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.