From Striving to Thriving - My Action Plan

I just finished reading a tremendous book From Striving to Thriving: How to Grow Confident, Capable Readers by Stephanie Harvey and Annie Ward. I cannot say enough great things about this book; I think it would be good for all teachers, whether you teach reading or not.

I think I put a sticky note on almost every other page!

So much of this book spoke directly to the heart of what I try to do every day - cultivate the reading lives of my students. With so much happening in education, it's easy to lose sight of what is important, and this was one of those professional development books that helps make the goal clear again.

As a result, these are the steps I am planning to take to improve my practices and the outcomes for my students.

Tomorrow

1. Share the comprehension continuum with all of the ELA teachers at my school. I think this document will help everyone think about how our questions can help students move to deeper levels of comprehension of a text.
2. Start a "Wonder Wall." To cultivate a culture of curiosity, I am planning to implement a space for students to record their wonderings. Each student will have a mini-wonder wall (a piece of paper) in their folder where they can record all of their wonders. We will discuss and record our group wonderings on sticky notes that will be kept on a piece of chart paper hung in the room.

This Week

1. Do the Areas of Speciality practice with all of my students. As we work together to set goals (see the During March list) for the end of the year, it will be nice to draw on these Areas of Speciality for inspiration.
2. Start daily book talks - and keep a list of them for each group.
3. Use the ARR three steps to collect full-spectrum data on each striver.

During March

1. Start all groups with independent reading time. This is something I did last year but got away from for various reasons. Having each group for only 23 minutes, it's difficult to prioritize this; however, I will be able to confer 1:1 with students during this time. We will still do skill instruction during the remaining time. 
2. We will discuss the ARR full spectrum data and work together to set goals and create a  reading plan to guide their end of the year reading. I plan to reach out to each ELA teacher to coordinate this with any activities they have planned around choice and independent reading. 
3. Review the fix-up strategies and being to promote them during independent reading conferences.
4. Reach out to our district librarian to connect and seek her expertise to find books for kids as needed. Collaborate with ELA teachers to meet those same goals.

Throughout the end of the school year

1. Continue daily reading time and conferring with readers. 
2. Continue collaboration with ELA teachers to support our students and the development of their reading lives.
3. Connect with families about each student's reading plan and goals for the end of the year.
4. Support students with direct instruction in the comprehension areas they need.
5. Use the wonder wall to encourage students in the search for their next book and for topics for our comprehension strategy lessons.
6. Advocate for choice and independent reading in my school and district. There are a lot of great resources for research in the book. 

I'll try to update on how this goes for the rest of this school year!

How have you implemented ideas from From Striving to Thriving? Leave a comment or connect on Twitter!

How do you challenge yourself?

As teachers, we continually ask students to get out of their comfort zones. We are pushing them every day with new information and experiences.

Several years ago, I was embarking on my first 40 book challenge with my Tier 3 reading intervention students. I was going to be challenging them to set a goal (we didn't necessarily use 40) to read more that year than they had before. I felt like I needed to set a goal that would be similarly challenging for myself.

So I started running. My first goal was to run a 5k without stopping. When I met that goal, I decided to train for a half marathon. Now, I hated running - but I wanted to set a goal to do more of something that I hated, in hopes that it would get easier and I would hate it less.

It worked. I completed several half marathons. Now, I'm still not a huge fan of running, but I continue to do it anyway.

This summer I started taking an aerial silks class at a local aerial arts gym. I've never been one with upper body strength, which is pretty much essential in aerial arts. I've been taking classes for about six months, and I'm still terrible. I can't do a pull-up, I struggle to get off the ground, everything feels awkward and strange. But, I haven't quit.

For 90 minutes a week, I am completely out of my comfort zone - doing something that is super hard for me.

When I want to quit, I think about how often I ask students to do something that is super hard for them - in hopes that over time it will get easier and they will hate it less.

We cannot hold our students to a higher expectation than we hold ourselves.

So, what have you done lately to challenge yourself?

Enjoy these photos of my various aerial arts attempts! See those smiles...that's 15% enjoyment and 85% fake it till you make it.

From Reality TV to Growth Mindset

During the school year, I don't watch much TV, but I do indulge during the summer.

For those of us who love dance related of shows, World of Dance (WOD - the one with Jennifer Lopez) was an exciting new program this summer. The question among dance fans became - which is better - WOD or So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD)?

I gave WOD a few watches, but I didn't love it, and I couldn't figure out why.

The choreography was amazing.

The dancers were at the top of their genre.

The judges gave valuable, relevant, and well-thought out feedback.

Each piece of the show is excellent.

It took me awhile to pinpoint it, but I finally figured out that WOD doesn't have my favorite element of SYTYCD - growth.

In case you aren't familiar with SYTYCD, here's how it works:

In the beginning, dancers are experts in one style (jazz, animation, tap, etc). Over the course of the show, we see them forced out of their comfort zone, struggling with new, different, challenging work, and persevering over the struggle. They get feedback and use that to inform their future performances - they make changes, learn and grow. It's visible and the best part of the show for me. 

This summer I've also enjoyed catching up on old seasons of Project Runway and Food Network Star. On all of these creative based reality competition shows, it's not about the product (I'm vegan and not really into fashion), but I love to see how they tackle the problems, work (or struggle) together on teams, develop innovative solutions, and adapt to critique. When something doesn't work, they try something else. It's growth mindset in action.

It's all of the things that school should be about but sometimes isn't.

Schools should be places where kids want to be. Where they see the relevance of their work, and they want to do it.

We, as educators, must create space for this type of work, learning, and growth in our classrooms. They need to understand how the skills are transferable. 

If they can think creatively to solve this problem, here in our classroom - then they'll be able to think creatively to solve some other problem we can't even imagine yet in the future. We can't practice solving that problem because we don't know what it is, but we can help students get the tools they'll need with the time comes.

How can we take the spirit of these shows and embed them in our curriculum? Share your ideas!

Just a Teacher

A few days ago, I was given the incredible opportunity to attend ASCD's Leader to Leader (#ASCDL2L) conference as part of the Emerging Leader Class of 2017.

The Emerging Leaders are an incredible, inspiring group of people. Each person I met was as accomplished and successful as the next. I just kept thinking - how do I fit in here? I'm just a teacher, just regular old me!

Part of the weekend involved creating an action plan for your work in the next year. People were coming up with incredible ideas - write a book, design a website, develop a business, create a new program. I was at a loss. I'm just a teacher, what can I do?

Now, there was nothing these amazing individuals did to make me feel less. This narrative was created entirely inside of my own head, a feeling like what I've contributed is not as valuable as what someone else has contributed. Although I'm still not sure exactly what the future holds for me professionally, I've realized that whatever I decide to do - the change has to start with me.

There seems to be a dark and diminishing political smog surrounding teaching and public schools, and I have allowed it to impact how I see myself and my work. I've bought into a narrative that is simply not true.

Words matter - I am not just a teacher. I am a teacher! It's time to reclaim the narrative. My journey is starting with what I tell myself about what I do, and how I portray it to the world. 

As teachers, we are our own best advocates, and we need to feel empowered, as individuals, to do the work required to write our own story. 

Yes, I am a teacher, I love it, and I can't wait to tell you more.

Real Talk - RtI and Equity

Real talk.

I'm late to the game on equity in schools.  I've started reading, and reading, and reading. I've taken coursework examining pieces of the problem like racism, poverty, and privilege. I seek out my own resources - getting books after they come up at Edcamp conversations, on Twitter chats (thanks #EduColor), blogs I've read, or podcasts I follow. Anytime I see an article come up even remotely related to the topic, I read it.

All because I believe that when you know better, you do better.

But, confession time, I know- but I'm not sure what to DO. I know all of this information about equity in schools, but what to actually do with all of that? I try to be aware, and examine, and confront my own biases. I reflect, and change, and adjust my teaching practices - but it doesn't feel like enough.

I'm putting this into the universe because I have to be honest about where I am.

I have a lot of questions about my role as RtI teacher and what that means for equity and my students. I get wrapped up in questions about standardized assessments, "researched based" practices, and the legal requirements surrounding RtI. Am I part of the problem? 

For now, I'm going to start there - with my classroom and my school. I want to do more, go bigger, broaden my scope - but I need to start with what I have direct control over. Me.

So, I'll start with these questions: How does RtI fit in with equity? What does an equitable RtI system look like?

I'm not really sure. Time to start researching, reading, reflecting, questioning, discussing, and changing.

Assessing Students with Breakout EDU

About this time last year, I discovered Breakout EDU, and I've been hooked ever since.

If you're not familiar, it essentially turns your classroom into an escape room environment where students solve a series of puzzles to get INTO a box. (That part confuses them at first, but they get over it).



The best part is that once you get started with a kit, the possibilities are endless! There are tons of breakouts available for free on the website, and once you get the basic idea, you can modify them (or even create your own).

I've been using them this year with my intervention students as our "fun day" activity. Little do they know, I've been selecting and designing the puzzles to force them to apply the skills we've been working on.

Do I want them to pay more attention to details? Hide the clues deeper in something they have to read.
Do I want to see if they understand coordinate planes? Include a clue that uses one.

You can make clues that have to do with a variety of content topics and skills, and you're able to see very quickly who has a handle on things and who doesn't. It's been a great tool for me this year as I'm working with my math intervention students on problem-solving skills and my reading intervention students on close reading techniques.

I have a "Breakout EDU Wall of Fame" that I post their pictures on after they breakout. I try to do one a month, and I have to add it to our classroom calendar so they know when it is (or I get asked every day when the next one is going to be).

Can you assess all things all the time with Breakout EDU? Of course not - but it certainly deserves to have space in your assessment toolbox.

If you're not interested in purchasing a box from them to start, you can "open source" your own kit at stores in your town for not too much money. Regardless of how many students you have, you can get by with one box (see this blog post for the how-to), and you can start with a game that doesn't use too many locks. If you want to go all in with an official kit, you can try a Donor's Choose project!

So, the next time you're looking for a fun way to engage students in assessment - give Breakout EDU a try! I'd love to hear from people how they use Breakout EDU in their classroom or other fun ways to engage students in assessment.

Better Late Than Never, Right?

So, late in 2016 - my friend and colleague Matt (@MatthewWeld) and I had a conversation about how we both wanted to blog more. We had just completed a Twitter challenge, and through our discussion came up with the idea of #12monthsblogging writing challenge.

Over the holiday break, I brainstormed some possible topics and questions, and he put everything together into this great blog post creating month graphic and question starters. If I haven't been clear enough - he did pretty much all of the work.

Fast forward to today, February 14th, and I haven't posted a single blog. Which brings me to the question - should I still do it? I'm well past the "due date" of January for my first blog about the generic topic of "The Teaching Profession". What good will it do now??

Here's the thing - it will still do a lot of good. The process of being reflective about practices is valuable whether I am completing it in January, February or December.

In other words - I can still learn from the assignment even if it's "late".

I have to wonder, if I were being graded on this practice and had already long ago earned a zero (we are 14 days into February after all), would I still do it? Would I still be engaging this reflective practice? Would I be so overwhelmed that I'm almost two blog posts behind that I would shut down on the whole project?

As teachers, we ask kids to do a lot of things - some have a lot of value, some have not so much. If in the end, it doesn't matter if they do the activity or not - why are we even asking them to do it in the first place? And, if it does matter that they complete the assignment, why do we create systems that allow for them to opt-out?

I'm not sure I really have an answer to these questions. I do think that as educators we have a responsibility to our students when they are not completing work to really think about it. I have to ask myself, as their teacher, what am I doing to both support and stifle their learning processes.

I feel like we need to encourage students to engage in the experience I had today. Yes, I'm well past the due date, but there is learning value in this activity - so I'm going to do it anyway. Learning for learning's sake. No grade is given, no money is earned - but here I am (at the public library no less) typing away - a true life-long learner.

So many of us have that in our school or district mission statements, but do we really create school experiences that help students get to this point?

Lots of questions today, but not many answers. Thanks for reading my post, even though it's late.

Final Genius Hour Reflection and Wrap-Up

I've now wrapped up my first year implementing Genius Hour with my 8th graders. I jumped in with a few questions still on the table, but it was a risk I'm glad I took.

In the fall, students researched topics of their choosing, but I accidentally narrowed their output by giving too many specifics up front. In retrospect, I should have more work with some of the students to develop deeper questions.

With the second semester, I gave students a big goal - changing the world. I really enjoyed having a theme because it gave some focus to the projects, which we were missing previously. It also enabled me to do double duty with the argumentative research paper we needed to write third quarter.

The upside of the double duty was the students learned a lot about their topics leading up to the expo. The downside was that it sort of removed some of the "passion" for some of the students. Associating the project with the paper at all made it a challenge for some students to see the entire process in a positive light. Were I to do it again, this is something I would consider changing.

From the whole project, students gave the most positive feedback in regards to the actual Expo day. In my mind, the two (Genius Hour and the Genius Hour Expo) were one in the same. My students did not see it that way, and I'm not quite sure why that is.

I was really surprised by these results because I thought the two graphs would be more similar. I didn't quite get enough feedback from this survey, so I want to follow up with students. I need to understand the "why" behind some of their responses.

The most important part for me was seeing the importance of the "publishing" in action. Students need an audience beyond just their teacher. It was one of those things that though I've read it over and over again - seeing how much it changes the game for students made a real impact on me.

For the Expo, I had every one of my students give a presentation. Even students who have had a lot of struggles throughout the year gave great Expo presentations. One came to me prior to his class visiting and asked "Mrs. Reed, do you think I'm going to be successful at the Expo today? Have I done enough?" A different student who struggles in various areas with school had such a great project, I had two different teachers tell me how impressed they were with his work later on.

Did I have some students who didn't like the Expo? Yes. It certainly wasn't all sunshine and rainbows with all 77 of them, but with 8th graders, it's very difficult (if not impossible) to please all of them all of the time.

In the end, I don't think I've done a project in my teaching career that has allowed students to meet so many standards as once. Reading informational text - Check! Writing - Check! Research - Check! Speaking and listening - Check! I don't think students even realize just how much they've learned. That is something I would want to try to build in to future versions of Genius Hour.

One very rewarding thing was how many students reflected in their final blog post about how proud they were of the work they've done.

If I had the chance, I would certainly implement Genius Hour again next year. I would have a handful of things I'd want to change, but the overall premise is a very powerful idea. While I'm moving to a different position next year, I will work to involve as much student choice, project-based learning, and publishing of final products as I can. I was truly forever changed as an educator by this experience!

'Twas the Night Before Expo

Tomorrow is my students' Genius Hour Expo. The day we've been talking about since we returned to school in January has arrived.

After our first round of Genius Hour last semester, I realized something needed to change. My students spent a lot of time and energy on something that only I saw. The "share out" element of the Genius Hour process was clearly missing. Unsure I could manage filming videos to post online and unclear of how blogs might work for us, I decided to create the Genius Hour Expo.

In my initial vision, students would be presenting something related to their projects to other students at our school. I wanted them to research something that could "change the world" and share outside of our classroom walls.

Since we launched in January, students have written argumentative research papers related to their topics, and then later decided how to take their project forward.

For many students, this just meant preparing a tri-fold poster with the information they already researched for their papers. Others did additional research to add information or pictures to what they were sharing out.

Some students created projects that they implemented prior to Expo day. I had two students sell raffle tickets to raise money for an animal shelter. Another student documented random acts of kindness she did around town. Another student created a mini softball camp for students in our life skills class.

Others have created videos to embed in their projects; some have created interactive components, like surveys, to their Expo presentations. I was purposely vague in my expectations because I didn't want to limit them. For some, that was a challenge - for others it became an opportunity.

So now, Expo day is here. Some students were not as prepared as I would have liked when they left class today.

All students at our school will have the opportunity to attend at least one of the Expo presentations. A schedule has been created, but I still have a lot of unknowns. How exactly will we set up in the library? Should I have gotten some additional tables? Will I get to everyone's stations during our class times? Is there enough time for the visiting classes to see enough of the presentations?

I have asked my students to work through adversity and deal with challenges during this project, so I have to expect the same from myself.

If nothing else, I had a student say to me today, "I am so excited for Expo tomorrow. Like, I have never been this excited for something at school before."

And that makes it all worth it.

BYOD, Technology Integration and 8th Graders Loving Grammar Lessons

Grammar instruction isn't the most exciting thing in the world. In fact, people might argue that students don't really need to be able to identify subjects, verbs, and all other parts of the sentence. I do believe that being able to think metacognitively about language is a skill that students should be exposed to.

One of the 8th grade CCSS language standards deals with identifying the functions of verbals and their functions in a sentence. In order to be able to do that successfully, you need to understand the possible functions (ie- the parts of a sentence).

To liven up this material and to try to make it more accessible to students, I decided to use it for a technology integration unit for a graduate class I am taking. I allowed students to bring their own devices, and I had a few (old, slow, temperamental) school laptops for students without a personal device. I used EDpuzzle for video lectures, Kahoot! for in-class practice and Socrative for formative assessments.

To make a long story short, I am still shocked at just how well the technology worked. The students were engaged and, most importantly, they learned the material! 

The various lessons in the unit followed this timeline

1. At home video lecture

2. In class practice of material playing a Kahoot!

3. Targeted small group and whole group instruction

4. In class practice of material using a written worksheet

5. Targeted small group and whole group instruction

6.  Formative assessment using Socrative

At the end of the unit there was a study guide that was identical in format to the summative assessment. It did utilize different practice sentences. This was followed up by targeted small group instruction and differenentated practice prior to the summative assessment.

Overall, I feel that the results of the summative assessment are some of the best I've gotten on similar assessments. I don't have the data from past years, so this is anecdotal.

Below are the results of the survey I gave students at the end of the unit. They new we were trying this as an experiment for my class, and I told them I wanted their honest feedback for future planning.

Question: How helpful did you find the at home video assignments?

For me, the responses to this question were the biggest shock. Students had a lot of problems accessing the videos, and I did not think they enjoyed them at all. Based only on their reactions in class, I never would have guessed this would be the results to the question. When I drilled down on the data, the only students who rated the videos as "not helpful" or "worthless" were those who had not actually watched both of the video assignments.

Question: What do you prefer for the practice and review of concepts?

 Questions: How helpful were the in-class review technologies for this unit?

 Question: Which do you prefer?

Question: How effective were the technologies in this unit?

For me, the following feedback was the part of the survey with with most impact. I was quite impressed with how thoughtful their comments were. This level of reflection is sometimes difficult for 8th-grade students. This is a snapshot of some of the most detailed reflection statements.

 Overall, I would recommend trying these specific technologies to any educator looking to engage middle school students. They loved taking part in this experiment with me, and we all learned so much together.

The big lesson here - take a chance and try something new!

How as technology integration impacted your students' learning experiences?

Genius Hour - My Personal Mid-Check

Although I know the idea is controversial for some, my students wrote research-based argument papers as the first part of their 2016 Genius Hour projects. I was on the fence about this. Would I really be holding up the idea of Genius Hour with this kind of assignment? Would students really feel the passion about the project if they were required to cite sources using MLA?

While I'm still not sure about the answers to those two questions, I am sure about one thing.

The argument papers I'm reading are among some of the best I have ever gotten from students.

I do realize there could be any number of variables in play here. However, I have to believe that having students select topics that they care about and giving them the time and space in school to explore those topics had to have contributed to this product in some way.

Between the quality of this work and the quality of their reflections after writing the paper, I already feel the project this far was a valuable use of our time.

I cannot wait to see what they come up with for our Genius Hour Expo in May!

One School, One World, One Teacher's Reflection #1S1W

Earlier this week I had a conversation about #1S1W with my 8th grade language arts students.

I was inspired by Pernille Ripp's post HERE  after she reflected on the day with her students. I also adapted the discussion questions (and used the classrooms around the world and Detriot, MI article links) from Ms. Korver HERE.

First we looked through the pictures from the Twitter feed. Many students expressed disappointment in what these classrooms have that we don't. I asked students to write about what similarities and differences they noticed between the classrooms we were seeing and ours, and if they noticed any "voices" missing from the conversation. I explained that this project was designed to be a snapshot of classrooms across the country and around the world. Did it seem like that is what happened?

We then looked at some photos from classrooms around the world (from the link shared by Ms. Korver above) and some of the pictures from the Detriot school's suit. I asked them to think about why more schools like this weren't part of the #1S1W project on Twitter.

They had lots of valuable things to say, but a few things have remained with me now that we are a few days away from the conversation.

1. They recognized that people choose to share parts of their school that they were proud of on the #1S1W Twitter feed. They suggested letting students and/or parents choose what to photograph to maybe get a different view of the school.

2. As we were looking at the Twitter feed, one student said, "Where are the black kids?" 8th graders aren't known for their tact; however, that student was right. For a nation that's quickly becoming a majority minority, there wasn't a whole lot of diversity in the photographs we saw.

3. They were very astute in recognizing that teachers could get in trouble for posting pictures of their school if it were seen in a negative light. I'm not sure that I realized so many of them would understand this.

And finally, this is the one that is staying with me most of all...

4. One of the students, in the best way, (I so wish I could remember the words used exactly) explained that perhaps this is making kids who are in schools that are less that desirable feel bad. "Isn't it like we're bragging? or just putting them down to make ourselves look good?"

And so, this is where I am today. I feel so grateful to teach in a school that is safe where we have the things we need. As we talked about this week, do we have everything we want to have? No. But, we have a lot to be thankful for. I want to help my students recognize this fact. I want to continually remind myself of this fact. But how can you look at everything you have, without seeing what others do not have? And how can you look at what others are so lucky to have, without feeling badly that you do not have those things?

Now, I am looking for ways to continue this conversation - to keep thinking and learning from the wisdom of 8th graders.

Literature Circles - Updated for Middle School

For our January novel study, I wanted to test out a new type of literature circle activity. For 8th graders, the "jobs" version of literature circles never worked quite as well as I would have liked it to. Plus, it's a lot of work to set up, and the kids never seemed to know what they were supposed to do when.

After hearing Kelly Gallagher speak this summer, I tested out a new version of literature circles. I think that this would work well with all ages of middle school and up through high school. I don't have much experience with elementary, but I don't see why it wouldn't work for them too.

To begin, I sorted through the books available to me through my school's library. I selected eight that had themes loosely around the topic of prejudice.

After finding this super valuable resource from Daniels and Stieneke on literature circle mini-lessons, I used the "Book Pass" activity to have students select the books they were interested in. Essentially, they read all 8 options for 2 minutes, then selected the two or three books they would like to continue reading. There were no first or second choices, only choices they would read.

I then sifted through the options grouping students according to their selections, my understanding of their reading levels and group dynamics. We ended up with six different novel choices.

Students then got together to divide their book and decide which pages they would read for each meeting. Kelly Gallagher suggested that students should be able to read a book over the course of four weeks, but in retrospect, I should have gone with five or six for my students.

Students then completed "reading notebook" activities for each meeting. Based loosely off of this handout from Kelly Gallagher, students were supposed to track their thinking over time. With the goal of getting to the author's big idea(s). I assessed each reading notebook on five criteria:
1. They used one of the three "track your thinking" stems
2. They included their thinking about the book.
3. They included how their thinking had changed over time.
4. They included a "lit circle moment" that they wanted to share at the meeting. Something that was funny, interesting, confusing etc.
5. They included details in a way that showed they read the assigned pages.

I didn't require any specific amount of writing, and students completed their journals in a variety of ways. I had some students included sketches, but mot students wrote in sentences.

When the students met in their lit circle groups, they shared their "moments" as well as analyzed the character development through their novel.

In the last few meetings, they also used the "Save the Last Word for Me" strategy from the Daniels and Stieneke book. That was really successful in ensuring they had an actual conversation about the moments and didn't just take turns reading from their notebooks. Check it out if your students are struggling with this part of literary discussions!

In the end, students did a theme analysis activity for their novels. They analyzed the central conflicts to determine any possible messages the author might be trying to get across, and selected one that they could support its development throughout their novel with text evidence. They then had to create a symbolic representation of this theme to take the message beyond the pages of their novel. Students gave short presentations to share their themes with the class.

These presentations enabled students to see the shared themes between the novels. Many of the books had similar theme statements in the end, and we'll be able to come back to these during our Holocaust unit study later this year. I would have liked to have students record the themes of their classmates, then decide if this theme could also apply to their novel, but I didn't get that part off the ground. There's always next year!

All in all, it was a successful implementation of literature circles.

Next time, I will have students practice the reading notebook technique with a short story before we begin the lit circles.

In the end, I did have several students tell me they really enjoyed their books - so that in itself is a success!

The books we read were
A Wrinkle in Time
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Across Five Aprils
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Dragonwings

Please share any ideas or questions you have about literature circles!

We are Changing the World!

I am excited to announce that for 2016 - my classes have adopted a "Change the World" mindset for our Genius Hour.

We are currently deep into the topic selection process, and students will begin researching soon! (Would have been today...but then, snow day ❄.)

 THIS is the website I created for this project. I have combined our argument writing unit into this project. I know this is controversial for some Genius Hour advocates, but it is how I can tie it to the standards and make it happen in my school. We are calling this "Phase One".

Students have also created websites for their projects, which are viewable to each other. My district does not allow them to be visible to the world. Hopefully, I'll be able to share some screenshots as we get going.

 I am most excited about Phase Two of the projects. This is where students will take action! I cannot wait to see what students will come up with. Another exciting element of our new Genius Hour is the Change the World Expo. Here students will be sharing their projects (and the action they've taken) with other students in our school.

I can't wait to keep everyone update on how the projects are progressing!

Genius Hour - A Reflection of Sorts

Egads! I drafted this post two months ago, but I forgot to post it. Better late than never!

This year (2015) I jumped into Genius Hour. I didn't have everything completely planned ahead of time, which normally isn't how I operate. I thought I would get started and see where the kids took the project.

See this post for my thoughts about one month (halfway) in.

Now that we've wrapped our first round for the year, I have a few more ideas to add.

1. If I know what my goal is, I have to help students develop the skills to reach it.
I tied this to my curriculum standards by using Genius Hour as my informational text research and writing unit. At the end of the day, I wanted students to read some informational text and cite it appropriately.

I grossly underestimated how much work that would require upfront. I assumed some of the students had background knowledge in the area of citing their sources, but most were not able to draw from that.

I made available videos (flipped classroom style) for students to access if they needed help and support with MLA format. I provided mini-lessons to students who felt like they needed more direct instruction from me. I was available for students while they were working on their projects to answer questions related to citing sources.

In my end of project survey for students, a number of them expressed the project would have been better if they didn't have to worry about MLA. I was trying to mini-lesson on this as went along, but it clearly didn't work here.

Solution - Next year, I'm going to develop a pre-assessment for students to see where they are at on MLA format and citing sources well before the project even begins. Students who already have an understanding will be named experts to help their classmates. I will provide pre-teaching lessons whole group to have some exposure to MLA citations and works cited pages. I will still provide the videos and mini-lessons, but I will have a mid-check assessment to see where students are at before the project is due. This will enable me to see who needs a more direct check in.

I need to  do a better job at making clear the purpose of MLA and problems with plagiarism. I also plan to talk to our 7th grade ELA teachers to ask them to use the terminology MLA and Works Cited page so that it is familiar and consistent for students.

2. Give fewer specifics up front.
After we launched Genius Hour, I gave students the option to write a paper and/or create a video at the conclusion of their project.  Part way through the research process, I encouraged other options. A number of students expressed in my end of project survey that they wished they had known all of the options up front. Even though I thought I made clear they could do whatever they wanted to meet the criteria, I confused them by at the same time giving the options of paper or video.

Solution -  I will simply give them the requirements that they need to meet, and then allow them to create whatever they think will best meet those. I will want them to access their own creativity before I provide any specifics and/or sample products.

3. Embrace the idea that some students will get more out of Genius Hour than others.

This seems to be something that is difficult for  most teachers. We want all students to achieve at high levels, but we have to accept that that high level is going to be something that is different for all students. Also, as usual, there will be different levels of buy-in from all students.

I had this idealistic vision of what my students would achieve, but in reality, I didn't create the environment for that to happen for them.

Solution - I need to trust that each student will meet me where they are, and that I am able to help them grow from that point. I also need to do a better job of creating the environment I truly want - one of exploration and discovery. If I put too many constraints on the process, it is likely to hamper this process. I didn't let students struggle through enough, which I need to remember for next time.

I also tried to do too much in a short time frame. I had intended to have our projects stretch a semester, but I didn't get started soon enough. So, we worked twice a week for 9 weeks, instead of once a week for 18. In retrospect, we would have been better off with it stretched out for the semester to allow more time for thought and mini-lesson support between our workdays.

Lessons Learned: Genius Hour 2015

After launching into a modified Genius Hour without having all of my metaphorical ducks in a row, I've learned a few lessons.

1. Think about how you will keep track of everything.

Problem: I asked that all of my students have their Essential Questions for research approved by me. As I approved their questions, I typed something into their Google Doc that noted I had see it. I didn't, however, mark down anywhere that I had seen their question. This caused me to have no idea which of my 85 students had their questions approved and which had not. As a result, I had to reopen everyone EQ document to see if I had approved it.

Lesson Learned: Next time, I'll have a spreadsheet of all students so I can mark off when they've completed specific parts of the project. I've started it now, so we'll see how it goes for the rest.

2. My students don't really know how to research.

Problem: I've asked them to create complex Essential Questions, but a lot of my students don't have the research skills to break down their question into the necessary parts. They aren't able to select the key terms they'll need to search for while doing their research. Some of them aren't sure what I mean when I use the word "source". These are all issues I did not anticipate being so widespread.

Lesson Learned: Next time, I'll do some preassessment on research skills before beginning Genius Hour. And/Or I'll be sure to have mini-lessons closer to the start of the project. In the mean time, I've created a mini lesson on search terms, and made some videos to help them with some of their reseraching problems.

3. It's not as scary as I thought it would be.

Problem: I was hesisitant to jump into something without knowing exactly how it will end up. I didn't know what I wanted them to create at the end (I'm still not sure). I didn't know what sort of Essential Questions they would come up with. I didn't know how they'd use their time.

Lesson Learned: Kids are resiliant. They are willing to take chances with you if they know you'll be there for them. I did a lot of pre-activities about finding your passions, and talking about getting a chance to drive their own learning ahead of time. I think that really helped with the buy-in. Also, a number of students were way  more excited about getting to choose what to do at the end that I had aniticipated. Mark that as a win for student choice.

I need to do a better job of keeping up the intiial excitement. I had a number of inspirational videos to show, but I only did one. I can feel the excitement waining (the end of the Genius Hour time period is drawing slowly ever nearer), so I'm going to show another video tomorrow.

In the end, it's going so far much better than I had anticipated in some aspects and not really as much in others.

I'm going to do some surveying of my students tomorrow get their feelings on how everything is progressing. I'm sure after that I'll have even more lessons learned!

First Days? Begin With the End In Mind.

I am in limbo. For 7 of the past 10 years I have taught 8th grade language arts (three years in the middle I was an academic interventionist). There is a possibility I will be moving to 6th grade for this school year.

This year. The one that starts in 14 days - 7 of which I will be out of town.

Normally by now I will have my room set up and ready to go - able to fully enjoy my last days of summer by doing whatever I want because there is nothing I feel like I HAVE to do. But, I don't want to set a room up I might have to pack away, so I haven't done anything.

This unknown and uncertainty is frustrating and stressful.

By now I like to have pictured my first week or so - with rough outlines of lessons. Ideas on how to get everyone up to speed on my classroom rituals and other procedures. Everyone getting to know each other.

But, I've been mostly frozen. How can I possibly plan the first days of school when I don't know what I'll be teaching?!

Then - just a short while ago - my perspective changed. I can do some truly great work while living in this limbo.

I've got the opportunity to create a clear vision for what I want my class to be this year. Not the physical space, or even the curriculum and materials, but the emotional space, the environment, our culture. Regardless of what I end up teaching, that cultural element should be the same.

By not being tied to any specific curriculum at the moment, I can focus in on what activities and experiences will truly lead to the vision I want.

So, I ask you to think about your initial plans. What type of space would you want to create for your students regardless of the content? Age level? Number of students?

Really focus in on what you want for your students this year, and work to create that before you get wrapped up in content, standards, and the day-to-day dealings of education.

EdCamp Leadership in Sketchnote

Two weeks ago, I wrote a post about women in in Ed Leadership, combining some thoughts I had about women in ed tech leadership with thoughts about educational leadership in general..

I promised myself (and the Internet I suppose) that I was going to show up. I was going to do what I could to get my voice into the conversation.

So, I stepped out of my comfort zone and went to EdCamp Leadership. I hadn't ever attended an EdCamp, am new-ish to Twitter, blogs, PLN, etc, and am just now working on identifying myself as a leader. I was excited to have this networking experience and stick my toe into the leadership waters.

I thought that the team from ConnectedEd did a great job organizing the day in St. Louis. I felt like they framed the day in a way that even people new to EdCamp (like me)  had the information needed to be engaged in the process. Going to an even like this without anyone that I know is really branching out for me, and I felt comfortable to contribute.

I really hoped I would have some sort of wonderful statement to make, but I don't. I keep thinking about it, reviewing my notes, and hoping that something will come to my mind that will make a great blog post - but it's not happening!

So, I made my first official sketchnote.

What I learned about sketchnoting -

• I should have made a different note for each session
• It would be easier to make as the session is going along
• I'm a natural doodler, so I'm loving the idea of sketchnoting!

I have a few PD opportunities left this summer, so I'm hoping to get in  a few more sketchnotes. 

Overall, I had a great time at EdCamp; I will definitely try to go again. It seems to be an experience that gets better with practice. After years of "sit and get" PD, it's challenging to really be in charge of your own learning experience.

As I'm going to try to be moving to a more student-led, student empowered environment in my classroom this year, I need to remember that feeling. Perhaps, that is my biggest take-away of all.

I'm going to show up.

This is a little rambling, but it's my first post in a while. Forgive me!


So, this year I was #notatiste. I was fortunate to be sent to ISTE in 2011 in what was probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Thankfully, there's a great and very active community of people who engage in ISTE style learning from their homes during the annual conference. I was right in the midst of a graduate course this year, so I was a little late to the game. I did participate in some Twitter chats and joined the Voxer group - which led me to this post -

http://msmayersmessage.blogspot.com/2015/07/how-did-majority-become-minority.html


This, has struck a cord.

First of all, I have lately been really having a feeling like I have something to give to the conversation. I haven't been sure how to get my toe in the water, for lack of a better analogy. I feel stuck. I have things to say, but I it hasn't yet formed into a concrete message. And how do you even get started?

Second, her points here really make me think about a conversation I had with the professor of the course I took this summer. I'm applying for admittance to an Educational Leadership program. This now, in the state of Illinois, requires the creation of a portfolio along with various other requirements to be reviewed by committee prior to acceptance into the program. After acceptance you have to options "principal" or "teacher leader".

While I haven't yet been official accepted, I am very confident in my application portfolio. However, I am paralyzed by this decision. Right now, I do not see myself as a principal. Leader - yes. Building principal - no.  It's not necessarily what I want to do now, but who's to say it won't be what I want in a few years? I was talking with the professor about this inner conflict I've been having, and she suggested that she has seen this pattern with women.

She said that in talking with women in particular, they seem to not see themselves as principals - but then end up becoming one once they've earned the degree.

So, I'm wondering if somehow this is related to the lack of women presenters at ISTE. Do women, in general, struggle to see themselves outside of the roll in their classroom? Do we get so focused on what we're doing day to day and the connections we're making with students, that it's difficult to think beyond those walls?

For me, imagining doing something other than teaching is almost impossible. I love what I do. Would I be happy doing something else? Can I find a space in the universe to keep teaching but also share my voice?

I don't know.

But, I'm going to explore it. I'm going to put myself out there, try to get into the conversations, and share what I'm doing with the world.

There is value in what I have to say, but I have to be in a place where others can hear me.

I'm going to show up.

My Epic Nonfiction Project

One of my goals this summer was to completely align my lessons and activities with the Common Core Standards. It's been quite an undertaking, and I don't think I'll get everything done I wanted to.

As part of that, I made the orgnizational tool I posted about earlier.

I've been busy adding in lessons and activities and slowly but surely becoming overwhelmed with the amount of standards I'm going to have to be responsible for this year.

As a result, I'm going to try to get my teammates on board helping with some of the nonfiction instruction. That was certainly the intent when the standards were written, but I think in practice - it's not quite happening yet.

To make this a little less scary (and work) for them, I'm making template like worksheets that can be used with almost any nonfiction article. My hope is that they'll actually use them, and the students will get exposure to the nonfiction standards outside of my language arts classroom.

My goal is to have something for each of the standards, but I'm not realizing that that is going to take quite some time to produce. I was going to create a bundle, but I'm just going to release them one standard at a time.

So, here's the sheet for CC RI 8.1.

My idea with this lesson is that you would come up with two or three articles about the same topic. The articles would need to present different viewpoints or just contain different facts. You could easily modify this by using one article or make the articles longer or more difficult.

So, as an example - I went to CNN.com to look for a current event. Just for fun, I selected the one about the giant tuna that capsized a boat.

I then went to my friend Google and entered "nonfiction article about tuna".

I found this article from Scholastic Scope magazine. The article is really about dolphins, but does contain a section about tuna. Something like this would be good to show how to decide what information is really important to your argument.

I also found this article from Discovery News  about over-fishing of tuna.

If I were doing this activity in my class, I would also use one of the databases my library has access to like EBSCO or NetTrekker to find another article. I would probably look for something to present the other side of the dolphin story, rather than focus on tuna.

There is a short interview at the end of the article with the marine park association. I would look for a longer article to present the benefits of the dolphin interactive programs.

I would then pose a question like "Using information presented in the articles for support, do you think interactive dolphin programs are a good idea?" or "Using information presented for support, would you participate in an interactive dolphin program?" It's important to make sure that there is adequate information to support either side of the argument before you ask the question.

Students can then be guided through the activity using the Text Support worksheet.

After they come up with three examples of textual evidence and explain them, I would probably create a mini-debate situation. I would have students pair up with someone who is on the same side of the argument as then. I would put those pairs with pairs from the other side. They would then take turns reading their text examples and explanations.

After everyone has shared, I would have the pairs go back to find a fourth piece of evidence to counter one of the arguments presented by the other side. Their explanation should have a direct reference to how this counters the argument.

At the conclusion of this activity, students would have met the standard for sure, as well as several others in the reading and speaking/listening standards.

I'm looking forward to using this activity this year! Or at least helping my teammates make use of it!

If you'd like to purchase the text support worksheet - please check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Common-Core-Citing-Textual-Evidence-783648