I blinked and then it was December

No, really, I feel like I blinked and it's the end of the semester. Where has the time gone? There are two official weeks left. As I sit here, working on my Senior Seminar paper, I am pondering this very thought. In five months all the years of hard work will have paid off and I will be a certified high school English teacher. Whoosh...mind blown.

Now, back to the semester that seems to have blown by with my mind. It feels like just yesterday I was complaining about being torn away from the professor I prayed all summer long I would be with.  I must say, although I miss my practicum pals, the switch turned out just fine. My new professor has been just as good and truly loves on her students. When we have a need, she is there to provide a lesson for it. "We don't know grammar," we say, "Then I will teach you," she says. That's right, I can now with certainty identify the object of a preposition and the proper use of "who" and "whom." Really, I just taught my friend at work today. Very exciting moment for me.

I feel like this whole semester has taught me to adapt to change. I should probably preface this by saying, I DO NOT LIKE CHANGE. I seriously hate it. My best friend actually commented on how much change I have had to endure this semester and how maybe I am being taught to accept it, since I have never been one to do well with it. First, there was the change in professor, followed by getting partnered up with someone I didn't know - to co-teach, which I had never done, and then the changes I had to adapt to within the classroom...as I was teaching, and finally the big one, I did not get any of the schools I requested for student teaching. I will say, it really hasn't been that bad. I have learned that change can be a good thing and as a teacher I need to be able to accept it. As I already mentioned, the change in professor turned out just fine. The partner I didn't know turned out to be really cool and we taught well together. I transitioned really well with the unexpected changes in the classroom and got praised by my reviewers for how I handled it.

Student teaching threw me for a spin. I must say ever since last semester I have had my heart set on Central Falls. I had such a great experience there. I also enjoyed my time at North Providence. What I have realized through this is that I am happy in places I am comfortable. I do not like the unknown, but so far this semester change has been a good thing. I spoke with my cooperating teacher last night and she sounds wonderful. I am slightly intimidated by some of the class sizes, more so because I am so bad with names, but it will be okay...even if we have to name tent for a month. I am more excited about the material I get to teach. I love dystopian fiction and I love non-western lit. Well, I get the best of both worlds! I get to teach Things Fall Apart and 1984. I am beyond excited to whip out one of my dystopian lessons I taught at Central Falls last semester and also to use a lesson I learned about at the NEATE conference.

Things are looking up and I am now a well-adjusted accepter of change. Well friends, I must return to the Seminar paper. This was a good diversion to gather my thoughts. Ah, yes, writing is so therapeutic. Each day my class will begin with a writing prompt. I will create lovers of writing.

I am a teacher.

Disappointment and Hope

Today I started my observations in a middle school classroom. I have a middle schooler and I have often wondered what his classroom may look like. Would it be a younger version of my high school classes? Would it be more like elementary school? Would it be complete chaos? Well based on today's experience it may be a little bit of all of these things. I'm not really sure I can put into words how I feel about my first observation.

I would be lying if I didn't say I was disappointed. I guess at the heart of this deep, heart wrenching, disappointment is the fact that I was witnessing my biggest fear...teaching out of a book. No creativity, no activities, just a teacher proposing questions from a "teacher's edition" textbook. Students copying things off a white board to study for a test, which will also come from a book. "There's no time to make my own tests." "There's too may students." These are but a few of the comments I have heard since I met my cooperating teacher last week. I am not trying to be judgmental here. I understand that she may be struggling with over-sized classes and lack of time, but really, is there no room for some creativity within this curriculum? I saw many kids who were excited to answer questions, but I saw just as many yawning alongside me.

I guess I hoped that even if I worked in a school that required me to follow a curriculum with a text book that I would find some way out of it. At least find a way to make it more fun. Interestingly enough, we just encountered a case study situation like this in one of our texts for Practicum. A teacher was required to follow a strict curriculum and she wanted to introduce more diverse texts. The school required her to teach these specific authors. The question was what does she do now. My answer was: this is my worst fear. My professor suggested incorporating the texts the teacher wanted to use with the required ones. Look at the differences, make it relevant to students. Makes sense. But that was high school...

We'll see what the next three weeks holds for me. This is only day one and I will remain optimistic that I will find more positives than negatives in the days to come. In the meantime, I ponder (one of the vocabulary words on the whiteboard today) what I will teach these students in week three, and how I will make it engaging and fun to learn out of a textbook. Challenge accepted!

The Heart of a Procrastinator

Hi, my name is Michele and I'm a procrastinator. No, really, I am the worst procrastinator, I am pretty sure if you look up the definition of "procrastinator," my picture would be there. Myy friend said something to me yesterday that made me reflect on my problem.  I was telling her that despite my best efforts, I chose to clean the house Thursday night rather than write my paper. She said, "you'll get it done, you work best under pressure." Now let me preface my response by saying, she truly understands me because we are kindred spirits where this is concerned, so she totally gets where I am. I thought about her statement and realized that she was right, I do my best work under pressure, and despite my determination this semester to become a reformed procrastinator, I can't seem to do it. What does this have to do with my journey, you ask?

Well, I wonder how this will affect me as a teacher. Real question. Will this help or hurt me? I know I have the ability to get a rather large amount of work done in a short amount of time, but will I be able to? I have my concerns. Will I be building all my units for the year the week before school starts or will I be so excited that I will start at the beginning of the summer? Will I even be able to start at the beginning of the summer? See, although I am a procrastinator, I think ahead way too much. For example, this paper I have been putting off...I think about it constantly. I ponder ideas, thoughts, and quotes I may use. Perhaps this is why procrastination works well for me, because although I am not physically completing the task, I put a lot of thought into it.

This blog post is a form of procrastination. I should be reading right now, maybe even writing my paper, but as I thought about all I had to do, I decided to blog about my problem. Blogging helps me get my thoughts in order. It has truly been the best form of writing for me and maybe will even help me with this paper I need to write.

And so,  I will end here and try to get back to my endless amounts of reading. The paper will be done by tomorrow night, I assure you. I look forward to feedback on this. I am honestly curious as to what others think, especially teachers.

A New Semester Begins...

So, it's the first semester of my Senior year. I am in awe that I have made it this far. Sometimes, I want to pinch myself to make sure it's real. Although it's only been a few months, I feel like it's been forever since I've been talking about my hopes and fears for my future classroom. I filled my summer with reading all the books I wanted to read but didn't have time to and certainly never got through my list.

The semester started out with poetry. POETRY. I am an English major and I don't like poetry. GASP! There I've said it. This week, after we had to actually write a poem, the first chapter of our reading was about poetry. Imagine my delight. Something changed in me though. Last semester I rekindled my love for writing, as I cut off the scar tissue past teachers had left on my ability to write, this semester I believe I will reunite with poetry. See, I used to love poetry when I was in high school. I wasn't always a hater, but then there were those teachers/professors/authors who taught me poetry was hard, and a mystery, and had one right way to be interpreted. Well that was it. What I loved about poetry was that I could read it and allow it to make me feel, how it made me feel. I could pick out what resonated in me. Instead, I found myself trying to get into the author's, or my teacher's, head and see what they were thinking so I could write an interpretation and get an "A." I rebelled against poetry and decided it wasn't what I thought it was, so we broke up.

In the reading this week, Lois Christensen uses poetry in her classroom to build classroom community, get her students to express themselves, and their views on the world. As I read through her strategies and samples of her students poems, I remembered what I once loved about poetry. Christensen allows her students the opportunity to build connections with each other and the world around them through their poems. She scaffolds the writing process for them so that they can confidently come up with a great piece. She starts with asking them to look at a sample poem, then pick out some themes. How is the poem set up/grouped? Look for repetition, lists. Then she asks the students to make their own lists, memories, feelings. From there students put together a poem using a similar format as their model. This is what our Professor did with us this week, and even better, she did it with us.

If there is one thing I have learned in the education program, it's how to model. My professors have been amazing with that and I have seen how beneficial it has been for me as a learner. I appreciate the fact that she too became vulnerable as she read her poem out loud to all of us. Let's face it, poetry, any poetry, is personal and can be tough to share. Christensen did the same with her classes and although I have not physically seen her classes, I can see from her students work that they were comfortable and they had a strong sense of community.

And so, I am starting the semester already rekindling a lost love. I am excited for what this semester will bring. I am pretty sure I'll be teaching one of these poems this semester and I will somehow remind students of the freedom writing, in any form, can bring.

Cooperative Learning and Group Work

So, there is apparently this misconception that Cooperative Learning and Group Work are the same. This is not the case. Our class on Tuesday was devoted to the concept of Cooperative Learning. I really enjoyed this class because we not only learned the concept but we were able to experience Cooperative Learning and it's benefits. I learn by doing, so for me this was a perfect class.

Initially, I was nervous about the squares project because we did something similar in 406 with triangles and our group didn't get very far. I think what helped this time around was the fact that we had roles, so everyone had a job, and Dr. Horowitz gave us a couple of examples in the beginning. I would venture to say that what we did in 406 was group work. 

Common problems with group work that could be solved by using cooperative learning. Group work often tends to shift to a dynamic where one or two people do most of the work, either by choice or default. Using Cooperative Learning ensures that all students are involved in the learning process. Group work does not foster an environment where students can build on social skills. Some students may end up in groups either with all or none of their friends. This could lead to segregation in classes. I liked that Cooperative Learning had a method for everything. Group work seems to be, "let's just get together with whoever we're sitting with and work on this..." Cooperative Learning is thoughtful an deliberate.

I was also glad that Dr. Horwitz didn't fluff it over by just telling us how useful Cooperative Learning can be; she also made sure to let us know how much work went into preparing to run a lesson in this way. I think the good thing as we go further in our professional careers will be that we build these lessons and can hang on to them. Our handy, dandy toolbox, right?

There are so many benefits to Cooperative Learning that I struggle to list them all, yet I was able to find this image. It does a nice job of mentioning so many of the positives of Cooperative Learning.

Observation

Alas, I get around to posting my classroom observation. I spent a day in Mrs. G.'s purple room observing her classes.  I quickly realized what a great teacher she is and that she has built an excellent rapport with her students. I was really happy that I was able to do these observations because I was able to make a more informed opinion of my cooperating teacher and the students in CFHS. I was also able to view a technique that I was fairly inexperienced with, which I now see as useful for my future classroom.

For the purpose of this blog I am going to talk about my experience observing Mrs. G.'s 12th Grade AP English class. On the day of my observation the students were doing socratic seminars using the book they were just finishing, The Stranger.  Now, let me say that I have never actually taken part in a socratic seminar. I had a brief tutorial of what they were in 406 and witnessed a poorly executed one in an observation at another school last semester, but that is the extent of my interaction with socratic seminars. I will say that if I never had known anything about them, I would have learned a lot from watching these students. I was truly impressed by the way they all arranged their desks in a large circle around a smaller circle of students. Each student in the larger circle had a student within the smaller circle that they were to be focused on to offer constructive criticism once the seminar ended. As the seminar began, each student introduced themselves to one another and began to discuss what topic they would be using for the purpose of their seminar. Once they came to an agreement they began as one student posed the initial question. They bounced ideas off of one another and backed up their claims by citing evidence from the text. They respectfully agreed or disagreed, again using textual evidence. At one point, I glanced at the board and realized that one of their objectives for this class was aligned with the CCSS to cite textual evidence. Objective achieved. These kids did a great job and I learned a little something about the symbolism of light and dark in The Stranger. Once the students were finished, the outer circle offered constructive criticism. They did a nice job of using, what Professor Kraus would call, the complement sandwich. I picked up on a few things in my observation that I would have praised or critiqued that they brought up to various students in the seminar. It was good. I was impressed.

So what does this mean for me? Well, the purpose of being able to observe these classes is to take away something for my future endeavors as an educator. One of my professors may refer to this as "the golden nugget." First, these students helped to dispel the myth that CF students are not as engaged or motivated learners as other students. While I have been here for three months now and seen this already, I needed to throw that out there just one more time. What I witnessed in this observation, I've seen college students struggle doing. Mrs. G. also gets much deserved credit for this because as she said, it takes a lot of time and effort to get them to this point. She holds her students to high standards and knows that they are able to achieve them. Perhaps this is one golden nugget - see the potential in ALL my students, do not make preconceived notions. I realize you may be saying, well this is an AP class. Yes, I've heard that as I've told this story to people. My response is this, Mrs. G. is also working towards getting her inclusion class to do Socratic Seminars. The work that her inclusion class does is similar to her AP class, they are just behind. So, her inclusion class is just starting The Stranger, as her AP class is finishing it. Potential for ALL.

Second: I realized how useful Socratic Seminars can be. As I said, I haven't had much experience with them, but I loved watching the students engage with the text. It was a useful Summative Assessment. It was refreshing to see students engage in a small group about a piece of literature. The conversation flowed so smoothly. I am glad Mrs. G. told me how much work went into getting them to this point. I'm sure there was quite a bit of scaffolding over the course of the year to bring them here, but so worth it. These students are leaving with a tool for their college tool box. Even if they never use a Socratic Seminar in college, they have a great grasp on engaging with the text and each other. I know my thoughts flow best when I'm able to talk them out and bounce ideas off of my peers and this method totally allows for that.

I found this video of a teacher incorporating Socratic Seminars in her 9th grade class. It's a great example of how Socratic Seminars work, and how Common Core is related to them.

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/bring-socratic-seminars-to-the-classroom

Cookies and Rubrics...

What do rubrics and cookies have in common? More than you would think.  I really liked this lesson because it made me see how tricky rubrics can become. I thought I could describe the perfect cookie without tasting it. Reality is, there is more to a cookie than the way it looks.  This simple fact made me realize that there is more to an essay than the way it looks.

Sometimes we have this cookie cutter mentality of our expectations of an assignment but I think the thing I am starting to realize is that we need to look beyond the form, especially when creating a rubric. I can read an amazing essay that seems to have all the pieces in place but the fact is it's really not good. Just like the cookie that won according to our rubric. It met all the requirements but it was the one cookie that I didn't even finish because it just wasn't good.

So, I'm left with questions... I feel like many of my classes have crossed at this point in the semester talking about rubrics. The opinions on rubrics seem split. Some teachers, including my cooperating teacher, find rubrics to be the way to go as far as grading is concerned. They provide a guide to grading, a simple checklist. But is it really that simple? I have had teachers who say they can't stand rubrics. There is no room for creativity, like with the Oreo. The Oreo won because it's totally awesome despite the fact that it wasn't a chocolate chip cookie. Now, I realize we need to have standards for our students' assignments but if they can provide me with a really good video instead of an essay is that really bad? I've always felt students should be able to display their knowledge in whatever way works for them. For some that is test taking, others writing, and so on... I feel that if students can show me they learned something then it shouldn't matter how they show it. This may seem unconventional or maybe unrealistic but I just hate that we need to put things in boxes, or neat little packages. I know some things need to be uniform, but can't we allow for creativity and how does that fit in with the rubric?

I honestly can't say that I end this post with a solid opinion one way or another. Fact is, I will have to use rubrics so I did a little research and found two articles to help me learn a little bit more. One also discusses rubrics as a way of backwards lesson planning...hmmm where have we heard that before?

Here are the links:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3200/CTCH.53.1.27-31

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct97/vol55/num02/What's-Wrong—and-What's-Right—with-Rubrics.aspx

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I've gone back and forth this week about what I wanted to blog about. It was a pretty intense class and  clearly many of us have some pretty intense feelings over what seem to be strong stereotypes about CF and it's students...but this is a good thing. This is why we're here. We would have never discovered this had we not had the opportunity to take this class. I would probably venture to say that this would be my number one recommendation for any future students to take this class, in this school. It's real, you see the good, the bad and the ugly, not just what's in the textbook. Like so many of us agreed, many of these problems do not just happen in CF. We will see behavior issues, inclusion classes, diversity in race, culture, and disabilities in any school we're in. Sure it may look different, but let's get past the surface and see it for what it is.

The one thing that I come back to over and over these past few weeks is the relationship we have, or will have, with our students. I saw that again in the panel this week when the teachers gave advice on classroom management. I've also seen this in my observations with my cooperating teacher.  I recently attended a conference at my work and one of the break-out sessions was on Social-Emotional learning. Some of the skills I learned in that mini-session could totally be applied in my classroom and that's one of the goals of CASEL. Here is their website if you want to learn more about what this is and how it is being used in the classroom: http://www.casel.org. There are some great resources there. One of the main things I think Social and Emotional Learning helps is in building relationships. We need a bridge to our students. We can't just view a behavioral or academic issue and then jump the gap to a solution before building a bridge to reach the student.

In our Special Ed class on Friday we watched a video called Including Samuel. I highly recommend it.  Here's their website: http://www.includingsamuel.com/home.aspx. It was about Samuel and a few other students who have disabilities. The video showed the good, the bad and the ugly about inclusion. It was really eye opening, but as I watched it I didn't just think about these kids who have disabilities. I thought about the kids we feel are being stereotyped, or grouped together unfairly. I then thought, "how can we put 'these kids' in a box?" They are all different, just like you and I are. They deserve to all have the opportunity to get the best education we can offer, so does that mean we teach or treat them all the same? We, as adults, are all different and my relationship with one person will vary greatly with my relationship with another for a variety of reasons, but mainly because we are ALL different in one way or another. Yes, we have different races, ethnicities, cultures, but also, beliefs, values, learning styles. I think this is where Professor Horowitz was going with the discussion about looking a student in the eye. Our treatment of our students should not be based on what they're not but who they are and this may look different in every classroom we ever work in.

So, I think I've made it here: We have to have rules, non-negotiables, in our classroom, but I think when creating those we need to think about our students. Are any of our rules going to run into a problem with their races, ethnicities, cultures, beliefs, values, or learning styles. There is one phrase that I have heard over AND over again as a parent, "Choose your battles." Sometimes in our classroom we may need to choose our battles. Everything may seem like an important rule, but what are the ones that NEED to be followed to foster a safe, creative, warm learning environment?

Questions, Questions, Questions

Today's class was quite interesting... I seem to struggle a bit when we go out into the classrooms. I feel like I never really get what I'm looking for but then sometimes there's a diamond in the rough. Today, for example, we needed to go out in search of questions. I figured this would be a breeze, because normally when we go into the classrooms the students are doing group work or it's at least a pretty interactive setting. Today, that was so not the case. Today was Read Alouds, or testing. I did manage to come up with one question to analyze and after going through the protocol with the group, I realized it was a pretty good question to look at: "Can someone give me a summary of Chapter 1?" There were actual several questions that could be pulled from that one that may have given that teacher a better response than what she received. I really enjoyed that activity because it forced me to look deeper into what I will call, "The Art of Asking Questions." It sounds so easy, doesn't it? Not so much, there is so much thought that needs to go into asking students questions, starting with "What answer are you looking for?" I would also venture to say, expect the unexpected answers. I'm pretty certain that teacher didn't anticipate having such a difficult time with trying to get a summary of chapter 1.

I was rather put off when we arrived back in the classroom after our quest for questions. Dr. Horowitz had rearranged the room to look like a "typical classroom." Normally we sit in a circle but she was setting us up for lecture time. She asked us to write about our first thoughts when we came in the room and mine was "UGH." Why? Probably because I'm getting used to this non-traditional way of learning and lecture typically does nothing for me. I've actually switched out of classes after realizing they would be too lecture based. I'm just looking out for how I learn best, so I can do my best and achieve growth and happiness. (Another concept discussed today) Moving on... Lecture does not make me happy. The turning point here is that Dr. Horowitz did a good job showing how to lecture well, while also modeling some no-no's. For example, do not give your students a graphic organizer that they cannot follow. It will drive your OCD students crazy. I also realized why I typically struggle with lecture...it really shouldn't be longer than 10-18 minutes. REALLY?! Can someone enlighten a few of my past teachers about this? Although I was not feeling it in the beginning, I felt that this mini lecture went well and I learned a lot. It proved to me that if I make the most of those 10-18 minutes, I can effectively get some important information out there to my students.

The last thing I'll talk about is the first thing we talked about in class. We started with this quote:

SO, what makes me happy? Lots of things but when it comes to my my education, I am happy when I reach the end of a semester and I realize how much I've learned and how I'm going to use all that knowledge. I also get excited over a really awesome idea I have for a lesson. I am happy when I put that into action and it engages students AND they learn something from it. We can totally have the greatest activities but they may not always foster an environment of learning.  Dr. Horowitz made a good statement: "Be able to define your happiness in teaching." This is something I'll be reflecting on this week and next as I prepare to teach my first lesson and then teach it.   I think this is a thought we should often reflect on throughout our careers to help us remember why we do what we do.

Two Sides To Every Story

Tuesday's class was very enlightening. I must admit I had several judgements about doing this class in CF.  I remember my reaction when I heard about it in 406 and I am certainly glad I didn't let that stop me.  If there's one thing I have learned over the course of this semester it's that there are two sides to every story. Tuesday's class reinforced this idea with Dr. Gallo coming in to discuss some of the occurrences of 2010. I truly appreciated that she took time out of her day to come and speak with us.  Her passion for CF and it's students is so evident each time she speaks but even more so on Tuesday.  I respect her so much more knowing all she has endured to come to this point. I don't think everyone could do what she does every day. I am glad that I can now see CF more objectively.

Kim gave us a great talk about being different and holding true to our beliefs and values about teaching. I guess I never really thought that would be a problem.  It's easy to say now, "Nothing can change the way I feel, I will be the best teacher ever!" The reality is that we are not there, we have no idea what challenges we will face once we are working in a school day in, day out. That being said, it was inspiring to hear her talk about how she does do it everyday and how her love for the students fuels her to do the best she can. It's really easy to judge the teachers from where we sit, but I'm sure it's not easy when there's a larger group not following our ideas, especially when they have been doing it longer than us. I'm sure it would be easy to follow the crowd; no one wants to be the outcast. I heard Josh and Kim though, stay strong, it's okay to be alone if you are doing what you know is right.

I also really enjoyed being able to watch two teachers work to create a lesson plan with the Dean of Pedagogy at CF. It was great to be able to see all the thought that goes into planning one lesson. So many questions to ask, so many things to consider. The need to really know your students is a big part of planning.  Kim knew her students and therefore knew how she needed to differentiate the lesson. It was also amazing to see a Dean of Pedagogy in action and how awesome it would be to have that kind of support. I was disappointed to learn that every school doesn't have one of those. Every school should have a Buddy!

I leave you with this quote that not only reinforces my title but reminds us not to make judgements until we have the whole story.

Daniels and Zimmerman are like Psychic

Forgive my totally non-English teacher like title but this was a prevalent thought I had during this week's reading.  I would start a chapter and have tons of questions and judgements and then they would answer and explain each and every question and skepticism I had.  I assure you this happened with both chapters 9 AND 10.

I really love the idea of in-class book clubs.  In a perfect world, or should I say classroom, this would work so well.  Classroom management is going to be a huge piece of implementing this idea. D & Z make it sound great, but I have many concerns about doing this in a class.  I worry about the kids not engaging with the texts, talking about non-book related things during discussion time, not talking at all, among other things.  I remember last year when I did classroom observations, the teacher was having a hard time getting students engaged in discussing the text they were reading.  It was painful to watch, the kids just sat there in a circle while dead silence hung in the air (wait time) and every now and then the teacher threw out a question to try and get them thinking.  I really never got a sense that those kids engaged with the text, never mind read it. 

Having expressed all these concerns, I should now express why I would advocate for this technique.    D & Z did a great job explaining the benefits of book clubs, how to implement them and even assessments.  These are the areas where I had many questions, which all were answered by the end of the chapter.  The one thing that book clubs do have the opportunity to do is bring students to higher level thinking, which is one of the main goals of common core. Mike and Nancy's assessment for their book clubs included having the students write an essay answering 4 questions reflecting higher level thinking (Daniels & Zimmerman 203).  The part I loved about this is, as a teacher, I would have so much variety in my reading to grade. My students' thoughts and ideas would be far more interesting than a bunch of summaries on a book that I've already read. 

On to chapter 10... Inquiry based projects are another one of those activities that get students to use higher level thinking, but require a lot of time to do. I'm getting the feeling that the activities and lessons where students will learn best are the time consuming ones that are often not used because of concern that there will not be enough time to "meet the standards." As D & Z explain towards the end of the chapter, it's a trade-off. "We can 'cover' all the material, with most of our students passing a test and immediately forgetting most of what was taught; or we can let a bit of it go - not all, but a bit - and fit these valuable experiences in, so that more of our students deeply understand some topics, and come to value the subjects we teach (Daniels & Zimmerman 230). Well Amen to that! I've been saying that for years, I can cram, study, whatever, and ace a test but the second I leave the classroom, I probably forget almost all of what I just answered.  Research based projects have always been where I learn best, probably because I'm immersed and invested in what I am learning.

So, I guess what these two chapters boil down to is that sometimes we need to let go a little from the traditional and get out of our comfort zones (sound familiar???) to really get our students to be those lifelong learners we're always talking about.  On that note, I leave you with this picture my friend bought for me this week.  My employer displays artwork that is done by special needs students.  This time around we have a hearing impaired girl who creates these beautiful pieces. My friend saw this and thought of me and I think it is a fitting closing thought.

Make it Fun...Make it Matter

Interesting heading for this blog post, I know, but as I was reading this week’s chapters my son came up and asked me what I was reading.  I told him it was a book for school to help me learn how to get students engaged in reading.  His response was, “Well, I can sum up that whole book in two words…fun stories.” I laughed and then asked him about the stuff that he had to read that might not be so fun.  Then I told him about some of the strategies discussed in Chapter 5 like “Dramatic Role Play” and “KWL.” He agreed that would make it fun and more interesting.  As I read, I looked at how some of these strategies would not only make reading fun but also how they all really encouraged students in their critical thinking skills.  One thing I know I’ve been worried about is what to do when a student gets stuck in their thinking; I’ve been there plenty of times.  Especially having multiple classes, students’ heads can get overloaded with information.  Many of the strategies discussed in Chapter 5 help students through the thought process one step at a time.

Some of these strategies like “Mind Mapping” or “Clustering” I’ve seen used in my classes.  They provide a visual form of brainstorming that encourages students to show what they already know and what they want to know. One of the things I really liked about these strategies was the variety.  They appeal to various learning styles so once we get to know our students we should be able to gauge which ones will work best.

Many of the strategies discussed in Chapter 5 correspond to the concept of building a community of learners, which is talked about in Chapter 7.   Chapter 7 gave some great advice right off the bat: “relate the subject to students’ personal interests, listen to what students say, know them very well, believe they can do well in school” (Daniels and Zemelman 167).  These may seem like basic things teachers should do but sadly there are many who do not. Encouraging students to form peer learning relationships helps them to become more comfortable with one another. They bounce ideas off one another and encourage questioning beyond the traditional “any questions” at the end of class (Daniels and Zemelman 172).  Encouraging students to ask more questions is one of the key tools to achieve higher level thinking.

We need to make learning meaningful for our students. Daniels and Zemelman notes that we need to not tell students how they’ll use these skills “later” but make them matter now (169). The students who did the Fast Food Nation project were invested in their learning because it was meaningful and it was something they could use and relate to now. If we can make the concepts relevant now chances are they will retain the information better. 

As always, I learned a lot from these chapters.  The big question I am usually left with is where do I find the time?  In a short class period where do I find time to hold “class meetings” and one-on-one meetings?  I get somewhat overwhelmed by ALL the ideas but I highlight and note, planning to refer back and implement some of these great ideas in my lessons.

This picture seemed to sum up Chapters 5 & 7 perfectly! We help students focus on meaningful learning, ask questions and collaborate with their peers.  Learning achieved!

The Other Voice

Last week we had the opportunity to interview a panel of parents.  Quickly, we were able to see a theme...COMMUNICATION.  Parents just want to know what's going on! We are the first line of defense, we need to keep the parents up to speed about what is happening with their child.  It really resonated in me when someone said that we were like their second parents. Totally makes sense!  

As a parent, I know how important it is to be in communication with my kids' teachers.  Usually I need to be the one to reach out.  More often than not, if I do get an e-mail it's because there is a problem or a project.  I usually don't get a "great day" e-mail.  I will say there have been occasions that I did get a happy note.  This year has been a trying one for my middle schooler.  One day he came home with a note from his Geography teacher letting me know what a great day he had.  She said she didn't want to always send home the negative stuff.  We should be aware of when he is also doing a great job.  Teachers that do that are few and far between but it meant a lot to me and I know it meant a lot to my son.  So, when we discussed calling a few parents a day just to let them know how their kids were doing, I thought it was a great idea.  It is definitely something to make a priority.  We don't always want to be the bearer of bad news.

Over the past few weeks we have talked a lot about getting to know the students, forming relationships with them to be able to know how to teach them.  Forming relationships with the parents is just as important.  These are their kids and they know them better than we do.  Not every student is going to be willing to fill out our Interest Inventory or open up to us.  Talking to the parents may help with that; perhaps they can give us some ideas to help us connect with them.  Moving forward we should team up with the parents to make sure we are teaching their child as best as we can.  We can offer them support so they can reinforce what we are doing at home.  

I found this picture and I thought it was a perfect depiction of what works.  You'll notice that in the center it says, "Connect."  Connect with the students, connect with the parents, if we do this we will be one step closer to becoming the successful teachers we long to be.

Welcome to Central Falls

Although it was a cold, wet day, I was able to visit many places in my scavenger hunt through Central Falls.  Elizabeth, Jodi and I started our journey at the Adams Public Library.  The Library was closed due to the weather but there were many flyers posted of activities for families and kids to do on winter break.  I loved that they were having Superhero day on the Friday of school vacation.  I was able to find on their website that Adams library has been open since 1910.  Due to the city’s financial crisis the library closed for a brief time in 2011 but reopened because of a group of volunteers who stepped up to run it.  It is so nice to see that in this struggling city there is still a value placed on having a library.

I checked out the schools online and found that Central Falls has 1 early learning center, 4 public elementary schools, 1 public middle school and 1 high school.  There are also 2 charter schools and 1 private school, which start at Pre-K and go to 8^th.  We came across the private school on our journey.  It is St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Academy, featured here.  While I am happy there are many options for students at the Elementary level, it puts a lot of pressure on the high school to perform since that is the only option for many of these families.  With a 90% poverty rate, I highly doubt many students are able to attend private schools.  When I took FNED at CCRI I was able to visit Segue Institute for Learning, one of the charter schools in Central Falls.  At that time, they had a goal to expand their school through high school.  Clearly that hasn’t happened yet but being at CFHS for this class has shown me that they are working hard to meet the needs of the students and give them the best education possible.

One thing that struck me in our travels, were the number of polite drivers in Central Falls.  In Rhode Island, which has a reputation for impatient drivers, it was nice to see people who were not fueled by road rage.  People would let me go and did not get all hot and bothered when I was driving 20mph because I had no idea where I was going.  The city is definitely very small.  We needed to be aware to not go too far left or right leading us into either Pawtucket or Lincoln. 

Our last stop was the fire station.  We had the opportunity to speak with Lt. G. who gave us quite a bit of information about the fire department and the city.  He told us their station is responsible for the whole city.  Although it is only 1 square mile, there are still many emergencies that needed to be tended to, especially with the poverty rate so high.  There could be up to 10 people living in an apartment.  Also, since the unemployment rate is so high, there are more people home during the day so if a fire occurs it is detrimental they check for people who may be trapped. People are using toaster oven with the doors off to heat their apartments.  They are also running extension cords to other tenement houses when the electricity is shut off.  The firefighters try to educate them about the dangers of this but people are just trying to survive.  

Unfortunately, the fire station has limited response due to the bankruptcy.  They are down one engine and therefore, get quickly inundated. They need to rely on Pawtucket, Lincoln, and Cumberland to come out and help them.  In addition to the engine shortage, they only have one rescue.  This becomes problematic when they have multiple emergencies at one time.  Again, they rely on the surrounding cities but the time it takes to get to the call is longer.  The other problem they have is the age of their equipment.  The engines and rescue are old.  Thankfully many of them are handy so they do what they can.  In the meantime, Lt. G works to try and get grant funding to help out.    

Our scavenger hunt was very informative.  I was especially happy to be able to talk to Lt. G.  I think he really provided us with so much information about the city and the population.  I hope that each of us found something different so we can all learn more about this small piece of Rhode Island.