First Meeting of the Book Club

Today marked the first official meeting of the book club my eighth graders wanted to start this year.  I have to say that while the entire time was not focused on the book, there was already some great conversation and questions raised.  Mostly though I am proud of them for taking the initiative to ask and then follow through with starting the club. These students also know that I want the club to fit their needs so they need to direct where it goes.  I will be here to be a guide, but they must be the leaders.   I supplied them with a list of books that were suggested to me through twitter to get them started, and they chose Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.  A few then set up meeting times, dates and even a snack schedule (a very important part of any meeting). 

I myself had not read the book prior to them choosing it, but I did finish it before they started because I wanted to make sure that I was comfortable with the content before letting eighth graders read a book centered around suicide and the character's reasons for committing it.  I was/am still a little hesitant because it is such a difficult subject, but I could not say no when I saw the enthusiasm that they had about starting the club and reading this particular book BECAUSE of its subject matter.  They have not gotten very far into the book, but most of them are already hooked and wanting to read through it faster so the schedule has been adjusted. I will be interested to hear their thoughts as readers that are not too far removed from the ages of the characters.  The lens that they each will have reading through the book will be insightful for each of them, as well as me, as we progress through the story.

If you haven't had a chance to read it, I highly recommend it.  The book serves as a great reminder to keep in mind how we treat and view those around us.

 

Thirteen Reasons Why

 

www.thirteenreasonswhy.com

Online Book Club

Now that the craziness of the beginning of the year and volleyball season have started to wind down its time to look at getting some of my extra activities started in my classroom.  One thing that I am trying this year is going to be a student lead book club.  A few of my 8th grade girls approached me at the beginning of year, expressing an interest in having a book club.  I told them I was totally up for it, but that I would want them to take more of a lead with it because it would be a great experience for them.

After posting a question to my PLN on twitter I came up with several book ideas to present to them as options, and they decided upon 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher.  I have to admit I am a little hesitant about letting a group of 8th graders at a Catholic school read this together because of some of the content, but after learning what the book was about they were all so excited to read it I do not feel I can say no.  After all, how often do you have a group of 8th graders (almost half of my class actually) wanting to put in time after school to read and discuss a book??

So, now that November is upon us they want to get the book club started.  I know I have to make time to meet with the girls that are running it to discuss how they want it to go.  I am curious to see the direction that this all goes, and I am going to do my best to stay out of the leadership role as much as I can.  The girls know that I am a resource and willing to help out, but that I do want it to be about them and their learning.

In connection to all of this and some recent discussions about connecting classrooms through things like Mystery Skype, I thought it would be really fun to connect to another classroom or at least a few students at another school that would be interested in forming a book club of their own and reading 13 Reasons Why.  With all this technology available I pictured the classes either Skyping, blogging together, or even forming their own Edmodo group in order ask questions and get other students' views on what they were reading.  Many of my students have been in school together for quite some time, and I think they would really benefit from outside views and opinions.

So, if you, or someone you know, might be interested in forming an online book club with my 8th graders let me know. I would love to get something set up!

Judge Me if You Must

Ok, so I'm going to be honest here, and if that means that people are going to judge me for it, then so be it.  After all, the blogging and reflecting are really for me first of all; if others can learn from it, then that is just an added bonus.

I've been pretty quiet on Twitter, and really all social media, lately.  I do not want to take away anything from any of the amazing educators that I have connected with, but I have found my new connections in social media to be a double-edged sword in many ways.  Let me explain.

First of all, I do want to thank everyone that shares ideas, articles and other educational information.  In many ways you helped me find a new energy and focus for my classroom.  I have probably learned more over this past summer than I have in numerous workshops that I have attended the past few years.  There are so many people out there willing to answer questions and share resources, I honestly do not know how I made it through some of my previous years of teaching without you.

Now for the dark side of the blade.  While there are many positive educators, and people in general, participating in social media, sometimes all of their great ideas make me feel inadequate.  I read about all of their successes and the innovative things they have been able to do, and honestly it makes me doubt myself as an educator.  Am I really doing enough to help my students be successful?  Am I finding ways to make my students excited about learning, especially when I am not overly excited about what we are doing that day?  Part of that is on me, and I have to realize that I have to do what I can without worrying about "keeping up with the Jones'". 

However, even with all the support I have found in social media, I feel like I often have to hold back how I am truly feeling.  Why, you may ask?  Honestly, I feel judged.  There are numerous times I have logged onto to Twitter for a pick me up and found comments that are a little disheartening.  While I am sure that these people probably do not mean for their comments to be taken that way, I have decided that I need voice my concern over these comments. 

First of all, when I see people saying things like, "If you are burned out, then you probably shouldn't be teaching anymore," it really bothers me.  While I do agree that if you feel so burned out that you hate going to school everyday, and you honestly cannot see any positives to what you do, then you probably should look for another career.  However, I do not feel that some people on social media take into consideration the variables that come into play when talking about someone's feelings about their job.  There are many days where I have felt completely kicked down to the point where I just do not know if I can keep dragging myself up. I have had days where I have just wanted to toss in the towel and walk away from it all because I know that it would probably be easier for me mentally in many ways.  As educators I feel that many of us pour so much of ourselves into our jobs that we cannot help but feel burned out from time to time.  If you are constantly giving of yourself there are bound to be points you will reach that leave you feeling empty and as if you really have nothing left to give.  That being said, I also have days where I feel over-filled because I do get so much back from what I do.  I cannot think of anything more rewarding than having a struggling student find success, or to hear other students excited about what we are learning or doing in class that day.  So, even though I have times that I feel burned out, and I vent that I feel burned out, it does not mean that I should not be teaching anymore. 

The other comments that have bugged me lately are the ones that condemn worksheets and grades altogether.  Yes, in a perfect world students would be learning for the sake of learning.  Ideally I would like to not have to give grades either, but alas that is not the cards that we have been dealt.  We can continue to fight the battle, but I do not feel that it is right to belittle someone when they have a grading question because you do not feel that they should be giving grades in the first place.  As to the worksheets, just like technology, they are a tool.  Tools can be misused and abused, but they can also serve a purpose if used correctly.  I personally do not feel that we should toss the worksheet aside, but instead look at how it is being used and then have a discussion of how the tool is best used.

So those of you out there that are sometimes quick to pipe in about this topic or that with what you think other teachers should or should not be doing, I ask you to just take a minute to think first.  Take into consideration what that person is really asking for or about.  If they are on social media and asking questions they obviously care about what they are doing and trying to improve themselves, otherwise, why would the bother to take the time?  Instead of chastising them, find ways to offer assistance and pointers as they navigate their way through this quickly changing field.  They might be just starting out and changing just a few pieces at a time.  Think about the fact that you do not necessarily know them, their students, their administration and what is being required of them.  Remember that many of us wear many different hats in our positions and are trying to balance several things at once while still trying to be innovative.  Think about the workload they may have, or the challenges they are possibly facing in their classrooms that limit what they are able to do at this time.  Once again I say, judge me if you must, but do me a favor first and just think a little before you do.

Am I Taking on too Much???

With two weeks of the 2013-2014 school year in the history books, my students and I are beginning to look past introductions to routine and discovery.  As we begin to settle in for the expedition of learning this year I am starting to wonder if I may have bitten off more than I can chew.


For those of you who do not know, I teach six different middle school curriculums in my position which include 6th grade Math, 7th grade Pre-Algebra, 8th grade Algebra, 8th grade English, 7th grade English and 7th grade Literature.  It is a lot sometimes, and I often feel overwhelmed with all of the things I have to keep track of throughout the year.  However, one advantage I have is that this is my seventh year at my school and at least the classes I have been expected to teach do not drastically change each year. (For example I do not have to teach art one year, English the next, then maybe Health.  This at least gives me a little consistency).  Like all good teachers I tweak things from year to year, and even though my students may have me for three years in a row (advantages and disadvantages to this as well), I will say that class is never the same as the year before.


Some may think that when I say that I have bitten off more than I can chew that I am simply referring to the material that I am expected to teach.  I have moved past that though, and this is not where I am feeling the struggle.  Last year I began with a basic flip of my 8th grade Algebra class and towards the end of the year my 7th grade Pre-Algebra class.  I will admit I did not change a ton with the overall model.  Students were still receiving instruction and then doing homework, it was simply that they received instruction at home and did the "homework" in class where I could work with them more, and offer more assistance.  I eventually switched the 8th grade to a Mastery based approach so my students were working more at their own pace, allowing those that were ready sooner to move ahead, and those that needed more time to take that time.  At the end of the year most of the students had nothing but positive things to say about class because they liked that there was less for them to do outside of school and they were able to get more help not only from me, but from each other.  We even had a couple of the local TV stations come in and do a short story on what we were doing in the classroom.
Flipping Over Math in Maplewood
New Teaching Reverses Traditional Model

 
Anyways, I reflected on this a lot over the summer and had read countless ideas of how a flip class needs to be more about being able to address individual student needs and changing the paradigm from the traditional math class.  I realized I really hadn't changed that much of what I was doing in the past.  All students were still doing the same thing, it just might be at a different pace.  This leads me into the thinking that I may have bitten off more than I can chew.  I am now officially doing three very different things in all three of my math classes and discovering very quickly how labor intensive this is going to be, not to mention managing and keeping track of it all.  We have new grading software at school this year, so while trying to learn to use that I am also trying to figure out how I'm going to record grades so that parents feel they are getting enough information about what their child is doing.  Here is what I am currently doing in my classes.

 

8th grade Algebra: This is structured much like I was doing last year with more of a mastery approach.  I did not want to totally change this because I knew I would be doing some drastically different things in my other classes.  Since this class had a flipped class at the end of last year they are pretty self-sufficient in the process which makes it a little easier for me.  I do have to keep track of what students are working on all the time and make sure I have things ready for the students that are moving more quickly.  They do know they have to have an 80% or better to move on after a quiz and a 70% or better to move on after a test or there are corrective assignments before any retakes.  The assignments they have to do are much looser than I did last year though.  I explained that they are suggested assignments, and they are responsible for doing enough problems that they feel confident that they understand the material.  No point in doing 20 problems if they get it in 5!  However, I told them to focus on word problems if they are only doing a few problems because that is where students struggle the most.

 

7th grade PreAlgebra: I had planned on running this class as a flip class where all students were working on the same lessons at the same time to make management on my end a little easier.  Our school did PD last year on differentiation and the importance of pre-assessment so I knew I wanted to build that in.  After looking through the class's pre-test I discovered students all over when it came to what they needed to work on. So, what I decided to do was to give each student an individual assignment list that contained only the sections that stood out as needing work by them after the pretest.  All students have access to the videos for all the lessons, and I mentioned that it might not be a bad idea to watch to review the extras just to make sure we are on the same page.  The students are now all working at their own pace through their individualized assignments knowing that there is a set date that they have to have the post test taken by (I did tell some students that they do not have to take the post test because they did so well on the pre-test).  Students that only had a couple of sections to work on will also be completing a project for the chapter to help enrich their understanding.  I told them they could design their own (like a genius hour which they are also doing during Advisory Time) or they could research different careers and how they use math.  So far they have had a very positive response to this structure because they like that they do not have to do problems for things they already understand.  Hopefully things continue to go smoothly.

 

6th grade Math: I will be honest, this is the class where I really feel like I am hitting a brick wall.  In my quest to have my students work on word problems more so that they are not so "scary" I devised a plan where I was going to incorporate more of the Explore-Flip-Apply model.  My plan was to assign five  H.O.T. (Higher Order Thinking) or word problems for student to explore during class with each other to see what they could come up with and work on problem solving skills.  I was hoping that this would then lead to a hook of wanting to know how to solve the problem and have them watch a short video at home (flip) and then revisit the five problems (apply) and see if they would do anything differently.  While doing this I wanted them to work on explaining what they did, why and what they learned through a personal blog they can share with myself and their classmates.  So far this has been a giant headache/nightmare.  Students have been having numerous technology issues for some reason and even though they only have 5 problems to work on, many have already come to class without their work done.  I wanted to take them all into the computer lab on Friday to get them all set up on Kidblog, and was thinking instead of daily blogs to just have them blog during class on Fridays on problems they choose.  However, it took us so long to get through other things that we never made it to the lab.  I really do want to give this a chance to develop because I think it has a lot of potential, but part of me is scared that if I continue down this road and it doesn't work that students will struggle with finding success all year.

So now what?  I have parents coming into my room for Meet the Teacher Night on Thursday and I need to be able to tell them what I am going to be doing with their child during class.  After talking to the Kindergarten teacher at my school (@gielgirl) she suggested doing a little more guided practice during class for a few days before letting the students free again, and this will be my plan now starting on Monday.  I will keep all students together while we work through problems, let them watch the video, and then revisit the problems as a class while discussing what we should change to give them a better idea of what I am expecting. **fingers crossed**

 

So right now I feel like I am just trying to keep my head above the water as I am doing all of this along with the other things I am trying like genius hour in Advisory Time, and changing things up some in my ELA classes as well.  I know I always feel pressure at the beginning of the year because I also coach volleyball so there is not much extra time in my day, but I am really feeling the pressure this year. When introducing all of this I have been very honest with my students that we are trying new things that may need to be adjusted.  If I continue to remind them of that, it may be beneficial for them to see me struggle, but keep going, and to let them see that sometimes its ok to fail because it is simply my First Attempt In Learning.

 

Have a great week!!

 

Week One Reflection

Well, week one of my 2013-2014 school year is officially over.  I always seem to forget the craziness the first few weeks of school brings as the students and I work at getting into our routine for the year.  I will say that I find myself a little more exhausted at the end of the week than I have been in the past, but that could also be due to me having a very active 19 month old at home as well as having a busy schedule after school with coaching volleyball.  A clear sign of me being tired was the fact that at 8:30 on Thursday night all I really wanted to do was crawl into bed, but I still had things to plan for Friday so sleeping had to wait a little longer.

All this being said, I will say that this first week of school has probably been my favorite by far, and I did not do anything curriculum related all week.  Part of me felt the pressure when I heard my students talking about homework and quizzes that they were already having in other classes, but after reading so many different ideas about how important those first few days of school are for building relationships from my PLN on twitter I am hoping that this week will pay large dividends in the long run.

I already posted about how my students made figures to represent themselves out of pipe cleaner and movie trailers about their summer on the first day of school.  These are how the bulletin boards turned out after they attached their faces.

 

We spent the next couple of days in Math class working on the O.R.E.O. project which can be found at http://op2015.weebly.com/.  All my students took turns stacking oreos and then we found the class average.  I do not have the actual data with me, but the 8th graders were winners averaging over 13 cookies per stack.  I had 3 different students make it to 17 cookies in their stack, and then of course they asked me to do it too.  My record was 20 :)

 

 

On Thursday during what we call Advisory Time I was able to introduce my plan to implement Genius Hour to my 7th grade homeroom.  This idea came about because I wanted there to be a more constructive use of this time instead of just working on homework.  Its not that I do not think that they shouldn't have the time to do some of their work, but too often I would hear 7th graders say that they want to be in choir (which is their other option during this time), but they don't want to give up the extra time to do their homework.  I wanted to then make the time about pursuing their interests which might be singing in choir, or now researching their passions for their genius hour project.  After showing them a quick Prezi to introduce the concept which included a couple of videos such as this one by Chris Kesler.

The students were very excited about this, but of course now I have students that say they aren't sure they want to be in choir because they want to participate in Genius Hour!!  I told them the beauty of this is that they can still do this at home so if they want to be in choir, sign up for choir!

 

The rest of the week was spent in small groups and then the large group creating classroom expectations for the  year.  I told them I didn't want to call them rules because I wanted them to be worded in a positive way instead of everything starting with "No..."  I was very impressed with what some of groups came up with, but each group also has a set that is unique to them.  This year I truly want to make my classroom about my students and their needs.  My 7th graders even created a rotating schedule for who gets to sit on the yoga balls during class.  A small group of students then created the poster that will hang in the room.  This is one of the posters from my very artistic 8th grade.

 

 

Next week we will begin the week by setting individual goals for the trimester and then start getting into the curriculum as I introduce the different websites and apps we will be using this year such as Remind101, Kidblog and edmodo.  Still some things I need to iron out, like how I want to address our vocab curriculum for the year and make it more useful and engaging for my students.  Its time to get rolling!! 

 

 Here is one of my 8th grade summer movie trailers.

 







First Day of School

Just completed my first day of school for the 2013-2014 school year, and I have to say it was quite the day.  After reading Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess this summer I did much less talking and more activities to get my students excited about the upcoming year.  Today was anything but a syllabus day in my class.

First the students walked into my brand new classroom set up which I've kept secret until today.  There are pictures of it on my last post.  I even had a student tell me it wasn't fair because now I've made her excited for math class; imagine that!!  Since I see some of my students more than once a day I had to think of a couple of different activities that we could do so I could float around the room and connect with students I have not met before, or that I have not seen all summer.

The theme to my room to start the year this year, in honor of the upcoming movie, is The Hunger Games. 

What my students saw as they approached my door.

I have a District 6, District 7 and District 8 bulletin board to represent each of my groups of students, and math classes today consisted of creating a person that represented them out of pipe cleaners.  I then took a picture of each student, printed the picture, and tomorrow they will cut out the faces to add to their person and they will be placed into their respective district.

 

  I have to say the students were much more innovative than I would have been with their people.  I also let them decide what facial expression they wanted displayed on their person and there were some creative ones there as well.  I was a little nervous that students would fly through this and we would be left with a bunch of extra class time, but students took their time and really put their effort into their projects.

After lunch we switched gears and got a little more techy.  Our school has a set of 25 ipads that teachers can check out to use in their classes.  There are many apps that have been downloaded onto these ipads that I hadn't realized last year, so this summer I took one home to play around with and discovered how easy iMovie is to use.  Knowing that most of my students had little to no experience with this app, and knowing that they could use it for many different projects this year, I had my ELA students create a trailer for a movie that would represent their summer using iMovie.  They had a blast playing around and learning the app.  I was honest with them when they asked questions and I said that I was learning how to use the app as well, and they didn't mind.  I will say the one downfall that I saw to the app is that I could not figure out a way to save a project that was not finished so that it could be accessed by any ipad.  Since the ipads can be checked out by anyone in the school they have to be returned to the office each day, and when they are plugged back in most of the work is wiped clean from the ipad.  Most of the other creative apps that we use allow us to export projects to other apps like Box or Dropbox so that they can be accessed later from any ipad.  Luckily I spoke to my principal and so the ipads we were using were set aside so the projects would not be lost and could be finished tomorrow. Here is an example from one student that finished her video.  Pretty impressive for not having any advance notice and only a class period to finish.

 

It was a busy day, to say the least, but I am excited to see where we go from here.  I hope everyone else had a great first day as well.  I would love to hear about it!!

New Classroom Design

Looking towards what was the back of my room.

So summer this year just flew by, and I find myself in the middle of workshop week already.  I am absolutely shocked at how much new information I became aware of this summer through my PLN on Twitter.  One thing that really caught my attention was the talk about redesigning classroom space to be more collaborative.  Since I flipped some of my classes last year I was very intrigued by this because I wanted my students to feel more free to work together comfortably.  After looking through several examples on Twitter and Edutopia I decided to take the plunge and just go for it.

Looking to the teacher desk before.

Monster Teacher Desk I've had in my room.

Towards the front before.

The largest obstacle I had to overcome was finding the resources for the seating in my classroom since I wanted to get rid of most, if not all, of the desks in my room.  After speaking to my principal and touring the tunnels where extra equipment is kept, things were not looking very good.  Then it was suggested to me to check at Goodwill to see what they had available.  As luck would have it, when I checked their website for hours, I discovered they were having a 50% off all furniture sale that weekend.  After doing a little preview shopping the day before, at 9 am on Friday I was waiting anxiously outside Goodwill with several other people for them to open.

I am fortunate enough to work at a school that gives each teacher $100 towards start up costs at the beginning of each year.  $100 when shopping for furniture sounds a little tight, but on that Friday I was able to get one three-piece sectional couch (which was better than just getting a regular couch because the students can now move the individual pieces), one lounge chair, two throw pillows, and four end table/coffee tables all for around $40. Then, after some further scrounging at school I was able to find two larger tables, and four office chairs that I could also use in my room. 

My largest class this year will be twenty students, and my smallest probably twelve and I wanted to make sure I had seating for everyone at the same time, so a few desks still remain in my room.  However, after getting rid of the monster teacher desk and moving a few other things around in my room, I think I have created a more inviting, collaborative space that I am very excited about.

 

 

 

 

I created several spaces where groups can work together, as well as some spaces for students who prefer to work individually at the time.  The other nice thing I like about all the new furniture is that students will be able to easily move pieces around to make it work for that particular class.  I teach six different curriculums and finding a setup that works for everything in middle school can be a struggle.  The current layout may not stay that way, however.  Scott Capro, one of my awesome PLN members, suggested that I let the students have an opportunity to create different layouts and then have the classes vote on their favorites.  I now plan to do that during the first week of school as well, really emphasizing that this space is theirs and we need it to work best for them.

 

So, this is it.  I have it set up and ready to go for the first day of school.  Back to School Night is tonight, and I'm thinking that I might lock my door and tape off my room so none of the students can actually see it until the first day.  I want to create some anticipation and excitement because they will not have seen the room yet this year (I had most of my students last year as well).  Of course it doesn't hurt my plan that my room is probably 90+ degrees right now and the computer lab across the hall has air conditioning so I would have probably brought the students in there anyways.

 

Here's to some new adventures!!

Now Where Do I Go?

As July quickly comes to a close, I figured its time to start focusing on where I really want to devote my time this year.  After coming across many fantastic ideas from countless educators I find my head spinning as I try to wrap my mind around all the great things people are doing in their classrooms.  The doors that have been opened since I became a twitter participant are endless, which surprisingly creates another problem because I know there is no way that I can realistically incorporate all of these great ideas into my classroom at this time.  That being said, here is where I plan to devote my time moving forward.

1.  I would really like to find a way to make my classroom more comfortable and welcoming for my students so that it is more student-centered instead of teacher-centered.  One thing that I would really like to see happen is getting rid of a HUGE teacher desk that I inherited by default my first year teaching.  The second thing is eliminating some, if not all of the student desks w/ the attached chairs from my classroom.  Most of my students, when given a choice of where to work in the class, choose the floor over these desks.  Plus, I hate the fact that they are so big and take up so much room.  It really limits the way that I can arrange the room and still allow for easy passage through it.  My hope is to bring in some tables, more comfortable chairs, exercise balls and possibly a couch.  The difficult thing about this though is that I really would like some student input on this, but I would also like the furniture in place before school begins.  I may just have to get input from some of my students that I am working with over the summer to get their opinion. 

This example is by Alice Keeler.  Absolutely amazing and where I would love to go with my classroom eventually!

2.  Since I incorporated some flipping of my math classes last year (Algebra and Pre-Algebra), I would like build this idea even more to make it an even more effective tool.  A teacher I have connected with on Twitter introduced me to the concept of Explore-Flip-Apply because it is what he is looking at doing in his classroom.  He directed me to a Ramsey Mussallam lecture on YouTube.  You can follow the link and learn more about this if you want.

 

I am hoping to keep exploring this concept and using it in my classroom this year.  My thought is that I will devote most of my effort with this towards my sixth grade Math class, and then as they progress through middle school move this concept up with them.

 

3.  There is A LOT of buzz about genius hour on Twitter this summer.  I absolutely LOVE this whole idea and really want to find time to build it into my classroom.  Right now I am leaning towards pitching the idea to my principal and middle school team as something we incorporate at least in the middle school.  Right now we have a time slot on Thursdays that is designated "Advisory Time" which is mostly a time used by students as a study hall.  The purpose was to allow students to receive extra support if they needed it with a specific teacher, or to make up missing assignments or tests.  Since all of our classes have Advisory Time at the same time, I thought this would be the prime time to incorporate our genius hour.  So, from this point forward I plan on looking into genius hour more and how I can get this great idea into my school.

 

 

These are my big three right now.  There are also some apps that I want to play around with more, such as Remind101 or Aurasma.  Realistically it is going to come down with me playing with them more, but I keep reading so many positive things about them, how can I not check them out?

 

So as summer starts to close, and as teachers we start heading back into our classrooms to prepare for the upcoming year, where do you want to focus your time and energy to make this your best year so far?



Post Interview Thoughts

So I recently went through three interviews for three different teaching positions, and the whole process really got me thinking.  Interviewing can be a very nerve-wracking process.  Essentially you are giving control of your future to these other people who are going to judge you after knowing you for a period of maybe fifteen to thirty minutes, based on answers you give to a range of questions that you may or may not have imagined them asking.  Now, I know I have done some innovative and exciting things in my classes, but it never seems to fail that when I get into these interview situations that I get extremely nervous and have a difficult time sharing these things.  Looking back at the interviews, and having heard back from two that they filled the position with other candidates, I'm sure I often err on the side of not offering specific enough answers for what they are looking for.  My answers many times feel rushed as I want to make sure I answer each part of the question, but sometimes, in hindsight, not giving adequate attention to the more vital parts.  As I walked out of my last interview, I thought to myself, "If only I could teach a lesson for them and really show them what I can do."

A-ha!!  Is this interview process not just like a final assessment we often give our students?  Like my students, I can attempt to prepare for this assessment by doing research (on the school), drawing information from past experiences (interviewing), and using information that I have learned in class (teaching), but in reality going in not actually knowing which questions will be on the "test".  I'm sure the anxiety and nerves that I feel are often felt by some of my middle school students as they walk into my classroom on a test day.  Many of them probably feel like they know the material, but wish that they could  show me what they can do in a setting in which they have more control, and therefore less stress.  This whole interview process has just shown me even more why I need to build in a greater variety of assessments into my classes. As I go forward this summer I really want focus on doing that, and finding ways to incorporate more projects and activities that give that choice and control to students.  After all, I want them to be able to walk away from their "interview" feeling positive, successful, and excited about the doors that will open up because of this.

http://500px.com/photo/1216104

What will it take to transform my teaching??

Earlier this summer I attended a workshop at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.  It was a workshop centered around using technology in our classrooms and moving towards 1:1 integration.  While I picked up a few new things, the keynote speaker Aaron Doering was where I took the most away.  First of all, he gets to travel the world and share his passion for adventure learning (how cool is that?). During his keynote he showed us examples of how he uses his travel to connect learners all over the world on different subjects.  You can see his various projects on his websites www.chasingseals.com and www.We-explore.com.



Picture from www.chasingseals.com

 



The thing that really struck me during his keynote was how we can begin to transform education.  I know many teachers out there are doing amazing things everyday (I can't even begin to keep up with all the things I am presented with everyday on twitter!). But, as someone fairly early on the learning curve of technology integration these are all things I know that I need to consider even more in my classroom.  Aaron spoke about how we need to do a better job of developing a story with our teaching because students want to become a part of a story they can follow.  Stories are imaginative and can be interactive.  They provide opportunity to dream, and who wouldn't want to be a part of that?

Aaron then outlined the 10 things that must take place for transformation to occur. His main points are bolded and then I added some reflection and where I would like to go with each.

1. Trust: There has to be mutual trust between teachers and students.  So much of what we try to do in schools is based on relationships, and one large piece of any successful relationship is the ability to trust one another.  I think students need to trust that their teachers truly have their best interests in mind, and teachers need to trust that their students are doing what they can to be successful.

2. Develop Experiences, Not Products: I know this is an area I really want to work on this year in my classroom.  Too many times I think I have focused on what the students are giving me at the end of a lesson/unit instead of looking at times we could have built experiences on the way.  Students aren't going to remember every project they produce, but if they experience something exciting during the process, that is going to stick with them much better over time.

3.  TPACK: This was a new term for me, so for those of you who have not heard this before it refers to Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge.  What do we know, as educators, about technology to successfully integrate it?  The difficult thing about this is technology changes so quickly.  I feel that sometimes I work so hard to really understand something, only to have it change.  Definitely a challenge area.

4. Learners as Experts: Why can't we let students act as the experts sometimes?  Let them help guide one another through lessons/units/problems.  Think of the success these students will feel knowing that their classmates can look to them as experts, and how its ok for people to be experts in different areas.  In fact, its better because we become a more well-rounded group that way!

5. Collaboration: I know this is an area that I worked on quite a bit this last year, and plan to keep building.  I tried to get my students to collaborate with one another more in certain areas.  Lets face it, in most work environments we have to be able to work with other people, and the earlier we can develop and refine those skills, the better.  One thing I really want to improve this year is collaboration outside my classroom.  I have read numerous blogs and tweets about teachers who have had their students Skype with various professionals or other classes.  Why not build a community where student groups can collaborate on the same project online, but from different locations?

6. Aesthetics: Another area I want to work on this year.  I really want to work on the aesthetics of my classroom itself and make it much more about the students and their needs.  My plan was to actually have my bulletin boards blank this year when students come in and let them decide what is relevant to them, and what types of things they would like to see on them.  Sometimes I feel I put all of this work into them, and after a few days they could care less.  I figure if I use chalkboard paper it might make it easier for students to add to and change them more frequently.  In addition to this I want to look into arrangements in my classroom that move away from strictly desk use.  When I flipped my math classes last year most of my students preferred working on the floor anyways, so I was thinking of giving them more optional work space.

http://glakes.net/preschool-classroom-design-ideas-with-colorful-themes-layout.html

 

7.  Self-Narrative: I will admit it unfortunately has been a little while since I listened to this Keynote, so I while I have all of Aaron's main points I cannot remember everything from when he expanded upon them.  So, when I look back and see self-narrative I believe that this means that we need to include some of our story into what we are teaching, but also give students a chance to make to make their education part of their narrative.

8.  Innovative Pedagogy: Innovative educators are going to push the boundaries when they can.  Just like when we ask our students to be creative with their thinking, we need to be creative and innovative with how we are presenting our material.  If we are doing everything the exact same way we did it last year, are we really being innovative, even if it is a successful lesson?  I think we can take pieces of what we do and use it from year to year, but I know, at least for me, there is always something I think I can improve to make it even better.

9.  Learners as Designers:  This relates to a direction I really want to push myself this year, and that is students taking a little more ownership of their education and helping design the ways they are going to learn.  I want to find ways to incorporate more project based learning, which hopefully means students will be dictating the direction they want to go with the material.  At the beginning of the year I know this will be a challenge because it will be totally new for my students and so many of them have fallen into what I would call the "spoon-fed" slump.  They disengage from school and just expect to be "spoon-fed" the information that they will need for a test.  I want them to find enthusiasm for learning once again.

10.  Design as a Learner: The last point Aaron touched on was making sure you design your lessons as a learner.  This makes so much sense because after all they are the consumers of our product.  We can't get stuck as educators focusing on what will work best for us, but instead think about how it will best come across to our students.

So many things to think about as I really work on transforming the way I teach.  This is going to be incredibly challenging, but at least I know that going into it.  Teaching six different classes, with six different curriculums, sometimes makes it difficult for me to want to put in the effort to make really innovative and exciting lessons.  It's a lot of information to get through and think about everyday, but I also know that if I just sit back, and "mail it in", I may have more time, but I won't be happy with myself. 

I want to close with the question Aaron asked us at the end of his keynote because it is something I really want to keep in mind this year as I do my planning:

"Would you want to learn from you???"



My Very First Post

Starting a blog has seemed like a pretty daunting task, but when I look how far I have come in the last year as a  teacher, I figured why not give it a shot.  I have spent the last six years teaching Middle School math and English in a small, private school in Minnesota.  While I love the small setting, there are drawbacks. For one, no one else in my school teaches exactly what I do, so bouncing ideas off of others is a little more difficult.  I feel that at times I fell into a rut of doing what I knew, which is mostly the lecture during class and sending students off to do their own homework.  However, this routine, which seems to be so typical of our classrooms, left me, as well as most of my students, probably, yearning for something more.  I wanted to be able to answer that question, "When am I ever going to use this?"

During my fifth year of teaching I took half of the year off to have my son and spend some time with him.  I will admit, going back to work in the fall after a wonderful seven months off was difficult.

 

At the end of the summer, before going back to work I attended an Apple workshop where I heard many interesting presentations.  My school had invested in a cart of Ipads and I wanted to know how I could integrate this technology into my classroom.  This workshop gave me back some of the fire I feel I had been missing; I feel like things just started to click, and I was suddenly very inspired to try a bunch of new things in my classroom.  After hearing about Edmodo I decided that I was going to use this as a tool in my classroom to connect my students even more outside of class.  It was here that I was also first introduced to the idea of the "Flipped" classroom.  While I did not plan on flipping my classroom right away, the idea of recording my lessons as I taught helped fill a void I had of how to help students when they miss class, or even more so, how to help one of my students with dyslexia who struggled to keep up in class with listening and taking notes.

 

So I flipped my 8th grade Algebra class, and then I actually moved them to a mastery approach because I had such a wide skill set in my class. I was frustrated with holding back students ready to move on, but still leaving others behind by moving them on before they were ready and the mastery approach helped with that.  While all of the students said at the end of the year that they enjoyed this approach, I did have a couple of students who did not get through as much material as I would have liked them to, but at least I know they had a solid understanding of the material they did "master".

 

This summer I have been expanding my horizons through workshops and introducing myself to twitter trying to find ways to improve my students' experiences in class even more. These workshops and twitter are also what motivated me to start this blog.  I wanted to have a place to ask questions, get input, reflect and share what has worked and was hasn't.  After all, as educators it is best if we share with one another; there is so much we can learn from one another. 

 

If you haven't seen it, I was introduced through twitter to Adam Bellow's keynote speech from ISTE13 about changing the world.  It is well worth the watch.  Forward to minute 23 to jump to Adam.

 

After all, don't we all dream of being a superhero and helping to change the world?