Not One Less (1999)

This time, I would like to recommend a rare find Chinese movie (imdb 7.7 and MPA rating is G) This production, which caught my attention because the story is about a young (very young) teacher who is set on a journey to bring back one of her students to school. In this movie, you will firsthand witness the divide between Eastern and Western cultures in the name of sacrifice and dedication. 

Wei is a 13-year-old young girl. When the teacher of the neighboring village goes on a leave for a month, she finds herself as the substitute teacher. However, it is not that easy to teach in this this school which consists of only one classroom with multiple grade levels. Before leaving, the other teacher advises her to use the 28 pieces of chalk, which he counted one by one which is equal to one piece of chalk per day during his absence. Reminding that they are a poor school and have no materials other than chalk. He also strictly warns that he does not want to find even one of the children missing when he returns.

A few days later, the headman of the village discovers that one of the children is a fast runner. He convinces some athletics coaches to take the child to the city, but our young substitute teacher is not very pleased with this idea. She wants to keep her promise to the teacher by making sure that none of the kids are missing. Even though she hides the child at one end of the village, she cannot stop him from leaving.

Another day, he learns that the child of a poor family also goes to the city to work and earn money. Then she goes to the city and tries to find the child. Of course, this job is not as easy as we think. First she has to find money for the bus but she has to work for it. Even if she goes to the city, looking for a missing child in a big city is a difficult task for a 13 year old girl. However, she is very dedicated to her mission and she tries everything including hanging flyers on the walls and even knocking at the door of a national TV station.

If you want to watch the warmth of the village people and the story of faithful teachers who create miracles in poverty, do not miss this movie. You may find more details about this movie here and the original title of the movie is Yi ge dou bu neng shao.

The Butterfly (2002)

I was inevitably curious about this movie, mostly because it has a high rating on imdb (7.2) and it's under 90 minutes in length. To be honest with you, I'm a bit prejudiced against French movies. Even movies that are called family movies can sometimes contain a few inappropriate scenes or swear words. But this time, it wasn't what I expected. Although it does not have a strong message, it can be watched with the family.

The film consists of dialogues between an old butterfly collector and a nine-year-old little girl. The film, which occasionally touches on belief in God, love, infidelity and family relationships, can also connect two distinct generations. While the old man advises us to appreciate our loved ones through the pain of his son, who he lost at a young age, the little girl reminds us how difficult it is to live without parents.

The film occasionally touches on issues such as abortion and equality, but they are not poking these issues into your eyes. For example, when the little girl says that she was born after her mother found out that she was late for an abortion, it causes us to experience the suffering of aborted fetuses that are 'Nothing'. The old man casually says that the ideas of equality in the world are nothing but baloney, and that it will be enough to see the existence of rich and poor people to understand this.

Although it has some limitations in its translation into English, the film is worth watching as it provides an enjoyable hour and takes us away to the natural beauties of France. The original title of the movie is Le Papillon and you can find the imdb link here. 

The Story of the Weeping Camel (2003)

I would like to tell you about a Mongolian movie (imbd rating: 7.4). In fact, this work is a German production and it is a documentary film that takes place in Mongolia which presents a slice of real life. The actors have already played their real-life roles. The film is based on a simple story, as it is somewhat of a documentary. It is about the rejection of a newly born camel by its mother in the Gobi deserts of Mongolia and the village people's attempts to solve this problem.

Since we are mostly presented with the daily life of the Mongolian people, the story actually seems to be somewhat in the background. After all, the adventures of camels in the middle of a desert is not very interesting for a movie. The financial difficulties of the local people living in tents, the fact that they have to cross a huge desert to reach the nearest town, and the fact that they still cannot benefit from the blessings of modern life such as electricity and television are also remembered as details that need to be underlined.

In this movie you will have the opportunity to take a closer look at the life in the old times. The rugs hanging on the walls and the tents where three generations lived together are an indication that these people are still keeping their traditions alive.They benefit from the meat, milk and wool of their camels which is their only livestock and this movie puts the relationship of the humans and the animals in the centre.  

As a result, it may be an interesting choice if you want to spend one and a half hours by watching a documentary film and looking at the daily life of a society that lives far, far away from us. The original original title of the film is Die Geschicte vom weinenden Kamel and you can find it's imbd link here. 

Provide Instant Feedback!

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

One of the things I recommend to new teachers is to provide students with a timely, meaningful feedback about their progress. Providing instant feedback is an important step in student learning which helps them understand their strengths and areas for improvement. Many teachers see this as a time consuming or daunting process but in reality it saves a ton of time in reality. In this article, I have compiled a list of ways teachers can offer instant feedback to their students:

Immediate Verbal Feedback 

Teachers should seek out for opportunities during class discussions or activities to provide verbal feedback for the individual students or the entire class. While giving individual feedback, think about student privacy and respect their personalities. As much as you can, use praise and constructive criticism to highlight what was done well and what needs to be improved. 

Quick Written Feedback 

Since verbal feedback can be a little tricky, consider written feedback where it's appropriate. You may use sticky notes or quick written comments on assignments or assessments to provide that feedback in a confidential way. Teachers can also create their feedback language which can be acronyms or shortened comments but the students know its meaning. 

Technology-Based Feedback 

Now that we have technology all around us, utilize educational applications or tools that allows instant feedback. Many online platforms offer auto scoring and feedback on quizzes or assignments. If the students are sharing documents, adding immediate comments to their work can also be considered as instant feedback. Becoming familiar with a learning management system (LMS) with features like comment sections will come in handy. 

Peer Feedback 

It's widely known that the students learn a lot from each other. Seeing this as an opportunity, teachers can  implement peer review sessions where students provide feedback to each other immediately after completing an activity or assignment. While doing this, teachers need to be actively monitoring student interactions and there needs to be clear guidelines to ensure constructive and helpful feedback is happening.

Response Systems 

Although it's a bit of an old technology, teachers can use clickers or other response systems to gauge student understanding during a lesson. This allows for real-time assessment and adjustment of teaching strategies. Many students now have at least a device with them and there are online tools to allow students submit work in real time. Online platforms, such as Kahoot, Gimlet or Quizizz can be used for interactive and engaging activities for immediate feedback.

In-Class Discussions 

Another great way to provide feedback is through meaningful and engaging class discussions. You need to create a safe and supportive environment where students can express their thoughts and opinions without any judgement. As students share their ideas, look out for opportunities to provide feedback and guide students in refining their ideas.

Exit Tickets 

I always tell teachers there needs to be an end goal in every lesson. Implement exit tickets at the end of a lesson or creating a mini quiz will serve that purpose. Through an exit ticket, you can ask students to summarize key concepts that they learned in that class. Using quizzes as a way to measure student understanding will provide a valuable insight to any teacher. After collecting them, you can review those exit tickets quickly to gauge overall comprehension. If there is even time left, you can address some of the misconceptions without waiting for the next class. 

There are many ways to provide feedback to students during daily instruction. Some of these ideas could be built into a lesson plan but some others could be implemented on the spot. Always look out for opportunities to provide students with meaningful and immediate feedback. Also remember, the key is to be timely, specific, and constructive in your feedback. Providing instant feedback does not only enhances learning but also fosters a supportive and engaged classroom environment.

This article is written by a real human being with the help of artificial intelligence. 

Family Friendly International Movies

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Ten years ago, it was very difficult to find suitable movies for school age children. Thanks to the growing number of streaming services, there are so many options now. I have always appreciated the movies in different languages because they provide you a different perspective. I believe the children should be aware of the life on other parts of the world. Watching films from different countries provide a unique perspective which is hard to obtain about a culture or a place far far away. Over the years, I have compiled a list of "family friendly" international movies and I am providing the list below with the imdb links: 

Paper Planes (Australia, 2014)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3328716/

Belle & Sebastian (2013, France)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3146360/

Like Stars on Earth (2007, India)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0986264/

Children of Heaven (1997, Iran)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118849

The Butterfly (2002, France)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0329485/

Not One Less (1999, China)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209189/

Bicycle Thieves (1948, Italy)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040522

Ramchand Pakistani (2008, Pakistan)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1095421

Red Balloon (1956, France)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048980            

Teaching Advice: Be Professional!

Image by steveriot1 from Pixabay

Being a teacher brings some more responsibilities. Just like any other job, a teacher is expected to be a professional. Some of my recommendations on being professional are:

• Be on time to your job
• Submit your lesson plans on time
• Contact your students' parents
• Be present at Parent Teacher Nights and any other school related events
• Communicate with other staff
• Don't take so many sick days off as long as it's not emergency
• Provide students immediate feedback
• Enter students' grades on time
• Prepare your emergency plans before you take a day off

This list can be extended. However, teachers' duties are never limited to those and they always need to go above and beyond.

Creating a Student Survey

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

Two times a year, I give my students a survey to see if everything is going well. I prepare the survey on Google docs and they take it online. Since it's anonymous; it gives the students a little bit of freedom to say what they really think about my class. I have seen great results after giving those surveys and helped me out adjust my classes depending on their answers. I wanted share with you a couple of questions I asked my students on the survey:

How difficult is this class for you? 

• Very Easy
• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Very Hard

Is your teacher helpful to you when you need help? 

• Yes he is.
• Sometimes
• No, he isn't.

What do you like the most for learning?  (You can pick more than one.)

• Slideshows
• Worksheets
• Khan Academy videos
• Graphing Calculators
• Taking notes
• Accelerated Math (Clickers)

Do you think that the teacher is organized? 

• He is very well organized.
• I don't know.
• He is not really organized.

Tell me about a time in my class when you felt frustrated:

What do you like best about this class?:

Please type if you have any additional comments: 

 
(if you don't know how to create an online survey, you can watch this tutorial)

Math in the Movies

Image by Chuk Yong from Pixabay

Have you ever thought about using clips from the movies to teach math? I did. But first, I searched the internet and came across with two websites. One of them is Math Bits which has lots of resources about math and many of them are ready to use worksheets. It has a dedicated page called Math and the Movies. The other one is called Mathematics in Movies which has a huge library of video clips from different movies. The website was first published in 2006 by Harvard Professor Oliver Knill. He is constantly updating this website as new movies come out. Those two websites inspired me to create my own worksheets during my teaching years and I am sharing them with you here. Feel free to download and use them in your class. 

Abbott and Costello / Ma and Pa Kettle: This worksheet has two examples of how multiplication and division can be done incorrectly. Feel free to download and customize it. You will need the following clips which go along with the worksheet. The first clip is from Abbott and Costello: In the Navy and the second clip is from Ma and Pa Kettle.

Die Hard III:  Here is a worksheet that I prepared for the jug problem takes place in Die Hard movie. You can watch the clip from the movie here.

Little Big League: Here is another worksheet that I prepared for the movie Little Big League. You can watch the clip form the movie here.

Contact: This worksheet is prepared for the clip from Contact movie. The topic is the prime numbers. You can watch the clip from the movie here.

Live and Become (2005)

This French film (imdb rating: 7.8) was shot by a Romanian-born director: Radu Mihăileanu. The film is about the rescue of a group of Jews caught in the conflict in Ethiopia through an operation organized by the Israeli secret service and their resettlement in Israel. Based on a true story that happened in the 80s, the film beautifully conveys to the audience the story of a Christian child who is mixed among Jews, going to Israel, and the problems he faced after being adopted. 

In addition to witnessing a historical period, the film is worth watching as it contains many clues about Ethiopian Jews, of whom we have very little idea, and from there to daily life in Israel. Even though it is a bit long, the film manages to explain with a very simple language the problems that come with being different in a society. The original title of the film is Va, Vis et Deviens and if you want to get more information about the movie, here is the imdb link and the Wikipedia page.

TI 84 Resources for Teachers

Here is a list of great websites offer lots of resources, printable worksheets and tutorials for TI 84:

http://www.mr-ideahamster.com/classes/calculator_course_ti84.htm

 

http://hotmath.com/graphing_calculators/cabri_movie_index.html

  

https://mathbits.com/MathBits/TISection/Openpage.htm

   

http://www.mathtutordvd.com/public/department113.cfm

 

http://www.tiskills.com/mod1_lessons/m1_l01.php

https://www.professorcole.com/ti-84-tutorials.html

https://online.math.uh.edu/GraphCalc/index.html 

How to teach Integers

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

A fellow teacher asked for help teaching integers. Students are having a real difficult time understanding integer operations and it's very crucial for them to learn it. In the past couple of years, I have tried several methods to teach integers but I find the following method better than others. It's making a lot more sense to the students.

Using Bank Account for Teaching Integers:

10-5 : I deposited 10 dollars, spent (withdrew)  5.

10+5: I deposited 10, then 5 more.

-10+5: I spent 10 dollars, and then deposited 5. 

-10-5: I spent 10 dollars at Store A, then spent another 5 at Store B. How much did I spent altogether?

-10+(-5): I have spent 10, then withdrew 5. 

10- (-5):  This could be a little tricky. I would suggest: Teach them subtracting a negative is the same thing as adding. So they would turn -(-5) into +5 and then continue thinking as above.

To explain why subtracting a negative becomes adding: You can try debt. Let's say you have a debt of 5 dollars. A friend of yours pays off your debt for you for free. This takes away your debt so your actual account would increase 5 dollars. A little complicated, huh? Then, just tell them to turn that into a plus :) 

Teacher's Daily Duties

Image by Rosy / Bad Homburg / Germany from Pixabay

Some people think that teaching is the easiest job ever. You have summer days off, federal holidays off, sick days, personal days etc. etc. However, they never know teaching is not limited to working hours and many teachers spent their entire summer on professional developments, lesson planing or taking courses. I just wanted to write down my own duties throughout the week just to let you know how sophisticated teaching can be:

Daily Duties / Routine:

• Swipe your time card
• Pick up your attendance book
• Turn on your computer and print out practice/test for students
• Print out weekly grade book for the week
• Print out extra copies of slides for students who need copies, absent, late or suspended
• Provide additional work for students suspended in school
• Go to the copy machine to pick up your copies
• Turn off your cell phone, put it in your drawer
• Prepare some pencils/pens for unprepared students
• Make sure you have enough copies of hall passes
• Check whether the projector is working
• Fill your water/coffee bottle before classes begin
• Grade quizzes, tests, worksheets and enter them to the electronic grading system
• Grade homework and classwork
• Check the students suspended in school, provide them classwork, explain the work for them
• Fill out your sick day/personal leave paperwork or any other documentation
• Use the restroom during your break time so that you don't have to leave during class
• Eat to stay energetic, keep snacks handy
• Go to cafeteria to get your lunch
• Fill your water bottle two more times during the day
• Take attendance on the attendance book/ on electronic grade book
• Enter incidents/referrals/discipline issues to the system
• Respond to e-mails from staff and administrators
• Run an after school club
• Provide tutoring for students need help
• Tell students their grades if they ask
• Provide students their missing work
• Attend Grade Level/ Department/Staff meetings/ Professional developments
• Make copies for the following day
• Return to your wife's call, tell her when you are leaving
• Fill out the teacher input form for students with disabilities
• You have to call some parents because you gave their kids referrals today
•  Write attendance letters to the parents
•  Arrange your field trip/college visit/other events you are responsible.

 Weekends:  Teacher's don't work on Saturdays, do they?

• Saturday School: Tutoring for all students
• You spent at least half the day with the students, other half making copies
• If you don't want to be frustrated on Monday mornings, prepare on Saturday.
• Sunday: At home, lesson planning all day. All plans need to bu submitted before Monday morning.
• Prepare slides, make changes on them, save them on your computer, e-mail them to self just in case

These are things I can't remember right now, I know it depends on school, district and the students. Think again...

Syllabus Quiz

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

Many teachers go over their syllabus the first day and start teaching the day after. I usually spend four or five days just to go over my syllabus, classroom rules and expectations. It's also important to demonstrate those routines and procedures. To see whether they understood the expectations or not, I also assess them at the end of the week about the classroom procedures. 

A syllabus quiz can be an open book quiz where students find and write down the answers easily. Everybody gets a 100 as longs as they know how to read and write. This is not only helpful for covering your first week of school but also gives you an idea of how long it takes students to complete such a task. This will also allow you to establish a weekly assessment routine. 

Daily Quiz

Image by 472301 from Pixabay

In Holt Power Presentations, a typical lesson ends with a lesson quiz. In the past, I didn't really pay attention to those for several reasons but this year I changed my mind. After teaching a lesson, I wanted to check if they really understood what they have just learned and I can use that input data for the following class. This year I have two periods of math every day with the same group of students. This is my daily routine for those two periods:

First period:
Bellwork
Instruction
Guided Practice
Lesson Quiz
Independent Practice
Homework

Second period:
Lesson Quiz (going over it)
Re-teach (if necessary) 
Independent Practice

Lesson Quiz is a great tool that gives me instant feedback to see whether students have understood the concept or not. A Lesson Quiz has five questions: One easy, two normal, one difficult, and one more problem solving. While giving a lesson quiz, I also have such a procedure:

I pass out the quiz paper
Students show all their work and circle their final answers
Since it's open ended, they need to be graded
If I can quickly grade them I would show the students what they received on the quiz
In the next class, we go over the same problems if they missed any of the questions.

Daily Quiz is a major component of my assessment policy and students really try hard since it's quick, short and gives them instant feedback. I can also recommend using clickers for such quick grading where you don't have to grade all the papers on your own. However, I like seeing the students' work and I always tell them they can still receive credit even though their final answer is not accurate. 

Starting a New Marking Period Strong

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

I always make a fresh start every marking period by making some changes, announcing new things and adjusting my grading policy. It's also a great opportunity to get better in classroom management by improving your daily routines and make them work better. For this new parking period, I wanted to go over a couple of things with my students so that they will remember the classroom rules, expectations and many other things. I usually do that on the first day of the marking period and it takes about a regular class time. 

Some teachers think that they can't afford to lose this much instructional time, but I think the opposite. Think about the benefits of "not losing instructional time" later in the year. If students ask questions, it turns into a discussion which is good. I also prepare a handout which requires them to take notes during the presentation and evaluate this as a classwork grade. You may find the following websites helpful to set up your classroom rules and expectations:

6 Must teach classroom procedures for the first days of school

IRIS Center Establishing Classroom Norms & Expectations

31 Must-Teach Classroom Procedures and Routines

Math-Drills.com

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

If you haven't come across with this website yet, hurry up! Math Drills is providing thousands of ready to print worksheets for students who need more practice with their foundational skils. I have downloaded so many of their worksheets until now and I have used them many times in my classroom. Here is a short description of the website:

 

Welcome to Math-Drills.com where we have over 13,000 free math worksheets with answer keys. At Math-Drills.com, we strive to provide high-quality printable math worksheets for teachers, parents, home schoolers and other educators. Please choose a category from our navigation menu above or scroll down for more information.

Using a SmartBoard

Interactive Boards are very common in today's classrooms and a lot of teachers are using them. I have used multiple smartboards during my teaching career, and they have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

• You can create your own lessons with the software.
• You can find thousands of lesson plans on their website.
• You can involve students in your teaching by allowing them to touch the screen.
• You can use it with other files/documents where you can write on them.
• You can save your work to use in another class.

Disadvantages:

• You have to be in front of the class all the time which takes the power from you. 
• You might have technical difficulties any time, so you need to come up with a backup plan.
• Some smart boards do not allow you to write with more than one marker at a time.
• Some smart boards need to be mounted on the wall and hard to remove somewhere else.

If you are more interested in using an interactive board, here is a good website for beginners:
Benefits of Smart Boards

Here I have listed the most popular interactive board companies:

SMART Technologies | The Award-Winning Leader in Edtech Learning Tools and Software

Promethean | Interactive Displays & Software for Education (prometheanworld.com)

Innovative Technology in the Classroom | Boxlight

First in Math

firstinmath.com

First in Math is an online math program by Suntex Inc. The program is designed around 24 game which has been very popular across the nation. I have used this program with my middle school students, and they really liked it. It can also be used with elementary grades. The program is very helpful for foundations such as multiplication and division. Students love it since the program has its own incentives and allows them to compete schoolwide or nationwide with their peers.

MathCounts

MathCounts is a nation wide math competition which has regional, state and national chapters. The competition is open for middle school students in grades 6 through 8. You may find more information on their website: http://mathcounts.org/

Flipped Classrooms

Image by WOKANDAPIX from Pixabay

I think this concept has begun circulating around since Khan Academy has launched. In this model, the students study the new concepts at home by watching videos and come to school with some prior knowledge. The teachers spends very few amount of time for instruction and allocate more time for practice at school. Class time can be used for further explanations and more practice. 

Some research say 85 % of the teachers who flipped their classrooms have seen increase in their test scores. Personally, I believe that the students need to spend more time on practice rather than direct instruction. In the past, a flipped classroom model may not have worked if the students did not have a computer or internet connection at home. However, there are mobile apps for flipped classrooms where students can actually watch videos anywhere.

For more information, you may visit the following websites:

Flipped Classroom - Center for Teaching & Learning

 

Flip Your Classroom | Center for Teaching & Learning

The Flipped Classroom

Flipping the Classroom | Center for Teaching Innovation