Inspire the Whole Child

Establishing a thriving learning environment is instrumental in students obtaining personal success.  We must be strategic in how we develop our classroom communities at the beginning of a new school year.   The setting must support the whole child, adapting to the needs of the group as everyone settles in for the yearlong learning journey.    The environment must specifically be designed to support the health and safety of our students, strengthening the emotional well-being of each individual.  While providing an atmosphere that supports learning endeavors from every angle, students can be offered many opportunities to be truly engaged and challenged. 

But how do we guarantee that we WILL develop a solid foundation that supports the whole child?

I recommend intentional inspiration:

{Guest Post} A Student's Perspective on Brain Books

What are my favorite things about Brain Books you ask???  I could explain many, many things about them but how about we save time and I just tell you my Top 5 favorite things about them!!

1-      It helps me organize my information and thoughts.  Kind of like a filing cabinet except more portable. Plus, the brain books carry much more information than that old filing cabinet. You should really try to use these because they are really great with organizing information and thoughts as well as reminders.

2-      It helps me get important things out of my mind.  Whenever I have something in my mind that I just need to get out so I can stop thinking about it, my Brain Book can help.  I write that certain thing down and then I don’t worry about it as much!!  It may be important and I don’t want to lose it!

3-      I can do whatever I want with it:  Decorate it, put in personal thoughts, tab it, and pretty much anything else.  Although, responsibility is key in Brain Books and you need to make sure you use it appropriately to help your learning.  Not many people besides yourself can tell you what to put into it.  You can put whatever you need to in any place you want to, because it is yours.  Not mine, not your teacher’s…. YOURS!!!  You own it and you are free with it!!!

4-      It helps me record lots of important information, like graphs, stories, and even photos!  Any of the activities we do in class I can easily glue in my Brain Book to help my memory.  We all have important information that we need to remember and a Brain Book is the answer.

5-      Most of all:  Brain Books are organized by you.  Information can be organized in a way that makes sense to your brain.  You can duct tape new composition books to the original one as you need to.  You can also put tabs into it so you can find things lickity-split!

In conclusion, Brain Books can be used for school and business, and by adults and kids.  Make a Brain Book for yourself today!

~Kassie, age 10

Other links for Brain Books:

The Story of Our Brain Books

Our Brain Books: The 10 Essentials

Brain Books: Everything but the Kitchen Sink
Introducing Brain Books to Students

Introducing Brain Books to Students

As Brain Books are a fundamental part of our student-centered classroom, we introduce them right away on the first day of school.  For the resource to be utilized to its fullest potential, it is extremely important for our students to have an understanding of who they are as a learner.  So we actually start with creating a Brain Profile.  During the first few days of school we take several surveys to help us discover a little about ourselves as learners, always keeping the purpose of Brain Books as a dynamic part of each conversation.  Even our returning students retake these assessments, as it is our philosophy that it isn’t just about zoning in on our strengths as learners, but rather understanding the different learning styles/intelligences to become a more balanced learner/individual.  Over time the results of these types of surveys may change, so current data is always important.  When our awareness is heightened regarding all the ways to acquire knowledge and reach our personal goals, we can be more successful since every learning experience through life is different.  It isn’t just about feeding our students with information, but rather teaching them a multitude of ways to be effective, independent, responsible learners.

Ten Favorites to Celebrate

Image found by BING images HERE                          
The end of the school year brings cheers, smiles, hugs, tears, and laughter in abundance.  It is a time to honor the memories of shared experiences; our classroom community moments built from a strong foundation and trusting relationships. 

Together, Ann and I made a big shift in our practice last summer after we accepted the positions of Multiage Teachers.  With our students we took off on the learning journey, promising one another to WORK HARD each and every day.  We were COURAGEOUS as we approached bumps in the road and supported one another in the face of challenges.  Throughout the year we consistently encouraged each other, taking every opportunity possible to CELEBRATE GROWTH.   And what a year the 52 of us had with this motto guiding our daily learning!!

Establish Community WITH Students

The term Supportive Learning Community is significant.  The definition of each word in itself is influential.  Connecting them as a joint expression makes a statement, one that infers a unified body of individuals working together to advocate for students along the path of their learning journey.  

As we share the responsibility of student success within our school environments, do we take the time to allow students to be a direct part of the equation?  Is establishing a Supportive Learning Community something we do FOR students or something we do WITH students?

Empowering Students: 5 Powerful Strategies

Meeting students where they are is key to their social, emotional, and academic success. A piece of this puzzle is to allow them to be empowered in the learning process. We want to ensure that we are teaching the Whole Child and providing each student a learning experience that meets their personal needs. Who knows the child better than themselves? They are aware of their likes and dislikes, their own opinions, the things that they feel confident with and the things that challenge them, as well as the dreams they have.

Brain Breakfast

Our students last year helped us refine the way we began our morning routine.  As we were starting to feel our “Entry Task” becoming mundane, we were in search of a better way to establish our mornings.  Ann and I have spent a lot of time researching about the brain and how to teach so students will retain the information.  We absolutely knew we wanted to begin the day in an inviting, engaging way.  Thus, our students helped us in developing the Brain Breakfast.  We began implementing cognitive activities that would expand on the knowledge we were exploring, but also motivate our creative juices. 

Students' Share Their Opinions on WiFi Devices...

Ann and I's teaching practice has dramatically shifted this year.  Technology is now a natural part of our learning environment and students interact with resources in ways that best fit their learning needs, rather than when directed by us.  

Recently we allowed 2 students to access their personal WiFi devices within the math block to enhance their practice towards their individual goals. A bit of action-based research on our part as we think about the future needs of technology and ways it can be integrated into the learning environment. (Our school policy is for these devices to be checked into the office each morning when brought to school, as we do not normally allow students to BYOD.)  

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

Understanding themselves, AS LEARNERS

I think, believe, and feel deeply that a student's attitude directly affects their ability to learn. Negativity is a form of stress, so when students go to that "bad attitude place" it inhibits their ability to meet their potential. When students are in this place they shut down or check out from the discussions or activities at hand. However, when students are in a positive place it allows them a little perspective. They can think more clearly, be aware of the learning that is taking place, and participate with the conversation.

Student Voice

Learning from children’s voices allows us to know

a deeper level of who children are as learners

 and, because we have that knowledge,

to expand and enrich our sense

of what it means to teach.

- Penny Oldfather (1995)

Do you listen to your students?  Do you hear their desires for learning?  Do you know what inspires them?  What are their personal goals? Are you aware of what THEY would like to learn today? Are your plans based on your curriculum map or chapter guidelines, or are they based on the individual needs sitting before you? Have you asked your students to reflect on your growth?

At the end of last year, I opened the floor to my third graders (whom I had been teaching for 2 years) and asked for the honest truth... How had I grown as a teacher?  What did they notice was different from one year to the next?  Well, it's as if I opened a can of worms!  I couldn't type as fast as their ideas were spilling out.... One of my spunkiest student's remark truly changed my mindset, though, as I was still wondering at that point if I had reached him after 2 long years. However, I am so glad I had asked to hear his voice, because in that moment I KNEW I had.  He stated, "You let us learn by our Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles this year, and last year we really didn’t get a lot of learning done because we didn’t know and use Metacognition.  This year you changed a lot and you made us grow more than we did last year. Oh, and I like how you taught us so much so we are able to teach teachers and YOU, because we teach you too!"  And these were his words, verbatim, and trust me I remember because he made sure I typed it correctly during that moment, a moment I will remember forever.  The moment when I let them provide me feedback.  My only regret was that I hadn't asked sooner... 

I wonder what would happen if you asked these questions to your students?  What if you asked them to provide you feedback?  Would it change the course of their learning path? Would it change yours?

~Celina