Attention Getting Signals

As the school year dies down, I am thinking about what I want to make sure my students know right from the beginning to make March, April, & May go a little smoother. My reflection consists of thinking about how I can make the most of my time with my students so that learning goals can be met, students are able to grow, and positive relationships can be formed. Thus, I have set a goal to improve my communication of classroom processes and procedures in the First 20 Days as suggested by Fisher and Frey. Like so many other secondary teachers, I spend little time practicing processes and procedures with my students at the beginning of the term. I am anxious to jump right in to teaching content because I have so much to teach and so little time. The reality though is that effective classroom management is a balancing act. Students will learn better if those proceses are practiced in the beginning and consistent throughout the semester. Through my reflection I have discovered that one of the techniques missing from my classroom this year was an effective attention getting signal. Thus, my research began to find something that I thought might work for next year. Below are resources that I have found that may work for you too! 

Lots of ideas suggested here for a variety of age groups. . .

Getting their attention without saying a word


And my personal favorite. . .


Finally, here's a great article by Michael Linsin of Smart Classroom Management on how to effectively implement an attention getting signal.

Professional Image

Below you find a picture of my Entrepreneurship camp.  This picture is interactive and will take you to more resources on Entrepreneurship and information on where we were on our field trip.

Choose2Matter at VHS

What is Marketing?

When I found this picture it made me think of the definition of marketing.  What does it make you think of?  And how might it relate to marketing & what we plan to study this year?  Post a comment with your own caption to this photo.  Be sure your comment includes your name.

After posting your comment, read the article What is Marketing? by Michael Brenner.  I also think it is interesting to read the comments that were made to this article.  If time allows, read the comments as well. Be ready to discuss in class.

When I Grow Up

When I was in Kindergarten I wanted to be a teacher.  I played school all of the time.  I can remember my granddad playing in my room with me for hours.  I loved it because I was in charge.  I especially liked drawing on the chalkboard.  My dad was a high school principal at that time and I always pretended to be teaching when I would go to his office and play while he did work at night.

Even though I am a teacher today, my degree is in Accounting.  So, I did not start out my career thinking I would be a teacher.  I returned to school after spending 2 ½ years in accounting to get my secondary education certificate.  If I had to guess, I’d say that I will still be teaching in some capacity until I retire.  However, I don’t know that it will be at Valley High School.  Perhaps it will be teaching other teachers instead of teaching high school students.  Just this year I took on a new role as a part-time instructional coach.  I plan to take additional classes, read books, and be active on my professional social networks to gain insight and understanding of my new position and how I can best be successful.

Future of Technology

#VHSmktg Super Bowl Archive - Part 2

Here are the #VHSmktg tweets from 9:00 pm on 2/2 until midnight on 2/4.