Starting the Year Strong

As educators, starting the new year on a strong note can set the tone for a successful academic journey. Here are some ways to begin the year with enthusiasm and purpose:

1. Enjoy the last few moments before school begins. Enjoying your coffee or a last minute vacation. A bright sunny day or a new book. Each of these small moments can help energize us for the time ahead.
2. Reflect on the previous year: Take some time to look back at the experiences and lessons learned from the previous year. Acknowledge your accomplishments, identify areas for improvement, and set goals for the new year.
3. Plan and organize: Start by reviewing your curriculum, syllabi, and lesson plans. Ensure they are up-to-date and aligned with your students’ needs and any changes in educational standards. Organize your classroom materials, resources, and digital tools to create an efficient and conducive learning environment.
4. Build relationships with students: Take time to think about how you will build positive relationships with your students. Get to know them individually, learn about their interests, and demonstrate genuine care and support. This will create a sense of belonging, trust, and engagement in the classroom.
5. Foster a growth mindset: Encourage a growth mindset not only in your students but also within yourself. Emphasize the importance of embracing challenges, learning from failures, and persevering. Model a positive attitude towards learning and inspire your students to do the same.
6. Prioritize self-care: Remember to prioritize your own well-being. Teaching can be demanding, so make sure to take care of yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally. Set aside time for hobbies, relaxation, and spending time with loved ones. Taking care of yourself will enable you to be a more effective and compassionate teacher.

Remember, each new year brings opportunities for growth, learning, and making a positive impact on your students’ lives. Embrace the fresh start and make it a memorable and successful year in the classroom. Keep in mind that success isn’t something that is achieved all at once, but by the daily choices we make.

Time the Great Equalizer

Time in every classroom is precious. Every teacher should be thinking about how they use it. This consideration is especially important for EL students. One thing related to time that I want to talk about today is wait time. At the end of the post I will teach you the QPS strategy that you can use tomorrow in your classroom.

Stop and think

Wait time is the practice of pausing during instruction to allow students think. Sometime it may seem natural to ask a question and quickly call on an eager student willing to share. However, that isn’t best practice especially if you have EL students in your class.

This is for a couple of reasons. The first being processing time and the second being student confidence.

If a student is not a native English speaker, the student may have to process the question in another language first. This puts them at a disadvantage if they would like to answer the question, but aren’t given the opportunity to. Since the call and response is so quick an EL student is always playing catch up in the conversation.

The second reason is related to the first but slightly different. Since an EL student may take longer to gather their thoughts, they may be less likely to respond in front of peers for fear of making mistakes. So how do we more students the time they need to think?

Use QPS.

• Question
• Pause
• Scan

When using this strategy ask the question. Pause for at least 5-10 seconds and possibly longer. While waiting for volunteers scan the room inviting students to think and share.

Hopefully this strategy will help more students think and interact in tor classrooms.

What the Grade?

Giving students a simple A, B, or C letter grades, percentage points, or even a completion check. Has been proven to be the least effective way to help students learn. The most effective way is providing feedback for students to improve. The purpose of assessment should be on what skills students have learned or showed proficiency in. This is good for the teacher teaching the student and the students themselves. Also other specialists that work with the student. If everyone is able to see what that student can do in a class, it makes it easier to diagnose where problems could arise with student work.

One recent example of this is I had a conversation with a math teacher about a student who seemed to be struggling in the class. When I went to meet with the teacher, I asked probing questions i.g., what is the student struggling with, can the student solve the problem, etc. The problem wasn’t the teacher, but the system which gives an artificial corresponding letter grade with a subjective point total. Ultimately that point total can magically be put into a 0-100 scale. Of course most teachers and students grow up in an archaic grading system such as this but we can do better.

This situation pushed me to try and figure out a way to improve my teaching and ultimately student learning. A few weeks ago I came across this post by Caitlin Tucker.

I am personally trying to move away from this system to a performance based grading system where the students will have to self assess their work and provide evidence for their learning based on certain skills and standards for that unit. This will give me the opportunity to provide feedback individually and the students will be able to see where the are improving or what specifically needs to be improved.

This has been a messy process of me analyzing prioritized standards that my district has created for 6-8 ELA. Then trying to break down each of those standards into smaller chunks that my students and I will be able to measure based on different assessments. For some of the skills I will incorporate language that is commonly used in WIDA language rubrics. These rubrics and assessments are used to assess EL students language development.

As of right now I am still in the process of figuring out what will show understanding for each skill or standard. I am open to allow students to create their own assessment, but I think some more traditional options through or a google form could be used. As I continue through the process this will continue to change.

Another area that I am working on is deciding on what rubric should be used to show growth. I have thought about a more traditional three or four point rubric. However, I recently saw a one point rubric which really made an impression on me for its simplicity.

I think it’s time for for educators, parents and, students to shift their mindset on the issue of grades. I think it has the ability to enhance the learning experience for teachers and students.

Stealing the struggle

A few weeks ago my family decided to go fishing at a local park. At the park there is a little sick where you can go fishing. However there is really only about three feet where you can fish with out getting all tangled in the weeds.

So as we were walking up to the dock I could see that there was an older gentleman with two grandkids. I knew right away that they were in that three foot space. Needless to say I wasn’t happy. I was ready to just not even try to go fishing but just go to the playground.

Fortunately, my wife was there and she advised me against just giving up. She told me it wasn’t about catching fish. It was more about him just fishing.

She couldn’t have been more correct. We had a blast. He caught his first fish all on his own. He even held on to it and put it in he water all on his own. The experience was amazing. When I got home though, I couldn’t stop thinking about how this experience relates to the classroom.

One thing in particular came to my mind that is stealing the struggle from students. As educators we all know what this means solving students problems for them.

Not allowing students to struggle and learn from their mistakes and he process hinders the child’s ability to grow.

Of course we should be there guiding our students, but we should control the process. Kids need to be able to take risks without the possibility of adults swooping in to save the days or avoid things all together.

I am so glad I went fishing that day.

Does technology meet today’s learner?

http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2017/02/updates-chromebooks-and-google-classroom-make-it-easier-optimize-learning
Technology has seen a huge investment from the education sector recently bringing dreams of helping student achievement and closing the achievement between various groups of students. BUT is the technology that is available at your school being used what it is best suited to accomplish? Am I using a putter on the driving range?

I know every school district has a different amount of access and different tools available including iPads, Chromebooks, tablets, desktops, and even student personal devices. All of these pieces of technology are better at doing certain things than others. It is significantly easier to create research reports on a Chromebook compared to an iPad.

iPads are great at taking pictures and videos. Then using an app to share what was create. It is streamline for that. Often times the students are more tech savvy with the technology than we are.

When considering technology use in the classroom, we need to think about what are our students strengths and what are comfortabiliry level is in letting students create with the technology.

Joe Marquez is a great example of how to allow students to use technology for what it was intended. Educators need to have an open mindset when trying to implement lesson that utilize technology as “learning tools” and not “distractions.” We need to embrace what is possible with the technology.

For too long teaching has focused on the worksheet, textbook, and one size fits all education. We need to innovate with the technology that we have available. One person that is a huge proponent of this change in mindset is George Couros. We need to do better for our students. How can students use their talents to meet the appropriate standards? What is the technology that we have available I. Our classrooms best suited for?

I can use my putter on the driving range, but it isn’t the best use for it. We can look at the world outside the walls of our school to the media. Journalism thirty years ago relied on newspapers.  There has been a huge shift in how newspapers have to interact with it’s readership. The newspapers need to have online content and this content needs multimedia content. However, stories that journalists investigate still should follow the same ethics,use great questions to investigate, and integrity that the media did thirty years ago, but the delivery to the populace is markedly different.

Our students are growing up in this world of instant access. Let’s be their ethical and moral compass to navigate the use of technology and embrace the opportunity for innovation.

Purpose of school? Career vs character?

The question of what is the purpose of school has been floating around recently and receiving a lot of attention in the field of education. I have been exploring this question in my own mind. 

Currently, I have been reading The road to Character. This book looks at peoples lives that have led fulfilling lives. David Brooks highlights two types of ways people can live their lives. The first being someone who is prone to achievements, needs to accomplish things in order to be happy. This person is career oriented. The second is a person who finds a higher calling or purpose in life. This person is on a journey to create a “wise heart”. However, to do that you have to confront your weaknesses to “cultivate strong character”.

When I think about this question I think of  John F. Kennedy’s famous quote from his inaugural address.  “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” This statement defines the meaning of strong character in person 2. Putting others first. Serving a higher purpose  for a collective good. 

 Today we live in a ME culture. Meaning everyone thinks they are important, special, need to be popular, or an instagram celebrity. They look to success through their career, and not to the higher character which Kennedy eludes to in his speech about sacrifice. 

The question I pose for you is: what do you teach in your district, school, classroom, and life? Do you focus more on your external self (career); or do you focus on your internal self (strong character)

I challenge you to find examples of people no matter what content area or grade level to find examples of high character and infuse those examples into your teaching. Children can not be of strong character if they are never give an example. Be that person. 

 



Planning for ELs

Have you ever thought to yourself, I wish I knew how to reach my English Learners (ELs)? No matter what I do, they don’t seem to understand anything. If you have ever been in that position, it is not uncommon. I ask myself this or a similar question almost daily. But as an educator I can’t stop there so i need to plan better. One of my jobs as an EL teacher is to teach students academic language to be successful.

When planning lessons for ELs the learning experiences should try to include as many language modalities as possible. Below is a guide from Lincoln Public Schools in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Asking those three questions above helps provide an outline of the lesson which will help plan for the academic language used in the lesson and the activities that will be used to help create engaging learning experiences.

“The limits of my language are the limits of my world.” Ludwig Wittgenstein

We are the bridge to support our ELs academic language learning. If specific focus is not given to the language that is used in all content areas, ELs will not reach their full potential.

In a blog post by Doug Lemov (author of teach like a champion) he highlights how a teacher has students replace general words used to describe a scene from Othello with more academic vocabulary just by having it written on the board  and having the students refer to to it for their verbal responses.

How simple is that. It probably only took thirty seconds to write on the board, but think of the impact it will have on their learning. The students are already analyzing a complex story so why make it more difficult by having the students refer back to their memories those words.  They are in the process learning those words. Learning is messy.  If you aren’t making mistakes, you aren’t learning fast enough.

1. Plan for that academic vocabulary and concepts that cross content areas.
   
2. Organize the learning experiences.
   
3. Use as many language modalities as possible.

Lincoln Public Schools ELL Instructional Strategies

Planning for ELLs with SWRRL

Hacking Writing: Part 2

Recently I joined a chat based on minecraft. I have been interested in using games as a way pique student interest in writing. During the chat I was given some great advice. The advice was that I could have the students take screenshots of their minecraft game (or online or offline game with a camera) and have the students annotate the pictures.

Instantly, I was hooked.I thought to myself, how could this work in my classroom? I just recently received five iPads in my room that will be shared with another colleague. Therefore I could setup stations in my room for students to be able to do this during school. Students who do have access to games and technology could save their screenshots to google drive and have them ready during class. If students don’t have time outside of school, I am sure they would be more than willing to do this briefly during class. Win Win, right?

I did have to figure out hot to take a screenshot on a desktop. This wasn’t hard to find out how to do. Just a quick Google search. The students were amazed when I began talking about doing this in class. Image never heard so much enthusiasm coming from my students about what games could we use; when will we be doing this; what do we get to write about? 

They could annotate with Canva, Google slides, Shadow Puppet,  or Adobe Spark just to name a few. To further add more variety and language modalities (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) to this project a podcasting app could be used in conjunction with the above mentioned apps. This repetition is especially critical for ELs to move toward proficiency. 

Hacking Writing

For those of you not familiar with the term “hacking” in education it is a term used to rethink, examine, and challenge the status quo in education. There are a few books that fit this type of thinking (e.g., Hacking Assessment, Hacking Writing, and Teach Like a Pirate).

The picture above is from a popular game called Clash of Clans (CoC). I am sure a few of you have seen some of your students playing this game during class or in the halls ways, right? Well, why not use this powerful game to your advantage. I see multiple ways that students could translate this game to meaningful learning. Let’s look at a few of them.

Maybe the most obvious way is the application to social studies. What about comparing a battle on CoC to the Battle of Gettysburg or or Stalingrad. Students could research the battle then compare the forces used in both. What type of weaponry and military tactics would be different on CoC? Of course there are a plethora of ways to enrich learning. Just think of the worst ideas. Often times they are the best ideas.

Another way to use this is for math and ratios, calculating and saving (a life skill that many adults need). For example, I have three gold mine producing 3500 units of gold per hour. I need 103,000 more units of gold to upgrade my defenses. How long will it take me to earn this gold? Students would have to prioritize what is more important in the game and blog about it. They could defend their reasoning by talking or blogging to comments from other students. So many ways to inspire students to learn these critical skills.

I have lots of other ideas about how to use games and gamification in the classroom. If you have and interest or comment, please let me know.

Happy Fourth of July.

Passion Projects

The past three Fridays, students in my classroom have been working on passion projects. After hearing about so much about these, I decided to try and lead my EL class through these. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy and that I was going to make plenty of mistakes along the way, which I have. I thought now would be a good time to reflect on the process three weeks into it.

My curiosity with passion projects started when I began hearing and reading things online about them. Then at another school where I teach at they tried to have students create these projects during an advisory time. I thought this was amazing. Students could create and do almost anything they wanted to learn or share. One person that helped guide me through this process was @ajjuliani.  I thought this was pretty powerful stuff. Fast forward to this past Christmas break.

I was sitting around thinking: How could I incorporate this into my classroom? I thought to myself. You could do it on Fridays. Then the next question came up. How long will you do it? I decided for two period, because my class is a two period block. Another reason I decided on the two hour block is because technology is not always available. This is not a 1:1 school. I concluded that if they needed to research that they would probably need more time. One period would not be enough for this. So how did I begin.

I introduced the idea to my students by showing some videos from YouTube of what other kids had done with this project. I thought in my head that they would be amazed at some of the projects other kids their age were doing. NOPE! They were lethargic. When I asked them what they thought of the videos, no one responded. I thought to myself: Is this a bad idea? Do they want to do this? Am I missing something? I decided to forge ahead.

My next step was to introduce the guidelines for the project. They will have every Friday until March 4 to complete their project and be ready to present it. No other class will be given to the project. If they needed anything specific, they would have to find the materials and I could help as best as I could, but I wanted to leave it in their hands. Oh yeah. This isn’t graded either. This was the biggest shocker to all of my students.  I know what you are thinking. How will you monitor their work. Their progress. Their learning. I am having them record their progress on a Google doc that I manage through Google classroom. I adapted it from one given to me from @LauraGWillis.

After adapting the document to fit my learners needs, I came up with a few main questions that I want them to focus on:

1. What do you want to learn from this project?
2. What questions do you want to explore or learn about?
3. Were you able to answer the questions you had?
4. Did you learn something different than what you first thought?
5. What will you create to share your project with the rest of the class?
6. What was the most difficult part of this process?
7. What was the most enjoyable part of this process?

While this is still a work in progress my students are at different stages of their projects. Some of my students are still researching. Others are trying to figure out logistically how they are going to complete their projects with lack of internet at home. One group of students is complete and in the reflection stage.

Overall the process has been an amazing experience for me and the students. They have been empowered to take charge of their learning. It has given them a voice inside the classroom and all of them have committed time outside of my class to work on it. Even though they receive no grade.  Sounds beautiful to me.