More Great Reading Moments

Celina, as usual, inspired me to jump on the blog and reflect on what I have read so far this summer. So far my Kindle has been my go to resource for reading, as I can stay up and read as late as I like without complaints!

My first read was the book Well Spoken by Erik Palmer about teaching speaking to all students.

This book caught my eye when I was researching the CCSS in speaking and listening anticipating where we will be going in the fall with our next shift in instruction. Our kids have done a lot of speaking this year, as we chose to work with what they are really good at: TALKING!  We consciously focused on teaching our students how to turn & talk effectively. I quickly noticed a transformation in the way kids communicated with each other. Conversations were more purposeful and students began to add on to their partner's thinking as opposed to simply telling their one-sided point of view. We used more debate in our classroom, as well as building on our work with Arts Impact to help students more effectively express themselves in character.

Well Spoken is about teaching speaking skills and so much more, making it highly relevant for the 21st century classroom. Several things that stuck with me: Effective communication requires building and performing, not unlike reading, writing and skills in math. Speaking requires being mindful of audience, content, organization, using visuals effectively and the way in which you present yourself.  We work on many of these same skills in writing, building effective beginnings and endings, organizing our writing to explain or entertain and viewing our work through the lens of what makes writing interesting to read. When we presented our Passion Projects throughout the year, students also had the opportunity to use visuals and presentation skills, yet from reading Well Spoken I can see some areas where we can help our students to more effectively share their message. Palmer also suggests 6 Traits of effective speaking, otherwise knows as PVLEGS or Poise, Voice, Life, Eye Contact, Gestures and Speed. I saw many connections between these performance needs and building fluency in oral reading, such as expression (Life) and pacing related to what you are reading for effect (Speed).

I can't wait to use these ideas to effectively draw our students into effective communication, not only with speaking but also listening actively for these traits, writing clearly in building essays and speeches, as well as reading with expression and fluency.  When the work connects across more areas, I see my students finding greater relevance in the learning and more meaning in the strategies and ideas. Plus I love finding ways to prepare my students for the uncertain future, as Palmer says, "Now, let me make a radical statement: the mission of education should not be to make students better at school but rather to prepare them for life."

My second read was Who Owns the Learning? Preparing Students for Success in the Digital Age by Alan November, a recommendation I found via Twitter.

 This book pulled me in with thinking about the digital age and how students can be helped to take their learning on a larger scale. It speaks to a Digital Learning Farm model of instruction where students are doing authentic work with purpose, working as tutorial designers, scribes, researchers, and global communicators and collaborators. The model reframes the educational structure by increasing autonomy for students, publishing student work to a global audience, and creating a community of contribution within the classroom. November sees technology as a "transformational tool to change the culture of teaching and learning" not just pushing in lots of technology where it just becomes the "thousand dollar pencil". The significant take away was the shift in control, as November states, "Much of what used to be teacher directed in the traditional model is powered by students in the Digital Learning Farm model." This so fits my thinking about education, the more that students have the opportunity to direct their learning, the more they are engaged with the learning itself. ~Ann

Thinking Ahead

Now that summer is in full swing (and even the weather is cooperating with 84 degrees in the PNW) both Celina and I are reflecting and thinking over where we go from here.  We are mulling over the possibilities for next year.  What worked?  What do we want more of?  What did we learn?  Where do we want to go and grow?  It is probably typical that just a chat about something mundane (the schedule) has us talking for an hour about what we want to see more of in our classroom next year.  So, a top five of our ideas, so far. . .

Do You Carousel With Your Students?

Well, I’m sure everyone has heard that Ann and I have the best dance moves around.  Seriously, how could you not know about them when our students’ are shouting about our insanely cool moves from the rooftops!  Thanks to our students’ endless encouragement and amazing growth we show no shame as we frequently dance our socks off to celebrate their progress.  We have perfected some pretty interesting dance moves this year, including the Dougie and some kickback moves from the 90s.  The choreographed routine we are the most proud of, though, is the Carousel.

The Carousel is an instructional strategy we have developed throughout the year that ties to the Perfect Storm, our philosophical approach behind the development of our 3/4/5 Multiage Program.  This “dance of the minds” is an interactive experience that addresses the needs of all 50 individuals within our classroom, while focusing on a particular topic or content strand. 

The Science Experience

Science inquiry through a Project-Based Learning approach is not a new concept, but the idea of tackling it in a multiage experience was new for Celina and me this year.  We approached it as we do any teaching and learning in our classroom through a lens of questions, not unlike the inquiry process:

1.       Students first: What would they need? We have three different grade levels that need high interest and engaging opportunities to build their learning.  They learn best through an active approach to acquiring knowledge, where they have ownership and are inspired.  Many also benefit greatly by building their social skills through interacting and conversing with others along the learning path.

2.       Standards:  Within the Earth Space Science strand there are standards in our state for grades 2-3 and 4-5.  Starting with the students and using the standards as a focus, the questions become around connections.  How could these standards connect to make a cohesive WHOLE to enhance the learning of all 3 groups? 

3.       Curriculum: What could we use to meet the needs of students and the expectations of standards?  Our district kits are big on process and thin on content, and in some cases the activities only connect tenuously to the standard they are supposed to be teaching.  Plus Celina and I feel to make strong connections the content needs to also be integrated across the content areas with authentic reading, writing, communicating, evaluating and thinking skills, just as the Common Core states reading and writing should be used to promote learning of the content areas.

The Perfect Storm: Creating a 21st Century Learning Environment

Over a decade has passed in the 21st  Century and technology continues to advance at an unpredictable rate. Conversations are occurring everyday regarding ideas, strategies and theoretical approaches for teaching and learning as we move forward in this digital age.  But the challenge is trying to keep up with and integrate all the amazing approaches for creating a student-centered learning environment.  

Back in June 2011, Ann Ottmar and I took on an exhilarating task: create a 3/4/5 Multiage Program that meshed our school district endeavors, PLC Goals, and 21 st Century Skills.  We worked together closely over the summer and thought deeply on how to communicate our research and perspective with our students, parents, colleagues, and community members.   Clearly we understood that visuals would be the way to go, but we took it one step further to create a 3D model within our classroom.  This giant display explains how we merge expected state standards, higher-level thinking, and the affective domain within our multiage community.  Our over-arching goal is to essentially empower students by providing them with a direct role in the learning process and explaining to them the key elements in education.  And so begins our metaphor of “The Perfect Storm,” a synthesis of elements for student success. 

And They Inspired Us Again

The mantra "Just ask the kids!" is a favorite of our instructional coach.  She inspired Ann and I with these words many times last year. Their voices dynamically changed our practice by providing truth and motivation. 

Ann and I have continued to make this our goal this year.  We provide our students ample opportunity to assist us in creating, tweaking, and redefining our Student Learning Community every day.  They know themselves as learners very well and can help us understand what is working and what is not.

Today we shared with them additions to our Metaphor for "Creating a 21st Learning Community," before we officially post it.  WOW!  Their reflections and ideas were amazing, causing us to laugh, tear up, hug, dance, smile, etc.  They have been an intregal part of creating our program- they are essentially the CORE, or essence if you will- so their opinions, criticism, and thoughts are what we seek out first and foremost.  The depth of their thinking, their expressive voices, their dedication to the process- that is what inspires us to keep processing, researching, and believing.

Have you asked your students to reflect and provide you with feedback lately?  I am so glad we did today. Their words have stuck with us and proven that we are traveling the right path, making the right choices, and empowering them with the right skills... thinking, trusting, collaborating, respecting, and celebrating.
~Celina

Shift #3: Cultivate the 5 Minds

In reading Chapter 1 of 21st  Century Skills: Rethinking How Students Learn, Ann and I were introduced to Gardner’s 5 Minds for the Future.  We were inspired by the depth of each mind, so much so that I had to purchase his book (2008).  But we did need time to process and find relevance in Gardner’s words in the lives of our students and our own selves.  Then when Ann and I began our mind-shift reflections we went back to reread, immediately calling each other with many AH-HAs that excited us.  We began to see how the 5 Minds fit into education, our multiage program, and our personalized learning approach, as well as our own lives.

How a Multiage Model Made it Possible to Meet 21st Century Goals

Multiage classrooms are not new in the world of education; they have existed from way back into the one room schoolhouse days and open concept schools of the 1970’s. Yet when we accepted the position of teaching a 3-4-5 multiage classroom last year, many questions quickly arose. How would three different grades be served? How could the various ranges in academics and social-emotional needs be handled? Would these students receive the expected district curriculum? Would they be ready for the next grade? Why were we pursuing this idea? Because there would be three different grades within our two rooms it quickly became apparent that the traditional factory model of education was not going to work. A multiage experience is more like what students will face in their adult world, so why was the idea so hard to grasp? Many of the questions had centered on the curriculum and materials that students learn in school. To us though the question was no longer about WHAT to teach, but HOW to teach it? Asking this question led my teaching partner Celina and me down an entirely new path.

Shift #2: Teach Less, Learn More!

Teach Less, Learn More! is the educational framework Singapore developed to meet the demands of the 21st century. This chapter, within 21st Century Skills:  Rethinking How Students Learn, resonated with us because it is necessary and important that we face the reality in which our students and children are living, and it generates the change through the work of PLC teams. The world is a developing place and in order for us to best prepare students we must recognize this reality, rethink what we do and how we do it, and redirect our work into creating a model that engages students effectively. Communication and development within each PLC can make this a reality. Fogarty and Pete (2010) explain, "This vision is the frame and the fuel for the conversation within the school system's PLCs. What begin as ordinary conversations among colleagues evolve into practical missions for school teams" (p. 114). PLC efforts must generate a system wide shift in perspective, a call to action.  Understanding this perspective, the immense collective talent of each PLC team can forge ahead through the 5 R’s of recognize, rethink, redirect, re-engage, and re-envision, thereby regenerating education for the 21st century. Fogarty and Pete (2010) state, “The change process is about evolutionary thinking, not revolutionary thinking, and it all begins with these critical collaborative conversations” (p. 101). So what does it mean to Teach Less, Learn More? Well, read on to view my synthesis of this model:

21st Century Learning: Shifts in our Thinking... Shift #1-RESEARCH IS CRUCIAL

Education is constantly in a mode of change.  We all know the pattern:  strategies, philosophies, ideas, etc. come and go and then they come around again and again. This spiraling effect, though, has truly changed.  The technology that exists today was never part of the equation before.  Educators have entered a new era where time is of the essence, and an innovative way of thinking is necessary.  We can only control how we move forward, and on this journey every second counts.

Digital Literacy

This school year I set out with several personal growth areas:  Science, Brain-based Learning, Student Book Clubs, and Formative Assessment.  I can proudly say that I am making strong gains in all 4 areas, as I devour literature on these topics any chance I get and apply my learning directly in my classroom with my students and alongside my teaching partner.  But one additional area snuck its way into my daily life through my own personal growth process; Digital Literacy is now on the forefront of my mind.  In my professional life, as well as my personal life, I am now “connected.”  I finally feel like I understand our present technological world, and I am more prepared than ever before to face the future advances that technology will have to offer.   

Gratitude Post #1: Thankful for our Nerdiness

Ann's post yesterday was perfect! This topic is something we discuss and celebrate daily- we ARE proud nerds and "geek-out" over the new literature we are reading each day. We take this information and apply it within our classroom, and even with our own children at home. Most days our brains are even on the same "wave" of thought (which at this point has stopped freaking us out, and we are just accepting it- it is no longer weird that we have the same thought in the same moments, buy the same book on the same day, or even find out that we had been reading the same blog or article at the same time....).

We know we take personal learning and growth to the next level, but we do it for our own sake because of the success we then see for ourselves as teachers and mothers. It is not for show or attention; we save our jokes/humor for that! :)

Last night I began reading 21st Century Skills, and I became captivated with Howard Gardner's "Five Minds for the Future".  He talks about the Disciplined Mind and how it takes about a decade to learn a discipline well enough to consider yourself an expert.  And that, "an individual needs continually to practice in a disciplined way to remain at the top of his or her game (pg. 12)."  He also talks about how downfalls can arise with having a fixed mindset, or even being an expert at one time but no longer keeping up with the changing times.  I think I connected with his discussion on the Disciplined Mind because it reminded me again of Ann's post... We approach our days with a growth mindset, ready to change our plan as needed and read new literature as relevant to our situation or dilemma. We may have both been in the teaching field for more than a decade, however within these changing times we find the only option is to seek knowledge and apply changes that will better serve the students of this generation.  

And finally a quote that I found yesterday:
Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally. -David Frost

Be thankful for who you are, your own passions, and the friends and family who support you. 

~Celina