Skipping to Day 30: New Beginnings

So... 19/30 isn't awful... (it's more than I blogged in the past five years, so growth? Yay!?)

This past week has been full of the wonderful and awful surprises that come with working in education, so my ability to be truly reflective was overtaken by the desire to keep my head above water. I keep going back to the thing I wrote in one of my first entries, that true growth happens in difficulty. So I'm really growing right now.

This last question asks us to reveal what we might do if we weren't afraid. I'm generally not afraid of too much - maybe I'm most afraid of getting off schedule with school stuff. I don't like to be behind on grading (which I am right now), I don't like to not have a plan for where we are going, I don't like feeling like I'm very behind. So if I weren't afraid of that... I might go off script for a bit. My students had a Socratic Seminar a couple weeks ago - around 80 minutes of just my students talking (self-moderated) about the reading and the ideas that stemmed from it. If I weren't afraid of being behind on all of the things my students need to know, I would have more entirely-student led classes. We would discuss what they wanted to, and I wouldn't have to worry about AP or ACT scores, and we would just refine our thoughts and argumentation skills.

What would Socrates say about all of our testing? What would he have done if he hadn't been afraid? (Assuming he was ever afraid of anything... or would admit to it.)

Day Eighteen: Stand-up Comedy

Being a teacher is like being a stand-up comedian for an audience that almost never gets your jokes.

Day Seventeen: We've always done it this way...

It's easy to say that money is the biggest issue facing education, but I think it's more than that. It's resources, it's time, it's maintaining the will to keep going in a system that is rigidly stuck in a world of its own. I know I've already talked about this a bit, but I think our system's inability to change (and part of that is money) is the biggest issue. "We've always done it this way" is killing us.

Day Sixteen: Super Speedy Scoring

If I had a superpower, it would be the ability to grade or score work with rapid-fire speed. This sounds like a stupid power (maybe my super power is to slow down time or to speed up my reading and writing, like to super-human speeds), but I've been thinking about ways to get effective feedback to my kids as quickly as possible, and this sounds like a good option.

This comes from this post that I read recently on Edutopia on providing quality feedback, as well as the question we asked "what is meaningful feedback and are you good at giving that feedback to your students?" I have always seen this as one of my weaknesses as a teacher, and I think it's because of my perfectionist nature (see my last post). I want to give the BEST feedback possible, and as personalized as possible, and as understandable as possible. Which is just not possible 100% of the time.

So if I could be a super-speedy scorer, part of my issues would be solved. I could score quickly and then spend more time letting kids know what those scores mean for their future work and growth. This will someday be solved by the App I will create for my classes, so then my answer to this question will change: probably to something like "the ability to fly" or "the ability to know when they are messaging friends with their iPads instead of looking up information for class."

Day Fifteen: Compassion/The Struggle is Real

So I have this one student who refuses to turn in work. He is in my AP Lang class, and he has expressed this anxiety of submitting anything in to me because "it's not perfect yet." And I tell him, it doesn't need to be, I just need to see that he's on the right track.

I've had this blog post partially composed for five days now, and I didn't want to click publish because I didn't have the time to make it perfect yet... Which brings me to my biggest strength as an educator:  compassion. I don't mean that I feel bad about the amount of work assigned and I just let them slide by; it means that I totally get the struggle. This is difficult. I first thought about this idea of compassion when I was reading The Elements of Teaching by Banner and Cannon, and the chapter "Compassion" was mine to use to lead a class discussion. While the entire book covers other elements of teaching that are important (the other two elements that I think are my strengths are "Learning" and "Imagination") this chapter came with one very specific warning:

"Anyone contemplating teaching as a profession should consider compassion as a measure of suitability. The physical and emotional toll exacted by teaching will be too much for those lacking it... Those who experience difficulty in accepting the place of compassion in the classroom, who resist the idea of sympathetic emotions, or who prefer their working lives to be exclusively intellectual should avoid teaching altogether and probably consider devoting themselves to less demanding occupations, such as politics or crime" (89).

It is the only time in that book where they discuss any one element as vital - all of the others had ways to work on each element, but the element "compassion" was listed as a necessity already established in our personalities. This doesn't mean we dumb down anything out of pity; we don't change anything our students need, but we meet them where they are. We can acknowledge that the struggle is real, and help our students move from the struggle to work on that skill. The inability to do this (or the inability to see the value in compassion) is detrimental to our effectiveness as teachers.


And this blog post is far from perfect, or what I really wanted to say, but I'm going to click publish because I need to model this struggle for that one student.

Day Fourteen: Feedback

Feedback for learning is anytime I can help a student see where they are in relation to where they need to be, and how to help them get to there.

I am good at this sometimes. The problem with giving effective feedback is that it takes a ton of time (and I only teach 3 classes - I can't imagine what the load of work looks like for my colleagues with 6). Rubrics are effective, but especially when it comes to elements of writing styles and crafting a voice - this takes time and care to develop. And this is where I spend most of my time when commenting on student work.

Sometimes this is reduced to one last thought at the end of their writing - one or two things I notice that could be improved. I know that is better than nothing, but I like to look at their writing as a dialogue that I need to participate in.

Day Thirteen: Wordles

I use a lot of technology in my classroom, and I could always use more... but to answer this question I'm going to talk about how I use Wordle in my classes. Wordle is a word cloud generator that will take any text you put in (including the URL to a blog) and spit out a word cloud of the most commonly-used words.

I use this as a pre-reading activity. The larger a word is, the more used it is in the book or article or chapter. Based on the words on this Wordle, what can be guess about what we are about to read? What might the main themes be?

I also use it as a way to gauge students' thinking about a subject prior to and after a unit. Have each student write 100 words (or 200) answering the essential question for the unit: my current unit's question is "To what extent does school achieve the goals for a true education?" Comparing the answers before and after usually reveal new ideas and texts that were not in the first Wordle. It's a cool thing to show the class, so that they can see the shift in their own thinking.


You're welcome! (And thank you, Blogosphere, for all of your suggestions!)

Day Twelve: My Five Year Plan

In the next five years, my teaching will be much better - isn't that everyone's hope? I will use technology that I haven't even heard of yet; my students will have options to prove mastery that I haven't even thought of; I will be able to collaborate with teachers who are currently unavailable to me. I will be more knowledgeable of my content, as well as how to teach it.

In the next five years, I will have created competencies with my colleagues to shape our curriculum. My students will be allowed to move from my class and into another based on what they know, not based on how long they have spent in my room. My role will begin to shift from "all knowing knower of words and things" to "guide of words and things." I've already made this shift, many of my students are still shocked when I say things like "I don't know, let's look it up." My students will know that my classroom is a place to discover things and become better at words and things, not to just pass a test.

Day Eleven: Zero Hour

My favorite part of the school day is the thirty minutes before school begins. Part of this is because I love the idea of having a new day to start something. Part of it is because I have a really great group of students who like to visit me and tell me all about their shenanigans. And part of it is because I am a morning person - almost annoyingly so.  I would teach a 6am class if they let me, and I would be happy about it.


#sorrynotsorry

Day Ten: Facts and Things

Share five random facts about yourself.
- I love chocolate in my ice cream, but not chocolate ice cream.
- I work in the same school district where I attended school
- I have lived in Europe and Asia
- I taught EFL in both of those places (different age-groups)
- I taught elementary EFL for awhile, and that is when I learned that I probably shouldn't be an elementary school teacher.

Share four things from your bucket list.
- Live in/teach in New York or South Dakota (I know. Ask me, because I'd have to explain parts of this...)
- Walk the Camino de Santiago
- Go to Antarctica (I tried getting a job there as a dishwasher, and I didn't have enough experience :(...)
- Create a teacher prep program that I can help lead while also staying in a school as a teacher.

Share three things that you hope for this year, as a “person” or an educator.
- I hope to find a good balance between the two sides of my job,
- I hope to find a good balance between the entirety of my job and my "life,"
- I hope that my students can feel open and honest with me about their lives and their academic growth.

Share two things that have made you laugh or cry as an educator.
- Laugh: I had a student tell me (and the entire class) that the reason he was tearing up was because "my left testicle was stuck to my leg, and when I stood up it ripped off." Admit it, you're laughing right now just reading that. I also cried because I laughed so hard.
- Cry: I tell my students that if they submit work with any "text speak" (ru ok, u know, idk...) that I will return their papers drenched in my tears. I should cry more often to make that threat true (I sometimes sprinkle it with some water).

Share one thing you wish more people knew about you.
I know how to knit. Like, really, really well. 

Day Nine: Writing at last

My biggest teaching accomplishment that nobody knows about (until right now, before I say it, here on this blog) is that in the middle of September, after being three days behind, and after not writing for years, I am now caught up with the Reflective Teaching Blogging Challenge. This calls for celebration. First of all, I had forgotten how much I like typing out all of my thoughts for the wide world to see. Second, it's going to be interesting to see how I change this year. And third, did I mention it's the middle-ish of September? Seriously, this is an accomplishment.

I mentioned in my first blog post that this is one of ten blogs I had on here (I found a way to remove the blogs that I don't intend to use again, or that don't really serve any purpose anymore), but it had been almost five years since I had engaged in any sort of consistent blogging. Prior to that I had a blog, in some shape or form, for the previous... six years or so? And before that I wrote in notebooks, and more notebooks. Each notebook marking a time of writing - from my days when I would just write down what happened to me, to the notebook that starts with a page full of random words that I would then write about on the following pages. There is even a notebook where I began to edit and compile the best of these writings (I was already planning on having a "best of" book, apparently). Writing was a consistent part of my life, and then it wasn't anymore.

I had about five years of radio-silence between my thoughts and paper (or screen). Every once in awhile I'd start to write something, but it felt forced and awkward. I started to doubt whether my thoughts really belonged in that journal. I would get hung up on different notebooks - is that one too fancy? Why do I want that notebook? What if I want to draw on the outside? That color won't work. It's a spiral notebook, and I hate spiral notebooks. Are the pages too thin? I'm tired of writing on that kind of paper. What kind of pen should I use? That blog layout is not pretty, what if someone actually reads this? Wouldn't that be awful? What should the first post say? Should I write on that first page. or leave it blank for some brilliant title, yet to be discovered? And then I just wouldn't write because choosing a notebook or a blog or a topic was just too overwhelming, and there was just too much television to watch.

And then I started this up again, and things are coming out at least somewhat intelligently, and I'm not hung up on the blog layout, or my thoughts being brilliant. The way I'm hoping my students will write is something I'm finally modeling again, and that is something I'm happy about. I can tell them that I'm working on this too. I can show them that I have a place where I blurt out my thoughts (but in a way that supports good digital-citizenship) and that writing does not need to be perfect, or pretty, but that it does need to happen - even if it's been awhile.

_______________
A serendipitous reading:

After starting this blog and reflecting on my time not writing, I read this. It's a short piece on one writer's experience with not writing; suddenly I realized I was reading my own experience... It's interesting and worth a read, as are most things I've read on Opinionator.

Day Eight: A Pencil Sharpener

Today's prompt: What's in your desk drawer, and what can you infer from its contents?

Literally, there's just a blue pencil sharpener. That's it.

I think from this you can infer one of two things: that I do not spend a ton of time at this desk, or that the desk drawer is TOO SMALL.

It's too small. The reason I don't have much in this desk drawer is because I have two places where I live this year - in the office and in my classroom. My classroom drawer has an assortment of whiteboard markers that I take and hide until I need them (and the supply room is out). It's like storing food in my cave before winter - except the cave is the classroom, and winter is "survival mode time" in high school; which, by the way, is exactly when all of the whiteboard makers begin to run out.

So I guess you can also predict that I have all of the markers by November.

Day Seven: Inspiration

This question is difficult because I feel like I can be inspired by all of my colleagues. My entire department is one of my favorite groups of people to work with. Every individual has something to contribute, and we work well together. We get work done, but we have fun (maybe too much fun...).

My most inspirational colleague is a former teacher, and she doesn't teach at my school, but in my district. I read everything she posts on Facebook. I use every piece of advice she ever gave me. Last year I was working with one of her colleagues, and I said "I love her! She's the best." And her colleague's response was "Yep. She makes everyone better."

What a great testament to her work. Let's all go out and be that person who "makes everyone better."

Day Six: A Mentor

A mentor directs me back to the purpose behind all of my actions:  to my students.


As a relatively new teacher, I can remember my mentor experience fairly well (and it was a good one - thanks Rob!). One thing I really appreciated was his ability to anticipate where I might be (mentally) as the year progressed. Suddenly I was in survival mode, and he knew that was where I would probably be at that point in time. I could ask him questions and expect honest and realistic answers. Observations were fair and based on student outcomes, and always had specific ideas on how to help my classes.

If I should ever be a mentor, I hope that I can keep the same focus on the kids.


(This one was a little boring - sorry... I'm working on multiple things at once, and one of them is catching up on these reflections!)

Day Five: My Classroom

I'm going to cheat a little and NOT put a picture of my physical classroom here. I just moved into that room, and I share it with a couple other teachers, so it looks awkward and empty right now... Ideally (if I didn't have to worry about the other two teachers) I would have multilevel desks. OR desks that raise up so that students could stand if they wanted to. It's kind of crazy that we ask kids to sit for so long all for the semblance of a "learning environment" when some of them could really use some time on their feet.

The picture I'm putting on here is from my Schoology classroom. I've been experimenting with different ways to organize this information so that students can clearly see the documents they need. I see a ton of information (and folders, but it's organized with the most recent unit and weeks at the top, so that's good), but what I would like to see is more options for receiving the information. Videos? Maybe something set up like Khan Academy? Can I make it look like that? I'm not sure. I do like Schoology as an LMS, but sometimes I wonder if the future of teaching lies not just in learning how to use technology effectively, but in actually creating different technologies that will support our individual classrooms. Kind of the way different professors make students buy and read their books for class - will the class of the future have apps the professors made specifically for that class?

And now I will go read how to make code so that I can make this app for my classroom of the future.

Day Four: What do you love about teaching?

I love my students. I told my kids a couple days ago that I've never met a stupid student and they all looked at me like I was crazy (and a few of them began to say "even..."). That's when we discussed the idea Ron Ritchart discusses in Intellectual Character, that "intellectual character... basically has to do not with how smart people are but how they invest their intelligence, with what commitment to imagination, evidence, inquiry, fairness, and the like." If those students who make poor choices would put in a fraction of the effort they put into being the class clown into their schoolwork they would pass everything easily; it's just an issue of where they choose to invest their intelligence.

Watching my students understand that concept (and others like it) is really fun. And the conversations we can have when they do finally "get it" are even more rewarding. I love it when a student comes up to me and says "I'm writing an essay for fun about The Fault in our Stars, will you read it when I'm done?" And when that same student says they're just writing it "for fun" I can see how they are applying their learning from my class to their interests and I do my best to not scare them with my excitement. Isn't that transfer of knowledge and competence what we hope for? It doesn't happen as often as I would like it to - but when it does I LOVE my job.

One last thing I love (because there are so many things I love about it, but I'm going to limit myself here) is how creative I am allowed to be as a teacher. No two lessons are the same. I teach three sections of the same class, and for each class it has to be different in some way. I have a set of standards I need to teach - and even a set of texts that I'm limited to by the selections in my school (or Project Gutenberg not that they have their iPads) - but each class takes those texts a different way. Each of those classes will have completely different conversations. Even if I were to teach this class for the next ten years, three sections each year, there is no way I could limit myself to teach any of them in the same way - or expect the same papers or even give them the exact same prompts or questions (after all, we need to respond to current events and keep our curriculum relevant). I love that teaching is an art. It is not a calculation, it is not a perfect science, it is constantly moving, shifting, growing, adapting, reacting: and educators move with each of those swiftly swinging strokes with a shocking amount of agility.

I lied - I have to write one more thing I love about teaching: the teachers. We're a fun group of people.

Day Three: Observations

One area that I would like to improve on this year is in my classroom environment - especially when it comes to student choice and voice. This is going to be a struggle because I am teaching an AP class for the first time and in my efforts to "not screw up" I need to also remember to let go of some of that control (that we all love so much) and let students learn.

I've been listening to the TED: Radio Hour podcast, and I just finished last weeks on "Unstoppable Learning" and I'm still processing how I want to incorporate some of those ideas - but I need to remind myself that students will learn on their own; I need to prepare to be the best facilitator I can be.

Day Two: Technology in the classroom

I love this prompt. It forces us to recognize that there is so much untapped potential in the use of technology in our classrooms.

First, some background info and a rant: I took this summer to really dig into research on different ideas to shape my classroom and found an interesting question (citation to come - I can't remember where I read this nugget) asking us why, with all of the technological advances in the past 20 years, has school remained largely the same? This thought really struck me as important - because it immediately drew attention to the divide between how technology has changed the world, but how it has not changed our classrooms; school looks very similar to the school prior to the era of BYOD. I'm afraid we've ignored many opportunities to truly enhance learning with technology out of fear that students can't handle it, or that they will be too distracted, or that we will have to change the technology in a couple years anyway, because it's always changing (and yes, to all of those, but it does not mean we shouldn't use it). We have made some progress integrating technology, but when I look at how technology has changed the world in the past 20 years, and how school itself has not been as changed by those same advances, I see a huge gap.

Rant over. I promise I won't be this long-winded once I get back into the swing of blogging.

My school is entering its second year of one-to-one iPad implementation. Using this technology has required a learning shift from both teachers and students; we need students to realize that the iPad is a tool for production, not consumption; we need teachers to realize the technology's full potential to assure that learning can happen anytime, anywhere. We've made a lot of progress in the past year, but we still have a lot of work to do to make those goals a reality.


To that end - learning happens anytime, anywhere - I plan on using Twitter in my classes. I want my students to begin to engage in texts from any place, at any time. I hope to show them that they can use Twitter as a method of learning and meaningful collaboration, not just gossip and clever hashtags. I want my students  to shift their thinking about technology from a device for distraction to an invention for inquiry. If they can see how this one piece of social media can be used in a productive way, I hope that they can then transfer that understanding to the other social media sites they currently use, or will use in the future.

Day One: In which the "Reflective Teaching Blogging Challenge" makes me blog again.

If you look over at my profile, you might notice that this is my TENTH blog on Blogger (to be fair, around seven of them are for past classes - now we use Schoology, so I don't need to post stuff here anymore). So hi, again, blog world. I have not done this for reflection, or fame, or fun in years. (I did have some crazy thoughts that my Peace Corps blog would go viral and somebody would make a movie about it. Didn't happen. Whatever, I'm not bitter.) 

So here we go! Day One: Write your goals for the school year. Be as specific or abstract as you'd like to be! 

1. Would it be too easy to say I'd like to survive? Probably. It just feels that way because we're into week three now. However, I do want to be more cognizant of the struggles that I experience, and to apply them to learn something new. I read an idea on The Eagle Rock School* blog this week that "the answers, growth, insight - and ultimately deep learning - often occur in the conflict." So I want to rise above just surviving, to learn and change what I do, and ultimately to change what my students can do in that process. 

 2. I want to be the most organized person my students have ever met. 

3. I hope to teach my students to love reading and writing, but more importantly to love each other and the importance of being kind.

4. I dream of the possibilities for our school and hope to be part of implementing at least one of them in the next year (like, you know, creating a more positive school culture). 

5. To that end, I will go to all the home football games. Unless I'm sick and dying. 

I have more, but we'll start here.

Alright, day one is done... and since I started this a day late, you can look forward to day two very soon. (It's like when The Bachelor airs two episodes in one week; you don't have to wait for the drama! It's coming so soon! You're welcome?) 


*Eagle Rock School is an alternative school in Estes Park, and they do some very interesting things for and with their students. If you like to read about interesting schools - and if you've made it to this blog, I'm assuming you do - you should check them out.