I am Angelique, Librarian for elem/middle in the east Bay Area. I won’t be able to stay long because I’ve got to pick up my kid. I dressed up as a witch sooooooo many times. This year, I’ll be Ms. Frizzle. @TheWeirdTeacher#WeirdEd
Christiana, 504/504 Specialist from Arizona. I went as a “Californian” one year after jumping out of the pool 😝 Bathing suit + boogie board = instant costume.
#WeirdEd Q1 I say in the blog that I subscribe to the "Accidents Create Real Learning" partly because it helps justify my own occasional lack of organization. Do you have any educational philosophies you might have first adopted to cover your ego?
Nate from Nebraska. Cheering on the Sox tonight not the Dodgers. Honestly don't remember a childhood costume. Was Aslan the Lion last year with the fam! #WeirdEd
A1:students are better equipped to make connections from content to their interest than teacher. Adopted this when I couldn’t find a way to make content match their interests, so I just asked them to make the connection, and what do you know? They’re pretty good at it! #weirded
A1: Not answering students ?s. It's a legit part of what I do now, but it started as me not knowing and not wanting to give an answer that the Ss googled later and then I look bad for lying. #WeirdEd
I think I'll do a lil #WeirdEd tonight. Caitlin, OH, technology resource teacher for early elementary, and I spent multiple Halloweens as the back end of a cow. My twin sister was the front. My mom worked really hard on that costume.
#WeirdEd A1 I let my geekiness and nerdiness guide me?
"It was the Will of the Force"?
Oh, and one of my recurring advice from my mentor "Fake it till you feel it."
Also, "kids are smarter than they look, they can do it."
A1 MOAR: but it's still absolutely true: How you practice something is how you'll do it. That's why I'm so strict about how I want performances to be - exactly. #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd A1
I tend to say that I can't fully plan for every misconception because my kids are inconsistent from day to day. I could plan with more detail, I just love solving problems in the moment and hate planning in advance. My ADHD prefers to be put on the spot.
That was me in a nutshell. My students 2 years ago called my desk “the swirling vortex of terror.” If it was important, it went on my bookshelf or my “inbox.” #WeirdEd
Hello #WeirdEd. I’m a K-5 librarian in Maine. In 1982 I had an inflatable headpiece costume called Kooky Spooks. They were all the rage. (Sample pic lifted from the web. Not me.)
HA! No, we didn't trick or treat as a child. Although, we did go around the school in a parade. Got all my candy in the school, teachers had us give candy to classmates like Valentine's Day-style #WeirdEd
Ooh, same. I put up posters of things I like that have absolutely nothing to do with what I teach, because they make me happy. That's as far as I get. #weirded
A1: I don’t enforce rules that have no function besides establishing authority. My cover up for “I’m too lazy to enforce rules on hats and hoodies.” #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd A1 When I can't get enough of them to show their work, or explain how they know, I could right out and say, "This one's for the bulletin board. Go all out."
A1 I try to have more "a cidents create real learning" moments, but am kind of a control freak. I put time and effort into creating lessons and sometimes death grip the direction they go in to get to my point instead of letting the kids lead it wherever it goes. #WeirdEd
A1: Kids self checking their own math answers both allows them to take ownership of their learning but also saves me the frustration of having (or forgetting) to grade them. #WeirdEd
I refused to start their problems for them. I told them write something by the next time I circle around. Some were shocked that they're first line was good and I told them to do the next line #WeirdEd
A1: I'm identifying with a lot of what's already posted. I think the one I am most currently guilty of is "natural consequences." That's allowing a student to experience whatever consequence comes up without my imposing one. I'll explain further... #weirded
Ooo...got me thinking to a line I've "borrowed" (stolen) from my former principal "You need to get a bigger problem" (like hats and hoodies)...I do it, but begrudgingly) #WeirdEd
A1: Since it's my first year, this seems like it happens every day for me. It'll be interesting to see what sticks and what I'll have to just look at and say "Nope. Never doing that again." #WeirdEd
A1 cont'd: If they don't follow my directions on the computer, the computer doesn't do the thing they want it to. If they do follow directions, they enjoy the activity. Basically... I don't want to have to do the paperwork for our schoolwide clip behavior system. #weirded
#WeirdEd IKNOW RIGHT. Or Hoods! Like, just let 'em eat breakfast with their hoods. Dang. If anything, it's the same kids, so if they do cause trouble, they already know who they are.... I dunno. Argh. This rule bugs me.
I have warned my kids that if they wear their hats outside of my classroom they run the risk of having the principal tell me that I need to enforce it. It makes it nice when they think its our little secret, when really he’s in my room enough to know they have hats on. #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd Q2 I used the Sword vs Gun fight in RAIDERS to make an educational point. Think of a movie scene you have or can use to make your own point. Ready...GO
I skip all that and have my teachers edition out and before they turn it in they have to check and if they got it wrong and don’t know why, they should come to me for help. Effective for around 70% of my kids. #WeirdEd
A2: "hey kids, remember that scene in Star Wars after Lukes parents are killed and they burn his farm so he stays put and cleans everything up? THAT'S BECAUSE IT DIDN'T HAPPEN." Take some risks, kids. Go on an adventure! #weirded
I have the teachers edition out and before they turn it in, they have to self check and see if they are right and if not, figure out where their error is. #WeirdEd
#weirded A2 I use the “make this fit in the hole for this” scene from Apollo 13 every year when we do engineering challenges in my technology class. It brings home the real world aspect of building useful things out of random stuff.
#WeirdEd I used to have a poster in my classroom that said "7 Out of Every 5 People Struggle In Math" for years. And not one person ever said anything about it to me.
In reply to
@Sneffleupagus, @shadow_uzumaki, @academcaccident
#WeirdEd A2 usually, it's so in the moment that movie references come to me that it's hard to just think of one now.
Of course, we can always dial it up to 11.
Not allowed to tell them their mother is a hamster.
A2: My third graders loved, loved, loved “Possible/Impossible” from Cinderella with Brandi and Whitney Houston. Great message presented in a fun way! #WeirdEd
A2: I make a point that libraries are much more efficient now that we don’t have to use card catalogs in the library.
I reference this... #WeirdEd
(P.S. I don’t think I understand the question.)
A2 Also from Raiders: "I don't know, I'm just making this up as I go."
I've been teaching 8 years now and have had at least one new prep every single year.
That means that just about everyday I'm shooting from the hip for at least one lesson.
Sometimes they're great.
#WeirdEd
A2: The teacher in 10 Things I Hate About You. He was a jerk, but honest and real and the kids respected it. Kind of literal but the first thing that came to kind. #WEIRDed
A2b: There's also this scene. My HS film kids loved this thing so much, we gave away a milkshake trophy as our people's choice award. I have no deep insight into this but it definitely qualifies as #weirded material...
When I taught Psych and Inside Out was released I liked to remind them that 1. Bing Bong's sacrifice is a perfectly good reason to break down and cry and 2. the scene where Joy finally realizes that Sadness is a necessary emotion is 100% accurate #weirded
A2. The scene in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 where Yondu sends Baby Groot to find his prototype fin over and over, failure after failure, is the most perfect metaphor for teaching I've ever seen. #WeirdEd
(Also since I don't really feel the need to reward/punish, I also don't usually take it personally when a kid isn't into what we're doing. They're only with me for 40 minutes a week; if they come in with a bad mood they caught it elsewhere. I don't need to worsen it.) #weirded
A2: We talk about Alice in Wonderland every year, and how literature can be used to satirize current events, even when it's not obvious. The Mad Hatter's tea party was mocking the idea of negative numbers and other "new" math ideas. #weirded
#WeirdEd Oh, oh I got it! In Teachery speak, "There is no such thing as a slow or fast learner, each student is different, each student learns precisely in the speed and the means that work best for them." Did I do good?
A2b: I wanted to do an intro to the kids by having all my students create their “islands” for me ala Inside Out. But I never did it. Next year...
#WeirdEd
A2: Accidental reference. I named all the desktops in the computer lab using the NATO phonetic because numbering them confused me. (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?).
A student noticed but recognized the names as velociraptors from Jurassic World. Instant buy-in from dino fan. #weirded
Went to a concert this summer that was actually a showing of the first Star Wars movie while a live orchestra played the soundtrack! It really became very clear how the music basically told us how to feel during scenes. #weirded
All the device carts of chromebooks and ipads are named after Nintendo characters, because that way one is "Mario Cart" and it's worth it to name the other ten less sensibly for that one joke.#weirded Also they shouldn't let me name things. Or own a labelmaker. BUT I DO BOTH.
It's my class. If anyone is going to demand a shrubbery, it's me. A woman in the main office gave me a key and put me in class, and that's a fine way to run a classroom! #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd Q3 I accidentally discovered sketchnoting because I basically gave up and tripped on the right solution. When have you found the right way to help a student AFTER you thought you tred all the "good" ways?
A2 Got Friday on my mind i guess.
"Gotta crawl before you walk." Although I usually can't tell them what I'm quoting. I'm sure it's used in other films. #WeirdEd
In my world, movies are a big topic. Kids connect to books because of the movie. Or to the idea they could watch the movie after they read the book. We talk movies A LOT. 1/1,000,000 reasons I love being a librarian. #WeirdEd
A2 The beginning to Fiddler on the Roof. We learn about tradition and what that means for that culture. We also can turn that into a math lesson. At what angle does a fiddler stand to fiddle on a roof? #weirded
A3: Yes! And it always seems to happen when I’m surfing Tumblr and someone’s reblogged a baby’s post about what works for them in class and how they organize/take notes/study and it’s something I never would have thought of but WORKS perfectly! #WeirdEd#ramblyanswer
A3: Balls.
Keeping a racquetball in between the palm and neck of the guitar can help some kids have proper finger position. It was just out from a game in another class and SHAZAM. Balls are magic.
#WeirdEd
#WeirdEd I'll be remiss if I didn't mention that the governor's meeting scene is what I think of, when I hear about any meetings with the current administration
A3: found screencastomatic when working on presentation skills but stident kept freezing up when in front of people. So screencast scaffolded so she could still work on building and delivering a presentation and later wok on the stage fright issue. #weirded
Early on I was worried b/c of the prominence that Joy got and I was worried that the story was going to be about how we have to be happy...Joy totally sidelines Sadness and I was generally annoyed...but Pixar had the end goal in mind and did right #WeirdEd
Just covered a Geometry class on Monday, and the sub plans were about different types of trusses commonly used in houses. (Find the missing angles). #WeirdEd
A3: I was making materials for a student with visual impairment and it occurred to me that if it was helpful for him, it would be helpful to the 260 other kids in the school, too.
So I made 260 more. #weirded
A3 I also had that student dry-erase noting on my whiteboard. I kept beating my head against the wall because he paid attention and knew the content, but wouldn't do homework.
Once I realized I could just use the sketches on the whiteboard, it solved all our issues.
#WeirdEd
A3: there are so many examples. I had a student last year who just couldn't learn y=mx+b. I tried so many methods, videos and nothing stuck. Finally I looked at her and applied her favorite anime characters as the variables. It worked. Renamed Yona method. #WeirdEd
A3: Balls.
Keeping a racquetball in between the palm and neck of the guitar can help some kids have proper finger position. It was just out from a game in another class and SHAZAM. Balls are magic.
#WeirdEd
A3: I think one year, I was running out of time to teach everything, so I had students divided into groups to become masters at one method of solving systems, then they got in from of 3 to teach their methods to teach other. Worked amazingly well. #WeirdEd
This is actually a pattern for me. I do something thinking, "This will help a particular person." Then I realize that others might benefit from learning the same way, or even just by having the OPTION to learn that way. #weirded
#WeirdEd Ah, just like when I accidentally dropped a bag of bowling pins in front a kinder and the parent, the kinder said "You dropped your balls!" As we adults look at each other w/o laughing, and I continue the joke by saying, "No, just pins. 2 of them in fact."
Speaking of Jaws...1. that line about needing a bigger boat was ad libbed by Roy Scheider 2. the story b/t Quint and Hooper about scars and then Quint goes into the USS Indianapolis story is an all-time favorite #WeirdEd
Ok. I have my first opportunity to play the new Tomb Raider game since I bought it two weeks ago, so I'm out, all. No word of a lie: this has been my favourite Twitter chat ever. #WeirdEd
A3: can’t think of a specific example right now, but I know there’s times I’ve been searching for a strategy to help my “advanced” kids only to realize it also works as an intervention strategy #weirded
A3. Didn’t send a kid out when he was being...difficult...bc sensed he’d take that as a win. Nope, he expected to be sent out and took my keeping him in as acceptance. No real problems between us after that. It opened dialogue instead. #WeirdEd
A3: ooh! One year, a student has a ? as we reviewed for a test. Another S said they could answer it. Then we wrote down all the ?s students had & grouped like ?s together. Each one went on a piece of chart paper, and Ss went around the room answering what they could. #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd this works freakishly well. I do this for other subjects too. Sometimes I even tell them find a classmate who understands because my English isn't working for them. 9 times out of 10 they learn.
A4: in his classroom, well, he's often not there, right, so, maybe...
In the field... There's some great experiential learning happening right there. #WeirdEd
We do it digitally now on our class forum, but I think I'm gonna go back to chart paper because it allows Ss to be anonymous and not feel like "the stupid kid." Ss can also directly reply and critique answers. #weirded
#WeirdEd Especially taking into account the time period the movie is set in and the number of women in university at that time plus the class he's teaching, the number of women taking his his is ASTRONOMICAL. It's so funny.
A4: From what we see of him in the movies...I don't think so. Yes, he is seemingly adored by his students--but is that because of his teaching style/classroom presence/experience he gives students in his class...or because he just has really awesome stories to tell? #WeirdEd
A4: He told his class that X never marks the spot and it marked the spot less than a half hour later. My kids would never let me live that down if I did that in class. #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd A4 Mentor? Yes. Actual teaching? Possibly.... But, his adventures smash all the archaeological sites....
Also, any field trips w/him will at least require passing competency in hand-to-hand, shooting, and extreme luck to get home.... XD
A4: I think “Why’d it have to be snakes?” Is a good metaphor for teaching. Sometimes we have to face the worse case scenario and make the best of it. So yeah, growth mindset at its finest. #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd Q5
Ok, this is only kinda a question. Mostly it's me saying watch this video my kids made because they did such an amazing job and I want to brag on them https://t.co/vtvDFd1r64 (permission to share was obtained)
A4 There's no way with all his adventuring that he takes the time to read all the essays students submit.
I remember a professor telling us he was generous with grades when his son had just been born.
I'm going with easy grader = why his classes are packed.
#WeirdEd
A4: is have to say he’s a great archeologist, but not a great teacher. The difference between the teacher and the field professional is that the teacher cares more about the kid than the topic. #weirded
A4 Q: okay but in the 4th movie that I feel pained to acknowledge, didn’t he answer a student’s question during/while in a high speed chase of some kind that ended up with him riding a motorcycle through the library? #WeirdEd#teachablemoments
#WeirdEd I might wander off in the next couple minutes but I wanted to mention: 11 years ago, I did a thing - I made a comic and put it on my blog. 11 years later, I don't know how I'm still at it.
#WeirdEd Yep, I laughed so hard, but also thought, "Wow, he actually learned to teach in between the last movie."
Also, with how the student reacted so calmly, seems like an every day thing to see Professor Jones be attacked. LOL
I can't wait to watch this with sound when I'm not marking in a busy restaurant without earbuds. But also good try to distract me from marking #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd I maintain that she's stupidly prepared for everything (even more than Batman) and will bring her kids home safe and sound. I'm also 95% sure she's a Time Lord.
I’m about to peace out for the night, exhausted after conferences. But, since it’s movie gif night, I wanted to celebrate my successful first night of conferences ever with one of my favorites. #WeirdEd
#WeirdEd There's get messy, and then there's I'm going to turn you all into an the guy from Inner Space and expose you to dangerous blood-bourne diseases so you can learn the kid with the glasses will pee himself in any situation
#WeirdEd If you're into spooky stuff, and tabletop rpg/roleplaying games, check out the awesome streamers at https://t.co/7RWn6s1f6n
They're doing a Call of Cthulhu RPG right now! Also, full disclosure, recently became one of their mods, but I love 'em & their community
I blog each “day of learning” at https://t.co/F9aL6xnx4d where I’m adding comics thanks to @mrburkemath inspiration and after the gnome desk, I sense some silent movies coming..... #WeirdEd
