It really works!

Two weeks ago I had just dipped my toes into the world of Twitter. Last night I was finally, totally and completely sold. Twitter works.

In the morning I put a question out to the Twitter world. Not much happened and I tried to actually relax for a bit on summer vacation. Before dinner I happened to check (since I felt I had neglected doing the work I said I would do this summer, with Twitter being a tiny piece) and I had SO MANY responses to my questions!!! And as I started thanking people for their great ideas, conversations started and kept going. I began to build my PLN, build my tribe and feel the power of Twitter.

Later I dove into my second Twitter chat. I at least knew what to expect this time! Chatting with other teachers about A Mindset for Learning (ah-mazing!) gave me new ideas and helped to clarify my vision as to how I can bring joy back into the classroom while helping my students build necessary traits for lifelong learning.

So thank you Twitter. You're changing my PD practices and changing how I can connect with others, in the best interest of my students.

Training for a marathon

I am a runner. I don't go super fast, but three to four times a week I get out and get my miles in. I didn't consider myself a serious runner until I signed up for my first half marathon. Thirteen point one miles. THIRTEEN! I couldn't fathom it, but I knew it was possible. I found a running buddy and roped her into signing up and then we found a plan. We followed the plan religiously and (gasp) ran 13.1 miles and felt great!

Since that first training plan and first half marathon I have run 5 or 7 more (yes I've actually lost track) and tried a few different plans.  Now, instead of fearing the 13 miles I can often be heard saying "It's only 13 miles," or "I'm just heading out for a 7 mile run." The elusive 26.2 marathon is still looming out there but I can't fathom fitting in 40-50 miles the week we go back to school. No way. But I know if I find a training plan I could do it.

Last night I was doing a trail race with my father--my number one running buddy--and it was pretty miserable. The trail race is punishing to begin with, running [&walking] basically up and over the steepest incline I've ever seen TWICE. I haven't been running with a plan lately and I'm wondering if that's what made it not a very fun experience. My heart wasn't in it.
(My father and I running last year...finish strong!)

When I run--especially when its not a fun run--I do a lot of thinking. So rather than thinking up the giant hill ahead I thought about my school year. I want to make this school year amazing! I want to reinvent what I am doing and change the structure of my classroom and my teaching. A big piece of that is Responsive Classroom. I will be taking the class in two weeks and I cannot wait. Most of the reading and learning (inquiry, Amplify, A Mindset for Learning, Purposeful Play, Growing Readers) I have been/will be doing show me that it will be so much easier to implement the changes I picture in a truly Responsive Classroom environment. So at the moment the ideas are all up in the air in my head and I am somewhat hoping that in two weeks things will be a bit more clear...

When it comes to running, hoping doesn't work. Finding and following a plan works. Hoping doesn't work for teaching either.  Of course if I google 'half marathon training plan' I have at least 20 great options. It isn't as easy to google 'how to reinvent your teaching in 6-8 weeks' though. So for my next two weeks I am going to lay out some of my plans and be ready for how it will come together once I add the Responsive Classroom piece.

For now I should head out for a run and start to organize the many thoughts & ideas in my head...

Time constraints

I am constantly feeling like time rules my life. Wake up in time to work out, schedule my days to the hour, get home in time to cook dinner, make sure I have time to read, time to clean (not usually) and a bit of time to spend with my husband too.* I want to make time to read and learn this summer, while also taking time relaxing and having fun, but there doesn't seem to be time to fit it all in. For the first time I am prioritizing time for learning and connecting because I want the upcoming school year to be an amazing one!

Today I was working with other first and second grade teachers and again the topic of time came up. We were working on a writing plan (well being introduced to) and I couldn't figure out where I would find the time. Writing instruction has always been lacking in my classroom, I hate to admit. (My young learners should be writing daily!) With mandated programs and so much being required of me, social studies, science and even writing has slowly slipped through the cracks.

So today I stood up and shared my fears with the group, assistant superintendent included: "I know my students need to write more to become better writers, and I need to provide them with model lessons and mentor texts, but which part of the mandated programs can I eliminate to make the time for writing and writing instruction?" There was a pause but they have an answer for everything and the answer was the I need to incorporate writing with what I am already teaching, and weave it into instruction with math, science and social studies. I do this and have done this in the past, though perhaps not as often as I should.

For nearly 8 years I have continued to ask the people in charge, the people who seem to have all the answers what I should do, where I can find the time. The answer they give makes it seem so simple and that I should just weave together everything I am supposed to teach and make it fluid. I know the reality of the classroom is not that simple and until I meet my students I truly do not know how it will go. For now I will plan on what I know is best for students and make sure I am teaching writing...plus some of the pieces of the mandated program that I know are what my students need in the time we have together.

*Looking back I need to make time to write as well!

So many tools, so little time

I have had a wonderful time in my LitEd with Tech class at UNH this week. I read an AMAZING BOOK (Amplify by Katie Muhtaris and Kristin Ziemke) that has changed how I will teach come September, I tried many new tools and made a list of more to try, and I've started dabbling and learning more about all that Google Apps for Education has to offer me. Monday I will start working thru the modules to become a Google Certified Educator!

This morning I made a new padlet for my students to explore some sites and videos for a animal unit that comes early in the year. It will force me to make sure I am using the technology and helping my students become digital citizens, which I can build on as the year continues.

I was also able to play around with the new Google Sites and am working to upgrade from just a classroom blog to something a bit fancier. After watching a interactive presentation Betsy did with Peardeck I am thinking I can use that in math. I could post a simple addition or subtraction fact that they just have to type the answer to, but a second slide they could draw their thinking/process in solving it.

I want to make this reflection coherent but I think I have finally reached the point that I cannot take any more information in my brain. School ended for me on June 20th and here I am on July 15th, still not having taken a day off from summer work or taking classes for myself. So for now, I unplug and head off to a weekend free of wifi. Monday morning I will be back at it trying to organize my ideas and begin to create a clear vision of what a week of learning about inquiry and a week of learning to incorporate technology looks like when implemented in my first grade classroom.

Vision

I am working to develop a vision of how my school year will pan out. Each group of first graders is different, my team of first grade teachers has changed a bit and our school will be under the guidance of a new principal. For the second year in a row.

Over the course of this summer, just 3 weeks in, I am overflowing with ideas and need to put them down somewhere before I forget them. 
Caution, braindump in process.*


Twitter--I can connect with educators & authors and build my tribe AND connect my class with the world. Twitter chats have already rocked my world.

Padlet/Popplet--I can use these in so many ways. I may create some of my class webs, charts, thinking etc. here so I can print them out as a pdf for everyone to have a copy or for reference to share digitally. I can create one that has images and previewed links to sites and articles for students to begin research within an inquiry. I know my students will come up with so many more ways to use this that I can't even think of now.

Google Apps for Education--I need to explore and learn more. My students have google logins and I want them to become familiar with a few things they can do.

iMovie/Sonic Pics/30 Hands/Explain Everything--There are a ton of apps out there like this that I need to play with and figure out what works best. For now I picture my students using these for digital storytelling and explaining their thinking in math.

Seesaw or Keynote--Have the students cultivate a portfolio of learning to include photos, videos, notes, drawings, and links. This would be great to share with parents, and eventually they could share their learning with their families.

Lego Movie Maker/Stop Motion Studio--I am thinking of delving in with a bit of stop motion movie making, but that may be a year 2 or 3 dream. Baby steps.

Mystery Skype--I MUST do this! We learn a bit about maps in 1st (and sit on a USA rug so they are familiar with the names of states) and I think this would make it more meaningful for the children and would be an amazing way to amplify their learning. They are so ego centric and do not realize how different the world outside their classroom and town is. I want to show them. 

Recording Studio--I want to set one up in the classroom and have students document their thinking in math, their reading fluency, and give them another outlet to have a voice with the greater world.

Blogging--I am thinking of working with the class to build up their digital citizenship by working on a blog. I am not sure what platform to use (Kidblog?) or how we would go about posting. As a class? Give individuals turns?

Book Creator--sometimes the act of publishing the paper book doesn't come to fruition in my room. Perhaps a digital book would work.

I was reading a great blog post [who knows where in the rabbit hole!] about innovators and how they accomplished what they did, and basically they knew what they believed in, stood strong, and worked HARD. This is what I need to do as I prepare for the school year and beyond.


*I would also LOVE for you to add to the braindump by commenting with any ideas or suggestions for how else we can amplify our students learning and inquiry this year!

Happy driving

I love to drive on winding back roads. I don't know if it is because I live in the city at a 4-way stop sign intersection or that my normal commute--or ride to my parents or ride to my MiL's--is 6 miles mostly on one road. Perhaps it is because most tree and field lined curving back roads remind me of driving to my favorite little yellow house in Maine, a place that could only be reached after many hills, twists and turns.

My father can find his way just about anywhere in New England on back roads. He relies partly on memory, partly on landmarks but mostly on dead reckoning. I like to think I have his same knack for navigation by memory and dead reckoning, but I don't exercise it often enough. Today I did.

I turned left instead of right out of the parking lot at UNH. I had taken this trip before after summer classes in years past, with my parents after a hockey game and once with my husband when I got us completely lost. Though the ride wasn't that much different than the alternative, having a curving road WITHOUT a double yellow line made it more relaxing for me. Despite the heat and humidity, I drove with the windows open and enjoyed the fresh air. I didn't end up where I thought I would (missed a left somewhere!) but the clock didn't matter today. I got to where I was going a bit more refreshed than where I had left.

How often can you say your ride home was inspired by a TED Talk?

Discovery Journey

"We learn more, think differently, and do better when we have regular access to others who help us reflect on our craft and discover new opportunities." 

(Muhtaris & Ziemke p 25)

I'm taking a class this week which is completely and unexpectedly exactly what I need right now. At times I feel so secluded in my school surrounded by 30+ staff members, many with teaching experience that exceeds my years on this planet. I am one on a team of eight teachers, and we are teachers with very different styles who do not always collaborate with ease. There are mandates coming down from above and I do not feel that each of these will be what is best for student learning. I want to empower my students to think, to ask questions and to always be curious. I want to change the way things are run, I want to empower the teachers around me, I want to be part of a tribe of teachers doing the same.

Each year I take an inspiring class and I say, "I will do things differently this year! I will change it all to do what is best for students!" But August comes, my enthusiasm has waned and I return to school following directions of which program to teach, and changing just a little thing or two. Reading Amplify by Katie Muhtaris & Kristin Ziemke I am feeling a new enthusiasm that I can carry into the new year. I fee less secluded. This week I joined Twitter and in just two days I feel that I am beginning to connect with other likeminded teachers. But I am also connecting with those who think differently and I look forward to seeing where conversations can go. I know continuing to connect and talk through the summer and far beyond will keep me from falling into old habits. 

This year I have to do it differently. I want to take my day, my week, my year and look at what I can do to empower the students to be constantly curious. I think it will a Discovery Journey to see what I can do, where I can take the students and who I can meet along the way. 

Willingness

“The capacity to learn is a gift; The ability to learn is a skill; The
willingness to learn is a choice.”

― Brian Hebert

I have always been willing to learn, and I have always loved to learn. Now I am tentatively embarking on a journey of documenting my learning and growth. My growth as a learner, my growth as a teacher, my growth as a collaborator, and my growth in ways I do not yet know.

I began embarking on this digital journey by looking for ways to use technology in my classroom. Already I am connecting with teachers and authors and I am excited for where this journey will take me. 

I am excited for all the ways I will learn, grow, and teach.