Stamps Are Cool

Wow, wow, wow! The past few weeks have been jam-packed with chaos and learning, specifically about Inquiry-Based Instruction. I participated in the day-long National Agriscience Preservice Teacher Program hosted by NAAE at the National FFA Convention, had release time from AEE 412 to do independent studying on IBI, participated in a wonderful workshop facilitated by Mrs. Krista Pontius on IBI, and will be teaching an Inquiry-Based lab tomorrow! See why I said wow?

In my own words, I would define Inquiry-Based Instruction as a way of ‘putting the ball in the students’ court’. It is asking a question, or better yet, having students ask a question and stepping back and allowing the students to answer it. While IBI does take practice and scaffolding with the students, in the long run, it can mean much less work (lots of preparation can still be required, it's not a pass to be lazy) for the teacher and more effective and engaging learning for the students.

So as we begin this week, we are digging into literacy strategies and how we can utilize them to complement our Inquiry-Based Instruction. There are so many awesome literacy strategies that I have observed over the past week but I'll just share a few that I am especially excited to try out. 

Partner Highlighting

What is it?
Partner highlighting is a reading strategy that can be used to help students take in and understand text better, especially procedures/ direction sets and content reading.

How is it used?
1. Students pair off and each takes a different color of highlighter. 
2. Students are directed to read the text and highlight a certain number of important points.
3. Students swap highlighters with their partner. Together, they review what they highlighted and use the new color to continue highlighting their own paper. If Partner A highlighted xyz, Partner B should highlight xyz as well with the new color, if both students initially highlighted xyz, they should star it. 
4. Pairs share out what their group highlighted. 
Why should it be used?
Highlighting important points in a text is a difficult skill, even for those of us who have had over a decade of practice. Partner highlighting helps to improve on this skill in addition to secretly making the students review the information 3 times! That's probably two and a half times more than they would have read it if you had slapped it down in front of them and said, "Read this, it's important!"

I Have, Who Has?

What is it?
This is a great activity for review, especially of those tough vocabulary terms that are essential to comprehension in a unit of instruction. It's fun, fairly simple to set up, and way more effective than a PowerPoint full of terms and definitions. 
How is it used?
1. The instructor will need to create the cards beforehand. Select your terms, try to have a handful, this is more enjoyable, challenging, and beneficial with probably six or more terms. 
2. On one side write, "I have__(insert term here)___." On the other side write, "Who has__(insert definition here)__?" **The key is to NOT write a matching definition on the same card as it's term. 
3. Try not to let the terms/ definitions overlap more than once. The definition that begins the activity should be the term that ends the activity so they need to be one circle, not a pile of crisscrosses. 
4. Distribute cards to students. You may do this however you see fit based on the number of students and cards. Teams work or students may work to beat their own score as a class. 
5. Ask one student to begin the activity by reading their "Who Has?" portion of the card. The rest of the cards should then follow until the student who started is able to read their "I Have". 
     -Ex: "Who has the author of the FFA Creed?*" "I have E.M. Tiffany. Who has the year FFA was founded?" "I have 1928. Who has national blue and corn gold?" "I have the official FFA colors.*"
     -*This student should start and end. As mentioned, the more terms, the better. 
Why should it be used?
Whether they admit it or not, everyone is competitive and playing on this inherent characteristic can be a great tool for helping our students to learn. This activity is fun, keeps students engage and on their toes, and can be used over and over! Simply jumble up the cards, pass them out again, and see if the students can beat their best time. If you ask me, this is more fun than a game of Jeopardy! 

Student Notebooks (and stamps/ stickers)

What is it?
A notebook, duh! But really, student notebooks are a great tool for keeping students organized and keeping you organized. They are a great classroom management strategy that I am so excited to try but I would also consider them a literacy strategy. While I have mostly seen them used for lab work, I plan to use them for bell work, ticket out the door, and class work this spring and see how things go. 
How is it used?
That is up to you! You tell students what to write in them and when. A few good tips though... 
1. Start with the numbering of pages and creation of a table of contents. 
     -I personally recommend and prefer only writing on the front facing (right hand) pages.
     -Leave about two to three pages for the table of contents.
2. When introducing the use of student notebooks, take time to guide students through setting them up, explain what they will be used for, and cover if there are any rules for them (only write in them when told to, store them in the classroom, etc). Also cover how they will be graded, again, your call. 
3. Stamps are cool. 

     -When working through a multi-step process, tell students they may not move on until you have checked their work and approved it with a stamp.
     -Use stamps for approval on bell work or a ticket out the door.
     -Use stamps for easy grading! If you've already read the work and given them the stamp, count up the stamps at the end of the week and that's their grade! Easy for you and helps students to earn the grade they want because this allows them to continue making corrections until they have earned their stamp.
      -Uuuh, stamps are cool! Even as a 22- year old I still get pumped when I get a stamp or sticker on my work!
Why should they be used?
Organization. For you, for your students. Stamps are cool. 

I could go on and on but I'll leave it with these three and maybe I'll report back when I give them a try! Inquiry-Based Instruction seems a little scary to tackle at first but I'm excited to really dig in this week and put my skills to the test! Don't forget, stamps are cool.