More jamming with Dan and Dave

Posted by: Jeff Kupperman Mon, 04 Feb 2008 04:33:44 GMT

Dan Bilich's song "Change My Heart," with Dave Mason on percussion and me on violin. Not too bad!

New Year Greetings

Posted by: Jeff Kupperman Tue, 01 Jan 2008 17:10:24 GMT

We weren't organized enough to make new year's cards this year, so we're making do with a New Year Blog. On the plus side, we can include a lot more pictures, like this one of the snow that started falling almost exactly at midnight new year's eve:

We had a pretty low-key Hannukah and Christmas....

... punctuated by a short trip to Chicago for fish-viewing and pizza-eating:

And if Susanna, Max, and Ollie ever form a band, we have the album cover picture:

We're looking forward to the Year of the Rat, which of course means lots of cooking...

... a topic that Ollie has already taken to heart:

Best wishes for 2008!

Jeff, Susanna, Max, and Ollie

Posted in Misc. | no comments

General Chaos Jam #1

Posted by: Jeff Kupperman Thu, 13 Dec 2007 19:47:47 GMT

Here's a clip from last week's jam session by the group "General Chaos" (that's me on violin).

Posted in Misc. | no comments

Why and how of classroom discipline: an unfiltered list

Posted by: Jeff Kupperman Thu, 15 Nov 2007 20:45:57 GMT

Combined from EDE 302 and 601...

Note: These lists include the good, the bad, and the ugly -- just because an item is on this list doesn't mean that it is acceptable or desireable!

WHY WE NEED DISCIPLINE

Kids need the chance to focus without distractions
Maximize time spent on what the teacher thinks is important
Safety (physical and emotional)
Protect property
Monitor progress
Create classroom community, values, etc.
Consistency is important for kids' growth
Socialization to society's norms and values
Prevent conflict/bad feelings etc.
Build trust
Consistency: all students can learn the same things
Allows teacher to exercise control
Respecting authority is necessary for later life success
Curricular learning is impossible without it

STRATEGIES FOR DISCIPLINE

Make rules public
Show anger
Make kids feel bad
Create fear
Create trust
Manage the focus of attention
Give responsibility to kids - kids participate in rule making
Rewards, consequences, punishments
Preserve dignity as opposed to using embarrassment
Use role-play and stories to anticipate and talk over situations before they happen
Try to be consistent and fair, use fairness tools
Make sure kids get attention to needs
Try to find out root of problems
Make content as interesting as possible
Focus on procedures and practice them
Explain why you do things
Change rules as necessary
Focus on self-control, inner discipline
Foster a feeling of belonging and contributing
Make norms and rules visible
Praise desired behavior
Keep students busy
Organize the environment well
Foster self-reflection
Show concern for individuals
Pay attention to routines and procedures
Communicate with other teachers and get help when necessary
Sometimes, do nothing

Posted in EDE 302, EDE 601 | no comments

School through the lens of games

Posted by: Jeff Kupperman Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:28:43 GMT

Here is the powerpoint from yesterday:

... with full props to Gary Weisserman, who created the original version of this.

Posted in EDE 302, EDE 601 | no comments

EDE 601 Position papers and profiles for Debate 2

Posted by: Jeff Kupperman Thu, 01 Nov 2007 20:37:31 GMT

(These are for EDE 601 -- if you're looking for the EDE 302 papers, see my earlier post.)

Teacher Position Papers

Case 1 Teacher Position

Case 2 Teacher Position

Case 2 Principal position
(Rosaland has written a separate position paper for Case 2, from the point of view of the principal. Critics may choose to respond to this position as well as or instead of the teacher position paper for this case.)