Green Light Teacher

What does that mean? Well here are some cliff notes I told ya were coming:

- Movement in the classroom! "If the bum is numb, the brain is the same!" Instead of the traditional "passing out of papers," have the kiddos get up and get them themselves. Gives them a chance to take a mini break and get the circulation flowing.
-Give directions ONE AT A TIME!!! Sounds easy, right?!!? How many times do we find ourselves saying...do this, and do that, and do this, and do that! For our firsties! ONE AT A TIME!!! Heck...I'm always saying "what" "huh" "what was that again"...I can't imagine how our babies feel.
-teach in short 10 min bursts, then give the kids a few minutes to talk about and digest what was just learned. Don't know about your kiddos, but sometimes mine learn better from each other. I will often times get one of my higher kiddos to help explain a concept to my lower babies, and WALL-AHHHH...they now understand it! Weird, how that works, huh?!!? Like I had been speaking Portugese the whole time or something!
-Use music for everything. A docking station that comes with a remote for your IPod/IPhone works awesome and is what I have. You can control the songs/volume from anywhere in the room. He STRONGLY believes in using it for mood, cues, background noise, and transitions. For example: music playing in the morning as the kiddos come in (this past year, I used Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling" everyday as our song we came into to start our day...volume level mid-low). Then the bell rings and instead of asking them to please be quiet for announcements, turn up the music loud, then....off! Yep, bring up the volume level to pretty loud and cut it off! They IMMEDIATELY stop talking! It's a miracle worker and you didn't have to say a word! This honestly works like a charm! (I also have velcro dots in random places in my classroom to stick my remote to. Before I thought of that, I was always misplacing that darn thing!)
-Another one of his tricks with music is to say "In 5 or 10 seconds when I say "GO".....in front of what ever instruction you want them to do. Example: A day when we've just learned about verbs..."In 5 seconds when I say "GO" talk to your neighbor and tell them 5 verbs." Ready, GO! And while they do that, turn on the music for about 30 secs or a minute...however long you think they need to discuss. Then, volume up and OFF! They immediately know that means time is up. When you say, "Ready, GO" it's like they automatically are at the races and EVERYBODY participates for some reason! Some serious magic working there! : )
-Lastly, Adapt, Adjust, and Apply. Don't be a boring "Red Light" teacher who has done the same boring thing year after year and getting the same results that hasn't/isn't working. Be "Green" and get creative. Get the kiddos up moving around and involved. Make the instruction relevant to them and they'll actually remember it because you've made it fun and innovative.

What better time than to start off a new school year with some fresh and exciting ideas!!! Let's get this party started! : )

It is honestly, the best in-service I've ever been to. I highly recommend any district who is looking for someone with fresh, insightful, and RELATIVE ideas to hire him to come speak! It is well worth the money, IMO.