Using Technology to Keep Communication Flowing

While I've always been the type to integrate technology into just about every aspect of my teaching, it wasn't until I was preparing to leave the classroom for maternity leave that I came across a few new ways to use technology to more easily communicate!

The first "tool" I used was the video camera on my iPad. Instead of typing up page after page of routines and expectations I decided to record my students showcasing the various routines I wanted my long-term sub to be aware of.  I recorded my students lining up, walking down the hallway, having a morning meeting, as well as many other aspects of the day. I was then able to reference these videos in the sub plans. My sub could then access these videos whenever she needed them and could even replay them for my students when they were in need a reminder! My students also LOVED feeling like the stars of their own movie so that was an added bonus :)

The next tool I've been able to continue utilizing is the app "Educreations." It's a digital white board that allows students to record their thinking (both verbally and in writing), save their created lesson and send this lesson to my email. Before leaving I set each student up with their own account and linked that account to my email. We spent a few different days practicing how to create and send a lesson. Since I've been out the room, I've had multiple students who have used their own iPad at home to create a lesson showing me something they've learned in the classroom lately. I LOVE getting these lessons from them and I can tell they're enjoying it as they usually spend the first few minutes saying hi and relaying a message to baby Grayson :)

Lastly, I haven't been able to set this up yet, but I'm hoping to begin using Facetime to communicate with a few students a week. I could see my sub using this as an incentive for students to work towards and it gives me a great opportunity to stay up-to-date on the happenings of my classroom! 

A "Smart" Website Resource-for my confer

Do you have a Smart Board in your classroom? If so, I sure hope you're as obsessed with it as I am! I'm not kidding when I say obsessed...we're talking, my projector bulb burns out leaving me without my board and I feel like I'm missing my right arm.

WHAT??! I have to use...CHART PAPER?!?

It's bad.

However, my students love just about anything we do on the Smart Board and have become so tech savvy because of the integration of this tool throughout our daily lessons.

When I first began using the Smart Board I found myself spending way too much time creating my own lessons. I was constantly working to create something that would be engaging for my students and meet the objectives of multiple lessons each day. It was too much.

And then...(cue the angelic "ahhhh" from above) my coworker told me about the Smart Exchange Website.

This website contains a plethora of teacher-created Smart Board lessons ready to be downloaded, edited (if need be) and used in a matter of minutes! No more recreating the wheel!!

Since discovering this site I've saved a ton of time and been able to "beef up" my lessons with many interactive and engaging Smart Board activities! I hope you're able to benefit from this great website as well!

My technology goals...updated!

After setting technology goals for my classroom  I've decided to focus primarily on the use of Facetime to enhance a few aspects of my classroom.

The first way in which we'll be using this tool is to create weekly communication opportunities for a student of mine who is homebound right now. The students miss him dearly and his mom has been reporting that he's missing our class as well! We've decided to facetime with him every Wednesday during morning meeting. He'll participate in all aspects of this meeting as he'll be able to greet another student, share something important to him and participate in our morning message. He'll then "travel" with us down to music where he'll be a part of the first 15 minutes of music class. I'm really excited about this opportunity!

I'll also be using Facetime while I'm on maternity leave. I've spoken with my long-term sub and our technology teacher who have agreed to select 2-3 students a week who will spend 5-10 minutes of their day on Facetime telling me about the happenings in our classroom (and meeting baby Geier!). I think this will help those students who are having some anxieties about losing their classroom teacher for the next few months.

Robert Marzano: Instructional Strategies That Work!

While reading Marzano’s chapter on effective Instructional Strategies I was surprised by the percentile gain elicited from homework and practice (28) versus questions, cues and advance organizers (22). I think there’s a fine line when it comes to homework and it caused me to reflect on the homework I’m assigning: how much, what kind and am I providing enough feedback on it?

Also, at first I was surprised by the percentile gain of 45 when using the strategy of “identifying similarities and differences.” However, the further I read the more I came to understand that this strategy helps students to tap into what they already know and make personal connections to prior learning and content. I’ve seen first-hand how powerful this strategy can be so it became more justified as I read.

This next week I’m planning to be more intentional about the implementation of the following strategies:

-providing more opportunities for students to compare and classify new and prior information.

-I’ve used double-bubble maps periodically throughout the past few months and find that students really like them!

-While I’ve improved the use of student journals for note taking and reflecting in all the subjects, I want to be more intentional about having my students summarize their learning at the end of the lesson. I could have them do this via an exit slip or in their journals right under their learning goals. I would then randomly check 5-10 journals.

-homework: I typically give homework once a week in math and in reading (two separate assignments) and then give the students a week to complete. These homework assignments consist of a few pages that allow them to practice strategies they have previously learned. However, rarely do I find time to provide effective feedback. I simply skim for understanding, star or circle problems and give it back. I think if I provide a few less problems it’ll allow me to provide this feedback more intentionally. Less is more in this case!

Presence in my Everyday Life

As I think about how presence finds a role in my life I find that, lately, I seem to be much more present in my classroom than I am at home!

I feel that I am very present in my classroom as I'm constantly self-reflecting on and adjusting to my student's needs. We show presence as a class every day as we reflect during our closing circle (and morning meeting the next day if needed). We always take a few minutes to reflect on the positives of the day and, when needed, what things didn't go so well and how we'll fix them. I've seen a huge growth in my students' reflections of themselves over the past year and see their honesty coming through as they recently self-evaluated their work ethic and classroom behavior. Many were spot-on!

I also feel that my presence shows in the way that I create a safe environment conducive to sharing ideas and taking risks. Through this opportunity I've been given to loop I feel that we've created a sense of family and the students have truly developed relationships of support!

Teacher-Level Factors Impacting Student Achievement

As I read through Marzano's chapter on Teacher-Level Factors that impact student achievement I felt a great sense of responsibility for the 20-25 students I work with every year. What left the most lasting impression was the statistic that a student who enters a grade at the 50th percentile can drop all the way down to the 3rd percentile if he is in a least-effective school and in a classroom with a least-effective teacher for just two consecutive years. While I take a high level of responsibility for my student's achievement, I've become accustomed to considering other factors, such as school and home environment, when analyzing that achievement every year. According to Marzano, those factors don't impact their growth, or lack thereof, as much as one would think!

While I anticipated instructional strategies (best practices) and classroom management as being part of his teacher-factors, I would've thought teacher-student relationships and classroom environment would've played roles as well. I suppose both of those may fall under his broad category of classroom management.

With my experiences at Talahi over the past 5 years I feel that I am above average in the area of classroom management...you have to be to have any success there! However, I worry that I'm not where I should, or want to, be in the areas of instructional strategies or curriculum design. It's not that the effort isn't given, but rather that I find myself constantly stretching to meet the vast needs of my learners and don't feel that I am supported enough in the area of curriculum. I'm constantly searching out and trying various best practice strategies but know consistency is also key! These are two areas I strive to continue to grow in and feel my experiences with SMU have helped me with that growth!

Library Organization (for my conference group)

Over the past 5 years as a teacher I've realized the essential need to be organized! Not only does it save you much-needed (and always lacking) time, but I've found that the more organized I am, the more self-sufficient my students are.

One area of my classroom that very organized and, thus student-maintained, is our classroom library.
To begin, I created separate spaces for my chapter books, non-fiction, and picture books. Pictured here is the chapter book section of our library (top 3 shelves) which is mostly organized by series. Each bin then has a label with a coinciding picture to show my students which books are available and (most importantly!) where the book should be returned.

The bottom shelf contains my non-fiction texts. I've currently got "Informational Texts" and "Informational Texts about Animals" to try and further help with the organizing. 

This section of the library contains my "Rhyming/Poetry/Songs," "Realistic Fiction" and "Fantasy" books. Each tub contains a label and a letter code. The letter code can be found on each book (see below) which helps my students to know where to return the book (while also reminding them of the genre they're reading..bonus!).  

Finally, this section contains a few more genres (Traditional Literature, Graphic Novels and Mysteries) as well as leveled readers. 

The most time-consuming, but beneficial, aspect our library are the stickers I've placed on each book which contain a "letter-code" matching the bin they belong in. 

While this method of organization isn't perfect, and I often have to remind students of the importance of keeping the library organized for themselves and others, it's definitely helped to create a student-maintained area in our classroom! 

It's a Techy Kind of World

With the wonderful opportunity I've been granted to have a 1:1 iPad initiative in my classroom (for the 2nd year in a row) I'm constantly feeling the pressure to utilize the iPads in a way that will change the way learning occurs in my classroom! After reading more about the various levels of implementation (The SAMR Model) and being reminded of the increased level of engagement with this video "Engage Me!"  I've set a few goals for increased technology implementation in my classroom:

My first goal revolves around key finding #6 “online collaboration increases learning productivity and student engagement.:

§  In order to achieve this goal I need time and professional development opportunities to learn about the options that are available for this. It’s not that I’m hesistant to try, or feel incapable of doing this, it’s simply time and resources! My students each have their own iPad in our classroom and are very eager to collaborate whenever possible but I simply don’t know what’s available. I’ve tried using padlet.com and have dabbled in GoogleDocs but would like to learn more about things like EdModo. I feel by increasing the opportunity for collaboration through technology, my students will take more ownership of their learning and their engagement will greatly increase as they’ll care about what they’re posting for others to see.

My second goal is to improve on Finding #7: Daily use of technology delivers the best return on investment.
§  I feel that I’m using some sort of technology (Smart Board, ELMO doc cam, iPads) on a daily basis. However, I feel that much of what I use the technology for only serves as a substitution or augmentation. While I strive for modification and even redefinition, I don’t always know how. Again, opportunities for training in this area would greatly benefit my students and me.

Finally, my third goal is use technology as more of an intervention (Finding #5) for both my low and high-achieving students.
§  I currently use a class website, IXL and studentcity to provide differentiated opportunities for my various groups. However, I’d love to learn more about interventions available that allow students to learn at their own pace! 

"It was the BEST of times...It was the WORST of times.." The Life of Today's Teacher

"It Was the Best of Times"
There's an endless amount of reasons why teaching in today's world really is the best job there is (for example...see this powerful video about "What Teacher's Make")

I mean, what other job allows you to make the difference that we do on a daily basis? How many people can say that they are responsible for shaping what our future will be? As cliché as it is...teaching really is the best job there is.

 

Beyond that, with the evolving technology there's a huge increase in the availability of resources via websites like Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers that help to enhance some of our outdated curriculum.

 

This increase in technology has also helped to enhance our lessons in the classroom as student engagement is 'up" with the use of this technology.

 

However...while I've only been teaching for 5 years...I've seen a shift in what "teaching" really means.

"It Was the Worst of Times"

With the state of the economy many teachers, like many other professionals, are seeing huge cuts in funding. These cuts are meaning less jobs, higher class sizes, and no "extra" to help support the resources needed in a classroom...meaning teachers are using their own money to provide students with materials like paper, pencils and markers.  

This strain on the economy is also affecting families as more parents are losing their jobs, putting a huge stress on the student...which is then brought into the classroom. Where it was once our job "simply to teach," we're now responsible for (in some schools) providing students with their basic needs (food, sleep, clothing, safety, love) before we can even consider teaching them anything about reading or math.

We're also being faced with the HUGE task of preparing our students to pass very difficult state, and nation, mandated tests. Students in kindergarten are now being plopped in front of a computer screen during the first month of school so we can see what their "RIT score" tells us about how they learn.

 

Frankly, there are many days where our job seems impossible to succeed at!

 

However, for the sake of our students..and for our sanity...it's important to keep coming back to "the best of times" and remembering what's really important about what we do. Our students.

Technology Integration in the Classroom

I've always considered myself a "techy." If I can use an Elmo, Smart Board, iPad, heck, a CD player to enhance a lesson and increase student engagement, I'm all in.

So, when I was granted the opportunity to participate in a 1:1 iPad initiative across my 2nd grade team last year you can imagine I squealed with delight! And, when I looped up with my 2nd graders into 3rd and, hold the door...we got to BRING THE iPADS WITH US...I just about keeled over.

Because of my passion for technology, I feel I've created...or enhanced...this passion in my 23 students who have become so use to the technology that when our Smart Board light bulb burnt out for 2 days last year we all wandered around our classroom bumping into each other like zombies. Okay..not that bad..but we didn't quite know what to do with ourselves.

However, this brings about a point of frustration with technology...things can go wrong...and DO...more often than we'd like. Desktops full of Smart Board lessons can refuse to load, or as noted above, Smart Boards themselves can refuse to "load" leaving a perfectly planned and engaging lesson out of reach. A lesson on collaboration using the 1:1 iPad ratio can quickly spiral out of control when the internet link no longer works...even though it did when you tested it out earlier that morning.

What I've most learned from the increased integration of technology in my classroom is this:
-Be prepared with a back-up plan...and prepare your students with that plan. For example "3rd graders, we're going to try something new today. It may have some bumps...some things might not go as we plan..but what will we do if we experience some of those bumps?" ...My kids have come to know the words persistence and patience when it comes to these new adventures.

-On that note...don't be afraid to try new things! My students blow my mind on a daily basis with how tech saavy they have become. Even my very low-income kiddos who have very little access to technology outside the classroom can troubleshoot with the best of them!

-There are MANY resources out there that supplement the "Substitution" or "Augmentation" stages of the SAMR model. It can be hard not to get caught up in thinking you're doing your students a favor simply by using a screen instead of a flashcard or piece of paper. However, I strive to reach the Modification and...dare I say it...Redefinition levels by allowing for opportunities in which my students can collaborate and learn from each other via this technology. I also try and use technology that allows my students to learn at their own pace and to be more independent and in charge of their learning. A few resources I've used are:
               -Padlet: a site that allows students to post thoughts, reflections, schema, etc. on a "sticky note" while others' sticky notes are being posted on a live feed.
               -Google website maker-a simple way to make a class website in which students can link to, receive and post assignments, reflect, and more!

While I still have a lot to learn in the area of using technology as a way to modify or redefine my lessons, I feel that my students and I are off to a great start as we find ourselves fully engaged in...and almost too reliant on...this growing world of technology.

·   

Saint Mary's Fall Conference Reflection

This past weekend I attended the 2013 St. Mary's Fall conference. I found myself surrounded by passionate teachers who, like me, are mucking their way through this rewarding experience of being a grad student, full-time teacher and human being OUTSIDE the world of teaching. It was very beneficial to me to hear other's perspectives and strategies when it comes to juggling everything while wanting to be the "best" in each role. Just like teachers do, my group of 4, all from different districts and positions, got to know each other quickly and began sharing ideas. It became an environment safe for sharing as we spent some time prior building our community through a few community building activities led by our facilitator. From him, I took the attention getting "spring a leak!" in which everyone responds "shhhhhhhh" and the activity "posse" in which you're encouraging each other in a high-energy rock, paper, scissors game. I was able to try both of these new strategies/games and, of course, my students LOVED them!

I'm looking forward to keeping in touch with this group of teachers through our blogging adventures over the next year and hoping to continue learning from them!

Backwards Design: The Big Picture and Still Wondering...

Since implementing Backward Design planning strategies in my classroom curriculum I’ve helped my students (and myself!) see the bigger picture in all that we do in a day, week, unit and year. Our learning doesn’t seem so segmented as we’re easily able to make connections from one curricular area to the next when we keep our focus “big” before zooming in. It’s also put more of a responsibility on my students as they are starting to see (after a year and a month with the same group) that they are able to drive their own learning and make connections that are meaningful to them. For the first time I’m relinquishing some of that planning (and…dare I say it…control) as I’m beginning new learning with “what do we already know” and “what questions do we have.” This is then allowing me to formulate the enduring understandings and essential questions based on their prior knowledge AND standards (not just the latter!). Backwards Design also ties very nicely into our school’s STEM initiative towards more inquiry based learning so I’m seeing some great connections there too!

Questions I still have:

Do you derive your stage 1 (essential questions, student must know, etc.) from a resource?

Do you find yourself struggling at all to ensure that you’re covering district curriculum, standards, new common core while keeping the learning “big picture’ and student driven? How are you addressing this struggle?

Best Practices of Writing: Action Research Abstract

Title/question: How will daily, 15 minute explicit Six Traits of Writing mini-lessons improve the writing fluency of eight third graders?

Main Ideas/Findings/Questions in ROL: 

-The benefits that being a successful writer has on multiple facets of reading (phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, etc.)

-Components of the writing process and the Six +1 Traits of writing and how to teach each stage/trait

-Writing best practices and structures such as Writer's Workshop (components of and how to utilize each in a classroom setting)

             -Other best practice strategies that can be used to increase writing fluency (both              unassisted and guided)

-The necessity for writing to be authentic and full of choice

-The necessity for a classroom to be a predictable and safe place that encourages and supports all writers. 

Impact of my teaching and learning: Since beginning this research I've become more excited about the explicit teaching of writing. This is an area that, quite frankly, was my least favorite part of the day because I simply didn't know HOW to teach non-writers to be able to write. However, I feel that I've gathered a plethora of strategies and resources that have already begun to assist in my journey to becoming a teacher of writers!

Understanding of: assessment, discipline, environment, instruction, and teacher identity

Through my research I feel that I've gained a deeper understanding of each of the above components and how each fits into my writing instruction. Many of the articles I read spoke of the necessity for consistent checking-in (assessment) as well as feedback that is constructive, timely, and respectful. Once put into practice, I've also begun to see how essential it is that we take the time to set up the routines and develop a "safe place" for writers to blossom! 

Plan to begin research

While I've begun some of my research collecting (through surveys and writing samples) I have decided to wait to begin implementing until after MEA. Until that time I'm continuing to teach mini-lessons that are guiding my students to be independent (high stamina) and successful during this writing block. After I begin with my six-trait mini-lessons, I feel I'll gain more information about how valuable they truly are to the development of writing in my students.

Questions I still have:
What is a sufficient amount of time to be gathering the data?
What other tools can be used for students to assess their own writing? I'm currently using rubrics but my kids tend to get so hung up on that number!
How many work samples should I be collecting from the students? 

Differentiating in Math

After reading two articles regarding the importance of differentiation and "how-to" better differentiate I decided to dive in and try some of these strategies out in my math classroom.

I began my double-digit addition unit by providing students with a pre-test containing various problems which assessed their ability to add two and three-digit problems with and without regrouping. This pre-test, along with some observation, gave me great insight as to where my students were...and there were ALL over the board!

Seeing that I had about 3 students who had no clue how to add two-digit numbers (without any regrouping), 7 students who could confidently and consistently add two and three digit numbers with regrouping, and everywhere in between, I knew I had to create groups to address where they were at.

I decided to begin my first two classes with a whole-group mini-lesson on the steps to add two-digit numbers with no regrouping. I figured getting us all on the same page as to how I wanted them to solve these problems (and a little review for some) wouldn't hurt anyone! After these mini-lessons we then split up into three groups (based on the pre-test). (I think) I used the differentiation strategy called Tiering By Resources. 
-The students who had very little understanding worked with a title para (whom I have for 30 minutes each day) using manipulatives to build and add provided numbers. They recorded their answers on a piece of paper which contained boxes to signify the top number (ones and tens) and bottom number (ones and tens).

-The group of students who showed strong understanding with solving two and three-digit problems without regrouping worked with a partner and a deck of cards (using only cards A-4..no possibility of a sum of more than 10) to create a double-digit problem and solve. They recorded these answers on a piece of grid paper and a modeled problem so they could see how to line up the numbers and separate the 10's and 1's column. After some practice time, I then signified that they may "challenge themselves" by creating 3 (OR 4!) digit problems if they felt ready for it (still no regrouping).
-Finally, for my students who fully grasped adding with and without regrouping-they were given a deck of cards (A-9) and worked to create problems on a piece of paper, provided only with the steps to solve as a reminder. While they worked I pulled two students at a time and modeled the "partial sums" strategy to help them see how to use mental math to solve these problems.

Overall, I was very pleased with how this went. Mind you, this occurred after having set the tone for "building math stamina" last week. We practiced how to work independently and in a group in a way that was productive for all and this definitely played a role in the success of this activity.    

Children's Principles of Learning...1 year later!

After having had a year of learning and experience within the MED Teaching and Learning program I was reaffirmed in many of my Children's Principles of Learning that I set for myself last year. I, of course, have been able to add to those principles as well.

Principle 1: A Safe Environment

Students must feel that they are physically and emotionally safe in an environment in order to blossom in it. They first must physically safe before you can ever expect them to worry about their learning. Constructivist research also supports that students playing a role in the physical layout of the classroom is very beneficial as well. While physical safety is important, as is knowing that they can freely share ideas without being judged or having the fear of failure restrain them from trying. My summer research on best practices of writing has provided many examples of how providing this safety can increase self-esteem and abilities as a writer.  

Principle 2: Sounds Relationships

No matter the student’s background, they must feel a connection to their teacher in order to have a passion to learn. If they don’t trust the instructor, they will find it very difficult to trust that what is being presented has a purpose. Students need not to just know that we care for them and their learning, but to feel that we do. It is these sound relationships that stick with them through their schooling “careers.” As I researched best practices in writing, as well as the Lasillian Concepts, I was reaffirmed that relationships are key between teacher and students, as well as amongst the students themselves.

Principle 3: Sequencing of content

In order for a student to feel successful within a lesson, unit, or school year, content must be scaffolded in a way that they can succeed. The philosophy of explicit instruction is formatted as such: “I do, we do, you do.” Knowing your students and being able to gauge when they need more “I do” or “we do” before being able to get to the “you do” is crucial. Setting students up for success by sequencing content and processes will help them see that they can succeed. Having learned more about designing units in a “backwards format,” that is, starting with the big picture in mind…the “what do I want all students to know” and then using what they already know to guide your lessons has proven to be very beneficial when sequencing content and helping students to grasp the big ideas.

Principle 4: Reflection

No matter their age, students should be given multiple opportunities to reflect on their actions and learning. They grow more when they are able to “score” themselves in a situation. Reflection causes the students to take a moment to truly think about their learning and how they were successful, or not, and how to continue or improve the next time. The writing process is a key example of a time in which students have multiple opportunities to reflect on different aspects of their writing as they’re constantly revising after having been presented with examples and mini-lessons on what good writing looks like.

Principle 5: Ideas, feelings, actions

Students need to be able to connect some schema, feeling or action to their learning in order for it to stick. Lessons that are remembered are often tied to some sort of auditory or kinesthetic cue that help trigger a certain muscle memory or emotion. Backwards Design also helps to students to make connections to bigger, umbrella concepts, as well as seeing connections amongst “separate” curricular activities throughout the idea.  

Principle 6: Immediacy

But WHY?? Students must know why what they’re learning is important and how they’ll be able to use it in their own lives. By starting a lesson with a goal, stating why or how we’ll use it, and allowing students to make connections to their own lives, they are more motivated to learn and use the content again. Again, this is supported when using a Backwards Design model.

Principle 7: Teamwork

Two minds are better than one. This is a very simple, but true statement. Most students are very social learners and like to be able to discuss what they’re learning about or what they already know. By allowing students to work in small groups we are opening up the possibility of creative thinking, coming to conclusions more efficiently, and developing problem solving skills. I was privileged to attend a very beneficial class on cooperative groups this summer that provided me with a multitude of examples that encourage cooperative learning. One example given is called “Numbered Heads Together” in which students work in small groups to collect information, solve problems, check work, etc. The teacher then calls on a random student within each group to provide an answer. Having had that team support prior to being asked to speak for themselves helps all students to be successful.

Principle 8: Engagement

Students must be engaged in the content in order for it to stick. It is important to “tap into” the various learning styles of your students in order to best address their learning needs. When a student is engaged in the lesson and content they are more likely to tie an emotion and connection to it making it more likely for them to remember and utilize what they’ve learned.

Principle 9: Have fun!

With the many stresses that nationwide testing and standards can put on classrooms and the teachers and students within them, it’s important that the learning environment still be fun! After much reflection of my own schooling, it’s the experiences I had and relationships I made that I remember most…not the algorithms I “learned” in algebra.   This has been reaffirmed through my experiences with community building activities in class. I see the strong benefits of having fun to build community amongst a group of learners.

ENVoY Non-Verbal Teaching Strategies

Yesterday I attended another training on ENVoY (Educational Non Verbal Yardsticks). There are so many beneficial techniques that any information I can share may be useful! Use this link to get some basic information on this management technique!

If at first you don't succeed...

What a powerful post! After reading this veteran teacher's post reflecting on her experience with persistence in her classroom, both with her students and how it's affected her, there are many things I can relate to and agree with.

I'm inspired by the idea of persistence because, quite frankly, without it, I may not show up to work each day. What we do as teachers is one of the hardest jobs there is and you have to have grit, passion and persistence to do what we do. I also easily relate to having students like "Kara" in my class who seem nearly impossible to figure out. However, I learned very early on in my first year that if I gave up on these types of students...I'd be no different than all the other adults in their lives. Most often, these students are behaving the way they are because they WANT you to give up on them...why not, when everyone else does?

I too discovered that keeping the consistently positive relationship is key to making any progress.

However, it is this that I struggle most with. Sticking to it is EXHAUSTING!! Both emotionally and physically draining in every sense of the word. You love them, yet you can only be knocked down, rejected and faced with failure so many times. What I have learned is that these truly are the students you learn the most from and these students inspire me to teach all students the importance of persistence.

I feel that teaching my students what persistence means, looks like, FEELS like is key to success in my room. All students can benefit from knowing how to persist in times of struggle and why persisting is worth the effort. As Lily Jones quotes: "The road to success is filled with failure." Many of my students know what failure feels like, so to help them understand that persistence leads us to overcome these failures is a a life lesson I'd love to leave with them.

My Virtues

My top virtues were empathy and enthusiasm. I wasn’t at all surprised to see these as either of my top virtues because I feel that my empathy is what makes me an effective teacher. I strive to teach my students how to empathize for another and see our class as a team that succeeds only when we work as one and help each other when we "fall." I strongly connected to this quote regarding the virtue of empathy in our classrooms: "If parents, teachers, and administrators can’t teach their children to empathize with another child’s suffering, then all the other academic and social things we do for them are for naught...we should educate all our children not only for competence but also for caring. Our aim should be to encourage the growth of competent, caring, loving and lovable people."

I also feel this virtue plays out in my role as a spouse and colleague as I frequently find that I try and place myself in someone else's shoes in order to better understand and support any situation they're in.

While my virtue of enthusiasm can play to the benefit of others, sometimes I feel that the high level of enthusiasm I have for my job tends to take away from the enthusiasm I have left for my home life. I put so much thought and effort into making my classroom an engaging and successful place that I have little left to give at home. However, with our first son coming in just a few months I'm certain that the source of my enthusiasm will drastically change :)

Both empathy and enthusiasm play a strong role in many aspects of AGAPE (Association, Generativity, Adaptation, Presence).

Association: Because of my virtue of empathy, I feel that I'm able to better encourage teamwork amongst a group of people. First, helping them to see the to unique qualities and goodness in each other, and empathize with any weaknesses, allows them to more easily collaborate towards a common goal.

Generativity: Empathy plays an essential role in the area of generativity as I can model to my students, and colleagues, how to respect and empathize with others in order to create and caring, safe and welcoming environment for all involved.

Adaptation:I feel that my virtue of enthusiasm is most beneficial here, in the adaptation aspect of AGAPE. Because I have a high level of enthusiasm I frequently find myself looking for ways to keep our learning interesting, authentic, and meaningful.

Presence: I think in order for your students, colleagues and family to benefit from your virtues you have to first be aware of them. Presence allows us to self-reflect and become more aware of our strengths and just how we can apply them in many facets of our lives.

Best Practices in Writing-The Highlights!

After spending the summer immersing myself in articles and books regarding best practices in writing there are ideas and concepts that have reshaped how I will teach writing and I feel, could benefit any "writing teacher."

The most important concept that stuck with me is the importance of teaching writing in both an explicit, mini-lesson format, as well as workshop method that allows for students to write...a lot! Without the opportunity to see themselves as writers and practice actually being a writer, no amount of teaching will help to improve their skills. However, without guidance through explicit, focused mini-lessons, students can feel overwhelmed with the task. It was this knowledge that led me to my action research topic of implementing daily, 10-15 minute explicit mini-lessons focused on the Six Traits of writing. The mini-lessons will be determined based on what I see my class of writers needs to work on (with various conventions and grammar mixed within the lessons). 

Another "epiphany" I had was the concept that every student, regardless of age, academic level, or language abilities is a writer and they have to know that! It's okay if the student can only draw a picture to express their story. It's a starting place. It's important that students are given some way to take a story they want to tell and put it on paper, whether that be via words or pictures. 

Being that there is so much research out there and, so little time to read it, I'd highly suggest looking into using the book Daily 6-Trait Writing. It provides explicit mini-lessons focused around one trait at a time. I plan to use these, along with a few other supplemental activities to take my students through the writing process. I'd also refer you to Steve Peha's Website: Teaching That Makes Sense. The left side provides many tabs that link you to PDF's full of mini-lessons and information if you're hoping to establish a writer's workshop model in your classroom!

Roadblocks and Successes

Another first week of school is in the books and I'm feeling better about this year than any before! There are many factors that contribute to that feeling of success and I know having a year of grad school learning and reflecting is a huge factor. Because I was "forced" to really focus on the truly important  components, both socially and academically, in my classroom, each activity I taught had a purpose! No more coloring pictures just to pass the first few days! Each lesson was thought out and I really believe helped to reaffirm our class routines and expectations. The activities were also centered around continuing to build the relationships we worked so hard to form last year! 

I face two roadblocks when I continue to look forward into the year. The first is also my biggest question...the unknown. This is a new grade level for me and, while having the same class certainly helps, it's hard to think ahead and plan in a Backwards Design kind of way when I've not taught some of these standards or this curriculum before. Luckily, I have a wonderful team of experienced teachers who have already stepped in to help in any way possible. I'm trying to even out the deal by sharing what I've learned about community building and Backwards Design with them :) My second roadblock is by far and above the most common for teachers...TIME. Not necessarily time within a day because I feel as though cutting out the "fluff' and teaching my lessons as big ideas and concepts and not isolated learning experiences will help. I struggle with balancing my desire to want to spend HOURS researching best practices or supplemental interventions (which is not hard to do) and remembering to leave time to PLAY and enjoy these last few months with my husband before our little guy joins us :) I have to keep reminding myself that every lesson doesn't have to be this overly planned, complicated 45 minute time frame and that, sometimes, the students' questions and experiences guide me to something bigger than what an internet search could've provided. 

In the meantime...I'm going to take my own advice...play today..plan tomorrow :)

Intentionally teaching with my non-negotiables

As I tackle planning for a new school year, in a new grade level, I'm so much more intentional about how I will begin my year with my "non-negotiable" concept of class community building. Using my community building plan, and the activities posted by fellow SCB2ers, I feel very prepared to begin the year off on a very positive note that will set the tone for a successful year! I also took into consideration the physical layout and how it met the needs of the various learners I have in my class. Knowing my students ahead of time was a huge benefit as I know there are some who need to be in a row, some who need a small group setting and some who need the chance to get out of their desk, move around and work in a different "setting" within the classroom. To meet these needs I set my desks up in rows and groups and provided my students with places like a book corner with comfortable seating, a few scattered singles desks for individual work areas and a small table in the corner for group work. 

The concept of teaching with the end in mind, while guiding them to make connections and broad understandings, has also really impacted me as a teacher. I've shared MANY of these ideas with my new teammates (who have all been teaching for 15-20+ years) and they are very excited about this new "wealth of knowledge on the team." :) 

You can't make me give them up! My classroom non-negotiables...

There are things in life you simply can’t live without. Family, a beautiful sunny day every now and then…chocolate J When it comes to my teaching philosophies and my classroom practices there are also some non-negotiables I’ve developed over the past 4 years as a teacher and year as an SMU learner.  To organize my thoughts (and keep my list concise!) I’d like to present these non-negotiables using the IDEAL acronym: Instruction, Discipline, Environment, Assessment, and Leadership.

Instruction: One thing teachers are always lacking is time. Each day, week, month, we wish we had just a few more minutes or just one more day to “fit it all in.” However, through the St. Mary’s program I’ve been exposed to many practices that help me to hone in on the big ideas and understandings that truly matter. One concept I’ll continue to use in my classroom is the idea of planning my year around Backwards Design Units. In doing this, I am forced to focus on the standards and select activities and lessons that will guide the student to true mastery and application of that standard and make continuous connections to other standards throughout the school year.

Discipline: How I teach has also been greatly affected throughout this past year. Not only have I come to see the importance of teaching using high-yield strategies (such as movement and the use of compare and contrast) but, through my prior action research, I’ve seen the strong gains that can be made when students are having FUN and are engaged in what they are doing! As I enter into a new school year with my same students, I’m sure I’ll be forced to continue using such strategies as Reader’s Theater and poetry when working on our fluency. They won’t let me forget them if I tried! Also, through my elective course on Cooperative Learning, I’m also very adamant about incorporating more group-work opportunities and movement while we learn.

Environment: In the area of classroom environment the non-negotiables for me consist of community and classroom relationship building and using a more constructivist, student-centered approach. I’ve always seen the importance and necessity of building relationships in a classroom and this concept has been reiterated through my most recent research on best practices of writing. Much of the reason for a student’s success can be linked to them feeling safe and supported in their learning environment. Knowing this, and the fact that my students have already spent a year getting to know each other, I feel that the type of community building we’ll be doing this year will be more centered around getting to know and support each other as learners.

Assessment- Following a constructivist approach, one thing I will be doing more of this year is allowing the students to guide my instruction through formative assessment.  I feel this will help to focus in on exactly what they already know and where any misconceptions lie. I also see the strong need to vary the forms of assessment I plan to use. With the variety of learning styles that occur amongst my students comes a variety of ways in which they are able to best show what they know. By varying the assessment formats, I feel I will provide all my students with an opportunity to succeed in showing me their understanding.

Leadership-While it’s okay to be the “lone nut” dancing up in front of a classroom, you’re truly not a leader if you have no followers! I will keep this concept in the forefront of my teaching this year as I now see the necessity of having followers if you want a “movement” to be successful. The more my students are buying into what we’re doing, and feel as though they have equal importance in what we’re doing, the more likely we are to have a successful year. 

Real kids. Real writing. Real teaching.

Best Practices in Writing Main Ideas

·         Writing should be “just another piece” of the puzzle in a very integrated day.

o   The example given in the text describes how a third grade teacher turned a literacy study on the fairy tale Cinderella into an entire unit by incorporating geography, vocabulary and writing.

§  I feel this is a very important aspect of writing as students are given more exposure and knowledge around the topic they are to write about. When provided with word walls full of connected vocabulary and maps with starred locations their pool of knowledge is large enabling them to write more easily.

o   I like the idea of having an interchangeable word wall containing important vocabulary words pertaining to the current area of study. By placing this in the writing “center” students are able to easily access these words and are more likely to use them in their writing.

·         It’s important to “prime the pump” (build their enthusiasm) around the topic of writing.

o   Because I haven’t always felt like the most successful writer growing up I feel that I may not always come across as enthusiastic about writing…this definitely reflects on my students! This next year I want to be more intentional about showing excitement and enthusiasm about my writing! If the students see I’m excited, they’re more likely to become excited about writing too!

·         Students should be given extensive prewriting experience via mini-lessons and modeling

o   The authors give multiple ways to provide writers with prewriting experiences. What stuck with me was the idea about having brainstormed lists and questions readily available in student’s writing folders and on easily accessible chart. This strategy allows for students to be more independent and access their own ideas freely.

o   Some other ideas include:

§  Modeling on an overhead

§  Exposing students to good strategies in read that the class is doing

§  Having students brainstorm solutions to a particular problem in a sample piece

·         Students should be” given plenty of room for originality” and choice.

o   I believe the students will take more ownership when they’re able to choose what it is they’re writing about. Although they will need guidance, less structure may actually produce better, more creative, writing. As the authors state, “When the topic matters, children work hard and invest time and effort in crafting their work.”  This philosophy also supports a constructivist’s view of a classroom as the students would be guiding their learning more than I would.

o   Hyde and Daniels also explain “arbitrarily assigned topics with no opportunity for choice deprive students of practice in a most crucial step of writing-making the first decision about what to write.

§  I think this is a fault of mine. I find myself guiding too much because I’m afraid that my students can’t handle too much freedom. However, I need to keep in mind that guidance can come without complete control. 

7 Areas to Increase Best Practice

As I continued my research on current classroom best practices utilizing chapter 8 of Zemelman, Daniels, and Hyde's Best Practice book Seven Structures of Best Practice teaching, I was able to gain strategies from each of the seven areas. Below each are strategies that could be used in my future Action Research and classroom activities.

Small-Group Activities-“Students of all grade levels show significant achievement gains across the curriculum when they are organized into collaborative groupings and projects. It works.”

• Partner/Buddy Reading-this is a strategy I used during my current action research as my students practiced their script parts. After listening to their partner each student was expected to provide verbal and written feedback.
• Literature Circles/Book Clubs-this is an area I’d like to expand on next year with my 3^rd graders. After explicitly modeling what a book group looks like, and each role within that group, I’d like my students to be able to choose their own book and lead the group without my monitoring.

Reading as Thinking

• Into-I feel as though I was intentional in preparing my students before reading during my action research cycle. I’d model and define what fluency strategy they were to practice and then check to be sure they were utilizing this through their reading as well. However, next year I want to be more intentional about doing this for all students, all the time.
• Through-to encourage thinking into, through, and beyond reading I plan to have a “readers are thinkers” bulletin board. Each time a new “reading as thinking” strategy (such as inferring or questioning) is introduced create a visual and definition and add it to the board.\
•  I’d also like to devote a section of this board to “’Insert’ Text codes” which will model how to take notes as they read.
• Beyond-to ensure that I’m encouraging thinking beyond the text I’d like to use a wider variety of KWL’s which will all my students to come back to their original thinking as they answer questions they had and add any new learning.

Representing-to-Learn-“Drawing, sketching, jotting, mapping,…are equally valuable-and when combined with words, in strategies like clustering, sematic mapping, or cartooning, they can powerfully leverage students’ thinking about the curriculum.”

• I love the idea of having students keep a log simply for their thoughts and responses. These logs can be utilized cross-curriculum and, with the use of prompts, it allows the student to take ownership and have choice over what they’re writing. Also, because it’s not graded they worry less about conventions of their writing can more easily represent their thoughts and learning. They’re also more likely to share their thoughts than if it were in a group discussion.
• I could easily see using this concept in my action research next year as I’m hoping to connect reading fluency to writing fluency.

Classroom Workshop-“Probably the single most important strategy in literacy education is the reading-writing workshop…It recognizes that kids need less telling and more showing, that they need more time doing literacy and less time hearing what reading and writing might be life if you ever did them.” 

• Individual conferences-I’d like to strive to include more one-on-one conference time next year. Many teachers says that a one-minute conversation with a student that is solely directed around their individual needs is much more powerful than hours of heterogeneous whole-group lessons.

Authentic Experiences-“To begin with, school itself isn’t ‘real,’ in the sent that schools are purposely separated from the rest of life…If we want to make education “real,” we have to somehow overcome that segregation, either by bringing bits of the world into schools or bringing the kids out into the world.”

• The text provides an example in which a unit of study about the habitat of earthworms is derived from the teacher’s observation of her student’s interest in them. This is something I’d love to be able to do next year. It is a 3^rd grade standard that the students understand the cycle of life, both for plants and animals. Typically 3^rd graders at Talahi get a crawfish to study and learn about. However, I’d like to gather some information about what the students are interested in and then try and create a unit of study around that plant or animal…it make be a stretch, but I feel it’d make their learning more motivated.

Reflective Assessment

• In conjunction with the one-to-one conferences as noted above, I’d like to become more of a “kid-watcher.” In the past, I’ve kept anecdotal records of what my students were doing and saying during Daily 5 read-to-self time. However, I’d like to come up a with system to do this more intentionally during various times throughout the day. I think these notes would speak volumes about my student’s academic, and social, abilities and would be a great support to a rubric grade.
•  I began dabbling in having my students reflect on their own work and progress during my action research project. I was very impressed with how seriously they took it and how it helped with their growth as they reflected on strengths and weaknesses. This is an area I’d like to continue to improve in next year.

Integrative Units

•  I’d be very interested in including more thematic units into my teaching next year. I see the many benefits in having the cohesion from one content area to the next but am also a little apprehensive as it seems very time-consuming to recreate entire units in multiple content areas. I think it’d be helpful to gather a team of teachers who work on the thematic unit together, making it seem less daunting.

Overall, it was clear to me that each of these structures has some commonalities: student choice, authenticity, accountability and leadership. All of these qualities represent that of a constructivist classroom in which the students are “taking control” of their own learning. I believe each of these best practices has a spot in my future teaching and I look forward to implementing them, in baby steps, this next school year! 

The Power of Attention

There were many things that grabbed my attention when reading chapter 2 of Houston and Sokolow’s Spritual Dimension of Leadership about The Principle of Attention.

·         “If you want something to thrive and grow, pay attention to it. On the other hand, if you want something to wither and diminish, don’t pay attention to it; intentionally ignore it.”

o   I feel as though I preach this, or a version of it, to my students…and myself…on a daily basis! I’m constantly reminding them to focus on what’s important, ignore what’s not. Is it a little problem or a big one? Little? Let it go. I, however, need to be sure to take my own advice. There are so many things that can grab hold, and keep hold, of our attention every minute of every day so I need to decipher what’s important enough to have your attention. What do I want to work on growing? What would be okay to let wither and diminish?

·         “When leaders pay attention to a person, a situation, or an issue, others start to pay attention to the same things, whether you want them to or not-therefore, you need to be mindful about what you pay attention to.”

o   I made a connection to this quote and certain behaviors in my classroom. My first year of teaching I felt the need to give my attention to every little behavior that was happening. I felt that if I let the little things go they’d ALWAYS turn into a major issue or distraction. However, every time I stopped teaching to give my attention to those behaviors, my students stopped thinking and turned their attention to the behavior as well. One thing ENVoY brought to my attention was the concept of addressing a behavior or distraction without giving much attention to it. This notion, a simple palm-faced-down towards the behavior occurring while still continuing to teach, has helped tremendously! I found that if I “ignored” the behavior, many of my students didn’t even realize it was occurring and it simply went away.

·         “Attention is the grounding. It’s a grounding in the now: being in a place and space in a coterminous way so that you are in the moment and therefore getting what each moment has to offer. Otherwise you have all these wonderful thoughts in your head but you’re mentally somewhere else; you’re not grounded.”

o   I need to make a conscious effort to improve on this. I constantly find my thoughts wandering when I should be engaged in a conversation with someone. I don’t do it to be rude but I feel as though I have so much going on it’s hard to curb those thoughts for later. However, the idea that I’m missing out on so many wonderful moments by not grounding myself in that situation is reason enough to push other thoughts aside and focus on the importance of the situation I’m in at that time.

·         “If you get caught up in the rat race, the rats win because you just don’t go anywhere with anything.” and later in the article they state “You don’t want to work harder, you want to work smarter.”

o   I feel these two quotes go hand in hand because I am absolutely one of those people who feels like a little rat on a wheel. I’m always working so hard to better my lessons and meet the needs of every student that I find myself spread way too thin and never really feeling like I’m making a huge impact. If I’m more intentional about a few areas to focus on I feel that I’ll get much further than if I try to better many little things. The concept of working smarter, not harder is one that my last year’s principal constantly reminded us of and, even though she’s not in our building anymore, it’s a concept I must continue to fall back on at work and in my graduate work this summer.

·         “The urgent tends to push out the important…there’s a real pinch between those two things because what’s urgent is not necessarily what’s important.”

o   I’d like to end on this quote as my goal this summer is to refocus on what’s important, not necessarily what’s urgent. Each day teachers are faced with many things that seem urgent and must be dealt with in the here in now. This is what causes some of our students to become “Cliffs or Cliffettes…” the urgent students overpower them. As I’m able to slow down a bit this summer I want to be sure that I’m giving more of my attention to the things that are truly important in my life…my “Cliffs” that have been void of my attention…that urgent stuff can wait.