Mrkarpie.com
  • Home
  • Curriculum
    • Digital Team Resources
    • Zen Classroom
    • The Universal Refugee Experience
    • Free-Verse Poetry
    • Transition Week
    • Unconscious Bias
    • Short Story 1
    • Food Chains
    • Short Story 2
    • Murder Mystery
    • Wrapup
    • Extra Units >
      • 10:00 ELA Activities
      • COVID-19 Journal Project
      • Inquiry-Based Research
      • Short Story 3
      • TED Talk Extra Credit
    • Professional Development >
      • Co-Teaching Seminar
      • ORID Data Protocol
      • FSU CCLS / Next Gen
      • Google PD
      • UnSelfie: Book Study >
        • Empathy Lessons
      • Teaching in a Middle School
      • Backwards Design
  • Skills
    • Write >
      • Tools
      • Writing Process >
        • Informational Writing Process
        • Creative Writing Process
      • Differentiation
    • Read >
      • Tools
      • Process
      • Differentiation
    • Web Design >
      • Google Sites Tutorials
  • Assess
    • Learning Standards >
      • Common Core Learning Standards
      • Next Gen Standards
    • Writing Rubrics >
      • 4-Point Essay Rubric >
        • 4-Point Rubric Grade Converter
        • 4-Point Peer Evaluation
      • Short Story Rubric
      • Poetry Rubric
      • 2-Point, Short-Answer Question Rubric
    • Classwork Grading
    • Project-Based Learning >
      • Oral Presentation Rubric
      • Web-Design Rubric >
        • Web Design Peer Evaluation Form
    • Data >
      • Team Average Data
      • 4-Point Writing Data
    • State Test Preparation >
      • Questar State Test Simulator
      • Questar Informational Video
    • STAR Testing >
      • STAR Testing Software
      • STAR Testing Directions
      • Self Reflection
    • Final Exam >
      • Final Exam Multiple Choice
      • Extended Response Options >
        • Extended Response
        • Transitioning and Expanding ENL
        • Entering and Emerging ENL
    • Karp-Evaluation
    • Assessment as Process
  • FRED
    • Syllabus Week >
      • EDU 276 Syllabus Section 1
      • EDU 276 Syllabus: Section 2
      • Syllabus But Prettier
      • Syllabus Week Resources
      • Grade Calculators >
        • Midterm Calculator
        • End of Semester Calculator
    • Assessment Technology >
      • Assessment Technology Weekly Resources
      • Assessment Technology Project Page >
        • SLP Assessment Project Page
      • Forms Video Tutorials
      • Assessment Technology Rubric
    • Digital Field Trip >
      • Digital Field Trip Weekly Resources
      • Digital Field Trip Project Page
      • Prezi Video Tutorials
      • Digital Field Trip Rubric
    • Lesson Plan >
      • Lesson Plan Weekly Resources
      • Lesson Plan Project Page
      • Lesson Plan Rubric
    • Digital Portfolio >
      • Digital Portfolio Weekly Resources
      • Digital Portfolio Project Page
      • Weebly Video Tutorials
      • Digital Portfolio Rubric
    • Technology Reflection >
      • Technology Reflection Project Page
      • Technology Reflection Rubric
    • Tech Tools
    • Course Evaluation Data
  • Me
    • The Interdisciplinary Educator Blog
    • Tour my Classroom
    • Educational Philosophy
    • Contact

Creating a Zen Classroom Environment

"Students are a fickle population that tends towards ruin." -Brad Karpie

Managing a classroom is both an art and a science. I've found that the best way to manage a classroom is to set crystal clear expectations that define what success looks like for both yourself and your students, and then to measure the rate of success with incredible accuracy. When it is clear how to be successful, it makes it much more difficult to fail, whether behaviorally or academically.

Topic One: Our Zen Classroom

During our first week, we'll spend our time learning about learning (it's never too early for metacognition.) We'll learn about how we learn in general, how to come together as a classroom learning community, and clarify how both students and teachers place necessary, but different roles in the learning process. By the end of this week, students will have a good idea about how to succeed in 8th grade ELA. 

Lessons
Materials

Tuesday 9/6/2022: The Beginning

We start our school year out using this opening day Google Slides presentation. We'll identify roles in the  classroom with a modified response card activity during which students point to themselves, the teacher, or hold up a fist for "everyone." Built into that slideshow, students will read testimonials from last year's students to share expectations from a student perspective. Teachers always prattle on about what they expect, but they are an inherently biased source about themselves. To eliminate this bias, on the last school day each year, I ask students to write down advice to next year's class of incoming 8th-grade students Then we do our first, modified close-read protocol using our opening year prose and opening year poems. That's right, already reading on day one!
NextGen Learning Standards: 8R1, 8R3, 8R5, 8SL1, 8L4, 8L5
Picture
Translated Slideshow
Picture
Picture

Wednesday, 9/7/2022: Getting Gritty with It

Today, students will transition from yesterday's Karpie-specific expectations to learning how to learn. We'll watch a selection of videos about grit and growth mindset - two of the most important factors to being successful as a student, and as we watch, we'll respond to a Google Form to annotate our learning. Students can choose any two of the four videos offered to watch and reflect upon, but no matter which videos they watch, they'll need to answer a Google Classroom question, and respond to two other classmates' responses. 
​NextGen Learning Standards: 8R2, 8R3, 8R6, 8R7, 8W2, 8W6, 8L6
Picture

Thursday, 9/8/2022: I "Sort" of Understand Grit and Growth Mindset

Today, students will engage with a new Google tool, Jamboard! They'll identify whether a statement or image reflects a fixed, or a growth mindset, by dragging it to one side of the screen or the other, and then demonstrate their knowledge by "translating" a final, fixed mindset statement into a more appropriate growth mindset through a Google question.
NextGen Learning Standards: 8R4, 8R9, 8SL5, 8L5
Picture

Friday 9/9/2022: Four Corner's Discussion

​For our first, formal discussion, we'll have students connect the two mindset videos they chose with their own lives. Students will walk to one of four corners of our classroom, and receive full credit for the day by explaining their reasoning in three, clear, spoken sentences. Shy students will be offered sentence stems to ease their engagement, and we'll all learn a lot about each other while becoming comfortable with the kinds of mindsets that are proven to help students succeed. Responses are welcome in both English and Español. 
​NextGen Learning Standards: 8SL1, 8SL3, 8SL4, 8SL6
Picture
Sentence frames for shy students...

Additional, Zen Classroom Materials

Picture

Classroom Management Reboot

Sometimes during the year, a class, or team, or one of my colleague's classes need a little reminder about how to successfully function in a classroom. When that special time comes, I utilize this classroom management reboot protocol to set things straight again.
Picture

Restorative Justice Form

The form to the left is used when students get sent out of class. Removal from class doesn't do much good on its own. Sometimes, students prefer sleeping in ISS instead of working in  class. To turn time outs into something productive, students engage with this form during their time out periods, and "earn" their way back into class with the successful completion of the form.
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Curriculum
    • Digital Team Resources
    • Zen Classroom
    • The Universal Refugee Experience
    • Free-Verse Poetry
    • Transition Week
    • Unconscious Bias
    • Short Story 1
    • Food Chains
    • Short Story 2
    • Murder Mystery
    • Wrapup
    • Extra Units >
      • 10:00 ELA Activities
      • COVID-19 Journal Project
      • Inquiry-Based Research
      • Short Story 3
      • TED Talk Extra Credit
    • Professional Development >
      • Co-Teaching Seminar
      • ORID Data Protocol
      • FSU CCLS / Next Gen
      • Google PD
      • UnSelfie: Book Study >
        • Empathy Lessons
      • Teaching in a Middle School
      • Backwards Design
  • Skills
    • Write >
      • Tools
      • Writing Process >
        • Informational Writing Process
        • Creative Writing Process
      • Differentiation
    • Read >
      • Tools
      • Process
      • Differentiation
    • Web Design >
      • Google Sites Tutorials
  • Assess
    • Learning Standards >
      • Common Core Learning Standards
      • Next Gen Standards
    • Writing Rubrics >
      • 4-Point Essay Rubric >
        • 4-Point Rubric Grade Converter
        • 4-Point Peer Evaluation
      • Short Story Rubric
      • Poetry Rubric
      • 2-Point, Short-Answer Question Rubric
    • Classwork Grading
    • Project-Based Learning >
      • Oral Presentation Rubric
      • Web-Design Rubric >
        • Web Design Peer Evaluation Form
    • Data >
      • Team Average Data
      • 4-Point Writing Data
    • State Test Preparation >
      • Questar State Test Simulator
      • Questar Informational Video
    • STAR Testing >
      • STAR Testing Software
      • STAR Testing Directions
      • Self Reflection
    • Final Exam >
      • Final Exam Multiple Choice
      • Extended Response Options >
        • Extended Response
        • Transitioning and Expanding ENL
        • Entering and Emerging ENL
    • Karp-Evaluation
    • Assessment as Process
  • FRED
    • Syllabus Week >
      • EDU 276 Syllabus Section 1
      • EDU 276 Syllabus: Section 2
      • Syllabus But Prettier
      • Syllabus Week Resources
      • Grade Calculators >
        • Midterm Calculator
        • End of Semester Calculator
    • Assessment Technology >
      • Assessment Technology Weekly Resources
      • Assessment Technology Project Page >
        • SLP Assessment Project Page
      • Forms Video Tutorials
      • Assessment Technology Rubric
    • Digital Field Trip >
      • Digital Field Trip Weekly Resources
      • Digital Field Trip Project Page
      • Prezi Video Tutorials
      • Digital Field Trip Rubric
    • Lesson Plan >
      • Lesson Plan Weekly Resources
      • Lesson Plan Project Page
      • Lesson Plan Rubric
    • Digital Portfolio >
      • Digital Portfolio Weekly Resources
      • Digital Portfolio Project Page
      • Weebly Video Tutorials
      • Digital Portfolio Rubric
    • Technology Reflection >
      • Technology Reflection Project Page
      • Technology Reflection Rubric
    • Tech Tools
    • Course Evaluation Data
  • Me
    • The Interdisciplinary Educator Blog
    • Tour my Classroom
    • Educational Philosophy
    • Contact