One Year and Counting...

Today marks the one year anniversary of my blog, Eduflections. When I started this a year ago, I had just turned in the final manuscript for Can We Skip Lunch and Keep Writing? I missed having that avenue of writing and reflecting about my journey with my students. Dr. Frank Buck suggested that writing a blog would be a good way to continue reflecting on my teaching practice and sharing my journey with others. My initial goal was to write or reflect at least once a week. I came a few blogs shy of that by only blogging 47 times, but by going back and reading what I've written, I realize how much I've grown as an educator, and ultimately a person, over the last year.

Here are some of the things that I've learned this year:

1. Be bold. Do not be afraid to speak up for your students. If we don't speak up for what is best for our students, no one else will.
2. Share your students' successes. The community at large has a misconception of what accomplished teaching looks like in the 21st Century. Build a contact list of community leaders, legislators, board members, and parents and send them photos, stories, and projects so that they can see what is possible in today's classroom.
3. Let your students design the learning environment. I had already given control over so many different aspects of our classroom to my students; I don't know why I didn't think of this. They have arranged the room, the classroom library, and requested that we add a large area rug. They are the ones who need to feel comfortable in the learning environment, so let them take the lead in this area as well.
4. Blogging is a powerful tool...for students as well as teachers. I tried blogging immediately after I began blogging, but the students didn't enjoy it. This year I tried a new approach starting on the first day of school. I let them design the expectations. As a result, I've gotten to know my students much better and much faster which enabled me to better customize lessons. Their writing improvement has also grown exponentially. They are voracious writers who take ownership for what they are learning each day
5. Join in the conversation. Although I had been somewhat active on Twitter, I had not started building relationships with other educators. That was the key to really connecting with other educators and not just consuming from the community, but giving back to the community.Those relationships were further solidified as I got to meet them at various conferences, EdCamps, and Tweet Ups. Now my PLN is even stronger and the ones that truly benefit are my students.
6. Counteract the affects of high-stakes testing on students. I've had students who HATE reading because they associate it standardized-testing and our prescriptive reading program. I've also had learners tell me that the one thing they look forward to is standardized testing. When they begin the year, they struggle with being creative and thinking outside the box. They have very little knowledge of history, science, or art because all of the focus has been on reading and math. These have been a bit of surprise to me, but kids are so adaptable, we've been able to meet those challenges and focus on a well-rounded, student-directed learning environment.
7. Focus more on math. As I look back over my past blogs, they all seem to focus around the language arts and technology-supported learning. Yes, those areas are where my comfort level is and it stretches across Social Studies and Science. However, there aren't very many blogs about what we're doing in our math class. Perhaps, I need to stretch my wings a bit out of my comfort level and see what I can find to further improve my teaching practice in the field of mathematics.
8. Get involved in the community.On April 27, 2011, tornado ripped through the community where I teach. I did something I had never envisioned; I took a list of my students' names and addresses and entered theses communities searching for them and delivering supplies. One thing that I learned was how valuable it is to be a part of the community in good times or in bad. It helps solidify a strong relationship between you and families with whom you work in a much deeper manner. The final outcome is a much better education for each of your learners.

Is this all that I've learned? Absolutely not! These are just the highlights. I'm sure once I press the publish button several more will come to mind. However, I would be remiss in not thanking all of you that have helped me along this journey this last year. All of your comments, emails, retweets, and mentions have given me the encouragement to continue writing and growing even when things become extremely challenging, as they often do in a public school classroom.

So if you are considering beginning a blog, or you have a blog that needs to have the digital dust brushed off of it, I highly recommend it. This has been one of the most power tools for my professional growth and I look forward to where my path will take me in the next year. Let's continue to learn together.

Reading: A Book In A Day

My students and I have been desperately trying to carve out some time to just read together for enjoyment. As I've mentioned before, we are bound by a prescriptive reading program. As a result, my readers will tell you without hesitation that they hate reading (see this previous post about last year's struggles). Here is how one of my students explained it:

"Who loves reading, not the subject, the reading-of-a-book reading? I'm not really the reading type, but I am busy reading a book that is very interesting to me and makes me want to tell someone about the book." 

They make a distinction between the subject and the act. And lest's be frank, who can blame them? What do my students want? They want to read and share what they are reading with others. With them having blogs, they have been able to share and have conversations about what they are independently reading, but they've been asking when we're going to all read a book together and discuss it like we did with Frindle, at the beginning of the year, and Tuck Everlasting, for the Global Read Aloud. Our biggest obstacle is finding time...any time we have we're squeezing out to write and publish collaboratively with students from all across the country. None of them want to give that up.

Photo from t0msk

The real goal here is that they all get to read a book and enjoy discussing....all because they want to for the sheer joy of it. So we are doing a book-in-a-day (which has really turned into a week because we only have a few minutes a day). We're reading There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar. What fifth grader wouldn't be intrigued by that title, huh?

The way it works is we begin by reading and discussing the first several chapters together. We get to know the characters, the plot, and get a feel for the writing. Then, the students divide up into pairs and each pair gets a chapter or two to read. They are responsible for knowing that chapter and summarizing it. Then, once everyone has completed their chapters, we share them in sequence, putting the story all together. Finally, we wrap it up by reading the last two chapters together.

This would not work with every chapter book, but this book has short chapters that, if you know the characters, can stand alone. There are forty-seven chapters in There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom and we've had a blast reading them. The comments that they make and the depth of the discussions are amazing. (Who would have thought about Bradley Chalkers, the main character, and his struggle being like the Grinch? My readers did.) Every day they come in and want to know if we'll be able to read together. They enjoy reading because it's fun and they have someone with whom to discuss it.

And to top it off, they've asked if they can make several projects to add to our "Coast to Coast Chronicles" which has a theme of Making a Difference. They pointed out that the themes in the book go along with what they have been writing and publishing.

In spite of all the obstacles, they've found their joy for reading.They are so excited that they've already started asking what book we can read together next. Guess I need to pull out all my class sets of  books; I can't wait.

When Things Click

You know those days when you work and work with a certain students and there doesn't seem to be much progress and then ...BOOM, they blow your mind with what they've accomplished? Yep, we've all had those moments. I wanted to share with you the success of a student that we'll call Allison. Allison is a good-natured student who wants to do well in school, but she really struggles with reading and math. She not only is missing some key elements in her phonics understanding, vocabulary, and comprehension strategies, but she also doesn't know her basic math facts. 

When I do intervention or mini-lessons across content areas, Allison is there with me 95% of the time. I have to hand it to her, she never gives up. Then, the day before we take our reading test, she opens up her reading book and I notice all of these hot-pink sticky notes stuck all throughout the selection. Now this is a strategy that I've led her through many times (in reading and other content areas), but this time I hadn't done it with her. In fact, I hadn't even suggest that she do it. I asked her to share with the small group what she had done and as she explained it, she got out some blank sticky notes and started guiding them through her process.

photo by avrene

She showed them how to write notes on words she was unsure of as well as the vocabulary words. She picked out the setting, characters, problem, solution, author's purpose and examples of cause-effect and main ideas and supporting details on each page. She said she wasn't sure what to focus on so she had taken time each time she had read the selection at home to pick out each of the different strategies or skills. (as a side note, the students are not assigned the selection to read at home; all reading is done in class...she did this because she wanted to do it)

By the end of the our group time, she had led these struggling readers through a thorough evaluation and analysis of the selection. They were all focused on what she was saying. Allison doesn't usually volunteer to take a leadership role, but this time she did. She took ownership of her own learning and the skills and strategies that she had learned and she wanted to share them with others.

Of course, it probably goes without saying...she aced that test and so did the others in her group. She now is reminding the other struggling readers of what she taught them and giving them other advice. She asks me questions to make sure she's on the right path, but she has taken these skills and she is running with them. Don't you just love it when everything just clicks?

Question Everything!

Almost four years ago I came to the realization that, although I was a good teacher, my students weren't making the growth that I expected. I knew that there had to be a better way to reach my learners, but I wasn't sure how I would do that. So together, we set out on a journey to discover a better way to organize our class. The biggest shift was from a teacher-centered classroom to a student-directed learning environment. How did we discover a better way? We questioned everything. And even now, that is something that as proven to be the most power agent of change....questioning and reflecting on everything that we do.

So I want to challenge each of you (and myself) to question everything that you do with your learners. Here are a few questions to get you started thinking...

1. Why is your learning environment set up the way that it is? Most of us will recognize that the classroom learning environment makes a drastic change after the primary grades. Why is that? Isn't good teaching, well, good teaching? This year, I let my students design our learning environment. They organized our classroom library in a way that was meaningful to them. They created the anchor charts and displays that are hanging in the classroom (they love the poster maker). Their self-portraits are the first thing you notice when you walk into the room which reflects whose learning environment this is. Our classroom was already set up for small groups, but they also wanted different learning spaces within the classroom. Somehow, even with 27 large desks, they have created different spaces for paired and small group collaboration. But, I think that their favorite area is the large rug. They love to stretch out and work with their peers. They also love to sit around our and have group discussions. Believe it or not, they LOVE to be read to while sitting around our big rug. So regardless of your grade level or content area, question why you have your room set up the way that it is. Ask your students what they think. Is "this is how it's always been" a good enough answer? Does your current learning environment meet the needs of your learners? Does it reflect them?
2. Do your classroom norms and procedures meet the needs of your current students? Whose classroom is it? Is it yours or your students? We all remember at the beginning of the school year sitting in a new teacher's classroom and having them dictate a list of rules or procedures to us. Did that nurture and environment where you take ownership of what went on in the classroom? Of course it didn't. So often I hear that students are not interest in what's going on in the classroom. Could this be a contributing factor? We have class conversations for days about what type of learning environment we collectively want. Students come up with ideas that we may never think of including. As a teacher, we already know the basics that need to be included. It is important for us to guide students towards those topics, but allow them to set the procedures and classroom norms for the themselves. They take ownership of their own behavior and they hold one another to the standards that they set. My students know that the norms that are hanging on our classroom wall (thank you, poster maker) are a work in progress. They can change as our needs change. Have you asked your students to share their ideas about how the classroom runs? You'd be amazed at the difference it makes to them to feel like their voice is heard.
3. Do all learners have to learn the same thing at the same time in the same way? Are any two of our students in the same place in their learning journey? No. Then why do we expect them all to sit through the same learning activities and do the same activities? I realize that we all have pacing guides to follow. However, if a student has already mastered a standard, should they have to sit through the same lesson and same activities as students who have not mastered the standard? No. That's why only having whole group instruction in a classroom has proven unsuccessful at meeting the needs of all learners. By giving a pretest on a standard, you'll find out who needs some instruction, who needs a lot of instruction, and who needs no instruction. That gives you the opportunity to provide students with activities that will challenge them. Also, within an umbrella of a standard, it gives you the opportunity to allow your students to explore what interests them. Let them write about a topic that peaks their interest and publish it with tools that strengthens their voice. No two students are alike so there is no way that one way to teach, one strategy, or one tool will meet the needs of your unique learners. This empowers students to guide the path of their own learning. 
4. Why do you give the assignments that you do? Why do you give the homework that you give? What are these assignments really measuring? I recently had a fellow teacher tell me that the parents of her students told her she was a good teacher because she gave a lot of homework.Is that why we give homework... because of others' expectations? I hope not. It is important that we take the time to really evaluate what we are giving our students to do and whether or not that is relevant and reliable. Here are my thoughts on Homework and on the Reading Log Part 1 and Part 2.
5. How do you assess your students? I realize that most of us have no say over many of the tests that we are required to give. However, is that the only way to assess our students? Of course not. Here's something to think about: How many of us have come up with a project for our students, created a rubric, taken it to our class, explained it to them and then they proceeded to pay little heed to the rubric? Why might that be? Could it be because this was all about what we wanted and they had little say in the project? Were they invested in this project? No. What do you do to make that shift? Let them design the rubric or standards for each of the projects in which they are engaged. Of course, you are the content specialist. You know what needs to be evaluated. But, it needs to come from the students. Guide them, through your questions, into designing the rubric for their own projects. Let them evaluate themselves and one another. What you will discover is that the students hold themselves to much higher standards because they designed the project and the expectations. It's theirs. So think about how you  assess your students. Is it effective? Is it reliable? Does it meet the needs of today's students?

This is a short list, but I think I've made my point. Just because we have done something in the past and it's worked or just because that's the way that something has been for years doesn't necessarily mean that it is what is best for our students. We are in the classroom for THEM. Our job is to provide them with the best educational experience possible and to help them along their personal learning journey. Our job is to provide them with the tools that they need to be successful outside of the classroom walls. That is why we need to rethink everything that we are doing to make sure that what we are doing is what is best for THEM.

Do We Misdiagnose Our Students?

This week was a difficult week..not because of my students but because I was returning from being absent from school for two weeks because I had pneumonia. The truth of the matter was that there really was no need for me to be gone from school for two weeks except for an experience I had with my doctors.

When I first came down with a high fever, I thought that it was probably a twenty-four hour virus (as teachers we pick all kinds of fun bugs), but twenty-four hours later I was worse and I went in to see my doctor. I explained all my symptoms. Although I'm not a physician, I had a sneaking suspicion I had bronchitis or pneumonia. My doctor shook her head in dismissal, never took my blood, never even took my temperature. She told me that a fever virus was going around and that was what I had. She gave me a shot and a prescription and told me I should feel better in a couple of days. However, a couple of days later I was infinitely worse. It was time to see a different doctor. When I arrived, he asked me a multitude of questions. He ran so many tests. When he returned, he brought his laptop and showed me the results of all of the tests. (If I hadn't felt so awful, I would have been so impressed with his technology.) What was the diagnosis? I had pneumonia...the data proved it. Now here's the part that really upset me. He explained that the shot and meds that the previous doctor had put me on had slowed down the healing process. Had I come to him first, I would have been better in two days. He had me return the next two days to run tests and make sure that the prescribed treatment was working.

So what can we learn from this experience in regards to our students? First, we can determine that it is important that we don't make assumptions about our students. Just because we have had other students with similar backgrounds, ethnicity, strengths or weaknesses does not mean that the child in front of us is necessarily like our previous students. Each learner is a unique individual. Secondly, it is important that we take the time to LISTEN to what our students are saying...to us and in interactions with their peers... both verbally and in writing. We need to make sure that we evaluate our students and get accurate and reliable data on them so that we know how best to proceed in meeting their individual needs.Then once we know what their needs are, we need to constantly check to make sure that our "diagnosis" is accurate and that our strategies are working in helping our students in the ways that they need.

I think it's all too often (after we've been in the classroom for several years) that we make assumptions based on our own experiences with previous students. Sometimes as teachers we get a little arrogant that we have all of the answers and we overlook some key bit of information on some of our students. This experience taught me to go back and reevaluate my previous diagnosis of each of my learners to make sure that I really am providing them with the support that each one of them needs. Don't wait for an experience like mine; I encourage each of you to take the time to do the same. Each of those learners is depending on us to help make them stronger.

The Transformative Power of Writing

Today, I want to tell you what I learned from a student that we'll call Thomas. At the beginning of the week, we read an article by National Geographic Kids entitled, "Jane Goodall's 10 Way to Help Save Wildlife." This interview with Jane Goodall tied in beautifully to the pieces that my students are writing with their collaborative partners in another state about how they can make a difference in the world.

This led to a great discussion about other ways we could make a difference in the environment. One student suggested picking up trash when they were at one of our local parks. She explained how it would improve not only the park for each of us, but also for the wildlife in the area. The rest of the class were chiming in their agreement when Thomas spoke up and said, "I don't roll like that. It can just stay there 'cause it doesn't bother me and I'm not touching someone else's mess." Many of his peers tried to persuade him otherwise, but he just crossed his arms and shook his head. We returned to our discussion.

A couple of days later, Thomas was sitting with me as we were conferring on his research and ideas for the piece he is preparing for our collaborative journal with the theme "Making a Difference." Each writer chose a topic that interested them. As we spoke about what he had discovered on his topic (for privacy reasons his topic will remain anonymous), I had a lot of difficulty getting him to focus. He set a plan of action and returned to work on his writing. While I conferred with my other students, I was constantly having to redirect him back on task, reminding him of the plan he had laid out for his project.

The next day, while we were working on our writing, he came running over to me with a shocking fact. Not only was he upset by it, but he had come up with several solutions. His focus changed; his pace accelerated. When it was time for lunch and I'm trying to get my students out of the door, he kept stepping in front of me to show me what he had written. Telling him that I would look at it after lunch or even during lunch wasn't good enough. He wanted me to read what he had put together right then.

I was amazed at his dedication and enthusiasm when the day before he was busy doing anything but this project. He was outraged with the injustice of his topic and he wanted to change something right then; he felt strongly that he needed to share it with me without delay. I agreed to confer with him while walking down the hall (we are one of the last classes served lunch...we cannot be late without some unpleasant consequences). As we walked and conferred, I marveled at how expertly and passionately he discussed his topic. When I asked him why this topic meant so much to him, he referred back to that shocking fact he had shared with me earlier. He explained how it made him think of something that had happened in his family. This experience made him re-evaluate some of his thinking. As he wrote, he examined ways that he could affect some change to make the world a better place.

After lunch, we had a guest come and lead my writers in an activity. She had them write letters to a community member who was away at basic training and missing his friends, family, and community. My students were very excited and wrote heartfelt letters. So what about Thomas? Was his new found determination to help make the world a better place a one time experience? After they had been writing for several minutes, Thomas spoke up, "I really like this. I think this is good for us to do because it's really going to make him happy. I fell good about it too." Hmm, I guess Thomas does "roll like that" after all. And what made the difference? Giving him the opportunity to learn and write about a topic that interested him. Writing has the power to help you explore, grow and change your thinking. Writing can transform who you are as a person as it did for Thomas.  I wonder what else he will roll with this year. There is no telling, but I can't wait to find out.

What's In Your Writing Tool Belt?

With today being the National Day on Writing, my students and I have spent some time discussing "why I write." They have actually created tweets to add to the hashtag #whyIwrite throughout the day today. When I think about the what has made the biggest difference in my students' perception of creating and writing, it has to be that they now write and publish for an authentic audience...not just for me or some mystery scorer. Their writing has an audience and a purpose.

So on this National Day on Writing, I would like to share our top ten favorite tools that support writing. These tools empower my writers by strengthening their voice.

1. KidBlog- Those of you who have been following my blog know that my learners have latched onto blogging like a fish to water. They have become voracious writers sharing what they are learning, reading, exploring, or contemplating. Rarely is there a time when at least one of my students isn't blogging. They have found the power of personal reflection and love the aspect that what they write has an audience who will continue their conversations and challenge one another's thinking.
2. Voice Thread- This is a truly collaborative tool that allows participants to make comments and continue conversations. Usually my writers create a piece of writing, upload it, record it and then their peers will comment upon one another's writing. Comments can be done with text, voice, video, or doodling. 
3. Wikispaces- Wikis are a fast and simple way for students to collaboratively publish their writing projects. It gives you the ability to not only insert text, but also insert Word documents, audio files, URLs, PowerPoints, video files, spreadsheets, and photos. And if that wasn't enough, you can also embed projects like VoiceThread, ToonDoos, Vokis, Xtranormal, Wallwishers, and Livebinders directly into a wiki.
4. ToonDoo- ToonDoo is a tool that lets the writer create a comic strip. They provide a huge gallery of clip art and speech bubbles, my my creative students love drawing their own illustrations, scanning them and uploading them into their ToonDoos. You can also upload photos. If your students want to create more of a comic book page than a comic strip (like my students), you can try using ComicLife.
5. PhotoStory-My learners love taking their writing and turning it into a digital story. When they finish publishing,  we often have a viewing party.  The tool that we turn to most often is PhotoStory.It is very intuitive to use as it walks the user through every step of the publishing process.
6. Audacity- If you are looking for a tool for your learners to create an audio file or podcast, Audacity is user friendly. There are the basic functions of recording a piece of writing as well as a lot of bells and whistles which can really tap into a student's creativity.
7. Lintor Publishing- I described Lintor Make-a-Book in this blog post.  Because sometimes writers still want a tool that allows then to hold, carry, and physically share their books with others, my writers love using Lintor's products. They provide a variety of templates as well as book sizes so that students have the opportunity to create their own hard copy, hardcover book from start to finish.
8. Twitter-In class, we have a Twitter account. Many of you may be wondering about this as a publishing tool as a user only has 140 characters. However, with Twitter, my learners have to learn about being succinct and powerful in their words choices. It has really helped them to focus on their message and the best way to get that message across to their followers. They all agree that standard English is what we use when we tweet from school...no "text speak" so that all of our audience understands what they are saying.
9. StoryJumper-In this post, I wrote about a project that my writers created using StoryJumper. StoryJumper allows students to create digital storybooks which can also be purchased should someone want a copy. StoryJumper has huge selection of clipart and backgrounds, but writers also have the ability to upload their own artwork and photographs, which my learners love.
10. Voki- I wrote about Vokis in this blog post.Voki allows the user to create a personalized talking avatar that can be easily embedded into wikis, blogs, profiles, and email.Voki has the option for the creator to type the text they want spoken or record their voices with their avatar. 

So there's our list...for now. Ask us again what our favorite publishing tools are in an hour and you would probably get a different list. The one constant is the role that these tools play in our stduents' writing....they support the writing; they are not the driving force. We would love to hear about any publishing tool that your students enjoy. Have a happy National Day on Writing today.