Mrs. Slaviero's Blog

  Today was the first Advisory group of the school year. It was also the first official school-wide community-building endeavor I've been part of. This is my 29th year in the classroom. This has been a dream of mine for many years, having been School Improvement Co-Chair and the Character Group Chair for a while. It seemed Advisory would become reality several times in my tenure, only to see the timing was off. This will be an excellent way to live our our school Character Goals of Honesty, Empathy, Responsibility, and Determination! Advisory is meant to be a dedicated time period with a smaller group size than a typical class. It's also meant to strengthen ties within the school--the teachers that run Advisory groups may or may not have their own students in their groups.  Advisory is not a homework-help activity, but rather is meant for us to get to know one another in a setting without expectations of formal learning or grading. Today's activity started with the teachers...

It's important for students to know what they are learning at the start of class. Studying History is important and I strive to help my Historians appreciate what we do in class everyday. My Cooperating Teacher always had a place on her chalkboard to post daily activities. I continued this practice, and as a young teacher, was encouraged to not only state the "WHAT" of the lesson but also the "WHY" for the lesson.  I now create digital slides for my Agenda and reset my MacBook every hour to display this slide on the monitor as students are walking in to class. The slide is also available on Schoology for students to view. The Agenda lists the day/date, gives a bullet point list, daily schedule (which changes for Pep Assemblies, Half Days, etc.) the WHAT and WHY of the lesson, and an inspirational quote. It's always reassuring for me to see students look at the agenda as they're preparing themselves for the hour. I realize that my efforts are important an...

 Spring seems to be here, and classroom routines are in place for the most part. I'm trying something new but also staying focused on emphasizing the ideas and concepts that I value in my classroom. Takeaways: Emphasize and reinforce what's important. For example, I often want my students to discuss our learning together. Whenever I see a student group want to default to working on a question independently I gently remind them that I learn from them everyday, and I've taught this subject for many years. I make it clear that if I can learn from them they can certainly learn from each other. I take the opportunity to reiterate the significance of academic discussions. I'm remembering to acknowledge student birthdays on or as close to the student's actual day as possible. Yes, it does take forethought and planning (I have 140 students) but it matters to me, and it seems to be appreciated by them. LEGACY . It's everything, especially in the spring as these 8th Grad...

One of the most fun topics we've studied this year in Language Support-History is American Football. Teaching and playing flag football has been part of my LS 21st Century Michigan Thanksgiving unit every year since I've taught this class, but it's especially exciting this year because of the success of the Detroit Lions! There's no denying Michigan is sports-focused. We have one of the most dedicated fan bases around--whether it's football, basketball, hockey, or baseball. It's important for students new to America to feel part of the pulse of their new region, and in this case that definitely includes sports.  We spent time learning about some of the scoring involved in football, some of the positions, and understanding downs. We practiced vocabulary, watched a few clips, and set off to play! My students really enjoyed playing and we've talked a little bit about the historic nature of this year's season. Not every student watches football at home, and ...