’t and we can’t rely on the village to raise our children because we no longer have even a sense of village.

Educators must find a way to become village builders, and I think that starts with helping our children see that as their role. We have to build character in our children so they become their 'brother’s keepers.'" More . . .

How are the Children?

Character Resources
Process Resources
Citizenship Resources
The Maine Council for the Social Studies

Feeling Good!

What a great day this has been! First Ed Latham, Olga LaPlante, Ron Smith and Martha Thibodeau quickly came to the rescue to cover for my procrastination in completing some pre-training requirements that I need to do in preparation for training sessions next week at Augusta. Just ask . . . and these Maine eMINTS Mentors, including Becky Ranks and Anne Ireland, are there for support when you find yourself in a quandary. I've been blessed to be part of this statewide PLC.

Add to that the delightful educators of my eMINTS One group at Telstar, who in my absence at our scheduled Monday session, will be taking over all my responsibilities . . . without complaint. They will be reporting back to this blog about their discoveries come Monday evening. Again, a great example of the best in PLCs. I am very fortunate.

The Maine National Guard and the Adventure Program

Today I found myself catching up on paperwork (or perhaps a better term would be organizational-work) in my tiny cubicle on the perimeter of the Oxford Hills Middle School library. This is often a great place to be because (1) there is a wealth of AC outlets within easy reach, and (2) as a multi-purpose area, I am often introduced unexpectedly to many special activities that are happening in the school. Today was no exception when seventy-five 7th graders filed in and two national guard instructors. I was about to experience the 2nd day of the Adventure Program that has a history at this school. Students have two classes on decision-making, cooperative learning, and team-building . . . and in the Spring will go to Bog Brook for outward-bound type activities.

Although this Maine program is not without controversy, I was impressed with the focus, which was process skills, and the enthusiasm of the facilitators.

This particular activity today was to have students work as teams to develop an egg-catcher, given a set of materials with which to work. It culminated with a contest to see which worked the best. Students described how they created their "catcher" and the reasoning behind it. Engaged Learning!

Do our schools have something to learn from military training methods?

Teampedia: Tools for Teams

Here is an excellent wiki that is collecting activities to use in helping to grow teams: Teampedia: Tools for Teams

Additional Process Skills Resources

School Culture & Climate @ Oxford Hills

Oxford Hills School District devoted their professional development day today to student behavior and school culture and climate. All approximately 600 employees, including bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria and maintenance workers, started the day out with an introduction to the PBIS model. Employees later went to smaller groups to hear about ways to identify and deal with harassment and sexual harassment. The day ended with individual building members meeting together to discuss local needs. They had earlier taken a survey using one of the popular free online survey tools.

PBIS Resources

Behavior Management Resources
Rights & Responsibilities Resources
Process Skills
Classroom Management Resources
Character Resources
Bullying Resources

The Smell of Bacon at Climate & Culture Morning Meeting

You gotta love it. I connect with Mountain Valley Middle School as often as I can, being an additional resource for their literacy initiative and building-wide climate and culture focus. It is such a joy to observe the light-hearted social interaction of this staff combined with the serious work of school improvement. Today, as I arrive, a complete breakfast including the smell of bacon drew me to the home economics room where the staff gathers before the professional development meeting. Friendly place . . .nice touch.

This morning's topic was bullying. There's an enthusiastic and well-organized committee that leads the monthly late-arrival meeting devoted to school climate and culture.

Here's leadership that respects the group process, but perhaps more importantly, knows how to do it. The congeniality that comes from working through issues with patience in a collaborative manner shines through, mixing laughter and good humor with the more serious realities of working in a school. Want a model for PLC's? Look no further - they understand the concept at MVMS.

Today's task was to work in groups to try to come to a consensus on the consequences of different types of inappropriate language in the building. The discussion was to the point, relating to the realities. To me, the process was the important thing.

How is discipline and behavior management in buildings used to create a school that is friendly, caring, and encourages the best in each student as well as civility?

Behavior Management Resources
Rights & Responsibilities Resources
Process Skills
Classroom Management Resources
Character Resources
Bullying Resources

Professional Learning Communities

Open House & Community Building

I love Deborah White's weekly articles on education in the Bangor Daily News. This week's article is on the school open house. Deborah is continually asking questions that matter, such as "How do we build community?" and "How do we build a sense of belonging?" I guess I share her sense that this is what makes all the difference in our schools and in our culture in general.

Icebreaker Resources
Trust Building Resources
Team Building Resources
Community Building Resources
Learning Styles Resources
Diversity Resources
Questioning Resources
Essential Questions Resources
Cooperative Learning Resources
Listening Skills Resources
Active Listening Resources

Question: How can we build community and a sense of belonging?

Photo from Stephan DW's photostream

School Discipline

"Restorative approaches to discipline, rather than punitive, deal more effectively with student misbehavior by encouraging students to take responsibility for their actions and find ways to 'make things right' with those they have harmed, according to conference organizers. Restorative discipline empowers students to be accountable for their actions in a school environment that is caring and responsive."

I'd like to thank Ernie Easter from the New Sweden School for bringing the following conference to my attention:

Transforming School Discipline: ‘Restorative Justice’ Conference on Nov. 28 - 30, 2007, in South Portland.

Wikipedia: Restorative Justice
Belinda Hopkins: Transforming Conflict
Belinda Hopkins: Restorative Justice Consortium

Other Resources on school discipline and student behavior:

Behavior Management Resources
Classroom Management
Computer Classroom Management

Still more resources that connect with human behavior:

Icebreaker Resources
Trust Building Resources
Community Building Resources
Team Building Resources
Listening Skills Resources
Active Listening Resources
Diversity Resources
Learning Styles Resources
Expeditionary Learning Resources
Stress Management Resources

What are your thoughts on school discipline?