Time Flies...

Well, I was hoping that my classes last semester would provide blogging inspiration but instead it left me buried in paperwork and exams. Has it really been six months since I’ve written a blog?!?! This semester is not panning out to be much different, however I will say that my classes are much more meaningful now that I can actually relate them to my career.
In my brief but glorious 3 week break from classes I read Debbie Miller’s book, Reading with Meaning. The books takes the reader through the school year with a class of first graders during their reader’s workshop. Man, was I impressed with what these first grader’s were capable of by the end of the school year! Several student artifacts were presented in the book and, from a developmental perspective, these students seem to be thinking at a much higher cognitive level than is typical of a 7 year old.
Her technique had a strong focus on metacognition and comprehension. She modeled, explicitly, the thinking process of readers and spent a significant amount of time characterizing qualities of readers. These first graders were making insightful inferences and comparisons. They were having thoughtful discussions and (in an unexpectedly abstract manner) making metaphors to describe reading. Below are a couple of quotes provided by her students, one about inferring and one about synthesizing:

“When we infer together, it’s like a wire that connects from my head to someone else’s head, on and on and on, all around the circle.” – Riley (Reading with Meaning, Miller, 2002)

“Synthesizing is like putting a puzzle together. You have to sort out your thinking and put it in the right place.”- Cory (Reading with Meaning, Miller, 2002)

Maybe its lack of experience spending enough time with first graders, but that seems highly philosophical for that age in my mind. It’s amazing to me that her method instilled such a deep understanding not just of the texts but of the process, the strategies which they will probably be using throughout their academic career. I guess I have become accustomed to expecting reading instruction to first focus on how to read, then to move into comprehension. I think Miller’s approach is brilliant. What resulted was that students became highly motivated to build reading skills.
I recommend this book, although some of the comments on Amazon stated that the book is probably more suited for new teachers. I learned a lot from her technique that I intend to use and will likely be re-reading this book a few times to re-absorb it.

What I Learned in the Crappiest Math Class Ever

How did I ever survive academia without the internet? Its hard to imagine there was a time when this priceless resource was not available.
I have come to appreciate the internet immensely thanks in part to the most expensive, crappiest math class in the entire universe. I have just earned some confidence points because I realize that I single handedly (well, using the internet) taught myself college algebra and geometry over the internet. I wouldn't say that I have made myself into an A student because that is, well, a lie, but I did manage to pass placement exams with flying colors and get by the crappiest math class in the universe with a B.
The unfortunate thing about the crappiest math class in the universe is that it was supposed to teach me how to take very complicated algebraic and critical thinking skills and simplify them so that an elementary student could take from it the basic curricular knowledge required at what ever grade level it may be. I did not get that from this class. If I could write a letter to the author of the textbook (which I might just do that) I would tell him, in a nice way, that he failed miserably at providing the tools necessary to translate difficult mathematical material into fun and understandable material appropriate for a classroom full of young children.
It wasn't all for waste though, I did manage to find some of the most wonderful math resources available in the internet, written by people who know how to turn a difficult concept into something relatable and easy to comprehend- a skill that lies at the core of teaching.
I plan on going through my archives during my winter break and posting some of the websites I have used that have great images and explanations of elementary math topics. I think some of these would be great classroom resources, especially of you have a smart board or monitor projector available for class use. Links to follow soon...

Nerves and Jitters

Last night, when I should have been catching up on endless piles of homework and studying for my impending midterms, I decided to blow it all off and play on the internet- just for a little while. Well, a little while turned into almost two hours once I discovered a video documenting the first year of a new teacher. What an informative, terrifying, motivating and enlightening little piece of cinema that was!
It followed a first year teacher through her new teacher training, planning, first day with students, meeting parents, observations, school at various points in the year, new pregnancy (yes, what a surprise that was for her to have an unexpected pregnancy thrown in there!) It reminded me that no amount of preparation can really calm the nerves and jitters of that first year.
I became so engrossed in her nervousness just watching it that I was relieved when I was able to float back in my body and remember that I still have 2+ more years to prepare for that moment.
This girl seemed like such a good teacher, but she ultimately ended up leaving the profession for a while to stay at home with her baby. There was a lot of talk throughout the film about teacher retention and how many new teachers don’t make it in the field because it just wasn’t what they were expecting. This girl was certainly not disillusioned, in fact she reminded me a lot of myself. She was also fortunate enough to have an extremely supportive school district. I couldn’t believe the extensive support network and resources provided to new teachers. I can only hope I am so lucky as to have that support my first year!
I just can’t help but wonder why she left teaching though? I suppose that much of it has to do with being a new mother, and maybe that is what gets to me- since I am waiting to have kids myself until after I finish my degree. Will I also feel this way? From my perspective now, I know I need to work in order to help pay the bills, and I have always thought teaching will provide me with much more time with my kids than my current career, since I will have holidays and breaks that coincide with my childrens'schedule. But will this practical thinking get tossed out the window once I hold my own baby for the first time? Maybe age has something to do with it. The girl in this video is only 23, where I am several years older and would like to get moving with my career before its time to retire (and while I still have time to save for retirement!)
And speaking of parenting, I also have a new teaching anxiety- parents. I am sure that as I get to know some of the parents, this anxiety will dissolve a bit, but as district taxpayers, they all will essentially be my boss, and on top of that, the most precious person in their life will be in my care. I don’t know, but I think parental anxieties might trump all my other anxieties at the moment! I am trying to think of some things I could do before starting to teach where I will get some experience communicating with and working with parents in an educational setting. Any suggestions? Would tutoring give me this opportunity? Or maybe volunteering to help out with local school events?
I am glad I stumbled upon this video though; I hope I can find some others like it. It gave my the inside perspective that I am always looking for. If there are any other ELED students reading this, I highly recommend watching this documentary for a very candid representation of what to expect that first year.

Virtual Classrooms

Benefits of online learning:

1. Formulating your own idea- the conceptual understanding of the information being given is not censored or colored in any way by the person teaching it. The student must strive to create their own conclusions.

2. Research skills- Since questions can not be answered simply by asking someone the question, research becomes the medium for finding answers. The student must learn to wade through the plethora of information available to determine what is legitimate and unbiased.

3. Time management skills- Pacing yourself to stay on task and adhere to an abstract schedule requires disciplined use of time.

4. Self Assessment- The student learns to question one’s own understanding of the course content and adjust their focus accordingly. This creates an awareness of the student’s own strengths and weakness and allows for learning to take a meaningful direction.

5. Quality over quantity- Students learning on their own can pace the class according to their own needs as opposed to the classroom environment where classmates understanding or lack of understanding dictate the pace of the course.

Drawbacks of online learning:

1. Autonomy- Hours in a virtual classroom often leave a student feeling lonely and disconnected from the peer-student and teacher-student component to learning.

2. Lack of validation- Validation is an important component to staying on track. Without outside validation, the student may be unaware that their conceptual understanding is not on track.

3. Inside the box thinking- Sometimes students need a fresh, objective explanation to see outside of a self imposed box of thinking in order to pass on to a higher level of thinking.

4. Monotony- Online learning is hard to differentiate. Students must devise their own creative use of content in order to appeal to Multiple Intelligences.

5. Distractions- It is easy to allow distractions to break the pace of learning. In a traditional classroom setting, the student is committed to a time and place devoted to the study of course content. In a non-traditional setting, the student has to manufacture an environment and maintain a schedule despite many opportunities to fall of task.

Although elementary school is not likely to ever take place in a virtual classroom, it is likely that many students will, at some point in the educational process, be exposed to the virtual classroom, so it is important to find ways to incorporate some of the skills necessary for success in the virtual classroom in elementary education. Things like research skills, time management, self assessment and creative thinking skills are just some of the things that I want to instill in my students.
Sometimes I wonder, by the time this generation of elementary students reach college, will earning a degree through virtual classes will be the norm? I have seen, in just the past few years, opportunies for online classes, degrees and blended format programs become more readily available and accepted. What does the future hold? It is very likely that some of the skills required to succeed in the virtual classroom will make the difference between a student finishing college or dropping out.
Sometimes I feel inadequate to the challenge of teaching children in this new technology based society, which is still somewhat an unfamiliar world to me. My experience of teaching is going to be so different from my own memories of elementary school teachers. I am sure that many of you feel the same. Other times, I feel like putting off college until later in my life and getting to experience these virtual classrooms for myself has been a blessing in disguise.
For experienced teachers out there, how has the trend toward technology in the elementary classroom changed the way you teach? Has becoming a technology driven classroom been more a challenge or has it made teaching more fun and interesting? I am interested in hearing about your experiences.

A Road Map to Memorization

This book, Strategies for Great Teaching: Maximize Learning Moments by Mark Reardon and Seth Derner, has some really good lesson ideas. I picked it up at my library and I think it’s definitely one I will spend the money on to have as a reference in my own collection. I am only about halfway through, but I already have fallen in love with a lot of the ideas presented
One of the chapters was about using maps. You deliver the instruction and then use the idea of map making as an engaging activity to solidify the information learned in the lesson. During the instruction, students are asked to take notes (the book also really focuses a lot of attention on teaching effective note taking techniques). Then, when introducing the activity, you show and discuss some examples of different kinds of maps and how they might be used in the context of the lesson. They also suggest that you have a self prepared one to show as an example. Then students can work alone or in groups to create a map which organizes and expresses the concepts learned in the lesson in a memorable format that also creates a visual organizer for the material. It could be a road map, a treasure map, a world map, an agricultural map, ect. The possibilities are only limited by the imagination. I immediately thought of game boards when I read this and I remembered in high school a project where we had to create a board game which was similar. I also thought of Candy Land, Life and a game I used to play when I was a kid called The Unknown Game. All of the boards for these games were a kind of map. They had specific destinations and paths to follow. There were some shortcuts and/or bridges connecting destinations. I thought that one way I could personalize this idea of making a map would be to create a foundational map, much like the game boards mentioned, which have standard routes, bridges connecting locations and shortcuts, and have the kids fill in the information from their notes using that foundational map. I thought that this might help teach them how to organize their own notes, how to make connections between material to find ways that ideas can be “bridged” together and how to recognize when shortcuts are appropriate. I also like the original concept of having them come up with their own map, plus the maps could then be used for a bulletin board display. I definitely will start to look at maps in a different way and hopefully begin to brain storm some different ways they can be used in lessons.
I obviously don’t have to plan lessons yet, but I do think about it a lot. Partly because I know that sometimes lessons need to be planned “on the fly” and because I know that planning an effective and engaging lesson might come second nature to a lot of experienced teachers, but when I am student teaching, and a new teacher, and when I am being observed the first few times, I am going to be thankful that I did a lot of research when I had the opportunity to and I might even appreciate the innocent and creative perspective I offered myself back when I didn’t worry about things like standards and just had ideas for the sake of thinking they sounded cool. Then, once I do learn the required curriculum and standards, I will have some idea on where I can apply all these fun activities!

An Abstraction of "Paragraph"

"I didn't have the vocabulary to say "paragraph," but I realized that a paragraph was a fence that held words. The words inside a paragraph worked together for a common purpose. They had some specific reason for being inside the same fence. This knowledge delighted me. I began to think of everything in terms of paragraphs. Our reservation was a small paragraph within the United States. My family's house was a paragraph …. Inside our house, each family member existed as a separate paragraph but still had genetics and common experiences to link us. Now, using this logic, I can see my changed family as an essay of seven paragraphs: mother, father, older brother, the deceased sister, my younger twin sisters and our adopted little brother."

This quote was taken from Superman and Me, an essay by Sherman Alexie,which was published in the Los Angeles Times, April 19 1998.

I just loved the way Alexie built upon his concept of a paragraph. As adults, it is hard to put ourselves in the mind of a child. It’s hard to imagine what those first moments of understanding a word, a sentence a paragraph and an entire work of literature feel like. It’s difficult to remember a time when we first put it all together and it became something meaningful.
The exploration of reading by Alexie, who grew up on a Reservation in Spokane, WA, was self lead and built on genuine curiosity in the meaning of the strange lines that covered the pages of his father’s books. I love the abstract thought that went into associating a paragraph with other meaningful groupings in his life. I think this is an excellent example of the kind of thought process I want to aspire to instill in students.

Mathmatical Difficulties

My break is over and school is back on. One of my classes is the second half of a math for elementary school teachers course. This section is also twice as long as the summer section was, so I have been excited that I will have the time to really think about what I am learning and ask myself, “How will I apply this in the classroom?” instead of just flying through in order to test on time.
After one week, my excitement has already begun to wane. I feel massive frustration right now. The content itself is nothing difficult. What causes me problems is the method. I just can’t believe how much math has changed since I originally learned. I keep reverting to old ways, and I can’t seem to internalize the new techniques, even though they are probably much more efficient and easier.
Furthering my frustration is the fact that all the classroom sections of this course are during the day, when I am at my full time job, so I had to take it independent study. I did meet with an instructor to discuss the issues I am having and she basically told me not to worry about if I get the problems right or wrong. It's only about the method, focus on learning the methods to have as a tool for teaching different learners. But how am I supposed to teach it to someone else if I don't understand it myself first?
I’m freaked out right now about teaching math someday. I'm not clear at this point why so much emphasis in this course is placed on using the specific methods outlined in the text. Does the curriculum dictate the specific method that you have to teach, or do teachers have the leeway to teach any method as long as the objectives are accomplished?
I need to find a way to just let go of my preconceived ideas of how to do this and try to put myself in the place of a student learning this for the first time. How would I want the teacher to explain this to me? I even went to the extent of buying a white board so that I could work through it as if I was explaining it to a class; sometimes teaching something helps me understand it better myself.
Letting go of the way I think things should be taught (based on the way it was taught to me) is something I need to work on, its one of my weaknesses and its not going to help me in the classroom at all- especially because the world has changed significantly since I learned, just take technology for example, I didn't learn on computers in elementary school. I need to be prepared to deal with all different kinds of learners and situations.
Maybe a good way to approach methods class is to go through the Multiple Intelligences and determine how I might teach single concept to the different types of learners. Or maybe I should create three or four imaginary students, with different learning challenges, that I can use as a practice model throughout my course. What ever I do, I think I need to place some focus on learning about differentiated instruction to help me to break out of my own patterns of thinking.
What kinds of challenges have you encountered with differentiated instruction in your classrooms?

Inspiration is Any Where You Want it to Be

I’ll admit that I am strangely intrigued by ghosts. I watch every supernatural, ghost hunting show I can find. But recently, I found one that has taught me something about teaching- I can and do find educational opportunity in the strangest places!
I was at the library and came across a DVD of a show called Psychic Kids. Basically, the show is about parents who contact a famous psychic/medium and his psychologist associate because their child claims to be seeing ghosts or having some experiences of a paranormal nature that has been affecting every part of their life and their family’s life and they don’t know where else to turn for help.
Each show takes three families who are in a somewhat geographically similar area, and has them meet at a central location, which also happens to be a “paranormally active” location, for a weekend retreat. The psychologist works with the parents and the kids to help sort out their frustrations and fears and the psychic helps the kids learn how to deal with their sixth sense and confront their fears. All the while, the children are encouraged to form a bond so that they can develop relationships with other kids their age who understand them, since bullying is often a problem for these children among their peers.
I used to think that being a parent instanty made you a good teacher, something that concerned me because I am not yet a parent. But when I watch the parents in this show, confused about what their child is experiencing, frustrated about their inability to “make it better” and desperate for any help they can get, I realize that being a parent and being a teacher are two different things. While they may contribute to some areas of the other, they are essentially different entities.
In this show, the psychic (who can be compared to a teacher) has the unique challenge of setting the children free to explore their sixth sense (new knowledge) in an environment which provides them ample opportunity to interact with their psychic ability (the classroom). The children (students) sometimes let their fear and anxieties take over and they become terrified and want to run (refusal to learn, behavior management problems). The psychic (like the teacher) realizes that the parents, being emotionally attached, may comfort the child rather than give them the push they need to confront their fears and anxieties and move past them and that he/she needs to take on a stricter role which empowers the child rather than removes responsibility.
But most important of all is validation. On the show, once the child moves through their fear, the psychic validates that fear but express pride in their ability to move past it and builds their confidence by focusing on their accomplishment of moving past the fear (reward through positive reinforcement). He always does this with the parents present, which makes the child feel more validated and more confident (having the student present for parent-teacher conferences).
So in a nutshell, what I learned is that as a teacher, I need to remain somewhat emotionally detached so that I can do the difficult job of being tough enough to challenge students to move past their fears and discover their potential. After they complete the challenging task, I need to validate the original fear and follow it up with recognition of accomplishment to make the child realize that some things in life will require that we push ourselves further than we think we can go, but that the rewards are lasting and worthwhile.
I also learned a little something about dealing with parents. On one of the episodes, the parent of one of these children held very strong religious beliefs that conflicted with what the psychic does and caused him serious concerns over whether he could help the child the only way he knows how with out disrespecting her mother’s beliefs. It reminded me that I will likely face parents of different belief systems than myself. Sometimes we have to force ourselves to be the more flexible person, the more open minded person. I have to be prepared to work within the comfort zones of those parents whose cultural beliefs may differ from mine, regardless of what my personal feeling is about that, my professional responsibility is to educate myself on their beliefs and teach that child within those beliefs to the best of my ability.
So there you have it! I have turned my guilty pleasure of watching ghost stories into a rich, educational experience. I no longer have to feel bad about indulging in it (when I probably should be working on homework instead!)

Holistic Element 5- The Most Important Quality Comes From Positive Intention

The official definition of tone (according to the MSN Encarta online dictionary anyway :) is “the general quality or character of something as an indicator of the attitude or view of the person who produced it.” I think it sums up perfectly the idea of what teachers want to convey with the careful planning and setup of their classrooms each year. In therapy, tone refers to the emotional atmosphere of a person or space. Much like teachers preparing their classroom, therapists carefully plan and prepare their space as well. Both have the same purpose, to create a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere in which to accomplish a particular set of goals. These last few posts have represented the thought process that I went through when creating my therapy room and an exploration of how I can use those same ideas in my new career, when I am preparing for my first classroom full of students.
I’ve never viewed anything as being one dimensional when I was a therapist. I always believed that everything was comprised of several layers that work together to create the big picture of an experience. I strived to reach my clients on all those layers so that at least for that moment they would feel that all the aspects of their being were nurtured and respected. I think that is the same thing that teachers want for their students.
The entire train of thought, which was all triggered by a simple statement about using red pen to grade papers, in a book I was reading, reminded me that I need to bring my therapist qualities with me into my teaching career, because all the qualities and knowledge I acquired from that experience can be translated into different areas of life and help enhance my teaching on a different level than the education I am receiving in school now. It adds another layer to my education that I am fortunate to have and another set of tools I can use later- A reminder that no experience is without purpose.

Holistic Element 4: The Art of Mood Manipulation Through Sound

I have been thinking a lot about sounds in the classroom because I have been exposed to mixed views about it. In several books I’ve read, and some blogs, teachers talk about how they play classical music, or relaxation music, in the background of certain classroom activities. Others use active and uplifting music to wake up an under stimulated group. Both these ideas appealed to me.
I remembered how, back in my therapist days, I would very carefully choose the music I would use depending on what type of therapy I was conducting, and/ or the specific client I was seeing. The rhythm and sounds of certain music had a profound effect on the outcome of the session. Some people needed certain music to achieve a level of comfort and relaxation, such as a soft acoustic guitar, Native American flutes or a harpsichord. Sometimes I needed a certain flow or sequence to carry out a specific therapy and would chose music with appropriate movement and fluctuation to mimic the movements and timing of the technique I was using. Sometimes either my self or the client felt anxious or stressed, and required the steady, rhythmic percussion of tribal drums to center oneself. Choosing the right sound became an art that enhanced the outcome of the therapy.
Now, as I attempt to pull experiences from my former career to see how they might apply in my new one, I wonder if sound can be used in a similar fashion to enhance the learning experience. I myself would probably have a tendency to use the same genre of music that I used during my therapy career since I have studied and experienced how the various sounds and vibrations of the music are supposed to effect the listener. I imagine that understanding this could be a useful tool to have in the ‘teacher’s toolbox” for certain days when you just don’t know what else to do to help calm children and get them to focus; or alternatively, how to get them to wake up and participate!
All relaxation music is made with a specific purpose in mind. For instance, percussion sounds are earthy and grounding. In therapy, they are used to bring the mind and the body back into harmony, as we have a tendency to become too much in our head. Soft percussion in the background might help with daydreaming students who can’t seem to focus on the lesson, or might also be good for activities during logic based subjects such as math and science.
Native American flutes and string instruments have a lulling effect. In therapy they are used to induce reflectivity, and disconnection from problems associated with the physical realm, the idea being to connect the person with the bigger picture of life. On days when kids are wired and wild, this type of music playing softly in the background might help calm them down and stimulate intellectual thinking. Also, it might be good music to have playing at the very beginning of the day as children enter the classroom, get situated and start working on their beginning activities- as a method of helping them release any problems that they could be bringing with them from home that morning.
There are also many complex scores of music in this genre that consist of many different instruments and sounds, and fluctuate in intensity but maintain a constant flow from song to song. In therapy, this type of music is used to create a sense of unity and cohesion throughout the entire session. It marks a distinct feel of coming full circle, a beginning, middle, and end. In the classroom, this could be useful during a specific activity that can help fuel creativity and provide a constant sensory indicator to help keep the children on task from beginning to end.
Are any of you already using music or sound to enhance learning? If so, I would love to hear how you use it!

Holistic Element 3- Classroom Color Therapy

In my opinion, color & light are so prominent that I think I could probably write and entire book about all the ways they could be applied to the educational field alone! I never understood, although I can fathom it has something to do with cost and efficiency, why schools always seem to have that horrible overhead fluorescent lighting which is known to cause stress and anxiety. I also will never understand why they don’t build all classrooms with windows. But again, it probably comes down to money and some would probably say that the people who design the buildings don’t really know anything about creating an ideal environment for learning, which is why teachers have to work so hard to create one :)
There are multiple theories about colors, but when I worked in the holistic health field, I was predominantly interested in color as it relates to the stages of development and life force. For the new age familiar, the foundation for this was the chakra system. In this system, color was tied to specific states of beings which people naturally pass through and revisit at certain points in their life and in ideal circumstances, all these elements would be functioning simultaneously and completely in balance- but we don’t live in these ideal circumstances. Behind this theory is the idea that with a trained eye (and maybe a certain intuitive sense) that one could find where the imbalance is and certain various techniques can help bring balance back to that aspect. One of the methods of bringing balance back involves the use of the color associated with that state of being. Here is a brief explanation of what each color relates to and an example of how I think it could apply to the classroom:

• Red- relates to our basic, primal instincts related to survival. Depending on the stage in ones life, these instincts have a tendency to change- something to be considered when using this color in the classroom. The younger the child, the more dependent they are on adults to fulfill basic needs, so this color, for young children, could represent a fulfillment of those needs and provide them with a sense of security and comfort where with older kids, say middle- high school, this color could evoke more aggressive behavior.
  
• Orange- relates to the primary social group- family. The color orange can create a real sense of belonging, but again, age is a factor- too much orange with high school kids, because of their maturity level, could induce a natural instinct to procreate.
  
• Yellow- relates to expanding out into secondary social groups, the confidence to become more independent. This is something positive that I would want to bring into a classroom environment, but too much yellow could make the environment too socially oriented. This is where color usage can get specific. For instance, during a group discussion, having a solid yellow screen saver projecting behind you or using yellow paper for a group activity can help set the mood for class participation and sharing of ideas.
  
• Green- relates to qualities associated with the heart- the capacity to care deeply and feel love and compassion. Green is a good color to use if you have a special area of the classroom designated for children to go and settle disputes. If you have a “time-out” desk, it might be helpful to have a painting or picture taped to the desk that has a lot of greens (and blues which I explain next) for the child to look at while they are taking the time out as these colors calm emotions and encourage healthy communication.
  
• Blue- relates to communication. Blue is a good color to have regardless of the group age since communication is so vital to just about anything.
  
• Indigo (basically a deep purplish blue)- relates to understanding and encourages those “aahaa!” moments where you really “get” the meaning. This color would make a good background for educational bulletin boards, construction paper cutouts to use for math to demonstrate concepts, carpet, or pillow colors for a reading area- to name some ideas I have had.
  
• Violet- relates to wisdom and the acquisition of knowledge. Every classroom should have a generous amount of violet throughout (in my belief).

The possibilities using this system of belief are really only limited by ones own imagination. There are so many ways to apply this, even the color the teacher chooses to wear that day could have a profound effect and the way a certain child reacts on that particular day, or on the group’s ability to concentrate and how well they absorb the lessons. It would be interesting to experiment with this!

Modern Day Considerations

I’ve decided to challenge myself a bit when it comes to literary analyses. Part of my education to be an educator required that I choose a concentration area. As much as I wanted to fill the great need for math and science teachers, humanities has always been my passion and strong suit, so I chose English as my concentration.
I do love my reading and writing, probably in a different way than many others. I have long time been a big fan of the non-fiction genre, as my desire to learn overpowers my desire to escape into a good novel, although I also enjoy the latter. As a result of my obsession with non-fiction reading (and believe me, it goes way, way back- to childhood really) I am not well read in the fiction genre, and less well read in many of the classic junior novels that will likely be part of the curriculum I will someday teach.
I decided that in order to familiarize myself with popular junior novels, despite my lack of time for recreational reading, I will start getting books on CD from my local library and listening to them when I am in the car. While listening to them, I can begin to think about questions I might use in discussions with my students, if I were to teach this book.
I started this yesterday with “The Giver” by Lois Lowry. I am only a few chapters in but I already have some great ideas of critical thinking questions that I might pose to my class. But one thing I didn’t expect was to have all kinds of thoughts regarding the actual experience of listening to audio books as opposed to the experience of reading them. Back when I was in school, cliff notes were the only cheater we had to reduce the work of actually reading a book (now I relish in the thought of reading for homework!) But in this day and age, there are so many new ways for children to access information that I feel it necessary to ask myself, “how would I handle this in my classroom- if children choose to listen to books instead of read them.” It also makes me wonder how teachers are already dealing with this situation.
I can see that there may be both positives and negatives attached to audio books.
The first positive that pops into my mind relates to accommodation for disabled students. If I get to choose a book to use for a lesson, it would be beneficial from an inclusion perspective to choose books which are readily available in audio format.
Another positive would be to utilize the audio format in collaboration with the text to help students integrate the material with both visual and auditory sensory input.
On the negative end, the experience of listening to the audio book tends to color the readers perspective of the characters, much the same as watching a film about a book does. The reader on the audio book adds his/her own voice to the characters and reads in such a way that the listener begins to model the character to match the readers voice, instead of using the tone, imagery and characteristics of each character to create an impression of their own.
Also on the negative end is the affect on technical details, such as becoming more fluent and learning new vocabulary and synthesizing the material, lack of retention and the ability to “space out” or get distracted when not focusing visually on the text.
In the age of technology, there are many other considerations to make when developing lessons and assignments in order to ensure students do not short change their education by using technology as a shortcut. Even reading has become techno-fied (yes, I made that word up).
On the other hand, for teachers, all this technology can be an incredible time saving method of staying fresh and current on the curricular material and obtaining new perspectives and ideas on how to approach discussions with students.

Teacher Moment

Last night as I was reading a book about creating quality lessons, I had a teacher moment. I envisioned myself teaching a literature lesson. We were having a whole class discussion about a book and I was trying to pull examples of themes, found in the book, from my students. I imagined asking one of my students to recall what a theme is and share it with the class. Then I would elaborate on that definition and ask for students to share their thoughts about what themes may be present in the book, as I create a brainstorm model on the board with their answers. I imagined a student responding with a portion of the plot and me replying with appropriate feed back: “that is an excellent observation Jimmy, however rather than a theme, you shared a portion of the plot.” Then I would differentiate the definition of a theme and a plot and suggest we use Jimmy’s plot observation as a platform for building on to find the theme. I would use a visual model of the building blocks of a story, say a pyramid.

I would then use Jimmy’s example (a small fragment of the whole) to find the individual elements involved in that portion of the plot, then as a group, determine what we think the theme to that segment of the story could be. Once I felt the students understood, we would then start brainstorming other themes present in the novel. At the end of the instruction portion, I would encourage any questions and ask students to write the models from the board in their writer’s notebook, as reference for their assignment.
The assignment would be to use the themes present in the story to find a angle in which the story is relatable on a personal level and write about it in their journals. What I would be expecting is identification of the chosen theme, and explanation of why that theme was chosen, 2-3 valid comparisons between the story and the personal experience as it relates to the chosen theme and a conclusion which states at least one valuable insight that the student can grow from that was discovered while analyzing the similarities.
This of course was just an imaginary account of how I might approach a lesson on literary analyses of theme and teach children how they can find deeper meaning within works of literature. This is an example of why it would be great to work with 4th- 8th grade because of the possibilities for more complex lessons and assignments.
Since I haven’t gotten into any methods courses yet and have nothing to go on except some basics on educational theory, I often feel as if my path is blocked by a giant question mark. I have a good general understanding of administrative structure, educational policy, educational style/approaches, theories on teaching diverse learners, inclusion, classroom management, room set up and the general responsibilities of teachers. But vary rarely do I get any sense of what executing any of this is actually like, how does it all come together into a meaningful experience for students? What will I say when I am standing at the front of the room with all those eyeballs focused on me? I really try to put myself in as many imaginary situations as I can but when there is missing knowledge and no understanding of curricular requirements, those teacher moments don’t feel complete. I have so far to go yet, but at least it’s a vision that I can hold and build on, something to bring me closer to closing the gap between theory and practice.

More Great Ideas

Another great idea came from this blogger. To help first graders get in the reading mode, she is taking photocopies of the covers of all the books she reads to them as a group (and has multiple copies of each book in the class library) and hanging the pictures up so that the kids can identify which book it was that they remember and want to try to read on their own. I really loved this idea because children are so visual. They are much more likely to make the connection that “hey, that is that book the teacher read that I like” and then pick up the book themselves.
I also think that this concept can grow with students into a visual card catalogue. The photo copies of the covers can be stored in a binder by author and then have a simple color and or number coding system on the classroom shelf to help students make a visual connection with identifying books by author and title as they will encounter in the real world- libraries and bookstores. Plus it’s a great way to organize a classroom library and keep an inventory of what books have been collected over the years and which are student favorites. A check out system can also be created. Some organizational methods that can be built from this idea:

• Colored dots can be used to indicate reading level, then secondary to the color dot can be a letter/ number system similar to the dewy decimal system.
• A sign out sheet can be used, possibly a simple paper with columns for the week kept in a child’s work folder. Bingo daubers that match the color codes can be used and the number of the book to indicate what the child is taking home for the week.
• Items checked out can also be interwoven with writing lesson plans- ie, children must write an entry in their journal citing their thoughts on a book taken out that week.

There are a lot of benefits in creating a simplified mock library within the classroom other than just encouraging kids to read. It can also serve as an introduction to library skills and as a platform for writing.
There is also a great opportunity for teachers to collaborate on this so that the skills are built upon each year (of course this may once again be my perfect world in my student mind, do most teachers really even have the opportunity [or in some cases probably open mind would be more likely!] to collaborate?) I read about some schools where the teachers seem to work really well to make the transition from each grade smooth, but I imagine that many schools are also not that collaborative in nature. Hmmm, maybe something to consider when I am looking for a job someday.

Virtual Observation

Last night I had a bit of insomnia so I went online to watch some education videos. I love watching anything that puts me right inside the classroom during a lesson plan so that I can observe how the lesson plays out, how the teacher approaches it and what the response is from the students. From these videos, I get some great ideas of lessons that I would like to implement someday.
Since English is my concentration and I look forward to working with young writers, I loved this lesson on “Lifting a Line” using student journals. I am a big proponent of journaling. Maybe that is why I love blogging! A journal is a great way to sort through thoughts, order priorities, track goals and deal with the complexities of life. With respects to writing, it keeps a constant creative flow that can help young writers find meaningful topics from every day experiences. I definitely plan to use journaling a lot during my teaching career. A video posted here shows how to clearly explain the concept of “Lifting a Line” to students. I also like how the teacher pulls something from her own journal which is a bit personal because I think it shows kids that their journal can be a safe outlet for their feelings and that writing can be a therapeutic process as well as a creative process.
Another video I watched last night demonstrated a collaboration of a group combined with the delivery in a game show format. I was impressed with how excited the kids were, literally on the edge of their seat! I also vaguely remember a game like this when I was in elementary school and could relate to the sense of anticipation and excitement that the students are clearly feeling during this lesson. This would be a great game for review prior to a test or to leave for a sub if you know that you will be absent.
I also love seeing the different teachers, how their personalities translate to the classroom, what their techniques and styles look like and how the children respond to them. This teacher (video- "Managing Literacy") has a great style to learn from. I love the rhyming instructions she uses that appeal to children, and the animation in her voice. I also notice that she repeats what she says then asks one of the children to repeat the instructions, but she does this all in a way where they feel like they are helping her rather than being told to do something. She has a very kid friendly character she uses in the classroom and the children are completely fixated on her every word.
The videos really put me in a comfortable frame of mind, where I can see what day to day operations in the classroom are like and how real children react. Not that I don’t learn a lot from all the reading I do, but this gives me a concrete experience to relate to.

Thoughts on a Collaborative Approach

While blog surfing today, I found a link to some free online professional development. I may not be a professional as of yet, but hey, free opportunities to learn right? So I read and learned a bit today about Cooperative and Collaborative learning. This was very interesting to me because I view this approach to learning as fairly new at the elementary level, since the collaborative approach was not as prominent 20-25 years ago when I was in elementary school (at least I don't recall spending much time collaborating with peers.) It makes me wonder if that is why I have an aversion to group work as a college student and why I tend to take the frame of mind, in my current career, that I would rather do things myself than accept the help of others. Effectively, anything which will have my name stamped on it, I want to be in control of. Is this an issue of trust or an inability to work effectively with a team?
I don’t consider myself bad at team work, In fact I usually have a strong role. I participate, I accept other’s ideas with an open mind and am actively involved with the production of a final product I can live with, but is it a final product I am proud of? I have to admit that in most cases usually not.
The information I read on cooperative and collaborative learning stated that this approach teaches children very important skills with respects to working with others, which is essential to success in most employment scenarios, but that teachers should be careful not to rely on this approach more than independent work. One of the points that were made is exactly what bothers me about group work: For some students, particularly detail oriented perfectionists, such as myself, the pressure of the group model may be too much to bear. Interestingly, this is a self inflicted problem. Even in a well balanced group, some students will shoulder more of the responsibility, sometimes that responsibility will be physically doing more work than other participants, other times the responsibility will be psychological, as the student feels less control over their own academic outcomes when placing trust in their peer(s) to perform at the level they would perform at on their own.
Despite these realizations, I am still a supporter of using this approach in the classroom. I think it offers a broad scope of benefits for students to learn life skills as well as critical thinking skills. The key is to know when this type of approach can be most useful.
I asked myself, “Where does a collaborative model work? What disciplines require different types of minds, different ideas, and objective viewpoints to lead to successful outcomes?” My feeling is that collaboration is best suited to the sciences.
Science curriculum is where I see myself using this model most effectively in a classroom experience. It offers an opportunity for students to discover aspects of the world around them and explore them with the input of several difference intelligences. Since we all have a unique perspective of the world around us, there is great potential for students to learn from each other and open their mind to different viewpoints.
I view mathematics as a subject which is best absorbed through visual and tactile learning, where each student works somewhat independently because they need to find their own way of understanding the concepts.
I view reading comprehension and writing as another subject where students are best left to their own thought process as they learn to analyze and question their own understanding of material and apply it literally and metaphorically, all though I do think that sharing completed work is extremely beneficial so that students can see the variety of creative thoughts that can be conceived through literary analysis.
Topics in social studies I believe to be best relayed through a variety of techniques experienced as one large group, whether it be pictures, group discussions, lecture, field trips, or creative interpretations through role playing, art, ect.
I think the most important thing is to utilize several different methods of delivery so that all students feel they have an equal opportunity to let their best characteristics come through. I think it is good also for teachers to attempt to focus on each child individually, at some point, in order to figure out where they best fit in to this model. We might be able to take a child who otherwise would recoil when it comes to a collaborative model, and find a place within that model where they can flourish.
Of course, in the perfect world within in my student mind, I am also assuming that teachers have time and energy to give sufficient attention to these projects. I hope that is the case in the real world, when I finally get there!

Math Shouldn't Make People Want To Quit Trying

In the wake of my days working at the school I feel very sad. I really enjoyed being with the kids and I enjoyed the teachers I worked with. I’m glad that the crunch on my time has eased a bit and I no longer have 14 hour days to contend with, but sad, none the less.
The class that this requirement was for is ending tomorrow and I admit I have checked out, mentally, already. This is only because it took all my energy to complete the requirements that my Math class has suffered miserably and its time I place my focus on that now. I’ve already ruined my Perfect GPA (pardon me while I take a moment to mourn 2 years of hard work:(…….
I couldn’t help it, there were just too many requirements in too short of a time and working full time sometimes makes perfection impossible, especially because I need my job to not only pay bills but also my tuition! As you can tell, this is bothering me immensely and I feel very defensive about it.
This math class in itself is a challenge. They shortened the course to 8 weeks, which I don’t understand. The term is 12 weeks long, so they could have had it go the full 12 weeks and it would have been at least a little more manageable.
It’s a Elementary Math teaching course which focuses on various problem solving techniques and several “algebraic” approaches to elementary arithmetic. Translation- it makes what was once very simple math a complex conundrum to even most adults. All this came from the revelation made by mathematicians that children need to start algebraic thinking earlier in the curriculum and that “rote memorization” of simply how to do math is simply not good enough. It also goes on the premise that teachers need to know how to approach math from various angles in order to help different types of learners understand. The later, I completely agree with. The former, not so much. I guess I don’t see any problem with the way I learned math. It always made practical sense to me. Some of these “algebraic thinking” concepts just seem far too abstract for elementary age children. Maybe I’m slightly old school when it comes to education, but I think that we should be careful about the expectations placed on kids. Education should be challenging, yes, but its counterproductive when it’s challenging beyond the cognitive capabilities of a child. We are at risk of causing them to tune out. I imagine that to children, some of these algebraic concepts may be the equivalent of the average adult attempting to read and understand, say… a study on Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia. Most adults would not be anxious or motivated to keep reading, so why would we expect the same of a child who doesn’t get the material?
I am taking what I can from this class, but inevitably, some of it will be lost on me. I do have to say that I love the Lattice method of addition and multiplication, I like some of the base ten techniques, and I am always a big fan of using pictures and diagrams to sort information. So the class is not a complete loss, there are some helpful new techniques out there I see good use for in my target grades.

I May Be In Over My Head

I started another class this week. It’s a part 1 of the math for elementary schools teachers’ series. I have my schedule very tightly mapped out so that I can get in the 2010 registration for the NLU School of Education, however if I could go back in time I think I would have planned this differently. I only have two courses right now, but they both are in accelerated format because the summer term is only 8 weeks long, rather than the 16 weeks of the fall and winter term. Plus, they don’t offer the math courses at any time when I am able to attend a traditional classroom class, so I had to sign up for Independent Study. I think it would be fine except, whoops! Didn’t know that the only times the teacher is available for guidance during hours that I am not at work happen to be the two nights that I am at my other class. And, there are only two evenings that I can take tests on because of my other class. Unfortunately they don’t give you this information until orientation so it was a bit of a shocker to me. I’m feeling very nervous now.
I am very capable of doing well in math, however it doesn’t come naturally and I have to work very hard at it. It’s too late now to change my schedule so I just have to push through.
When I was doing my placement tests, I was able to refresh my memory on algebra and geometry through the use of several fantastic websites that are available (yet another reason why I love, love, love! the internet.) But I can’t seem to find anything quite appropriate for teaching me how to think like a mathematician. Most of what I am learning is logic and problem solving technique. Once I see how the problem was worked out, it makes perfect sense, but I know that I wouldn’t have come up with that method on my own. I would have re-read and pondered the question until my brain hurt, then started guessing for a half hour until I got an answer that worked. Obviously, I am going to have to learn some better methods to teach my students or they will be a very confused, so I think that this class will be good for me, but I really wish I had planned it better so that I had more time for this first course. Oh well. Now I have to come up ways to help me think like a mathematician. I’m trying to ask myself how I might help students with understanding and approaching word problems. Here are some thoughts I’ve had on this:

A. Use a worksheet format: create a work sheet where each step is broken down and there are questions to guide the student, and spaces to help organize the information in a functional and visual manner.

B. Use manipulatives to help the student visually organize information.

C. Breakdown the word problem word by word, to help identify what the important information is, then deal with each piece of information separately, such as identifying what is unique and can be said about that individual segment. Then determine which techniques can utilize those uniqueness’.

D. Make more complicated word problems easier by substituting the subject with something more relatable to the students to help them grasp the idea (the same way people often use the pizza analogy when dealing with fractions.)

E. Draw pictures that are memorable & meaningful to represent variables (rather than letters).

So my plan, as I am trying to work through the problems for my course, is to use some of these techniques for myself and see if they help. Hopefully I can make it through this term, right now I am feeling the weight of everything. My own fault, though, for not taking care of this when I was young and didn’t have to work or pay bills!

Priceless Resources

One reason that I am benefiting (rather than regretting!) going to college later in my life is that I now have the benefit of the internet as a resource. That is not to say the internet wasn’t around when I finished high school, but it was still a new concept to the public, most businesses were just beginning to advertise websites, so it wasn’t quite the networking resource it is now, and there certainly wasn’t nearly as much information to be found as there is now.
Teacher blogs and websites are some of my favorite places to peruse. Some experienced teacher’s have the best ideas for fun and engaging lessons, like this teacher who uses “Kung-fu Grammer” to teach the rules of punctuation, and this teacher who uses a book club format to get children to explore literature and engage in meaningful conversations about books with peers who are at the same reading level as them. What I love about these ideas is that they are both simple enough for a new teacher to use. I’ve seen some other great lesson plans that I just don’t know if I could pull off as a new teacher because of how meticulous of a process implementing it is. Somehow, I am expecting my first few years to be a bit overwhelming, so simple and effective is key.
Last night, I watched this video on the website that goes with my textbook. I think that this activity, although pretty intricate, would be a good activity for the beginning of the school year to help learn what kind of learner each student is so that I can plan more effective lessons. It uses the Multiple Intelligence theory and allows children to be active and creative. I love the fact that there are ideas in which they have to work, but no concrete rules, so you can provide the framework within which they can explore and come up with their own ideas.

F.A.T. City

We watched The F.A.T. City Workshop in class last night. This wasn’t my first time viewing this film. I can’t even remember what course it was that I watched it in, maybe psychology or ethics, but what I do know is that it was back when I was a Business major and I remember finding it fascinating because of my interest in education (despite the awful '80's hair), but not taking it to heart the way I did last night.
Some of the key lessons from the film that I want to take away for the future, whether or not the child is LD, are:
1. If a child is having difficulty answering a question, don’t push or embarrass them. Take the pressure off and move on to another question and maybe come back to them after they have had a moment to think about their answer. I don’t think that everything comes down to quantity. Sometimes quality is most important and in education quality should be most important, so taking a little extra time to allow a student to digest a question and think about his/her answer should be done.
2. Children who are having difficulty with class material will not be motivated by a prize. If I notice that the child is having problems, I just make a mental note and not put them on the spot. I can discuss it with him/her in private and help. Trying to get them to answer using material gain isn't helping.
3. The true definition of fair is that “every one gets what they need.” That’s just a good piece of info for anyone.
4. Use positive reinforcement- make a big deal about a right answer or a strong attempt rather than making a point of letting everyone know the child was wrong, which leads to…
5. Don’t purposely embarrass kids in front of their peers. Especially if LD is involved, pointing out their weaknesses is only going to cause them to shut out more and try less. As adults, we don't appreciate public humiliation, why should we think a child is any different.

I think a lot of these points are already behaviors that teachers are taught to avoid, alot has changed in education since then. I think back when the film was made, this type of treatment was far more common than now, but considering that part of my education was recieved back then, its still a good idea for me to consciously make the attempt to not revert to these behaviors which may be part of my psychological conditioning from my own childhood.