Thank You PLN

I was perusing my Twitter feed a few days ago and found a great idea to use in my class. It is a writing activity about building a nonfiction book for a younger grade class to read. I emailed the link to myself. Today I pulled it up and started reading it. I am in the midst of a great lesson plan because of a wonderful teacher (@pernilleripp) posted a great idea for me to use. This is all because of a great PLN I have been a part of for quite a few years. Most of the time I sit back and steal discover ideas for my class. I have done more contributing

At this time of year when we are being thankful and giving I wanted to thank all of my Professional Learning Community/Network for all all the lessons and ideas you have given me. My students have benefited from all the great learning I have done over the years from twitter, blogs, and pinterest ideas. I have benefited as a teacher and learner. Thank you. Have a great holiday season.

Learning About Learning Walks

Learning walks are great way for teachers to see what is happening on other classrooms. When I went on learning walks in the past, or had teachers come to my room to observe, I usually felt that an evaluation was happening. I felt I needed to look at what was happening in the film and make a judgement call about what I liked and wanted to use or what was not so good and what I didn't or would never use.
But today I learned something different. I learned that it was not about evaluating at all. It was not even about the teacher. It was about how the students were engaged and what the teacher dos in their classroom to get them engaged. I heard what the teacher said, I saw what the teacher did, and I watched the students. I saw them work. I saw some off task. I saw them think and discuss. I saw what each teacher did to get them involved. I learned some things that will help me be a better teacher. I heard some questions that the teachers would say and thought about how I could use similar questions.
I have also been learning about how to script questions and what teachers and students are saying in the class. Scripting gives the teacher an idea of how their lesson is going as well as how deep the questions are requiring the students to go in the information.
When we met back as a group we used a set of guidelines to guide our discussion. Nothing was to be said about the teacher that was disparaging or bad about what happened. We discussed what went well in the class. We found amazing things our teachers are doing and saw engagement of students through different activities. Many of which I will use in my classroom.
After our discussion I had the opportunity to meet with a couple teachers that were being observed and discuss how they felt about the lesson. It was a learning experience having them give me their insight into their lesson and thoughts while they were teaching. It can be unnerving having 5-6 teachers in your room while teaching a lesson. Hearing them reflect on the lesson and how they could do better and what they needed to work on helped me understand that even the best teachers feel they can improve.
Learning walks have been an interesting parting my teaching, but I am only now seeing how it benefits me as well as the teacher I am watching. Thank you to all those that let me observe and learn.

The Last Days

We have three weeks left. Now is the time for students to start relaxing and getting a little "mouthy" with their comments. A few start talking back and making inappropriate comments at the wrong times. Some students can handle the change that comes with summer break and some cannot. Some students do not know what is on the horizon. No structure, no rules, no opportunities. They need to know the teacher understands and will always like them.
I have a few suggestions to make it through these last few weeks.
• Relax.
• Take a breath.
• Don't take it personally.
• Let the students know they still know what is right and they can hold on to the end. Encourage.
• Don't give up on the rules. Give a few more breaks and reminders, though.
Keep the schedule going. If things change too much and there is too much free time, there will be trouble. We always add in a movie making activity for students to crest movies of what they have learned through the year. Each group, one subject or topic.
• Love the students. Don't let their words and actions during the last couple weeks change how you feel about the child themselves. They are still children, learning as they go, testing their boundaries, trying to make it through life. As we are.
Change is in the air and students feel it. They will be heading home without the same schedule and, sometimes, without friends they are used to being with everyday. The weather is changing and they want to be outside playing in the sun. They need to know they are still loved during these times of change. These might be hard weeks, but we can give students the best send off so they will remember the good times, not he bad couple weeks at the end.

Learning Never Ends

It is the end of the year. We have three weeks left and our end of year testing is complete. I want the students to understand that learning never stops. We have more math, language, science, social studies, and other subjects to teach. After the big test, there is still more to learn. I find that if I stop teaching after we have taken the test, it sets a bad example for the students. It teaches them that there is a point where the learning does stop. It doesn't. I shouldn't. That is the lesson I hope to instill in my students. Keep learning.

Choosing a Path

My family takes a trip to Death Valley NP every year for a family reunion. While we were there this year we went on a new trail we had never been on. As we drove I this gravelly, bumpy road, we started looking over the next hill for the end. We were hoping for this amazing end to a slow, bumpy trip. It never came on this road. Many times the roads we take end up somewhere, but this one didn't.
I always wonder why is it about a new road that keeps us going on it? Is it that someone told us it would be amazing? Do we have hope it will get better? Or do we just do it because it is the road we have always been on and do not know how to get off it? What if we didn't even get on this road? Would we know what we were missing?
So what does this have to do with education or technology? When a new technology comes out we need to decide what road we are going to take? Is the technology going to be better or will it be a dead end? Will it be something great as we use it, or will be need to get rid of it and move to something else.
There are so many options out there and they keep adding more all the time. Here are a few tips I try to use.
• Make sure the tech you want to use works for you.
• A piece of technology should not add to your work, or the kids work, but become part of your program easily.
• If an app can take the place of something else, or a few something else's, use it.
• Try out each new piece of tech before giving it to a student. Have your kids use it. Make a "New App" team of students to test them out. You will find out what works and how interesting it really is.
Whatever road we are on, or tech we use, we need to know what know what our plan is. If it keeps on going on forever and doesn't improve the student learning, we might want to take a new road. We might want to even try a new road. Technology is here and we need to use it wisely. Get on the road, but choose how far you will go when it gets bumpy. It might be worth the wait? Or not.
Note: Seth Godin wrote a book that is similar to this subject. It's called "The Dip". I would suggest it.

Making Tech Commonplace in the Classroom

I read somewhere that tech needs to become as common as pencils and paper in the classroom. When it does we have gone past the "honeymoon stage" and into the "lets see what this can really do" stage. I think my class is getting to that stage.
We started using iPads in our fifth grade classrooms 1:1 two years ago. It was hard deciding what to have students use them for at first. Then we decided on the second year that we would use them for everything we could. They kept them at their desks and used them as often as possible. We never gave up writing with pencils, using paper, or books. We did use them for writing to publish their text, make presentations, write daily journals, and email their teachers about what they were learning.
We had them use their iPads as a learning management system. They get on to see what they need to do for assignments, even though we still remind them where to find them. They submit discussions, comments, pictures of paperwork, and answer surveys on the LMS. They also have access to all assignments for the unit we are on. The LMS makes them complete assignments in order so they complete everything before moving on to the next section.
We use Google Drive to type in assignments for writing, language, social studies, and science.
What I found was that the more we use the iPads, the more the kids treat them as a tool and not a toy. We have a couple education games on the iPads, but we use them as we have most games, for specific times, not as rewards. This has curtailed them asking to play the games. As I watch what students are doing with the iPads, they are treating them like I would hope they would, as tools of learning.
I have students looking for new ways to show me how to use the iPads for their work. They ask to take pictures for their portfolios. A couple have asked about making movies to show what happened in a certain project. Some want to use the technology to add to their learning. It is becoming a part of their learning and becoming commonplace in the classroom.
The more we use technology, the more it becomes a part of the way the classroom and education is. If we don't use technology, it is a novelty to be played with. We need to use what we have to the fullest potential. Not adding to the work, but changing it. Making it commonplace.