Why Teaching in NC is Starting To Feel Like I'm Married to an Abuser.

'Cause I am.

Year 21. Yet another year of not getting the step - forget a raise, just the step - that was promised me when I signed my contract. I'm losing $3,000 in pay, this year alone. While it won't affect me personally, Master's pay is being eliminated. The school board for which I work is suing the county for underfunding both the operating and capital budgets, while the county sits on millions beyond the required Rainy Day money.

 I can almost deal with that. Seriously.

Charlotte's a banking town, and the 2008 mess hit particularly hard around here. People who still had jobs held their collective breath as Wachovia was swept away, Wells Fargo swept in, and B of A held on. The real estate market here still hasn't recovered. It's been a rough few years. Believe me; I get it.

Here's what I can't deal with - the attitude. Why the smear? Why the attack?

I could live with, "Y'all, we know this sucks. We know we're doing you wrong. If you just hang in there, it will get better, eventually. Promise. Until then, thank you for putting up with it"

Instead what we get is - and I'm not putting words in someone's mouth - this was said - "If they don't like it, they can leave."

Got that right, buddy. Market economies work both ways, and I live near the border. Driving 15 minutes in the other direction will net me $12,000 more annually. I'll be taking my metaphorical ball and going home. Next year.

What?

I know. I know. I know.

I applied late to said county, and haven't got it in me to pursue a job which would leave kids in a community I love in a lurch. Can't do it. Which, of course, is how we are kept in line. If we pitch a fit and stand up for ourselves in a way that will force the media and the public to deal with us, and so, put real pressure on the state, kids will suffer. So we don't.

Instead, I'll focus on all of the things, and there are many, I love about my job, my colleagues, and my children. I will teach my tail off, and the public will not get what it pays for; it'll get a helluva lot more. And, though I'll hate myself for it, I'll forgive, yet again, the fact that I'm not just undervalued, I'm reviled, and my abuser doesn't mind crowing out to the world that I continue to sit there and take it,  because, surely, I deserve it.

So, NC and I will stay together, just one more year, for the sake of the kids.

I'll Be Less of a Loser Thanks to Remind 101

I'm a high-strung hot mess, a trait that has actually worked for me in the classroom, but it tends to get in the way of one thing, in particular. Parent communication. I am not good at finding time to sit down, write a cogent newsletter, get it to the copier, and finally, into folders. Too bloody many steps, so it doesn't happen. I can cut out a couple of said steps by sending emails; and I'm better at that, but I still need something for those quickie reminders that I always mean to give, but don't quite.

Enter Remind101.

I can text from my computer, and I can even schedule texts ahead of time, While my dumbphone gets texts just fine, it won't run the app, but my tablet will. That means that I can compose texts wherever I am when I think of it. In my untreated-adult ADHD world, that's useful. Useful and free. Good combo.

There are several lengthy tutorials on YouTube to help  you get started. I didn't think it was all that complicated, so I slapped together another of my odd stream-of-consciousness overviews

Click here to visit the Remind101 website.

Why Sophia Is My New Bestie

I've worked pretty hard this summer putting together math (and a few science) video lessons to flip the instruction in those subjects. No, I'm not the Khan, but I'm reasonably pleased, at least for now, with how they turned out.

Now what?

They're cool and all, but how do I know who did and didn't watch? Don't tell me to get the parents to sign for it. I sign for stuff A.J. says he did pretty regularly, without backchecking it. Every once in a great while, when he was in elementary school, I'd sign for reading that never happened. We were busy; we'll make up for it this weekend. Really.

I've solved most of that by requiring examples and notes in the math notebook, but that doesn't mean the kid didn't just copy from someone else, and while that's not the end of the world, copying a notebook and missing a whole lesson is a bigger deal than copying the answers for a random worksheet.

Compound that with this - Video lessons aren't meant to teach to mastery; they're to prepare kids for the doing that will get them to mastery. Still, how will I know when I've left them completely clueless? Shouldn't I know that before the math session starts? I'd think so...

So I was in a bit of a quandry. Then I went to camp.

At EdCamp Forth Worth, Texas, Todd Nesloney, @TechNinjaTodd on Twitter and his sidekick @TechNinjaStacey (Yes, you should follow them.) taught a session on flipped classrooms. They introduced us to the platform they use, Sophia. (Cue sunshine parting the clouds and angels' singing.)

You will find this free tool here at sophia.org  It allows me to integrate my video lesson, links to more practice, more audio or video files, a multiple-question quiz, and more on one screen. It also gives me a stats page so I know who watched, for how long, and how he or she did on the attached quiz, if I made one. It also runs on a Sophia screen, so even though the video is on YouTube, a kid isn't technically on YouTube while watching, which may make parents less scared of the whole thing.

I couldn't find a video about Sophia's teacher features, so I slapped this one together:

I'm relieved! I was starting to feel like I was pulling at straws, but now everything feels tied together. 

An Aura-gasm, or How I'm Jazzing Up Open House with Augmented Reality

At the end of a session at EdCamp Forth Worth, TX, a young, attractive teacher burst in to find a friend of hers, all in a dither and going on about something called Aurasma and Augmented Reality. At the time, she wasn't really making sense, but now I get it.

She was having an Aura-gasm.

Poor young thing couldn't handle it.  Now, I haven't been a twenty-something for a good twenty-something years, but I know a revolutionary thing when I see it, and figured this was worth checking out. I wasn't disappointed.

Cool, right? But does it have practical applications?

Imagine a worksheet that can be self-, peer-, or parent-checked by hovering a tablet over it. Take that same worksheet and imagine a tutorial linked in by hovering a smartphone. Got some difficult words (or words from another language) on a page of text? Link in an audio file to pronounce those words or a pic with a definition. How about video vocabulary? A.gif that pops up over an unfamiliar word to add meaning? Maybe some kind of mnemonic? That'll stick in their heads even better. Lower grades, can you say, 'Sight Words' and 'Place value blocks'?

Of course, there's always going for the gimmick, which I'll do with Open House. I'm going to hang some pictures of last year's kids working and place QR codes next to them so that parents can see their online projects. Some will also have auras added, and I'll post a sign inviting families to come in, grab a tablet, and explore. That should space out the entries into the room and the competition for my attention. Better yet, it should create some buzz and excitement for what goes on in my room.

I'd set you up with a tutorial on getting started with Aurasma, but the gentlemen at Two Guys and Some iPads have already done a bang-up job with that. You'll find it here.

Then get others on the bandwagon. Everyone knows that Aura-gasms are best when they're shared. ;)

The One-Rule Classroom

An interesting thought, huh? Yesterday, @mattBgomez, a Texas kindergarten teacher and EdCamp organizer, posted "Be Brave: The Only Rule in My Kindergarten Class" (You can read it here.) and after I got past, 'that's probably a good rule for kindergarten teachers', I started thinking. There are layers of school and district rules. How many classroom rules do you really need? If I adopted just one rule, what would I choose?

 I think this is it: Live By Questions.

 It comes from Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi, in which Bear claims that to live by questions will keep you living, but living by answers is a form of death. Later in the chapter Crispin asks, "If I were to live by questions, what questions would they be?"  The philosopher Voltaire charges us to judge people by their questions, rather than their answers, and in the upper grades, the questions a kid asks is what separates a bright kid from a gifted one.

I'm still a firm believer in the Eight Great Habits, and will continue to incorporate them into classroom life. One rule doesn't mean no-holds-barred, but it gives light to what I think is most important.

Question Everything.

Flippin' Out

It came! It came! It came!

Yesterday (I love Amazon Prime!) I ordered a Bamboo Splash Tablet and set of headphones so I can work on some video lessons that will allow me to Flip my math and science lessons.

What-huh? My science time is perpetually pinched and my math, despite my best effort, remains middle-oriented and too teacher-centered. I want to change that:

Here's a bit on the why of a Flipped Classroom:

And a bit on the 'how'.

I'm looking forward to developing some videos... I'm already creating my own ActivInspire flipcharts. They can be recorded as video lessons using Screencast-O-Matic (Which is a free .com! Google it!) and see about adding some more interactive elements through eduCanon, like a quick quiz.

First things first, gotta get the box open and play inside. Get ready for a nerdy girl SQUEEEEEE!
(I'm such a dork. It's a wonder my husband puts up with me. He's learned to just smile approvingly and walk away...)

The Offseason

Any teacher worth her (or his) salt knows that summer vacation isn't vacation. It's the offseason! You know, that time we spend reassessing our performance last season, setting goals to improve our game - good stuff. I start looking forward to it about the beginning of May and spend a fair part of the tedious hours stalking my classroom as children test considering it.

Here we go: Clarke's Semi-strategic Plan to Up Her Game and Have a Little Fun...

1. Weakness: Focus on Answer. Game Changer: Ask more and better questions. (Duh.)
I'm not awful that way; I know to answer a kid's question with, "Well, what do you think?" and wait. I need to script myself more purposeful questions on which to center instruction. I'd like to "live by questions and not by answers" as Bear puts it in Crispin. Much more engaging.

2. Weakness: Math instruction, aside from tutoring, is still largely whole-group and heavily teacher-paced.  Game changer: Invent PPPPPPPPPPPPPDSA
In other words, create a way for kids to develop individual work plans for meeting learning goals. These plans should allow kids to largely pace themselves through units and choose methods and materials. Done correctly, this won't become a free-for-all, since regular reflection should help kids understand which methods and materials helped and which didn't. I'll also need to put together some flipped-classroom videos for those that can master work more quickly.

3. Weakness: Nonfiction reading is some crap we have to do before we can get to the actual good stuff. Game Changer: More smoothly incorporate relevant nonfiction into everyday reading instruction.
I don't know if it's because I'm a girl or because my drug of choice is fiction, but I largely suck at nonfiction reading instruction. I need to bring more relevant-to-what-we're-doing nonfiction in and get excited about it. #1, above, should help. Watch out, Beth and Carol. I'm coming after your stacks!

This also includes finding a better means of teaching vocabulary,

4. Weakness: When kids grade their own work, they tend to focus on aesthetics, rather than content. Game changer: Explicitly teach what a good project includes.
This revelation alone made allowing kids to grade themselves worth the time. They really do think that pretty projects are best. Now, I can't argue that attractiveness isn't a component of a well-done project, but it's a much smaller component than what's said within it. I'll need to create a few lessons on what makes a strong project to use during our launching-the-year sessions.

5. Weakness: The second round of FedEx projects involved a lot of reading Wikis from the screen. Game changer: Tweak the planning and presentation criteria.
FedEx Day is definitely worth the time, so I'm adding two days next year for a total of four. The go-round this past week involved kids linking a bunch of things that they read to us from the board.. That's not good. I need to add in that they are knowledgeable enough to become the primary source of information and use links, etc. as their secondary. As in, "I linked in this page so you could learn _____________. It basically tells you ____________________."

6. Weakness: After a strong first semester, Poetry Workshop instruction tends to peter out. Game changer: Plan a better second half. (Duh, again.)
'Nuff said.


... and one more:

Attend an EdCamp!
These are teacher-driven and led one-or two-day workshops with topics on innovative teaching strategies.. The big cities have them, and it just happens that Fort Worth, TX will be having one the week I'll be there, visiting my parents. Surely, it's fate.

Have I mentioned that, best of all, I can do (almost) all of this in my jammies? While eating what I like and using the bathroom whenever I please? Yes! I love the offseason!

Have a fabulous last day,
Lizzie (I even get my first name back!)

FedEx Day - Delivered!

I knew it would be either awesome or awful, and probably nothing in between. I was right. The kids, as a whole,  really pulled out all of the stops and produced exciting, quality work.

As many of you know, FedEx Day was coined by an Australian company that allowed its engineers one day a quarter to research anything that interested them, unless it had to do with their current assignment. Some schools have adopted them as an opportunity to restore choice and wonder to the curriculum. One day - product a project on anything (that won't get you suspended). Project is due the next day. (Thus, the 'FedEx' - you have to deliver overnight.)

For the four days before, I reserved some space in the library to introduce the kids to some tools they might use to present what they learned. For this go-round, I chose Meograph, Padlet, ThingLink, and Big Huge Labs. No one was required to use them; they were suggestions. In fact, they were allowed to deliver their content in any school-legal way. My children are, obviously, under 13, and that creates some limitations with 2.0 tools.. None of these sites forbid under-13s, and I skirted the privacy issue by using a group account set up through my email. We keep a common user name and password for these sites so the kids have access and I can see what they're doing. Big Huge Labs has a teacher account, which is nice. Most kids worked with Padlet and Thinglink.

I knew that 'anything' would be overwhelming to some and not believed by others. To help them organize their ideas, we started a couple of days before with an organizer: From the organizer, a concept map was created. You can see the variety:

 This child's final project had absolutely nothing to do with either of these. He had spent a lot of time at home working with the different 2.0 tools and created several projects. He decided on this one. This is a young man with a lot of ideas - creative, a fabulous poet - but little follow-through on run-of-the-mill things. He was proud to have something substantial to share

 

Here's this student's completed product.

This one was, probably, the most impressive. Lots of links and details. The boys in the class were excited because they learned some new things, and since it's a thinklink, they can use it as a resource when they're playing. Creating content that's useful in the real world? Win!

This one was frustrating. He couldn't get past 'math' and got a little flipped out (as in, tears) when I told him there's no way to do a project on the whole of math in one year, much less one day. He'd have to narrow it down. He tried and got down to 'algebra', but just couldn't deal.

While we were talking about math, he mentioned the operations involved in figuring out Pokemon matches. I asked him, since he's very into it, why he hadn't considered Pokemon as his topic. He looked at me and asked, "We can do that?" to which I answered, "I said, 'anything'!" Things quickly fell into place. His presentation the next day was delivered with confidence and even a bit of theatrics. It was brilliant.

Here's his final product

... and not every project was web-based.

When the product was finished, the kids used notecards to put together a presentation, which was in the classroom the next morning. Web-based products went on my Promethean Board, and I served as the holder of posters, etc. 

I had students grade their own projects. They're somewhat used to assigning themselves grades, so that wasn't novel, and I know that, if anything, they're harder on themselves than I am. Nearly all gave themselves As, and a few gave themselves Bs. To keep them engaged, though, as they were audience members, and to give students some feedback on their presentations, each student filled out a scoresheet for each presenter.

There's also a really good upper-elementary presentation rubric online here. I had intended to use it, but spent too much time handling tech and holding posters. :S

What did the kids think of it? They were encouraged, but not required, to respond to these prompts:

The one negative response is from a child who is on the Spectrum but is high-functioning. He worked hard and turned out a product about how one becomes a train engineer. As a whole, he struggles with finishing projects, and, like many Spectrum kids, didn't appreciate the change in routine, so I wasn't surprised that he didn't find it fun. When we do it again in June, I may give him the option of hiding out in another room. We'll see.

So, what have we learned?

Doing this again? On a scale of 1 to 10, FedEx day rated a 'Hell, yeah!"

These kids have had nearly a year with me, and, so, were more independent. It might take a bit more structuring to start earlier next year.

One advantage of starting earlier next year (I'll think I'll plan for 4 next year - one each nine weeks.) is that I can see what some of my kids can really do. Even those who struggle the most with attention and engagement did bang-up jobs. Frankly, I think a couple of them were surprised with what they could produce!

The Elephant, or Yeah, food's great. Unless it's Killing you.

Came across this on Facebook yesterday morning:
Educator Milton Chen tells of a colleague who was in India, when an Indian educator questioned her about the American practice of high-stakes testing. As she explained the policy, the Indian educator said simply, "Here, when we want the elephant to grow, we feed the elephant. We don't weigh the elephant."

Love, love, love it. Then I thought about it. It kind of assumes that one-size-fits-all.

He's right. Elephants, or anything else for that matter, must be fed to grow. Your mother and Maria Montessori will tell you, "You are what you eat." Found this on Pinterest yesterday:

It applies, I think, to your diet of media and ideas, too.

So, to feed and not to measure at all doesn't make a lot of sense. With what are we feeding, and in what direction is the growth?

What's a good diet for one, isn't for another. When my 14-year old was brand-new, he grew like mad; (He was a 20-lb. four month old!) he was also wicked-sick. It was obvious within the first few weeks of his life. If I ate any dairy at all, he crudded up and gagged. And beef? Fuhgetaboutit! When I expressed my concerns to the pediatrician, as I took in a 5-week old with an ear infection, he answered, "He can't be allergic. He's gaining weight." 

Dude, really? 

Judging by one measure, he was doing really well, by all others,not so much. I got a new ped. AJ was skin tested at 9 months, after his first asthma attacks and pneumonia, and his list began (I can't even remember the whole thing anymore...) with milk, eggs, and wheat. 

Don't worry - he's fine now. Exercise and medicine have his asthma well-controlled, and he's down to shellfish, tree nuts, and peanuts, and those aren't all that unusual. He doesn't see himself as sickly - one of my big goals for him - as he might have, had we continued along the path we were on - and is still a pretty sizeable boy. :)

Oh, and for added fun and games at our house - my husband's diabetic. Can you imagine feeding him and not measuring? Don't even.... 

So, feeding the elephant is a good thing, as long as the food is quality and what one actually needs. To feed without any sort of measure, or using the wrong tool, can create all sorts of problems, the worst of which is continuing on a course that isn't working.

 On the other hand, a single, stressed-out measure that gives precious little information beyond a raw score and percentile, is of very little value to me. We need to focus on formative measures.

The trick, of course, is creating a balance, and therein lies the challenge. (*sigh* Great.)  The chicken-and-egg question - the circle that neither begins nor ends - to feed and to check that we are, indeed, growing, and not just in a narrow sense. Then, make adjustments and get back in the metaphorical kitchen. Repeat.

Added to the laundry list of Stuff to Figure Out this Summer: Adding dimension to my assessments. 

This week's goals:

Lay the groundwork for our very first FedEx day. Being allowed to do a one-day project on anything they like and present it any way (within reason) they like will be overwhelming to many. Need to develop a framework for choosing a topic. I'll hash this out while dumping mulch in the front flower beds today.

Continue to learn about high-quality thinking strategies from Making Thinking Visible and add them to the repertoire. This one's been worth every penny of the $17 I spent. 

Get ready for Mini-Society. For the first time in my experience, the kids have chosen a republic. Could be interesting - a lot of strong personalities will try to insert themselves into positions of power. It'll be fun to see how they work this out. Constitution this week, business plans next week - if we have a functioning government. (Of course, we all do business without the benefit of that, but that's a whole 'nother blog post...)

Have a fabulous week. Holy cow! April's almost done!

Elizabeth

Adventures in Grading

Early this week, the kids have been finishing up a science projects that culminates their study on animal adaptations. The task was reasonably straightforward and was an on-your-own assignment:

Study a biome. Create a top-tier predator for that biome. (Once they had planned their predator, I added) Create a prey animal that has a shot at survival with the predator you just created as part of the biome.

We spent a fair amount of lessons looking at the mouths and feet of different animals, and, as part of that time, kids designed their predators bit by bit. This gave them collaborative time, as they shared ideas with each other, even though the project was individual.

Typically, I have a project rubric available at the beginning of a project, so that the kids know exactly how they're being graded. There are always at least two grades - the grade I give and the grade each child gives him or herself, with each of us using the rubric. Sometimes,especially early in the year, I'll have a peer-grade before I see it and give kids the opportunity to make changes based on the grade from the peer eval. The average of the grades goes in the book.

I never quite got around to making that rubric. I know; bad teacher.

Over the break, part of my professional reading was ROLE Reversal by Mark Barnes, a sixth-grade English teacher in Ohio. Check it out here. The Kindle version isn't expensive. (BTW, if you don't have a Kindle - I have a Nook - you can get an app for your tablet or laptop for free.)

One of Mr. Barnes' tenets is, since his class in a Results-Only-Learning-Environment, that his students assign their own quarterly grades. It's not random; they have to justify their choice and conference with him, but the grade they pick is the grade they get.

I teach fourth grade, and while asking them to reflect on a period of six weeks is most likely beyond their range, they can certainly reflect on the work of six days.

So, curious to see what they'd say, and too lazy to bother with a rubric at this point, I let them have at it. "Once your work's on display, write me a letter explaining what letter grade you feel like you've earned and why." No minilesson on evaluating or anything, just a cold write. What grade does your work deserve?

Here's what I got:

"I think I should get an A+ (100) because I took my time, colored it, and I made sure it was neat where you could read it. Also I did my best in what we were doing. I re-read it to make sure it made sense. I also kept on drawing the animal to make sure it made sense but looked good. That's why I think I should get an A+.

"I think I deserve a B because I did good but I don't think I tryed my hardest to spell the words correctly and we all know I suck at spelling, but I still think I should of asked for help in my spelling."


This is the work of an EC student. A lovely girl, somewhat overshadowed by an overachieving big sister, whom I taught several years ago. This sister's very shy, so I wasn't surprised when she was a bit wishy-washy about what she thought she'd earned.

"I think my grade should be a B or an A because i really don't think my prey go's good with my animal because they are almost both the same, but the prey is more stronger. So I think it should be an A or a B."  I handed her letter back to her and said, "Pick one." She did; an A.

"A B because  I didn't do really good on it, I just did good, and I think the info is pretty good. I just think I did good on the drawing and pretty good on the info."

Okay, not much of a letter, but earlier in the year, he'd try to cry his way out of most assignments and wrote just enough to shut me up on the others. He writes really light, so this didn't photograph well, but it's there, and the amount of detail in his drawings is significant. Had I had a rubric, he would likely have scored a C. The writing isn't as detailed as it might have been and, to be honest, the kid's no artist. What's really important, though, is that he rubric would have completely discounted the growth in task commitment and how much attention he gave this. This is breakthrough work for this guy.

A couple of kids tried the 'I'll butter her up' approach...

... and this was just too funny not to include. 

I love the sincerity. He'll have to choose between a C and a B. Yeah, that last line's about dodgeball. Who knows...

So, what have we learned?

Obviously, we need to spend some time talking about what makes a good project. Most students cited the aesthetics of their projects rather than content, ("I colored neatly")  though that wasn't universal. ("I tried my best on the predator doing its armor and how it catches food and I got a lot of facts.") 

I think, at the beginning of a year, I should still share grading responsibilities and use rubrics, but over time, move to narrative grading that they control. When fourth graders start a year, they've only had one year's experience with letter grades at all. 

It's also safe to let them grade science and social studies, because there's no test for those this year. I don't have to worry about report card grades lining up with testing results, so I can keep playing with it this year.

They grade themselves pretty hard.

With that in mind, I'll set a big ol' long-range goal: develop a set of minilessons that teach how to evaluate their project work. I think it might revolve around having them create feedback for a set of exemplars. If they think about how to write feedback well, they'll better understand the intention of the feedback they get. 

Good night!

Elizabeth

Structure

"Begin at the beginning!" shouts Imogene Herdman in one of my all-time favorite books, PageThe Best Christmas Pageant Ever. It's a voice I hear often, a reminder to approach work as a process, which is, unfortunately, not a skill I naturally possess. I'm much more wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey, which, of course, ends with a bunch of useless, half-done bits and pieces.

So, on with a bit of self-discipline.

All of which ties in with where my brain is today: what physical and organizational structure would work best in a minds-on, hands-on, do-something classroom? Since I'm elementary, and set up for a workshop format anyway, I've got desks in pods. The room's a decent size; the only adult furniture in the room is my one (disaster of a) desk and my rocking chair. The rest is low bookshelves and rug space. We've got a big ol' rug with dots that I snagged from The Infamous Year in Kindergarten that lies in front of the Promethean board. Desk pods are worked around that rug. It's comfortable this year, since I've only got 19, but that's unusual - and about 5 short of the norm.

It's fine for a reasonably-traditional fourth grade room. It will have to work better for the transformation I want to become reality. I'm a Montessori chick, so I get the importance of The Environment.

It will require:

• Group space (done.)
• Small team working space - okay, I've got 4 additional rugs that delineate team space. They make physical space obvious, but since they're not walled-in at all, noise 'bleeds' from one to the other, if you take my meaning. I'd also like to add some drawing space - whiteboard dividers, I'm thinking - Stanford's dschool published a DIY plan for a rolling whiteboard: Adult-sized Z-rack. I'm wondering if it couldn't be child-sized - 3' by 3' (?) and suspended from an adjustable shower-curtain rod between two low bookcases. 
• Leave-me-the-hell-alone-I'm-working individual hidey-space that will be used and not abused. Probably three-sided carrells on a pod of desks? On that note, should desks become community real estate, as opposed to individual? Maybe with common basic supplies loaded into each?
• Movable seating. Preferably that which is inexpensive, cleans up easily, and won't require quarantine if someone shows up with lice.

So, my goals for the next few days include:

 

Find a cheap copy of Make Space , which look really interesting. Unfortunately, it's also wicked-expensive. I'll see what I can do. :)

Play around with a classroom design site, like Classroom Architect, to give me an idea of what I might could do.

Keep reading ROLE reversal, with a mind to adapting for fourth-graders.

 Begin reading Making Thinking Visible, which should arrive Monday, in my never-ending hunt for effective, non-worksheet strategies. Training vs. Understanding. I like the concept.

Are you, "Been there, done that!"? I need your help! What's worked for you? Please comment! 

As always, thanks for your time and expertise,

Elizabeth

Conversations. Great. Now what?

So, the better part of another school year has slipped by at astonishing speed. The older I get, the faster they fly. What's up with that?. I look up and - Whoa! - the husband is watching the ACC tournament and I'm booking for Spring Break.

Another almost-done year, and a second year of listening (carefully) and recording conversations. Here's what I'm taking from these:

Every single time, the kids are telling me that they learn best by working in teams. Even when the work I give them is much, much harder than anything I would ever give them individually. In fact, they like the challenge. 

No one has ever said that doing a worksheet helped him or her.

So what?

That's the question, isn't it?

I've got some reading to do. Just not sure where to start and don't want to waste money on expensive books if they're not what I need. I'm Montessori-trained (with little guys, though) and understand how an elementary works in that environment, but how to adapt it all so that kids are spending most of their time in teams, researching things they care about, taking part in challenging work that gets them thinking and growing in a traditional school setting? My boss is absolutely cool about me being flakey. She rocks like that. The problem is that they come in trained to believe that The Test is all-important and are very extrinsically motivated. Mine is a single-grade classroom, so there aren't older kids there to help. I don't have a lot of time to turn that around, lean on the leaders, and get productive. Frustrating to have found the right door, but I'm short a key.

My goals for the week:

• Learn more about ROLE reversal and how it works in Mark Barnes' classroom in Ohio. Decide if I think what he describes is doable - as in functions in the real world - before dropping $25 on a book.

• See if I can find a cheap copy of Drive. I've read Glasser; I hope this isn't redundant.

Hey! I found the basic content in a TED talk! Score!

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html

• God help me, attend high school orientation for my 14-year old and figure out how to register him for classes. Hope they offer some things he'll find exciting.

Lol! Wish me luck!