The school should provide a friendly, stimulating, and safe environment that promotes social, physical, and intellectual learning needs of all students.
To achieve this:
Principal, staff and teachers can smile and demonstrate that they enjoy being with children.
Classroom should provide shelter from sun, rain and wind and outdoor space should be free of litter and hazards for play and sports.
School compound can kept clean, safe, environment friendly and attractive in natural and physical layout.
Classrooms and other learning areas (library, computer room, and school laboratories)should be well ventilated.
There should be adequatelighting for reading and writing.
Shelves in classrooms and learning areas have to be organized and labeled for students to access and put things back safely and independently
Wall displays of students’ work have to be evident in each classroom. The posted displays must be attractive, updated, relevant, educationally stimulating, and kept at eyelevel of the students.
Classroom furniture should be comfortable for the age and size of the child.
School staff must provide support and care for all students and understand the significance of high quality interactions and communication.
Formulate a story that includes all contents of the bag.
Create a logical mystery that includes the 5Ws (who, what, where, when, and why).
Keywords
Mystery, writing, evidence
Materials Needed
several paper bags
common items such as pens, wrappers, receipts, and other objects
paper and pencils
Lesson Plan
Some of the most creative writing is sparked by a simple thing. This language arts activity based on common objects can be done as a whole group activity, or with students working individually, with partners, or in small groups. Preparation for the activity includes gathering many common items like pens, wrappers, and receipts. Put five objects each in several paper bags (as many as will be required for your students or their groups). Vary the contents by including things like a rubber band, lipstick, and any other small objects that may be appropriate.
Put 3-5 small items from the classroom in a small paper bag and pass it around the classroom. Allow students just a few moments each to imagine what might be in the container without opening it. When the items reach the last student, collect the container. Invite the students to share their ideas about the container's contents. Then open it and discuss each item. Have the students help you tell the story of the objects. Where did each object come from? Who owns it?
If desired, place students in groups or allow them to choose partners. Distribute a bag to each student or group. Explain that this is a "bag of evidence" from a crime scene. The students' job is to write a mystery story that includes the objects as "clues" to solve the mystery. Each story must follow a logical pattern and address the questions who, what, where, when, and why.
Extension Activity Create "radio mysteries" by having students read and record their work. These will be even more effective if students write their papers in play form.
Assessment
Have students read their stories to the class and collect their work. Listeners can note the answers to the 5Ws for each story read. Evaluate the written work according to classroom writing expectations.
I spend a lot of time connecting what we do in the classroom with the world of work. For example, I talk to students about how school is their "job" and the effort and hard work they put into that job reflects the success they will have when they enter the working world. I point out that establishing good habits now will bring them rewards in the future. Students' classroom supplies are the "tools" for their current job. If they are unprepared, I remind them that, in the working world, they would not be able to do their jobs if they forgot their tools. "Pay day" is when I hand out progress reports or report cards. Their effort is directly reflected in the grades they earned. We also discuss how far they might go in the world of work with the pay they've earned. Discussions of the workplace are supported by a yearlong effort to teach students strategies for success -- test taking, note taking, listening skills, personal goal setting -- in all their classes. By the end of the year, most students are taking responsibility for their performance, which reflects growth and maturity. In junior high, taking responsibility is sometimes a monumental achievement!
ESQID took the first step towards decentralization of supervision and monitoring, holding a 5 day workshop for province and school heads to transfer needed information and skills. The workshop was held at ESQID Seminar Room from 27th June to 01st of July with representatives from the 7 provinces.
The objectives of the workshop included:
1.Training province personnel for external evaluation of their schools.
2.Facilitating the transition of monitoring and evaluation of schools to the provinces using CFBS indicators.
3.Providing knowledge and information and skills for Emergency Preparedness.
4.Training and preparing province personnel to conduct emergency drills.
The ESQID staff members, through presentations, explained the roles and responsibilities supervisors would need to shoulder. The supervision process was described in detail and emphasis was made on the 3 core functions of supervisors: to control and evaluate, support and advise and act as a liaise agent.
Active - based participation included:
·Defining quality and observation
·Setting up a supervision and monitoring cycle
·Understanding the importance of criteria in the self evaluation process
·A field visit to 2 schools in Male’ to use CFBS indicators
·A jigsaw activity familiarizing participants with CFBS standards and indicators
·Group Discussion on the 3 steps of Supervision process ( Pre, On-site, Post)
·System Planning & Province Planning
·Importance of Data collection through visual evidence ( photos)
ESQID thanks these guest speakers:
·EDC team: New curriculum
·Mr. Ahmed Shafeeu, MOE Planning Section: Policies for school Emergency Preparedness
·Dr. Amaal, Permanent Secretary: New guidelines of the Civil Service effective May 2010
·MNDF team: Emergency Drills & School Terrorism
·UNDP team: Nakaiy Calendar for schools and students’ use
Special thanks to:
·WHO for their support and commitment to educational quality.
·Dr. Amaal for fielding numerous questions from province heads about the school concerns
·Mr. Amir Ali & Abdhulla Rasheed, on behalf of the School Health Section, for presenting on issues such as Vulnerability and Disaster Impact in the Education Sector.
·Principals of Hiriya School and Thaajudhin School for opening their doors for the CFBS field Activity.
·Workshop participants for their contributions and cooperation.
·ESQID staff for their commitment, collaborative effort and teamwork.
Participants gave an overall rating of the workshop at 91.7%.
Participants’ contributions to the whole of the workshop were rated as valuable at73%.
Workshop presentations overall were rated as good. These included knowledge of instructors, presentation style, material clarity, response to questions and time management.
If you're a teacher who has completed an interesting or unusual activity with your class -- or if you know of a teacher who has -- please let us know about it. Share it in this blog by giving a brief description of the activity. Many Thanks
Poor behavior by one of your students during an assembly can present an awkward situation. You might feel embarrassed that your student is the culprit. You also might feel self-conscious if you perceive that the principal and other teachers are watching to see how you handle the problem. Your challenge is to respond in a way that does not draw attention to yourself or to your student, but allows other students to enjoy a disruption-free program. Your goal is to discipline the misbehaving student while leaving his dignity intact.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Conduct a lesson in assembly protocol: Before the first assembly of the school year, discuss with students how to behave during an assembly. That is especially important with younger students. Let students know that you expect them to walk to the assembly quietly, to remain quiet during the assembly, and to leave the assembly in an organized manner. With younger children or special education students, you might practice good assembly behavior.
Keep downtime to a minimum: If you are responsible for the assembly program, try to begin as soon as possible after all students have arrived. The more unstructured time students have, the more likely they are to present problems. If using audio-visual equipment, make sure it is set up and ready to go before students arrive.
Insist on quiet before beginning: Tell students that the program cannot begin until everyone is quiet. After they quiet down, you might engage students in a unifying activity -- such as singing a song -- before starting the program.
Stay near your students: Rather than standing in the rear with other teachers, sit or stand near your class. You might position yourself near a student who has difficulty controlling himself; your proximity might be enough to keep him under control. If necessary, circulate to make your presence known and to observe your class so you can signal those who misbehave.
Signal students non-verbally: If you anticipate a student might have self-control problems during the assembly, establish a non-verbal signal that you can use to indicate that he needs to quiet down or focus on the program. You might offer a choice of signals and have him select the one he wants you to use. You might, for example, make eye contact, put your finger to your lips, raise your eyebrows, wink, or touch his shoulder.
Give a student prone to misbehavior a job: If one of your students tends to misbehave, consider giving him a task to do during the assembly. You might have him set up chairs, hand out programs, lead classes to their places, or assist the person in charge of the assembly. The job might not only occupy the student's attention during the assembly, but also boost his self-esteem so he feels less inclined to act in a disruptive manner.
