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What is one of your biggest accomplishments in your teaching that no one knows about (or may not care)? Huh. That's a thinker. I've been out in the sun, pulling weeds and thinking about this one for a few hours now (let's just agree not talk about my weed problem, ok?) and I'm still not sure I have an answer. At first I thought about all the kids I've taught over the years and all the ones whose lives I hope I influenced. And yes, there probably are some big accomplishments there, some success stories. But those stories aren't mine, they're theirs. As much as I may have had a hand in the direction their life took, they are the drivers and I am merely a passenger with lots of directions (hopefully good ones!). So I put those ideas aside and moved on. In the end, what I settled on was not so much something I've accomplished as something I've become. I've become humble. I've accomplished humility (can you do that?). You see, and this is going to sound distinctly un-humble, I am a natural teacher. I can see it in my 5 year old daughter too - that natural desire to organize people, to help them, to teach them something, to cheer them on as they figure it out. As a high school student, every part-time job I had involved teaching: swim instructor, day camp counsellor, babysitter. Teacher's college was a breeze - even when I made a mistake (like teaching 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication completely wrong), I bounced right back. I had my class divided in to leveled groups for math and reading, taught recorder like a champ (ok, maybe not so much, but recorder? C'mon) and used every technique they gave me like I had used it a hundred times before. And then I started teaching Learning Assistance. And I realized how little I knew about what it was like to struggle, how little I knew about what it was like to try and help your child do something it seemed they just couldn't do, how little I knew about helping teachers help these struggling little ones. And so I opened my eyes and my ears. I sought out the experts in many, many different fields. I listened carefully to what they had to say. I listened carefully to what the kids had to say. I listened carefully to what the parents had to say. I listened carefully to what the teachers had to say. And I learned that no matter how much I learn, I will never know it all. I will never stop learning and I will never stop listening and I will always, always remember that in the grand scheme of things, I actually know very little. If you can accomplish humility, than that is my greatest accomplishment. Today's blog prompt just cries out for a picture but unfortunately we're still on strike so that won't be happening. Instead, I will have to summon the depths of my descriptive powers to try and paint a picture for you of the inside of my desk drawer. Pulling open my desk drawer (assuming you can get it open on the first tug, that is), you will find something that can only be described as organized chaos. Organized, because I put a drawer organizer in there last year, chaos because the organizer is only barely containing all of the items in it. In the largest compartment of the organizer there are pencils and pens; more pens than I will ever need and never enough pencils because I am always lending them to students. There is a compartment for erasers (2), a compartment for highlighters (lots, blue, pink, yellow and green), a compartment for the tiny little post-its that are really only good for flagging things and taking one word notes, and compartments for calculators, timers and various sundry items that I try to keep to minimum (and only barely succeed). After installing the organizer, I realized that larger items like rulers, reasonably usefully-sized post-its and scissors didn't really have a home so they are tucked around the outside, neatly...ish.
What can I infer from the contents? Not much, really. This is a pretty basic desk drawer for just about anyone - nothing exciting, nothing overly revealing, nothing overly interesting. I suppose that the quasi-organization points to a person who wants to be organized but doesn't have the time or patience to be too concerned with it in the long run. The reality is that I don't keep the interesting stuff in a drawer; take a look at the top of my desk - that's where the magic really happens! Over the course of the 8 years I have been at my school, I have had the chance to have a wonderful, wonderful mentor in my principal. Sadly (for me and all the other teachers at my school) she retired at the end of the year. She will be dearly missed; our school will definitely not be the same without her. She listened when I needed listening to, answered when I needed answers, sympathized when I needed a sympathetic ear, nudged when I needed to decide for myself, shoved when I just wouldn't decide and guided with the firmest, yet gentlest of hands. She is irreplaceable and I can only hope that she will remain in my life outside of teaching for quite some time. Thankfully, her successor seems to be a kindred spirit and I'm sure we will get along famously as well. So, in tribute to my fabulous mentor, here are the things a great mentor does:
With great admiration for all of the wonderful mentors out there, Today's prompt is kind of a fun one - post pictures of your classroom and, in essence, critique it. The slideshow at the top of our website home page (just click on that little word "home" right there beside "blog" in the top right hand corner) is a series of pictures of The Lit Pit, which, for all intents and purposes, is my classroom. It is not the average classroom. We cycle the majority of the classes in the school through the Lit Pit over the course of a week, averaging 5 classes a day. It is set up for a very specific purpose - station-based literacy activities (for more about how we run the Lit Pit see here). When I look at photos of the Lit Pit, I see a space that is welcoming without being overwhelming, a space that is purposefully designed, a space that invites learning. I also see a space that has morphed over time. The labels on that writing board in the photo above? Those didn't last very long because they just didn't work. Neither did the table set up, so we changed that too. The flow and routines have changed as well, flexing to fit every class that enters this space. When you're working with so many different groups, you have to be flexible! You can see some of the changes in this photo (taken after we were really in the swing of things). For the upcoming year, we have already identified one of the missing things: books! While we do have guided reading books galore and a ton of great books at our Love To Read station, we hope to add several bookshelves and displays to highlight our favourites and the favourites of our students. In doing so, we hope that our students will share their passion for books with each other and with us! The other thing that's missing? The kids. Their energy, their noise, their love for learning. I can't post those pictures but believe me, this is a space they love to be in.
We would love to hear what you think of our space (because, really, it's not just mine. It's Kristi's too. And all the staff and students who come to learn with us every day). Something you love? Something missing? Let us know in the comments - we are always looking for new ideas! Fourteen years into my teaching career and Literacy has always been my primary love. Teaching little people to read and write and seeing the world of books from new eyes brings me an immense amount of joy. I have spent many hours discussing how to get students who are reluctant readers and writers to be engaged. I have given ideas and activities to encourage parents who are at their wits end. This year I’ve met my match. He’s an incredibly bright little boy who reads above grade level, his oral comprehension and imagination are exceptional. Getting him to write however, is like pulling teeth. He comes up with every excuse in the book and truth be told our writing sessions are looking more and more like wrestling matches. As irony would have it, this little boy also happens to be my son. So this past year I have been on a mission to come up with inventive and exciting ways to encourage my son to write. I’ve tried video prompts, engaging hands on activities, lists, letters and stories. We’ve run laps between sentences, had writing breaks and tried every time of the day. Writing is still a struggle. He has a million ideas but trying to get them on paper is hard. He immediately becomes tired, grumpy and is distracted by the smallest of things. Even though attention can be an issue for him at times if I put a math sheet in front of him or a book or Lego he’s able to focus for hours. So this summer my task has been reading everything I can about boys and literacy. It seemingly has become a theme for me; people I hardly know have come up and asked me about getting their boys to read and write. Dinner party conversations have taken a turn to our education system and boys and the question of does our current system meet the needs of busy boys. I’ve begun asking myself, what can we do differently at our school to engage our boys and not only teach them to read and write, but create a culture where they choose to? I believe things begin to change when we not only recognize the problem, but begin asking questions. I don’t think it’s coincidence I have a son who is demonstrating these challenges. It’s motivating me to find an answer. I would love to end this post telling you I’ve discovered a quick fix, but we’re definitely a work in progress. My son and I are on a quest to find ways to engage not only him but other boys like him. At the end of his school career I would love to be able to say that I’ve helped him not only learn to read and write, but Love to, and Choose to.
Stay tuned as the questions turn in to answers... I must admit, today's question had me confused. Discuss one "observation" area you'd like to improve on for your teacher evaluation? Huh? What's an "observation" area? After a bit more thought, it dawned on me that perhaps I was confused because this is not my evaluation year. And that, perhaps, in other jurisdictions, teacher evaluations happen yearly, making this a logical question for some teachers, but not for me. And maybe, in those jurisdictions, there are specific areas of observation that must be checked off by admin. This is not how our district works. In fact, I have not been formally evaluated since my second year of teaching. You see, our union negotiated a clause that allows teachers to choose between a formal evaluation and a Professional Growth Plan, which is essentially a year-long learning project in a teacher's area of interest (that they aren't really the same thing doesn't seem to be a major issue around here). Last year, the Lit Pit was my project and this blog the record of what I learned. Turns out, I'm still learning! So, in response to this question I would like to share one of my deeply held beliefs about teaching and evaluating - if you're doing it for the evaluation, you're doing it for the wrong reasons. This particular belief actually got me in to trouble - ! - during my practicum because I told my instructor that I didn't need to make an "appointment" to be evaluated, he was welcome in my classroom anytime. Apparently this was a new concept to him. But fundamentally I believe that if you aren't doing your best, if you aren't trying to be the best teacher you can be every minute of every day then you are doing your students (and yourself) a disservice. Sure, there a times - lots of times! - when it will be less than perfect, but aren't those the best times to get feedback? Aren't those the best times to have a second set of eyes and ears to say "Ummm, about that..."? Granted, this can be nerve-wracking if your position/salary/seniority is riding on the evaluation but, trust me, if you're the type of teacher that subscribes to this belief, your worst lesson is miles ahead of many others. If you hold this belief, you are always reading new things, always evaluating how that last lesson went, always tweaking, always reflecting. You will fly through your evaluation because you will know exactly where that lesson went sideways and what you would change for next time. So, if I were to be evaluated this year, what area would I focus on? None of them and all of them. I would constantly be trying new teaching methods, reflecting on my lessons, reflecting on my practice, trying to be the teacher that creates those aha! moments for kids, that lights a fire in their little souls, a passion for learning that (hopefully) will never leave them. I sure as heck won't be worried about my evaluation. Get out there and kill it today, friends. Today's question: What is one piece of learning technology I'd like to try this year and why?
My initial reaction? Easy, student blogging. But then I thought about using Socrative to engage those introverts in my class, Aurasma because I've been dying to try out augmented reality, oh and QR codes seem like a really interesting tool too, and I've been really wanting to get more of my struggling writers using Evernote & speech-to-text efficiently. Hmmm, I guess this is why they call it reflective teaching. If I had to narrow it down (it does say one piece), I think I'd choose speech-to-text, followed closely by student blogging. Speech-to-text - I have been using speech-to-text apps for some time now and know the power they can have for struggling writers. Last year, I integrated it with Evernote for some kids and was really pleased (as were the parents & kids) with the ease of access across multiple platforms and locations. However, I have come to realize that very few struggling writers struggle solely with the act of writing, whereby giving them a speech-to-text tool instantly remedies their writer's block. For the majority of my young struggling writers, a large part of their issues with writing lies in their inability to properly sequence and structure their writing, something that cannot be remedied by speech-to-text alone. If, however, I can get these students proficient in brainstorming and outlining their writing (using Evernote & Skitch, for example) then speech-to-text should be a beneficial tool for them. Luckily, my partner-in-crime, Kristi, has been doing tons of research about writing, particularly about getting little boys to write; coincidentally, these tend to be our highest proportion of struggling writers. I think I feel a joint project coming on... Student blogging - Ok, so I know it said one but I came across this fantastic article about increasing student engagement through blogging. The basic premise is that students will write more and put more effort in to it if they know that people beyond their teacher are reading their work. It introduces a site called quadblogging.com which partners four classes together to blog and respond to one another's blogs. I love this idea because it ensures that someone other than classmates are reading the blog, providing authentic feedback and lots of opportunity to develop not only one's writing skills but also one's critiquing skills (thereby creating a feedback loop that will, hopefully, continuously improve everyone's writing). After reading this article I got so jazzed about the idea that I knew that I would definitely be trying it out this year. Of course, lacking a class of my own, I am going to have to convince one of my teachers that they want to go down this road with me... Well, Day 2 down and I am looking forward to tomorrow. That, and a school year that actually gets off the ground sooner rather than later. |
Welcome!I'm Bryn, teacher, mom, book lover, athlete. I am passionate about living life with my family, teaching and learning something new all the time. I hope you find something that speaks to you here on my blog and would love to hear from you too! Categories
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