Lock students in... to their Read 180 software

Lock students in... to their Read 180 software

February 1, 2016

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Teresa

Did you start to question where this blog was going? Glad I got you to check it out!

iPads are great! Students can use them to work on their software program while at their desk or in a comfy chair. But far too often than not, students get sucked in to the calling of the home button. It calls out to them with promises of social media, youtube, and games. We can hardly blame them for giving in to the dark side and pressing it, can we?

I am happy to say I never have to question if my student who is sitting so quietly during their software rotation is in fact on task or just trying to not draw attention to themselves so as to not get caught off task.

How do I do it? Casper Focus! This may require a tech person in you building depending on the permissions and privlidges given to you by the powers at work (you know the ones...).

Download this app on your device and all of the classroom iPads and (most) of your dreams will come true!

When you log in to this app on your device, you can "focus" the students' iPads into a specific app of your choice (as long as the iPads have the app downloaded). They will be locked in! They can press that home button until they are blue in the face! They will NOT be able to leave the Read 180 app until you chose to unlock-- erm-- remove focus.

There you have it. You know KNOW what the students are doing; exactly what they should be doing. 

If you are not fortunate enough to have a fantastic tech team like I do in my building and you are on your own for this one, try this PDF to help you get this installed nice and easy.

http://www.csd509j.net/Portals/1/Technology/Tutorials/Casper/Casper%20Focus%20for%20Teachers.pdf

Read 180: Book Crate System in 10 steps

Read 180: Book Crate System in 10 steps

February 2, 2016

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Teresa

Over 600 books to be neatly organized. Ok, I can do that.

Over 600 books to be neatly organized everyday after fundamental students have rummaged through them? Yikes!

This was becomeing a nighmare in my room and eating up valuable class time for students (and me). I tried alphebetizing my books, and even putting stickers on the books and poster, but my book crates were still a mess at the end of every day and students were spending far too much time searching for books rather than reading them.

New semester = New game plan! Here is what I came up with and just after 3 weeks of classes, it seems to be (mostly) working.

1) Place all the the books on the floor (yes ALL of them).

2 ) Sort them by level on the Read 180 poster (4 piles and audiobooks)

3) Place them back into the crates based on their level. Some will spill over that is ok

4) Select a color for each level (I chose Yellow, Red/Pink, Green, and Blue)

5) Put that colored sticker up the top of the poster next to each level.

6) Now place that colored sticker on the crate below each of the books for that level. Make sure you can write on these stickers! You can see my 1-11 in the picture below.

7) Number each sticker 1-15 (my set has 15 books per level)

8) Now comes the hardest part (and it isn't even that hard). Find where the book you numbered #1 is on the poster. Place a coorespoding color sticker next to the book title and write #1 on it. Even if the book isn't the first in its level.

9) Follow for each section including the Audio Books

You CAN have a tidy classroom. No YOU don't have to do it!

Leaving on time at the end of the day. Doesn't that sound great? But it is so hard to leave when you classroom isn't put back together at the end of the day. Sometimes we give in and think we will just take care of it in the morning, but coming in the next day and seeing the mess doesn't get us starting our new day on a very positive note.

What if I told you, you can have your cake and eat it too? Well, you can!

I always tell my kids they cannot leave until the room is put back as they found it. But things are often not done to my standards or kids think they can be silly and try to find loop holes or take things too far. This ate up more time than it was worth. 

I am a visual learner--turns out most of my students are too.

1) take the time to put your room back together up to you standards--Last time, promise!

2) Snap some pictures of the areas your students have the most trouble. Here are the spaces my students struggle:

Book Crates

 Binder Crates

 iPad Station

 Desktop computers

 3) Upload your pictures to your computer and place them into a word document 

4) Add some text. Mine say "Look Like Me" 

5) Print in color and get those things laminated!

6) Post them at the areas your students struggle. You should introduce this new proceedure like any other in your class. 

7) Practice makes progress! After just a few times you will see your students will get things done and up to your standard without any argument.

8) Leave on time and enjoy your life outside of your classroom.

Here is an example of what one of my "Look Like Me" posters like. Hope this helps. Teach on, teacher friend!

Read 180: Getting SRC Quiz numbers up!

After a PLC meeting last month where I JUST found out that students should be passing about 10 SRC quizzes by the end of the year, I knew I had to come up with a plan! After pulling the Student report, I found that most of my students were way behind. Some had never passed an SRC Quiz to date and some had never even attempted-- and it is second semester, y'all!

I created a sticker chart for passed SRC Quizzes. Believe it or not, ladies and gentlemen, high school kids go gaga for stickers! 

I grabbed some paper from the large paper rolls downstairs and created a graph. Student names at the bottom, and number of books up the left side of the chart. I added dotted lines across the chart at checkpoints. These checkpoints are the school grade check dates for intervention--perfect time to pull kids in and get them caught up. You could easily make your own deadlines if your school doesn't have this in place.

I broke the time left down into obtainable goals and dealines for meeting those goals.

After each kid passes an SRC quiz, I ask that the student SHOW me their screen with the "Pass" screen. This prevents any issue of students telling me that the computer didn't count their passing score. I don't even give them the opportunity to argue about this. I also don't let them choose their stickers (Kids would be flipping through and deciding on a sticker for a good 20 minutes if you let this happen. Just hand them a sticker and move on!).

When I see their passing screen, I will give them a sticker from my $0.97 sticker book I grabbed at Wal-mart in the craft section. (I have a "boy" and a "girl" sticker book as I find the boys don't typically get too excited for butterflies, but to each his own). 

After implimenting this chart, you can see that some students REALLY took off! We still have a few that need to get moving. But before the chart the most I had passed was 3 quizzes and the (mode) average was 0! 

What I will try next year:

Take time to make this instead of making it 10 minutes before class when the idea comes to me. Taking pride in how the chart looks shows my students that they too should take pride in their work and I don't accept lazy work.

Up the ante! The minimum goal may be 10 but really, honestly, that is a bit low. Now that I have this chart, kids are zipping up the chart! I think I will make it 10 or even 15 books per semester! 

Only give kids BIG stickers for milestones or checkpoints.

Read 180: The bookkeeping of it all

Is it just me, or are there far too many things to keep track of when it comes to Read 180?! This is my first year teaching the program and I was excited to be moving into the program which was sold to me as being almost zero prep work and almost nonexsistant grading. After 5 sections of regular 9 and 150 some students, I was SOLD! But now that I am actually living it, I realize it is NOT for the faint of organized.

After one full semester of trial (and error I assure you!) I think I may have found a system that works for me and I would love to share it with you. I can see this working with Read 180 progarm or any classroom with several chunks and parts that don't necessarily need to be graded in the gradebook.

Our school is still handing out the old school gradebooks even though we are required to use the digital PowerSchool gradebook system. If your school doesn't, see if a nearby school does and maybe a teacher friend would be willing to hook you up, or you make have to suck it up and by one. You know the kind...

 I have stickers on it to identify which class is which at a glace, Orange and Yellow for these because that is what I had stickers in! :D

I broke down the class into these categories because, personally, this is what I wanted to check but not necessarily grade:

1) Do now

2) rBook

3) Reading log

4) 10 pg. minumum

5) Wrap up

6) Graphic Organizer

7) SRC Quiz

Here is a sample of what it would look like for one student:

I just place the dates at the top in the "Assignment" spaces and place a check mark in each box indicating a student finished the work or a O meaning it was not completed or the traditional A for absent. If a student didn't do their work 3/5 days, I will place them in intervention.(I don't tell my students this or they would only do 3 days of work!) But feel free to not impliment this or change it up to fit your needs! I do 3 because of the demographic of students-- they can have off days for sure and most of the time it is out of their control. But 3 days, their fault or not, they need to come in and get the missing chunks!

Now, I know what some of you are thinking, "7 categories plus a name?! How is there room for all of the students?!" Well, there isn't.-- not all on one page at least. I break up my students into groups for rotations anyway. These rotation groups become my "classes" in the book. By doing this you have room for up to 5 students! No Read 180 group should be this large! This makes it easy to finish one page per rotation group.

At the end of each week, I will place a green streak in the week total box indicating they were saved from intervention or a red streak indicating they will spend some time with me after school catching up. I give about 2 points per day (10 for the week) and will give them points in the grade book for participation based on this. (In my grade book for Read 180, 90 points for the 9 weeks isn't all that much but it can bump or drop them if they aren't doing their work.

Hope this helps some of you tame the Read 180 beast!

Things I will try next year (or even next quarter)

1) add to the list of things I check-- Software time requirement met that day, and maybe somehow even a behavior tracker in there

2) Impliment right from the get go! Keeping kids accountable is key for this Read 180 class to work. I can see my life being SO much easier next year.

3) Use it every day! Kids will question you and your word if you don't.