The Ones We Lose

Paul Bogush recently posted a blog entitled, "I'm not..are you?"  If you don't follow Paul and his blog, you should.  It always makes me think.  This one not only had me thinking...I decided I needed to respond here.

Paul's blog was about his year and why he felt it didn't go as well as previous years.  As he says:

I always expect to improve each year, so I was expecting 100 miracles this year. I was expecting to top last year and have people carve my bust out of stone and place it at convenient locations to view across my town.  But it was not to be…halfway through the year I realized that I was not being as successful as I had been in the past.

That last line really got to me - halfway through the year I realized that I was not being as successful as I had been in the past.  This was exactly how I was feeling this year and for many of the same reasons as Paul.  I had let myself become the most important person in the room.  I made all decisions, chose all the demonstration methods, and taught all the lessons.  My students loved coming to school but I wasn't as successful as I have been in the past.  I am glad that both Paul and I recognize what went wrong so we can try again this year.


And that is what I keep thinking about days after reading his blog.  I keep thinking about the kids I lost and how I would change things today.  And maybe, I never really lost those kids.

There was Lionel (all names have been changed).  He came to me with a classification and a huge chip on his shoulder.  His parents were very powerful in the school community.  They made the decisions about his education and God help the teachers who didn't follow along.  I saw this entitlement as a real detriment to Lionel's maturation.  He could not accept responsibility for anything.  It was always someone else's fault.  Even when he struggled with school work.  It was my fault or the child who sat next to him and disturbed him or his mom who didn't help with homework.  Never just a struggle.  I worked all year to get him to be cooperative and responsible.  I wanted him to learn the academics, but, until we got past the emotional part, the academics couldn't be addressed.  

By the end of the year, I was sure I had failed.  He still complained about any partner he might have, fought daily on the playground, caused trouble in class, and did no work.  I waited for the year to end and me to be rid of him.  And then I remembered.  Yes, he still complained about his partners but, at the beginning of the year, he would sit in a group and sulk, not doing any work at all.  Now he was working, albeit moaning the whole time.  And he smiled when he was complimented for his accomplishments.  Yes, he still caused trouble in class but now he was able to apologize for causing the trouble instead of blaming someone else.  And his parents were no longer in control.  They actually backed me up when it came to him not doing homework.  Did I fail?  By anyone else's standards, yes.  But not by Lionel's.  He did make progress.  And two years later, when I ran into him up at the middle school, he stopped, shook my hand and asked me how I was doing.  This was HUGE!  Maybe I did something.

What about Tamara?  She relied more on her charm than on her brains.  She never really tried very hard, gave up quickly, and then, smiling cutely, said she just didn't understand.  But tears did come easily when she was informed that she was expected to do the work.  I tried to get her interested in various methods of demonstration.  She always started enthusiastically but petered out long before results were seen.  Podcasts, videos, newsletters, chatrooms, texting, discussions...I could not find the key.  I failed.

I let her move on to middle school knowing that she would not be successful.  She ended up in a smaller class and felt even worse about herself.  Cut to three years later.  She comes back to visit and tells me that she has finally made it out of the self-contained class.  "I just kept remembering how you told me I could do it if I only tried.  So I finally tried.  And I did it.  My math and reading scores went up and I do my work now."  Now I am sure that her middle school teachers also had much to do with her success, but it is good to know that I didn't really lose her.  She just wandered away for a bit.


There are so many.  Each year, I think of at least one child who I just didn't do right by.  Last year it was Jason.  He drove me crazy all year, barely doing any work, invading my personal space, interrupting conversations.  But luckily, I get to have him again this year.  I am going to make sure that I find my patience for him.  He deserves it.  He needs the attention.  He needs the support.  He needs to feel that I am thrilled to see him each day.  And I will be...keeping in mind that I will not lose him!

So Paul Bogush, thank you for being such an amazing, honest teacher.  Thank you for helping me face my shortcomings and do better.  I am not the smartest in the room.  But I am sure going to keep trying!

Asking for Help

As many of my readers know, my daughter has been struggling through high school.  What I've come to realize is that she doesn't really have trouble with the academics.  She has trouble asking for help.  She has a dance audition coming up next week and is stressing out about it.  But she works at the dance studio.  I told her she has every opportunity to ask her instructor exactly what she needs to work on to do well in the auditions.  But she didn't.  Didn't think about it, couldn't do it.  Finally I went in with her and stood with her while she asked.  She got exactly the support she needed to keep going.

Asking for help seems to be difficult for many of us.  It means admitting that you are not perfect and cannot do it alone. And, in our society, we see that as a downfall. How many articles have you read about a "self-made man"?  No such thing.  


So I started thinking about the major aspects of my life.  What have I really done all by myself?  


Getting a job?  Well, I didn't know anyone who could get me in but I did know people who could practice interview questions with me.  In fact, we practiced so much that I think my husband was ready to hire me himself just to stop me from practicing. I did know someone who could tell me about the district. And I called her up often with more and more questions about the reading program, the philosophy of learning, the special ed program.  And I did find books I could read on the subject of interviewing.


Planning projects?  I don't do any projects without a collaborator.  This is a two-fold benefit.  One, I get to teach my students how to collaborate with others.  But also, when I have hit my limit, when I am out of ideas, when I don't know how to do something, there is always someone else to turn to.  Anyone who has worked with me, either in class or online, knows that I will often reach a point where I say it can't be done.  That's when I need help.  

Writing a book?  Well, I have a co-author, so does that answer the question.  Brian Crosby and I pushed each other.  I don't think the book would have ever been written if I had chosen to do it alone.  I needed support to keep me motivated and keep the ideas coming.


Running my classroom?  I have a full time aide in my room.  I depend on her to cover certain aspects of managing the classroom.  She is much better at organizing than I am.  She is also much better at dealing with kids who are finding it difficult to focus. I have no problem telling the kids to ask Mrs. Miller when they need some supply that I can't find.  I will even ask the children if I need help making decisions about which book to read, which tool to use, which project to work on after lunch.  And I'm glad I am not afraid to ask.


I think back to my early years in the classroom.  I wanted to prove that I knew what I was doing.  If I asked for help, didn't that prove I knew nothing and shouldn't have been hired?  So I went at it alone.  And cried a lot.  I knew very little and struggled to keep things from spiraling out of control.  It was only when I finally turned to another teacher for help that I was able to make it through. She helped me deal with managing my lessons, creating a schedule, and covering curriculum.  


What about high school?  My high school career was anything but stellar.  Why?  I was told often how brilliant I was.  It is really hard to admit you need help when you are supposed to be better and smarter than everyone else.  So I floundered.  And just stopped trying.  Better that than actually failing after trying!  If only I knew then what I know now.  


Nobody does it alone.  We all need help.  And, most of the time, all we need to do is ask.

My ISTE12 Take Aways

I just got home from San Diego last night.  The long flight gave me time to think and process my week at ISTE.  While I didn't attend many sessions (in fact none that I wasn't a part of), I still found it a most beneficial conference.  So what did I get out of it? 

First and foremost, I got the chance to connect and reconnect with like-minded educators.  Many people talk about the problem with speaking to the choir.  This echo chamber created by conferences being attended, run, and presented by the same people can lead to conversations being repeated over and over.  But, for me, it is the only place I find other educators who believe in change in education the way I do.  It is the only place I find others who work in their classrooms, schools, districts, areas to create learning environments that are different, unique, and beneficial to students.  And it is the only place I can go to hear that I am not crazy for doing what I do all year.

 Next, I got the opportunity to learn about new tools and upgraded programs while strolling through the Exhibition Hall.  I know that many people avoid the vendors at all costs.  And some vendors I wouldn't give the time of day to (Pearson, I hope you're listening!).  But there are some favorites that I love to visit.  BrainPop gave me the chance to hug all my BP friends.  Fablevision had me talking with an interested teacher and I got a t-shirt!  Edmodo showed me ways to use the site that I hadn't known before.  Glogster informed me that coming this summer are new features, such as collaborative glogs.  Evan Moor showed me the new portal they created for the workbooks I use with my students.  And I got two of them just for showing up. And KidBlog creator, Matt Hardy, treated me to lunch and showed me how amazing his blog platform is.  I might actually switch and try it out, even though I really do love Dave Warlick and ClassBlogmeister.

I also enjoyed the presentations I was part of.  While the Ignite session was the scariest presentation I have ever gone through, the rest of the presentations were so amazing that it was wonderful to be part of the audience.  I was especially blown away by Traci House, Director of Technology, at Joplin Schools, who had to rebuild the school system after a series of tornadoes destroyed much of the town.  I was also part of a panel discussion for Kristin Hokanson's Copyright Confusion session.  It not only gave me the chance to review Fair Use Policy, but allowed me to hear from the audience about their confusion.  It's a good reminder for when I teach educators in my own district.  And, of course, there was the Blogging session I did with Brian Crosby.  It not only reinforced for me how much I love working with other teachers, but gave us an opportunity to talk about our new ISTE book on blogging.

Adina and Me Dancing on the Roof

The conversations were the best.  David Jakes reminded me to think carefully about language when working with others.  Being the person who finds the problems, even if I am also the one to find solutions, can lead to those with ideas to shut down.  From now on, I will start with What If, not Yeah, but.  Thanks for the lesson, David.  Karen Janowski and I worked through some ideas.  Why are teachers so worried about bringing UDL into the classroom?  We batted some ideas back and forth, trying to find ways to reach those teachers.  This summer, it is our goal to get most of our book written.  Yes, another book.  This one on UDL in the Classroom.  Karen also showed me about Evernote, finally.  Thanks, Karen.  Scott Meech showed me a new app he created for primary students.  Kid's Journal is an amazing new IPad app that allows young children to write about their day and send their journal entry to their parents.  My suggestion, change the icons to be less cutesy and I will use it with my upper elementary students.  I love it!  Adina Sullivan kept me laughing.  Chris Lehmann learned something about me (yes, I can be very cynical and sarcastic). And we had a great conversation about the government take over of Philly and New York schools.  Brian Crosby and I had the chance to talk with a representative from BER about presenting for them.  If nothing else, it gave Brian and me a chance to talk about where we see ourselves heading.  And Gary Stager taught me that sometimes there are things to curse about.  I'm not sure I agree with everything he was cursing about but I will let Sylvia Martinez deal with that!  Love yah, both!


I might not see ISTE the way others do.  I didn't sit in every keynote, run from presentation to presentation, win any great prizes.  But the meet ups, the Blogger's Cafe, the hallway conversations, and the connections were well worth my time and money.  I love this conference and really hope to see everyone in San Antonio next year.  What about you?

What I Did Over My Vacation

Teachers love to assign this topic to kids after vacations.  And we always expect the kids to tell us amazing things.  Instead we get these "bed to bed" stories of trips to Pennsylvania (I woke up at 5, got dressed, and went in the car).  By the time we finally get to Pennsylvania, we are bored and wondering why we ever gave this assignment.  But here I am, writing my own vacation essay.  I am going to title mine - What I Learned Over My Vacation.  I have so much to tell.


Lesson 1: Don't stress over travel arrangements.

• I worry.  I worry about making our flight.  I worry about missing connections.  I worry that the snowstorm in Canada will slow me down in Phoenix.  I worry that I won't be sitting with my family, will lose my ID, will be hungry with no time to buy food.  So, because I worry, I plan.  I overplan.  I buy enough food for a week to take on the plane.  I check for my ID about 12 times before boarding.  I make my family get to the airport 2 hours early, even when we are leaving at 6 in the morning.  And, what I learned was, putting my family through all the stress and spending the day fighting (stress will do that to two tired parents and one teenager), is not worth it. This time, I planned and let it go.  I forced myself to be cheerful and accept the delay in Bakersfield that almost had us miss our Phoenix connection.  I allowed myself only some food and knew we would not starve to death.  I actually had fun on the flight with my family.  What a difference.
• This made me think about planning in school.  I tend to hate changes in our schedule.  Field trips are a chore and a worry.  Assemblies throw off the whole day.  We won't even talk about changes for testing.  But now...I am going to plan and let go.  So we won't do math today because we got to see an amazing speaker talk about changes in the Arctic.  No reading today while we listen to an assembly about good nutrition.  And let's enjoy the trip to Old Bethpage Village Restoration instead of worrying whether or not we will see everything and make it back on time. Take the time to see the baby goats and eat lunch later.

Lesson 2: Stop the car often.

• We love taking these trips that are basically road trips around a state.  But we have a schedule.  Drive here...see this.  Move to that hotel and see that.  Time is of the essence.  This trip was a little less scheduled.  We had more time in each place so we got to stop the car when we wanted to.  And that led us to some amazing discoveries.  Did you know that in Mohave California there is a little thrift shop full of old furniture, cool clothes, and lots and lots of books?  And the owner of the shop is jealous that we live on Long Island.  She has always wanted to visit.  She lives in this amazing state and wants to come where we are.  Did you know that there is a place called the California Old Faithful?  It's a cheesy little place with an actually geyser (although I wouldn't be surprised to find it was really a pump underground)?  We stopped, paid our $7 a piece to get in, and, not only saw the geyser, but got to pet the animals on the ground.  We fed the llamas and the goats, listened to the sheep, and had fun taking pictures of the baby goats.  We did not expect this at all but it was a fun time.
• Back to school.  I forget, sometimes, to stop the car.  We are running so much to get everything in that I often forget that sometimes you have to stop.  When a child comes in telling us about a new baby in the family, we need to take time to see the pictures.  When we hear about a tornado in a state where our skype friends are, we need to take time to call them to see if they are okay.  When we find ourselves fascinated with the 1930s because we just finished Bud, not Buddy, we must take some time to head to the library and find pictures to look at and books to read.  So it's not in the curriculum.  But it is worth stopping for.

Lesson 3: Act like a tourist.

• This was a conversation we had with ourselves a lot.  "Do I look like a tourist?"  "You have a huge camera hanging around your neck.  I think you look like a tourist."  For some reason, we think looking and acting like a tourist is embarrassing.  Try to fit in.  But this vacation, my daughter walked around taking pictures of everything...people, buildings, animals, murals.  She got us to realize that, if we try so hard not to be tourists, we will miss some amazing sites.  
• In school, we often forget that our students our tourists in our classrooms.  The material we are covering is as new to them as Haight-Ashbury was to Ali.  They need to be given time to explore, examine, ask questions, act silly...act like a tourist.  Let's remember to give them that time.

Lesson 4: Find the beauty in all the places you go.

• We traveled around northern California and saw some amazing country.  But we also saw some incredible poverty, sad looking homes, people living on streets.  My first reaction to these places was fear and sadness.  My daughter, however, saw beauty.  She pointed out the little garden in front of the tin roofed shack.  She noticed the colorful headband that the homeless girl was wearing.  She stopped to listen to the drummer on the street trying to make some money (yes, we paid him).  She didn't feel fear or sadness.  She just felt people.  What a wonderful way to live.
• In the classroom, we have students who struggle every day.  We can feel bad for the child with a learning disability, fear for the child who is difficult to control, and sorrow for the child with a hearing impairment.  Or we can look at these children and find their beauty.  The child with the learning disability might be the most motivated child in the class.  The little engine that could can teach us all how to persevere.  The child who is difficult to control might just teach us not to worry so much about control.  Because when he is allowed to walk around while he talks, he tells us some amazing things about history or art or science.  And the child with the hearing impairment might not be able to share our music with us or the pleasure of our read aloud, but he can show us how the light in the room creates shadows beautiful enough to draw.  Find the beauty all around you.

Lesson 5: Keep all conversations about the future to a minimum.

• Driving for hours tends to get us talking.  And, when there is a teenager in the car, the topic we adults most want to address is preparing for college and a career.  Unfortunately, since it is a teenager we are having these conversations with, this often leads to tears and yelling.  So the rule was, talk about what we are seeing unless she brings up the conversation about the future.  It made the ride so much more pleasant.
• As teachers, we spend our year preparing our students for the following year.  Even our new Common Core Standards are designed to prepare our students for college and beyond.  We need to remember that our children haven't even experienced the year they are in now.  They don't care about next year or 5 years from now.  Why should they?  Let's enjoy the moment and help them feel good about what they are accomplishing this year instead of what they need to accomplish next year.

Lesson 6: Air travel needs perks again.

• I always loved to travel when I was a kid.  You would get that little bag of peanuts while you waited for your meal.  The meal was always a surprise.  Was it pot roast with gravy and potatoes?  Was it turkey with cranberry sauce?  For a kid coming from a kosher home, these meals were amazing.  It was one of the few times I was allowed to eat non-kosher food (kosher meals were not an option on American planes then). There was always some kind of dessert with the meal, too.  And then, as we sat on the plane, the flight attendant would come over with a pillow and a blanket, crayons, and a wing pin.  So much fun.  I would read my book, play with my puzzle magazine, write notes to my sister, and just enjoy the flight.  Today, no peanuts, no meals, no pins, no crayons, blankets only on request and only if they are available.  Even movies are available for a price.  I miss the perks.
• In school, I used to have perks.  Each year, I had this amazing unit I did with my students.  We studied our cultures, read about them, created projects, and then, invited parents to come in with a rice dish from their culture for a big Heritage Luncheon.  I was known for this.  Kids would come into the room asking if we were going to have a Heritage Lunch.  Parents would start to ask about it during Back to School Night.  It had nothing to do with my curriculum but the children learned so much about each other.  Now, no time for perks.  If it's not in the curriculum, it doesn't get done.  I need to fix that.  I need to bring back the perks.  I need to have a Heritage Luncheon, or make candles, or raise class pets, or read exciting books and then watch the movie versions.  I need the perks.  The kids will not remember the essay they learned to write.  But they will remember the time the newt got out and we chased it around the room (yes, that really happened).  

Those are my lessons from vacation.  What did you learn on your last vacation?

What Happened to My Year?

I realize I have not blogged in a while.  There has been a reason for that.  I haven't really been doing anything exciting or innovative in my classroom this year. Last week my class and I were visited by SMART P.R. They are creating a video for instructing educators about accessibility through technology.  I was asked to be part of the video.  As a reward for agreeing, I got the new updated, larger, multitouch SMARTBoard and a document camera with a 3-D component.  


Why am I telling you this?  Because two things happened as a result. One was I had to be out of my room for a day to get the board installed.  This meant figuring out what I could do with my students without using materials found in their desks or in the classroom.  So I took them into the science lab and spent the day working on experiments for magnetism and electricity.  I set it up ahead of time with an instruction sheet, experiment worksheets, websites and books for researching ideas, and a table full of materials to try out their ideas. 

The second thing that happened is I had to prepare a day for the videotaping where the kids were using technology in a unique way.  So I had my first Mystery Skype call with Shannon Smith from Illinois.  Mystery Skype calls are ones in which we contact another class and children ask each other questions that can be answered either yes or no, in order to figure out where we are calling.  We had jobs created such as Big Map person (crossed off states on the SMARTBoard), Google Earth and Map researchers, recorder (wrote down the questions and answers so we could refer to them), videographer and photographer, Internet researchers, and  questioners (answered the questions over the Skype call).  


Why did both of these make me realize that my year has not been what I wanted it to be?  Because while we were doing science experiments, the kids were working independently, trying things out, learning and working cooperatively with partners.  I was just facilitating.  I hadn't done much of that this year.  And while we were running our Mystery Skype call, I sat back and watched the children take over the call and the learning.  And when the day was over, and we said goodbye to the video crew, one very wise child said to me, "We are doing so many fun things since we got our new board."


Wow!  Did that hit me hard! And it made me really stop to think about what happened to this year.  Why has it been so different than other years?  And why hasn't it been as good?  Don't get me wrong.  The kids do enjoy school and I do love my class.  We still have fun and still do some small projects.  But I have spent more time this year teaching, instead of facilitating.  More time controlling instead of letting go.  More time doing what I knew was not right and good for children.  And I realize now that I have to stop.  


I moved to a new grade this year.  It shouldn't have changed much about my teaching but this grade change came along with lots of changes in state regulations, school board changes, and administrative initiatives.  Here is the list of problems I am dealing with this year that I am finally saying no to.


1. Following a strict Teachers College Reading and Writing program.

• We have been going through Teachers College training for a few years now. And, up until this year, I tried it all, took the best, and continued to do what I know works.  But this year, I work with some excellent teachers who follow the program quite rigidly.  And we meet often to discuss where we are in the program, how it's going, and what are we doing next.    We share materials (enough so far to fill three large binders) and expectations are high to do the program.  Up until now, I have gone along with the system.  But lately I have begun to realize that I cannot work this way.  I know that I cannot use a program for all of my students.  I know that my "mini-lessons" are simply teacher directed instruction and, each time I do a mini-lesson, I lose at least half my students.  And I know that following a strict calendar, where we cover one unit per month come hell or high water, I rush through the unit, missing the fun and important parts in writing - learning about amazing language to use, finding our voice in writing, editing.  And missing the time to have incredible book discussions in reading, making the children fall in love with books and reading.

2. Following a new math program.

• We adopted a new math program this year from Pearson.  And the requirements are we follow the program to the letter.  The problem with this?  It doesn't make sense.  While some of the lessons are fun and innovative, we are losing concepts, not understanding algorithms, and missing number sense entirely.  Also, the lessons are, once again, very teacher directed.  In fact, the book actually tells me what to say and what the response from the kids will be.  And guess what?  My colleagues on my grade are very gung ho to follow the program.  They have let me change things around but I still feel the pressure each time they share their material with me.

3. Timing

• In order to follow these amazing programs, we have been given a one hour literacy block, when no children can be pulled out.  And we are expected to add another literacy hour in the day. We need one hour for writing and one hour for reading.  Then reading mentor texts are a separate time, as is read alouds.  The math program expects at least an hour a day.  So together, that's three and a half hours.  Add in one hour for lunch, and forty minutes for art, music, or physical education, and I am left with one hour a day for all the fun stuff.  It used to be the whole day was fun.  Now it's not.

So here I am.  The year is almost done.  We are heavy into test prep, trying to not be, but being pushed by administration, government, and local papers to do well.  My colleagues on my grade are, of course, working diligently to prep the kids.  And I am burned out.  My kids are burned out.  I cannot do this anymore.  Even with me changing everything I can, it's too many hours in a day doing what I know is wrong.  

For the rest of the year, and from now on, I am making some promises to myself and my future students.

• I will keep my classroom fun and educational.  While I will still teach reading, writing, and math, it will be in a way that engages the students, excites them, and lets them learn more independently.
• I will bring back project based learning.  My students will learn to research, communicate, and trust themselves to learn and demonstrate learning in a fun way. 
• I will allow the children to pull us away from our schedule when something exciting comes along that is worth the change.  I like having conversations about government, politics, current events, world news. We haven't had many this year.
• I will bring back more movies, creating more videos, participating in more voicethreads, writing more free blogs, and Skyping more with other classes.
• I will make each day exciting so I don't hear in March that, being out of the room for one day means the best day of the year.  
• I will enjoy teaching again.

I hope you can all help me remember my promises and hold me to them.  I want my students to learn and grow, to be successful and happy.  And I am determined not to let the government, administrative initiatives, and test scores to let me veer from that goal.

           

Does Technology Work?

Politicians often decide that funding in education needs to be cut.  We are all dealing with low budgets, no money for staff development and, the most common area to cut, no money for technology.  In my school, that means that as my SmartBoard projector starts to wear out (and it is) it will not be repaired or replaced.  As the laptops reach their 10 year mark, and stop being effective, they will not be replaced.  So the technology will slowly, but surely, leave my classroom.  


So I started wondering if it really mattered.  Maybe we can do without.  After all, the technology projects we do are mostly started by me.  We have some great lessons that have nothing to do with technology.  What does it really matter?  And then I get my proof that technology is important to my students and their learning.  Here are just a few examples of how.


1. I am giving a standard test on the digestive system on Thursday.  It is the first test I am giving to my class where they actually have to study ideas and memorize body parts and definitions.  In other words, they have to study.  Nervous and unsure, they asked for help.  I asked what they wanted.  They said they wanted me to create a Google doc with questions for them to answer.  I said no but they could.  So one child created the doc, went around and invited everyone in and made plans for a time to get together tonight.  I went in about an hour ago.  The doc was full of questions and answers, over 10 children were in studying, and the chat room was buzzing with talk of the digestive system.  Wow!


2. I got an email today from a student I had two years ago.  She has joined the Science Olympiads and needs to build a project.  She asked me for some help with finding sites that will give her ideas.  She said she had already watched some videos to help her understand her topic better and now needed to work on a project.  Amazing!


3.  I worked on mean (averages) in class this week.  Last night I got an email from a student saying she really didn't understand it and could I help her.  I typed up a quick definition, found a video link and a game for her to play and sent it off.  Today she told me those links really helped.  


4. My students have decided that they need to get on Edmodo at night and do homework together.  They wanted to know if this was cheating.  LOL Little do they know that I love the idea and love that they came up with it.  "If it will help you," I said, "go right ahead."  I love checking in on their conversations and adding some ideas of my own.


These examples are just from last week and this week.  And these are 4th graders - 9 year olds.  Imagine how important technology will be to them in 5 years.  They are already thinking about how technology can support their learning.  Their world will never be the same.


What examples do you have to show how technology really supports your students?


Image: 'T i e d o k a+s' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7294103@N03/3383924434


Image: 'Shanghai January 2010' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35036603@N06/4296838698


Image: 'IMG_0839' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24253334@N08/4817728598

My Classroom Philosophy

As we near the end of 2011, I am starting to get reflective about my life, my teaching, my students.  What has been good? What needs to change?  


In thinking about my teaching, I can't help but reconfirm my basic philosophy, since this affects everything I do in the classroom.  I have two main thoughts.


1. Every child in my classroom will be comfortable, supported, successful, and happy.
Sounds simple enough.  But sometimes it is exceedingly difficult. 


Comfortable I can handle.  There is a no tolerance policy in my school for bullying but I take it one step further in my classroom.  Mistakes are accepted, encouraged, recognized, named.  They are not laughed at EVER.  It usually only takes one time, one child laughing for me to stop this behavior.  But more than stopping it, I encourage my students to discuss their mistakes.  "Why did you get that math problem wrong?"  "What hurdles did you face while reading that book?"  By asking these questions, and others like them, often, I help my students understand that we are all struggling to learn and we can do this together. 


And this leads right into support. We have these discussions about struggles openly.  Johnny is working on self-control.  We will all help him by reminding him gently, kindly, as friends, to stop tapping his pencil.  Sally is working on memorizing her addition facts, while everyone else is up to multiplication?  We will kindly ask her math fact questions throughout the day and celebrate when she finally gets it. Katy has been working on remembering to use reading strategies to help her understand better?  Steve will work with her, since this is also his struggle.  Support from others helps the students overcome their embarrassment.  And it helps them work harder.


Successful - hmmmm.  This one is a bit more difficult.  We tend to think of success in terms of test scores and reading levels.  But, I have come to realize that, sometimes, children first need to be available to learn before we can begin to teach them.  Behaviorally and emotionally, children have to want to continue to learn.  And so often, our students are beaten down before they ever get to us.  I make it a point, each year, to welcome each child into the room.  I will ignore the comments from other teachers about how difficult Billy is to handle, how many times he spent with the principal, how often the parents have to be called, how lazy he is, how rude he is, how unmotivated he is.  This is a new year and I will pretend I have never heard any of it. 


Expectations mean a lot.  I often find that, when I expect these students to be "good," they are.  When I expect them to be kind, and point out kindnesses in themselves and others, they work harder to be kind.  I help them make friends, change attitudes, and feel more comfortable.  And none of that happens overnight.  So often, these children are only successful in finally being available to learn.  And then the year is over and test scores are still low and reading level is still poor and I feel like a failure.  Until I remind myself that this child was not even a student in September.  Going into the next grade, maybe he can carry some of those lessons with him and be a student from the very first day of school.


And so I move on to happy.  I do expect my students to be happy.  Happy does not mean complacent.  It means challenged and still having fun.  It means playing games, laughing, listening to music, getting comfortable, making choices and working hard.  It means struggling with something and finally succeeding.  It means celebrating accomplishments with each other.  It means having friends and feeling at home.  It means wanting to come to school each day and not wanting to leave.  This is a tall order.  Especially when children come from homes that don't make them so happy.  


Each morning I stand outside my room and shake hands with each child, saying hello, asking about their weekend or evening, giving a compliment, asking questions.  Sometimes they tell me sad stories about their evenings and I give them hugs.  Sometimes they tell me about new babies, or weddings, or family visiting.  And we laugh together.  Sometimes I hear about awards they've won, games they've played, and movies they've seen.  We connect.  And then, they can walk into the room, knowing that I care, that their classmates care, and they've let go of the outside world for a little while.


Sounds simple.  It takes so little time but it means so much.  It's a great way to start each day.  And it really does set them up for learning.  And, so many children like it that, as children walk past my room to go to their own classrooms, they stop for a handshake and a hello. 


And so we come to number 2.


2. I will do whatever is necessary to accomplish my first idea.


I will stop a lesson to address a hurt, an insult, a success, an important question.  I will have a class meeting if there is an issue we all need to address.  I will learn new tools to keep them motivated and excited about learning.  I will revamp, rewrite, rework units to make them more challenging and more fun.  I will work hard each night, each morning, each weekend, each vacation to insure that I meet my goals.  It's important.  It's a child's life.





Image: 'untitled' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29275360@N03/3072985236


Image: 'Brothers' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9619972@N08/1350940605


Image: 'Attitude: Honest' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36624823@N04/4934498430

Language of Gender

This year I moved from fifth grade to fourth.  I’ve taught fourth before but it’s been about 6 years.  So I forgot that, for 8 and 9 year olds, gender issues crop up often.  They want a separation between boys and girls.  They don’t want to sit next to each other or partner with each other. But in my classroom, I work very hard to remove gender preferences.  No boys and girls lines in the hallway.  No ban on opposite gender partners.  And a careful focus on language. 

So when we had an opportunity for four students who had run our weekly meeting to choose the next week’s students, I told them each to choose someone of the opposite gender.  Boys pick girls, girls pick boys.   The first three students chose quickly but the last boy was quite hesitant.  He looked carefully around and said, “I don’t really want to choose a girl so I will choose the tomboy” and proceeded to name Mary (name changed).  Mary looked crestfallen, most of the other students gasped and looked at me, and the boy who chose was oblivious to it all. 

Never one to back away from a teachable moment, I took the opportunity to discuss his decision.  First, I pointed out that he had labeled Mary and had Mary talk about how that made her feel.  Next, I told him he insulted every other girl in the room and had the girls talk about how that felt.  Finally, we talked about the term tomboy.  Some children had never heard the term before and I said I was actually surprised anyone knew the term today.  We talked about how, when I was growing up in the 60s and 70s, being called a tomboy was equivalent to saying you were a feminist.  And it wasn’t said as a compliment.  I also explained that, for me, it made me unhappy because it meant that, when I wanted to wear a dress or makeup, I felt uncomfortable because everyone expected me to only wear pants and not care about my looks.  When I announced my plans to be a teacher, everyone was surprised I would choose a typically female career.

Today, we don’t have to separate what girls can do from what boys can do.  Both men and women serve in the armed forces.  More men are becoming nurses and teachers.  More women are choosing to be mechanics and pilots.  We don’t have to be constricted by gender.  And calling a girl a tomboy just pushes us back to the past.

This led to a discussion about other language we use.  I am very careful to never call my students guys.  Why would I eliminate half my class?  Why would I tell my class that only one gender is important enough to focus on?  We’ve discussed history, as opposed to herstory, Mrs. (derived from Master’s), and manufacture.  We have so many words in our language that tell girls it is better to be male than female.  And while I am not proposing we change all the language (I am still called Mrs. Parisi), I am careful not to perpetuate those I can easily avoid.  So no guys, no tomboys, and no talk of something being only for girls or boys.  And I am helping my students to understand why.

Starting a New Year

Yesterday I was able to get into my classroom to begin setting up for the new year.  My first day of school with children is September 6th and our first day of staff development is August 31st, so I have about 2 weeks to get things going.


I was pleased to find that, for the first time ever, the custodians put all my furniture exactly where I wanted it.  So I didn't have to start by moving around the furniture.  My husband came with me and we hung bulletin board paper, emptied my closet, set up desks, and made some small changes to the set up of the room.  


I have decided to start my year by making some assumptions about my students.  I hope it all works out.


Assumption 1: My students will be able to handle sitting in groups and moving around the room right from day one.  


Each year, I start my students in rows.  I do lots of direct instruction, slowly leading them toward group work and choosing seats.  This year, I decided to start them at tables.  I am starting a group project during the first week of school and will use that project to help them learn to negotiate the ups and downs of working with others.  So my husband and I set up desks into groups of two, three, and four.


Assumption 2: Sitting on the carpet is no different than sitting in desks.


I have a huge purple carpet in my room.  This carpet is large enough for all of the children to sit in a circle on the edge and have grand discussions.  I start each year with my carpet in the corner, tucked under the bookshelves to make it smaller.  It isn't large enough for a circle and is just barely large enough for them all to fit in a crowded group.  This year, I am going to have a grand discussion on the very first day of school.  I am going to help them learn how to have discussions without me, taking turns talking, listening politely, and contributing strongly.  We will start on day one with a grand discussion about what our class rules should be.  So we set up my carpet right in the center of the room, not tucked under any furniture, and we set up the tables around the carpet.

Assumption 3: The children don't really use the posters that teach skills.


I love posters.  I cover my walls with them.  I have, for years, had posters hung up high on the wall.  These posters were writing posters, talking about use of vocabulary, starting ideas, using voice, trying different genres.  I loved them when I put them up and kept them because they were so hard to put up and take down.  But I realize no one ever used them.  The children would see them on the first day of school and forget about them after that.  So I finally took them down.  I will use them as I teach each skill.  Instead, I put up posters about character.  I realized that teaching my students to be good people is much more important to me than teaching them about using good vocabulary.  I want them to learn to be strong individuals, willing to help others, and accepting diversity.  I can refer to these posters often, which makes them more relevant than the skills posters.  And I like the way they look.


Assumption 4: The children can handle all my UDL tools.


As any reader of my blog knows, I run a classroom with a UDL approach.  I have many tools to help the students meet with success.  I usually wait to put them out as I need them.  The fidget toys stay in the closet, the headphones stay locked in a drawer, the spell checkers remain by my desk, etc.  I have decided this year to put them all out on my UDL table and introduce the table as a tool table.  As the children look for tools or need items, I can direct them to the UDL table right away.  


Assumption 5: No one wants to spend an hour on the first day of school labeling and setting up their supplies.


The first day of school, every year, we spend about an hour labeling notebooks and binders, adding dividers to binders, unpacking pencils and pens, filling up supply boxes, and setting up desks.  It is boring and frustrating.  This year, I want my first day of school to be fun and exciting, educational and surprising.  So I am going to collect all supplies and hand them out as we need them.  This way, when we are ready for our binder, I can spend only a few minutes getting them ready at the beginning of a lesson and be done.  This is probably the biggest change for me and I am grateful for my aide, Joanne, who will be there to help make it work.


I am excited for these minor changes.  It means I am starting my year assuming my students are ready for my style...for projects and discussions, for responsibility and freedom.  I am going to spend time leading them to understand how to be responsible for their learning and I will start on day one.  I believe it will be the start to a great year.

The Importance of a Support System

This summer I really started thinking hard about the importance of a support system.  I think that, my whole life, I looked for people who would be there for me.  As a child, this made me a very unforgiving friend.  I had high expectations for my friends and, if you failed to meet them, you were no longer my friend.  My expectations, I thought, were pretty simple...be honest and be there.  When I think about it now, for a child this is pretty deep.  Most children can't "be there."  It's the being there that runs a support system and young children aren't really capable of being a true support system.  So I have started to think about what this really means.


My Definition of a Support System


In order to be a support, one must
1. listen with an open heart.


Basically this means that when someone comes to you with a problem, you don't tell them how wrong they are right off the bat.  Listen to their feelings first.  Tell them you understand.  So it sounds like this: 


Me- "This parent is driving me crazy.  Every time I open my email, there is another complaint about Suzie not understanding the homework or being bullied by her classmates.  It's not what I see in school but I hate having to answer her all the time."

Supportive Friend- "Yeah, that sucks. It's hard to deal with this every day.  I know you've said Suzie seems so happy in class so what is this woman's problem?  She needs to get a life."


2. be honest.


Now would be the time to try to help.


Me- "I wish this kid wasn't in my class.  Her mom is really crazy."


Supportive Friend - "True.  Have you met with Mrs. Suzie in person yet?  Maybe she just needs some reassurance.  You're always much better with parents face to face."


Me- "I've been avoiding that but, you are right.  I will have her come in and sit with me and Suzie.  Let's find out what's really going on."


With the help of my supportive friend, I am able to vent first and get validation that my venting is justified.  Then I can get down to business.  


Now, obviously, this example is pretty simplistic.  But I realize my support system helps out in so many ways, not just when I need to vent about a pushy parent.  I depend on my friends to cheer me on when I am struggling, to laugh with me when all I want to do is cry, to celebrate successes small and large.  And, most importantly, I must do the same for them.


So why has this come up so much this summer?  It isn't because of Suzie's mom (Suzie's mom doesn't really exist although we have all had parents like this).  It isn't because of how rigid I was with my friends in elementary school.  But the importance of a support system has come up a few times.

• ISTE

• One of the things I miss terribly in school is a local support system. I have always been lucky enough or maybe smart enough to have found a very few people at work who can be my support system.  This makes school manageable for me - knowing that, when the going gets tough, I can reach out to my friend. When my friend isn't around, I hold my breath waiting for us to meet.  But at ISTE, I realized I could relax and breathe again.  Everyone there is in the same boat.  We work in schools where others are resistant to our ideas, where we are told to do things that go against our teaching philosophy, and where we are alone.  But when I talk at ISTE, all I hear is "Me too."  
• This was brought home to me one day in the Blogger's Cafe.  I was standing by a couch watching Kevin Honeycutt with some friends playing music with IPads and computerized guitars.  It was fun.  Paul Wood was standing next to me and, while we were listening and laughing, I realized it was the first time in a long time that I was comfortable with a group of teachers.  I turned to Paul and told him this was just what I needed.  He, a true supportive friend, gave me a hug and told me he was glad I was there.  Ahhhh.
• My Husband's End of Year Evaluation
• My husband works in a district where parents are in control and teachers talk against each other.  He had a particularly difficult time this year with his grade level colleagues and it all came out in his final evaluation.  The principal wrote about issues he had with his classroom that were only issues because of his colleagues.  And she only knew about them because his colleagues told her.  One example...he was using email to contact parents and students.  One parent didn't get the emails and complained to the homeroom teacher, who, instead of going to my husband, went right to the principal.  Not a great support.  He did get the principal to change her evaluation, only talking about what she has personal experience with.
• He has had a rough time this summer just wrapping his head around going back to work.  He has no support system there and, in fact, has to worry about the rest of the staff.  And he is miserable.
• My Daughter's Schooling

• I have written in the past about Ali's struggles with high school.  Her middle school was split into two high schools and her entire support system went to the other high school.  She thought it would be okay but she has been unable, after two years, to recreate that support system in her school.  
• I am in the process right now of trying to get her moved to the other high school.  But all the superintendent is hearing from me is that she wants to be with her friends.  He doesn't understand the difference between friends and a support system.  She has plenty of friends at East (her school).  She just has no friends who listen with an open heart and then are honest with her.  Those friends are all at West.  This summer she has spent a great deal of time with them. While listening to their conversations, I finally realized what was missing at East. 
• BTW...I reached out to my support system and got some great advice from Patrick Higgins about what to say to the superintendent. So, after our meeting Friday, when he started with no, he moved to..."Let me do some investigating and I will get back to you."  Stay tuned.
• My Classroom
• Now is the time I start preparing for a new year.  I am creating exciting projects, looking into great books to read, deciding on a theme for the year.  And what I realize now is that it is my job to be a strong support for my students and to model being supportive for others.  I want my students to feel supported in the classroom.  I think I do a really good job of creating this.  But now I have a better understanding of why it's so important.

I am incredibly grateful to have a support system.  I live with strong supports in both my husband and my mother.  I work with strong supports in my own classroom.  I am lucky this year to have my wonderful friend, Joanne Miller, be my aide again.  And I have my amazing support system in my online PLN.  I know I can always reach out to Karen Janowski, Maria Knee, and Linda Nitsche for an open heart.  I know I can always depend on Paul Wood to say just the right thing.  I know I can complain to Brian Crosby and he will listen and commiserate with me.  There are so many of you out there who are there for me.  

Do you have a strong support system?  Can you reach out to support someone else?

Image: 'Strength Over Head' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41864721@N00/3446286013

Image: 'Deep conversation' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38869431@N00/4703017753

Image: 'Class photo' 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37718498@N00/2610009219

Image: 'We're thinking of you' 
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