Building Community in the Classroom

This is the community quilt we made as a class during September in my main placement.  After our summer course, in Human Growth and Learning that focused on community building activities in the classroom, I was very excited to do one with my students.  It was a lot of fun and allowed us all to learn something new about one another.  The kids loved this project and began to see themselves as a community instead of just a bunch of individuals sitting in a room together.  It created a shared experience that we can look back at everyday since it is still posted up on the wall in the classroom.  This is definitely something I will be doing again and again in future classrooms.  But, what community building should I do next with my students?  Any ideas, or favorite ones you have used or seen in your placements? 

Oh Twitter...

          Hmmmm, what to say about Twitter?  This quarter I was "forced" to join Twitter, yes I did say forced.  Before this quarter I could have guaranteed you that I would never join Twitter or Tweet, but I would have been wrong.  After a whole quarter of following people on Twitter I would have to give it a mixed review.  The good thing about Twitter was being able to follow and read about what educators are talking about.  The best thing I got from Twitter was a how to guide for teachers about blogging with your students in elementary school classrooms.  This was very helpful and I don't think I would have come across it if I hadn't been on Twitter.  With that said, I didn't really get a whole lot more out of Twitter.  Most of the other Tweets I found useful just linked me to a blog post, which I feel I could have gotten otherwise from just following blogs.  I kind of feel like the overall time I spent on Twitter was not well spent.  I could have used the time spent on Twitter more productively, by doing something else.  Though I won't write it off completely.  I do see that it may be a great resource once I am in my own classroom, especially my first year of teaching.  What do you think about the usefulness of Twitter for teachers?

Going back home!

The day has finally come.  I get to go back to my main placement and see my kids.  I cannot possibly express how excited I am to see each and everyone of them.  While I have been back a couple times over the past 8 weeks to visit, it is extremely exciting to be going back knowing that I will be with them for the rest of the year.  I can't wait to see how much they have grown and learned while I have been away.  I am also excited to apply what I have learned over the past 2 months from both my methods classes and dyad placement.  I can't wait to try out one of the small group inquiry math lessons with my kiddos and see how it works.  What type of lesson are you most excited about teaching to your main placement kiddos?

Class Meetings

Ok, so I know I want to have weekly student run class meetings in my future classroom, but what is the best way to structure them.  When I was volunteering in a 6th grade classroom a couple of years ago I was introduced to weekly student run meetings.  I thought it was such a great idea.  The students were able to address issues that were important to them and involved every member of the classroom community.  The teacher pretty much stayed out of it, accept in rare circumstances where he felt he needed to intervene or interject. 
I have not been in a classroom where they have regular class meetings since I was in the one I previously described.  I was wondering if anyone else out there is seeing regular class meetings in their placements.  Some important key parts of the meetings I saw were that students ran the meetings and came up with the topics and issues discussed; there were clear guidelines and agreed upon rules that students followed such as being respectful of one another and only the person with the ball could talk.  Does anyone else have any ideas or knowledge of resources to help structure student run class meetings?  What are some other key parts?

Working the Gap

How do I find balance between the required scripted curriculum and pacing guides, mandated by school districts, and my own voice as a teacher? 


With all that I am learning in my Teacher-Ed program, as well as in my interactions with students, it is clear that the best learning happens when students are deeply engaged in their learning.  How do I get my students engaged in math when the textbook itself seems so dry and naturally unengaging?  I definitely believe it is my job as a teacher to take the curriculum and mold it in a way that works best for all of my students, not just some.  I also realise that doing this well will take time, perhaps a lot of time.  I don't expect to perfect this in my first year of teaching.  But, it also doesn't mean I am going to wait until my 5th year of teaching to begin trying to use alternate methods of teaching subjects like math.  I am constantly trying to figure out how I can make learning more interesting, exciting, fun and accessible for my students, both now and in the future.  For example, the interactive, hands on, small group ways of teaching math, that I am learning in my Math Methods course, seems like a drastically better way to teach math!  So why am I not seeing this style of teaching math in classrooms? 

Blogging in the Classroom

If you have ever thought about having your elementary school students blog click here!  This is an amazing how to guide, created by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano (with resources from many others), that explains in detail how teachers can start blogging with their students.  Any questions I previously had about where and how to get started with bringing blogging into the classroom, is laid out clearly and in great in detail in this guide.  There are many resources and detailed lessons on how to teach your students the purpose of blogging academically, how to be safe and protect themselves, the benefits of blogging and so much more.  There are also videos you can show your students about online safety.  There are numerous links to current classroom blogs that teachers and students can look at to get ideas.  As well as, tips on effective commenting and relevant writing.  I feel so lucky to have come across this wonderful resource that I just had to share it.  It is how to blog with elementary students from A to Z.  I already knew that I want to incorporate blogging into my future classrooms but wasn't really sure exactly how or where to start, now I know both and can't wait to give it a go next year.

What to think about Sugata Mitra?

Hmmm... What to think about this video?  I agree whole heartedly with Sugata Mitra when he said, "if children have interest than education happens."  But what exactly are the children in this video learning?  For example, when he quoted a 12 year old girl who recited an impressive line about DNA, what did that show other than the fact that she was able to memorize a sentence from the computer?  Did she have any real knowledge or understanding about what she was saying?  While this was an interesting and enjoyable video to watch, I am not convinced by watching that the children were involved in "deep learning." 

Furthermore, how were the kids being tested? And what were they being tested on?  It does seem that the kids were learning something, but what?  Yes, they seemed to be teaching themselves how to navigate the internet, but to what extent?  What is the value of such learning?  I see the value in having students work together in groups and how much students can learn from their peers, but how does answering a single question, that can be answered solely by looking it up on Google, equal the "deep learning" he claims that it does? 

While this video did both intrigue and puzzle me, it mostly left me with many questions.  What is the value and purpose of his experiment?  This video showed the resilience and curiosity of kids, as well as the power of the internet to connect people from all over the world, but what kind of learning did it show?  Hmmm... Can't say that I am sold.

Food Journal Reflection

             The experience of keeping a food journal taught me a lot about my eating habits.  I have never recorded my food intake and doing so made me more aware of what goes into my body.  As far as the activity portion of my journal I did not learn as much.  Throughout the journal keeping experience I did not do much activity because the second day of keeping track I became sick with strep throat.  Because I was sick my activity was never very much throughout the entire experience.  Overall the keeping of the journal made me realize that I don’t actually need to change my eating habits very much.  I do feel like I will be a healthy role model for my students and would love to incorporate this type of project into my classroom. 

            The goal I made after week one for the food portion of my journal was to eat more fruit.  While I don’t necessarily dislike fruit, I don’t eat very much of it and very rarely ever desire eating it.  I was pretty successful in reaching this goal.  By making the goal and making a conscious effort to eat more of it I was able to incorporate it into my diet on a daily basis.  The goal I made for the activity portion was to get some actual cardio workouts in but I was not able to reach that goal because I was pretty sick throughout the keeping of this journal.  I was able to manage to get some very leisurely hikes in at my parents’ cabin while we were there over the 4^th of July.  When it comes to my students and helping them reach their goals I would suggest to them that they start with a smaller more reachable goal and work their way up throughout the year.  I wouldn’t want my students to get discouraged or stressed out about reaching their goals.  I would advise and teach them to make gradual changes in their diet and activity so they would be more likely to stick with the healthy changes.

            The implications this type of journal has for teaching health in my future classrooms is that it is something that every child would be able to do.  It would teach my students to be conscious of what is going into their bodies and how that affects their health.  The journal itself takes very little time to record which would make it very easy to incorporate into the curriculum.  If you had the students keep track of portion sizes as well as what they eat you could integrate this activity with math because students would be working with fractions and conversions.  You could also integrate it with art by having students create a visual representation of the types of foods they eat most. Overall this project made me think about my own health as well as how I can bring this into my future classrooms.  

Daily Blog July 7

The most important thing I learned today was how cool my brain is.  While of course already new that our brains are amazing and complex, the activities we did in class today showed me specific ways in which we can teach our students about the power of the brain.  All of the brain activities we did were fascinating.  It was also very helpful to see how a teacher can utilize and explore student questions, as we did with the reading the colors activity.  I can see how learning how to balance and judge the amount of time needed to explore such questions needs to be a consideration but not necessarily the deciding factor.  As teachers we need to be able and willing to adapt our lessons to student needs, curiosities and questions. 

Daily Blog July 6

The most important thing I learned today was about teaching sexual health to students and ways that we can be more comfortable articulating and discussing sexual health issues with our students.  The discussion we had in class about how we might possibly answer student questions was helpful.  I really appreciated being introduced to the It's so Amazing resource.  From this resource I learned how to articulate aspects of sexual health in a clear and approachable way.  It would also be extremely helpful if I were able to either watch a video of, or physically be in a classroom, where sexual health is being taught.  Are there any videos available of a teacher discussing and teaching these issues to students?

Daily Blog June 30

The most important thing I learned today was how and when I need to make the call about suspected child abuse of a student. I learned that when in doubt, or even suspect any form of child abuse, make the call and let CPS determine and investigate whether or not any form of abuse is actually taking place.  I learned so much today that I can't even begin to list everything.  While I learned so much about what situations and signs might signal that a child is being abused, I am still left still left with many questions.  Unfortunately most of my questions are not ones that could be answered with a definitive yes, no or clear explanation of what to do.  I will just have to listen to my students, watch for ques, follow my instincts, remember what I learned in class today and rely on fellow teachers and administrators when specific questions arise.

Daily Blog June 29

One of the most important things I learned today was ways to teach safe behaviors to students.  The first part of class taught me about the GLE's for different grade levels and how they are directed towards covering the learning of safe behaviors.  The two micro-teaching lessons both gave specific ways in which teachers can talk to students about safe behaviors.  I now have to examples ofteaching safe behaviors to students through these lessons.  I of course still want to know, what are other lesson examples of teaching students about safe behaviors.  How would the two lessons, taught today, need to be modified and adjusted for different grade levels?

Daily Blog June 28

The most important thing I learned today was how to improve upon the lesson we created for 5th graders and heart-rate.  I learned that we need to pay more attention to the terminology and academic language we use.  The experience and feedback reminded me that it is important to spend more time defining, discussing and making sure students understand terms such as: heart rate, base heart rate, maximum heart rate, etc.  In the future I will spend more time making sure new terms are understood before moving on.  I do wonder though, what is the best way to assess that students understand new terms before moving on?  How do you make sure that all students grasp and understand new terminologies?

Daily Blog June 23

The most important thing I learned in class today was how to read and understand the layout and set up of the EALR's and the GLE's.  Though we had looked at them a little last quarter, today's class made them much more clear and easier for me to work with.  I learned what each of the numbers for the GLE's represent.  For example, with GLE 4.1.2, the 4 represents which EALR is being applied, the 1 represents the component and the 2 represents the GLE.  Before today's class I did not know what those numbers represented. Reading the specific standards for 5th grade health made me realise how many different topics can be taught within the health realm and also made me wonder how many teachers actually hit all these standards with their students.  In all the service learning experiences I had in the past two years, in elementary classrooms, I never witnessed health being taught.  Are teachers actually teaching health in K-6 classrooms?  Is most of it only taught in P.E.? 

Daily Blog June 22

          Today in class I learned what a concept map is and how to construct one.  I also learned  a lot about the details of what can and should be taught in health education.  When we first started brainstorming on our own about what should be taught in health education I could only think of two main topics...nutrition and physical education.  As we discussed our ideas, as a group, I realised how much more is involved in health education and what it means to be healthy.  While I was already aware of the further components of health ed., initially I had a very narrow view of what is involved.  Talking more about the details of what it means to be healthy and the issues we will teach our students about health and being healthy, makes me more excited to teach it to my future students.    

Where I'm From

I am from home

from ice skating on the pond, marching through forts

and swinging on the monkey bars

from “don’t fall in the hot lava” and scavenger hunts

I am from tree with moon

and purple room

from Wapato Point, Lake Cavanaugh

and camping at the ocean

I am from “when I was a kid” and “hate is a very strong word”

I am from mom and dad and big sis

From George and Betty, Margaret and Howard

I am from red ribbon cake, potato salad

and cheeseburger frie diet coke

I am from exploration and adventure

from 4 generations of teachers

and strong women

I am from dependability and stability

from lots of “I love you’s” and hugs

I am from “my name is Jessica not Jesse!”

I am from where my daughter lives

I am from home

The Other Side...

          During last nights discussion the "other side" of the standardized testing debate was brought up.  People wanted to know more about the reasoning someone might use in support of these tests.  I feel this is a very important question because it is always imperative that we see an issue from multiple perspectives.  To know the other side means to be able to know your own side better as well. 

          For me the question is not only, what justification and or reasoning do supporters of standardized testing use to back their claim of the necessity and benefits of these tests, but also who are the people making these claims?  What credibility do they have?  With this specific issue, of standardized testing, it appears quite clear to me which side I deem more credible. 

          Most of the articles I have read, videos I have watched and people I have spoken to that stress the negative effects of standardized testing, and the way they are used in U.S. public schools, are critical educators, scholars, parents, and researchers.  The people in the classrooms who experience the effects of standardized testing first hand have more credibility, to me, than politicians, corporations and policy makers. 

          My overall point is that, while we must inquire about the reasons for supporting the "other side" of the issue, we must also ask, who is making those claims and what might be their motives be? 

Technology Anyone?

          I have to admit that I am kind of loving the technology we are learning.  I didn't ever picture myself saying that so it's kind of a big deal.  While yes I know how to use my computer, iPhone and iPad, I truly envisioned myself as a teacher who wouldn't use a whole lot of tech in my future classrooms.  I now see how absurd that sounds since we live in a tech world.  When I was in high school the cool and new high tech gadget that everyone just had to have was a pager, not a cell phone because those weren't readily accessible to everyone until a few years later, but pagers...everyone had a pager and if you didn't you wanted one. 

          My point is that I realise my future students are all growing up in this tech world that already has iPads, iPhones and blogs.  My two and half year old daughter can work the iPad with little to no assistance, this amazes me.  I get that to kids these days all this tech stuff is normal, but for me a lot of it is still new and though I was admittedly resistant a couple weeks ago, I am now all for it.  Now that I have learned how to use this stuff I see the its potential uses in my classrooms.

          This experience of learning how to use cool things like google docs, wikis and photostory has opened my mind to a whole new world of knowledge.  In doing a project for another class I came across this super cool resource for teachers called a webquest.  A webquest is an interactive learning tool that is created by teachers, and used by students, to explore and learn about different topics via the web.  Another awesome thing about the webquest is that teachers can create their own and or choose from the thousands of others that have already been created by other teachers.    

Here's the link to find out more about webquests
http://www.webquest.org/

My Brain and Heart Hurt

          My brain hurts after tonight's discussion in class.  I can't stop thinking about all the responsibility and pressure kids living in poverty must feel.  How hard it must be to live without hope!  The activity we did in class was excellent at giving some perspective on how difficult it would be to choose which bills you are going to pay each month.  After just a few minutes of trying to figure it out I just wanted to give up.  I wanted to give up because I didn't want to choose between food and electricity or running water.  I wanted to give up because I didn't want to think about the physical and emotional pain these families must feel everyday but of course, it is all I can think about. 

          After tonight's class I feel this weight on my heart when I think about all the stress these kids and parents are put under everyday.  What specifically can we do as teachers to lessen the burden these kids feel?  How do we empower these kids to end the cycle of poverty?  I am glad we are diving deep into these difficult issues and I know it will make us all better teachers, I greatly appreciate the difficult work we are doing.   But at the same time, as a very wise cohort member said tonight, "throw us a life raft"!  With all these questions and issues being raised we need some answers.  We need some hope!  We are wrestling with so many heart wrenching issues and I want to make sure I don't get all swallowed up, we need to come up for air every now and then and hear something positive.  So please someone tell me something positive.  

Birthdays and such...

          I have so many thoughts bouncing around in my head following our discussion about Birthdays and Holidays last week.  I want my classrooms to be extremely inclusive and safe.  I want to create a community with my students that lets them know that their voice matters and is greatly valued.  With that said I have to be honest with my thoughts.  I understand the problem of celebrating holidays and birthdays and how inevitably some students are always going to feel left out.

          I don't know why exactly but for some reason I am having a difficult time letting go of acknowledging Birthdays in my classroom.  It must have something to do with the fact that my Birthday is in February.  I was always able to celebrate my Birthday in school and I can still remember how excited I got, every year, to celebrate it at school.  And I would be lying if said I wasn't excited that my daughters Birthday just made the beginning of the school year.  Her Birthday is September 7th which means that she just barely made it into the "my Birthday is during the school year" club.

          My brain knows that this is unfair to kids who's Birthdays are during the summer or over long holidays, or those that don't celebrate them, but my heart is holding on to those cherished childhood memories.  I know I have to get past this, but for right now I am sad to let the parties go!  I loved everyone one of those parties but I also realise that not everybody has such wonderful memories of those days.  My love of all these parties has nothing to do with religion, so that part of it is a non-issue for me.  I loved all of these parties because they were a time to take a break and have a lot of fun.  I guess it's all perspective.  From my perspective, as a kid, these celebrations were nothing but fun; I now realise that was probably not the case for many of my classmates and for that reason I realise I will have to change my outlook on Birthday and holiday celebrations in my future classrooms.

Building Safe and Inculsive Classrooms

             I loved this week’s reading by Mara Sapon-Shevin titled, Building a Safe Community for Learning.  I couldn’t agree with her more about the importance of creating safe and inclusive classrooms for our students.  In fact, this has been a major component of what I envision my future classrooms to look like.  I am dedicated and determined to create with my students a community that helps them truly get to know and appreciated one another.  I want my students to feel safe and encouraged to take intellectual risks and chances in their learning.  I want my students to feel supported enough, by each other, that they ask and answer questions even when they aren’t sure of the answer.  I remember so many times in my early education when the teacher would ask a question and I was afraid to give an answer in case I was wrong.  I didn’t want to be embarrassed or made fun of if the answer I gave was incorrect.  This is one of the many reasons why I want to create a community, with my students, that gives them “the safety to learn and to fail” that Sapon-Shevin writes of.  I know that I learn a great deal from both my failures and successes.  My students and I need to be willing to explore and learn what is unfamiliar and confusing together. 

            I have envisioned my first day as a teacher for quite some time.  As I see that day now I am talking to my students letting them know who I am, what I expect of them, how excited I am to get to know them.  I want to sit in a circle, with the desks moved away, and just talk to them about what they envision the year to look like, what their interests are and what they are most and least excited about.  I want to find out their hopes and dreams and what they expect from me.  I also want to create our community rules and guidelines together as a group.  I feel that creating the classroom norms together will allow them to feel part of it and take pride in upholding our expectations of each other.  I know, as Mara writes in her article, that a community cannot be built in one or two days, but I feel it is imperative to start the building process from day one.  I want my students to feel that they are part of the decision making process, which I hope will lead them to take responsibility for themselves and their classmates.

Going Beyond the Walls

While putting pictures of people of color on the walls of our classrooms is important and necessary, it is in no way enough.  Children of color, and I would argue white children as well, need to be taught about the multiple histories and great minds that make up this country.  Instead of only teaching and learning about black history during February, we need to incorporate it into the curriculum all year long.  Instead of teaching history solely through a white lens we need to make sure we are continuously changing the lens from which we teach.

 It is our job and obligation as teachers to make sure all of our students feel empowered, included, relevant, inspired, and represented in the learning process.  To achieve this, especially as white teachers, we need to make sure we do our “homework”.  We need to take the time to learn about racially marginalized groups and their histories.  We need to read, read, and read some more about what people of color have to say, historically and currently, about their experiences in education and society in general.  As white teachers, of children of color, we need to be willing to reflect on our own biases and preconceived notions, resist becoming defensive and truly listen, learn and grow towards providing more equity and inclusivity for all students of all races.     

   

Being Conciously Aware of the Walls in our Clasrooms

This past weekend I had the "joy" of taking the West-E which was administered at a high school.  After being congregated with everyone in a general area we were eventually directed and split off into classrooms where we would eventually take the test.  Once entering the room and finding my seat we had to wait about 20 minutes or so until we could actually begin the test.  While I waited I began to scan the room and imagine that I was a high school student taking a class in this specific classroom.  I could very clearly see that the classroom had a focus on Literature.  There were posters on the wall depicting people reading and or famous authors.  I even noticed a textbook off to the side that had Literature in the title. 

As I sat there and tried to envision myself as a student in this classroom it actually made me kind of sad.  The classroom was extremely dreary and had no sign of life.  There were about 14 posters on the wall and each one looked like it had been there since the late 80's to early 90's.  What I noticed most, other than the fact that the classroom in general felt dirty, lifeless and an inadequate learning environment, was that 13 out of the 14 posters had pictures of white males on them.  There was one poster that was of Maya Angelou.  1out of 14 posters was a picture of a woman of color.  There were no other visual representations of women or people of color.  This made me wonder what the students that sit in this class everyday, who are not white males, feel about their inclusion in this classroom and subject. 

I believe, with my whole heart, that as teachers we should be aware of not only what we teach verbally but of the non verbal messages we send as well.  To create a classroom environment that is truly inclusive we need to be conscious of what we put on the walls of our classrooms.  Children are, as we all know, extremely perceptive and as teachers I find it imperative that we take every opportunity to make all of our students feel included.  What do you plan to put on the walls of your classroom?  How important do you feel the physical classroom environment is to you future students' learning?   

Should we as teachers adopt a colorblind lens?

The idea of being colorblind in our society is not only unrealistic but hurtful.  It assumes and takes the stand that race does not matter.  Instead of acknowledging our country’s past of slavery, racism and oppression it exclaims that there is a level playing field providing equal opportunities to everyone, regardless of race.  It denies that there are unfair obstacles and unearned privileges imbedded in our country’s institutions.  All of this week’s readings address this issue and how imperative it is that teachers acknowledge they see color.  The majority of our country’s school teachers are white middle class women, while the student population is quite racially and culturally diverse.  This means that as teachers we need to be prepared to teach children that very likely have different experiences, values and ideas.  We need to become “racially aware”.  Howard explains that, “racial awareness is the willingness of educators to listen to students talk about their racialized experiences, to probe for deeper clarity about these experiences, and to seek ways to learn from them” (122).

As teachers, it is imperative that we are aware of the privileges attached to being white.  As Howard suggests we should realize that becoming racially aware is a lifelong process which has no end point.  This is true for other differences you may have with your students as well, such as class, gender, physical abilities and or sexual orientation.  We need to be accepting and understanding of all of our students not just the ones that seem most like us.  To do this we need to, as Howard suggests, be willing to listen “to the stories, experiences, histories, struggles, and setbacks of marginalized groups” (119).  Understanding of the historical context and content of our schools and students is an extremely important journey that will lead to being a more thoughtful, compassionate, equitable, productive, engaging and effective teacher. 

As one of my professors always says, “we are all unfinished”.  This statement means so much to me because it stresses it is never too late to change or adapt who we are.  It stresses the potential for everyone to be lifelong learners, and that we all have the opportunity to reflect on who we are and who we want to be, no matter our age.  This idea is addressed many times throughout our readings.  Howard and Ayers both stress the importance that teaching is about constantly evolving to the needs of our students; to be ok with feeling uncomfortable and not knowing all the answers.  Part of the fun of being a teacher is exploring and discovering along with your students and understanding and embracing that learning is a two way street.               

     

           

Why teach?

What I found most intriguing about Chapter 1, in William Ayers book To Teach the Journey of a Teacher, is how he highlights the many reasons one should not, or would not, want to teach.  Most of the motives highlighted are the reasons why I want and need to teach.  I want to teach because I have a passion for children, learning and racial and social justice.  I want to face the challenges Ayers describes and create a learning environment that is inclusive, safe, inspiring, kind, multi-perspective and multi-cultural.  I want to challenge myself to acknowledge my own preconceived notions and fight against them; to be open to learning from my students and colleagues.  As Ayers puts it “the complexity of teaching can be excruciating, and for some that may be a sufficient reason not to teach (for others, it is of teaching’s most compelling allures).  He also writes that at the beginning of his teaching career he was on a “mission for change”.  Well I am on a “mission for change”.

            The trend of resegregation our public schools are facing today is disheartening.  It’s as though we are moving back in time instead of diving forward.  Racial equity and social justice should be at the forefront of issues being addressed by educators, parents, politicians and society.  Instead we as a society are being pushed towards the ideas of colorblindness and that race doesn’t matter.  The U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2007 in the PICS v. Seattle School District case ruled that race cannot be used as a factor in deciding where students enroll in school, even if the goal is integration and racial equity in schools required by the decision in Brown v. Board.  Messages such as this one take the stance that race doesn’t matter anymore; that we have fixed the problem and should move on to the next.  Reading the articles form Rethinking Our Classrooms and the chapter from Tyrone Howard’s Why Race and Culture Matter address many reasons why it is imperative that teachers do not adopt a colorblind lens.