Intel tools classroom activity


Summary/ Rationale

Each year, I find myself giving out the same classroom rules and procedures. These go home with the students after going over them and come back signed by parents. Although I think this is fine, I could really see how setting up an Intel ranking activity could benefit me and my students. Having them participate in ranking the top five most import classroom student expectations would provide a concrete activity for the students. I think parents would be more ‘on board’ as well , knowing that their child rank ordered them and discussed them in detail at school.

Curriculum Framing questions:

Which student expectations incite increased student achievement and classroom management?

How do students rank classroom expectations and can they justify reasoning for such rankings?

Activity:

Students would be provided the classroom procedures with a list of seven student expectations (rules). On the back would be their first assignment detailing how they would rank the top five as a small group. Since I have small special education classes, each period could be a group, and the information could be entered as a group using the Interwrite board so that all could see and participate.

The expectations are the following:

Be prepared for class with all needed materials

Be on time

Respect others and their property

Raise your hand to ask or share

Complete all class work when assigned

Be courteous

Treat others as you wish to be treated



Each class will log into Intel Thinking Tools and record rankings.

To review expectations on the second day, the class would log back into Intel Thinking Tools and see how the other groups compared to theirs. This would spur debate within the class as to why they chose what they did. Students will share their opinions as to why their ranking may be better or why they thought others group chose what they did.

Group 1: period one (team ID 1; password one)

Group2: period five (team ID 2; password two)

Group3: period seven (team ID 3; password three)

Group 4: period nine (team ID 4; password four)

Teacher ID is chrishware@aol.com