Students as Teachers

My students never cease to amaze me and I feel truly feel blessed that I have the opportunity to show them that often! Positive feedback can be important for anyone and the more authentic the better. What is more authentic than teaching your teacher something that she couldn't do on her own?!?!? One of my seventh graders showed me today how to properly embed a YouTube video on our class wikispace and I was amazed at how easy it was - and how proud he was.

This seventh grader is quite tech savvy (the same student who gave me my "Blinky") and this gave him an opportunity to use his knowledge appropriately while receiving authentic feedback. He was also assisting his class in preparing for a neat activity since the video was for making chainmail which we will be doing next week as we study guilds.



He then shared with me the new videos he's embedded on his home page of our wiki and I was again struck by how giving a student their own space can really support their growth and self-esteem. He has posted categories of videos on his home page twice since we've started our wiki this semester, he taught the other students how to create their avatars and he selected one for me:

How cool is that! Out of all the images he searched, he chose one of Einstein for me (I do have a poster of Einstein in my classroom, especially since he is thought to have had a learning disability). While it might have because of our similar hairstyles, it ranks right up there in my favorite teaching moments!

I learn from my students every day and THAT is when I usually feel like a good teacher . . . in fact, it's because I can learn from my students that I believe I am a good teacher!

I Love My Job

Okay, if you're sick of hearing how much I love where I work, then you probably want to skip this entry :). I have fibromyalgia and I've been fortunate that it hasn't interfered too much with me working, etc.. This week however was not fun! I was sick on Tuesday and as I forget, my naturally taut muscles became even tighter after a day in bed aching. Sooo, Friday morning when I was toweling and yawning, something got tight enough to pull, which left me with a neck that I couldn't really move much. Truthfully, I thought, ahh, it will go away . . . but just in case, I called my E.D. and told her I didn't think I'd make it the whole day. She immediately told me that she'd call a sub if I thought I needed one and I was off to finish getting ready. Over the next 30 minutes, I was glad that I had called her since by the time I got to school I was ready to throw up from the strain/pain.

So, why does this mean I love where I work? Well, the sub wasn't able to come in, but by the time I got there, my fellow staff members had rallied the wagons and had figured out a plan for them to cover my classes and not lose too much of their prep time. It was awesome! It was also one of those days when I couldn't just leave plans, because I had things I really needed to prep my students for, etc.. however mama Grace wasn't hearing any of it :). I was getting my class started and she came in asking me what I was doing. I gave them some instructions, she told me great, she could take care of that and kicked me out of my classroom (even though my ED had offered to take my 1st hour if needed)!! These are all people who work hard, have TONS of work to do and were willing to take on some of mine so I could nurse my muscles. How many people can say that they can truly rely on the people they work with? I hope you are one who can say you really enjoy going to work everyday; I know I do!

Helping Kids Learn to Be Thinkers and Learners......

Two thoughts, okay at least two thoughts today following my wandering around the web (never seem to be able to get off my PC in just 10 minutes anymore!). I stumbled across some thought provoking and interesting posts by two people I don't know, Will and Dave; one was actually in response to the other guy's postings. So, before I start saying that guy too much, here's what they were:
1st one: "Will's post"
2nd one: "David's post"
Of course, I found them interesting because I tended to agree with them on a lot of things and have added them to my favorites now. But, they reminded me of what I was going to blog about Monday, which was learning and thinking. Teaching kids to be active leaners and thinkers. I frequently try to remind the teachers (the other 4 in my school) to remember to celebrate what we do do and that teaching life-long thinking is more valuable than whether or not Jimmy is listening to you today or making the right decisions, if he is learning how to, that is more important. Doesn't really make our day easier, but it could make his life easier somewhere down the road!

And, on a smaller note (more tangible I suppose), some of the other things are teaching our students problem solving. Remembering that math is more than calcuation and drills, even when you are working with remediation or reteaching. How is tons more of what is tough going to make things better in the long run, especially in this day of calculators and computers, I mean come on. You can learn to think mathematically and strategically without being subjected to the prison of constant drills. Also, I think I've mentioned it before, but my class started a wikispace this year and I'm easing my fellow teachers into it, slowly but surely. This is not because they are opposed or anti-technology. It's usually because they are already very busy with the amazing amount of work we already put into our jobs and/or they are still buffering the uses and how it works...it can be overwhelming.

So, in line with those two thoughts, I had found two great articles from Edutopia to share. Now, I have to admit, when I first signed on to receive this e-newsletter I was a little skeptical. It seems that Hollywood entering the world of education is becoming a very "in" thing to do and, truthfully, there are a lot of "non-education" folk already messing with education; but I wanted to check it out. I have found it to be great and very applicable to even my setting. I am inspired by many things I read in their newsletters, and while some are more ideal than practical I think they are good challenges for all educators. Once our thoughts become static, we are no longer learning and to be a good teacher - okay, an awesome and inspiring one - we still need to remember how to learn!

Okay, back to the point. The first was exciting, and honestly, a pat on the back for me. I am not only letting my students "play" with technology and "play" on the internet, I am truly teaching them skills for life-long learning: Wiki Don't Lose That Number by Chris O'Neal. Thanks to Chris and to Edutopia for the continued encouragement, inspiration and validation! Also, just an aside, it was in response to some other Edutopia article that I'll have to go find one of these days that I started my wiki and blog spree....

Second point for today (finally, whew!): math is more than calculation! Math is problem solving, math is talking about problems and solving puzzles, it is critical thinking and discovering relationships... and I'm not the only one who thinks so and is improving students' learning by being committed to this notion: Math is Magic. Go Fullerton IV Elementary School!!!

I realize that this was a lot of chat for two points and I'm sure I exceeded my predicted amount of two . . . and ....... I'm sure I can say that it will probably happen again.... night all!

Found a Cool Cat Using Wiki, etc.. with Students

One thing I have complained about for years is that I can never find anything that I want on the internet. All of a sudden, I'm finding all kinds of things! Sometimes, I'm not sure I could find them again, but it's been quite an adventure - and most of it started looking for ways to work better with my students! Well, today's journey took me to http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2006/01/how-wikis-podcasts-and-laptops-help.html
which is a great posting about using wikispaces, laptos and podcasts with students with learning disabilities.

"I am passionate about helping kids with learning disabilities. (I'm not sure the PC word but that's the one I'll use.) Any teacher can teach a smart kid -- a "smart kid" with regular learning abilities can learn from an inanimate object -- a book. They can teach themselves on the Internet. Teach them and you are knowledgeable about your subject. But it is the child who has challenges -- you are true teacher when you accommodate and reach that child."

I felt like I could've been reading my own journal or something; in fact, I think I used some similar statements in an educational philosophy paper somewhere along my journey.

I love her suggestions for using the wiki - I think I'll share them with my class on Monday and see what they think :) - check it out:

Look. Say. Do.
Many of the students with LD have been told to use the Look - Say - Do method of learning.Look. Say. Do. Using WikisWikis fit this beautifully and I've found my ADHD kids are some of the best at it.
Look -- The students are looking in their textbook and on the Internet for information related to their topic. They are reading it.
Say -- Meanwhile, they are discussing the topic often in a very animated fashion with their partner to make sure they aren't posting the same thing and to discuss where it fits.
Do -- Then, they are summarizing the new information they have found and putting into their wiki.
Look - They reread the wiki to ask themselves where the "holes" in their information lie.
Say - They talk about it with their partner.
Do - They search for more information and add it to the wiki and it continues.
Perfect!

Great advice! This is a strategy that is do-able, easy to remember and "fair". She (Vikie Davis, a great teacher from Georgia) has some other comments about "fair" that are great, and no matter when I read or hear fair, I am reminded of Rick Lavoie: "Fair does not mean equal; fair means everyone getting what he/she needs". Haven't seen F.A.T. City? Check it out!

Schools SHOULD be Comfortable

I received my recent edition of Edutopia in my inbox today and, again, I remember why I love my job (I may stop saying that every post, but you know, if [insert your "it" of choice] it fits.....) - because our school IS comfortable. The article lead was Shouldn't Classrooms Be Comfortable and the article was "A Comfortable Truth: Kids Don't Need to Squirm to Learn". Sometimes kids need to move to learn, but making them squirm is NOT conducive to learning - AMEN to Edutopia!

"Nothing about the industrial-school model required comfort as a precondition for success. In fact, school comfort, through the introduction of seemingly superfluous elements, was often seen to militate against the high ideal of efficiency. Even though no research or evidence supports this idea, a myth persists to this day that an uncomfortable school is probably good because it creates self-disciplined kids, not pampered softies." Thank you Prakash Nair and Randall Fielding whoever you are! I remember being uncomfortable in school, I remember daydreaming in school, I remember laughing and I remember some learning...hmm...seems like the order of that should be a little different...

Nair and Fielding list 8 truths about comfort and learning or comfort and schools:

#1:Comfort Matters
I agree, in fact, I can't imagine if I wasn't comfortable in my space for the whole day! Who likes to be uncomfortable? I hate going to trainings or conferences when I'm not comfortable - who care if I'm supposed to learn something or I've paid to be there - those "priorities" are not exactly what the learning portion of my brains are taking in at the time; in fact, there's probably not much info even getting that far into my brain. That's when I pray I am taking good notes, the handouts are awesome or I can find it on the web....

#2 Some Pain, No Gain
Except for the chiropractor, psychiatrist or other health professionals that will be healing the pain there is no evident gain for anyone else. I suppose if you plan to work on a bench or in a cubicle on a hard chair as your career it might be good training - oh wait, I suppose the gain then is called disability right? Oh, no, even cubicles usually have some kind of padded chair, some even ergonomically correct, saves on health care costs, etc... hmm..... seems like I heard something on the news about concerns about cutting health care costs. That would be an interesting research project - is the long term health of kids from comfortable schools better than that of kids in "regular" schools? Don't know how you'd measure that exactly, but that's not really my point anyway :).

#3 The Breathing and Learning Connection
Okay, I know a few people in HVAC fields, in fact my dad does industrial systems and I can't tell you how often I've heard about how inefficient the air systems are in school buildings. I also wonder about the fact that within the last 5 years or so, there's been more and more discussion about the increase in learning disabilities. There is also a high incidence of asthma, allergies, and other immune or air related difficulties in students with learning problems. How much of this may be influenced by the air quality, particularly in the younger grades? We won't even think about overall air quality once you leave the school building . . . in homes. . . etc...

#4 Louder is Not Better
It does amaze me how many sounds there are in a school, even one as small as ours. We don't have bells, PA systems or hundreds of kids switching classes, but we still notice the noise of the computer, or the lights, or the big truck that drove by, the HVAC guy on the ceiling, etc..... and since most of my students are active or are moving, we tend to create quite a bit of noise. But, another teacher I was speaking with a few weeks ago was saying that they can have up to an announcement every 3-4 minutes during his class and then bells might ring for staggered lunch periods, etc.. In my class, I joke because noise can often mean learning - but it certainly is the right kind of noise! Is it really TV or video games effecting kids' attention spans and auditory processing?....

#5 Cozy and Cheeful Wins Hearts and Minds
Nair and Fielding dedicate this truth to the "architects who design schools". It is funny when some buildings can be classified as a mini-Taj Mahal, but run out of classroom space quickly. I understand why in this day and age creating nooks and crannies for comfort may create spaces that are difficult to supervise, and kids, especially teenagers, are already good at finding small spaces; but what about feeling like school is less like an institution and more of a community of learning? This one has no easy answer for sure, but it seems like there may be some out there...

#6 Cafes Are Not Just for Grown-Ups
"A school café (the antithesis of the typical school cafeteria) nourishes not only the body but also the spirit. Whereas a cafeteria is just a place to get food into kids and move them on, a café is a place where students might actually choose to be. Ideally, it would be much smaller than a big dining hall, accommodating no more than a hundred students at a time. There might be allday access to a variety of healthy and nutritious refreshments and beverages, and comfortable chairs and small tables could accommodate groups of four or bistro-type seating for individuals or two students at a time.
The area could also feature student artwork, plus newspapers and other casual reading materials, as well as good views to greenery and vistas where possible. Look into almost any popular city café; working people use such places as ad hoc study halls, and so can students. As with other comfort concepts in this article, such an environment may seem unlikely in the workaday world of public education, but if we can't imagine the ideal, we'll never evolve the real". I loved how they said it so much, there wasn't much to add. :)

#7 Comfort is Important Outside, Too
Okay, I'll be realistic. I would love to have a terrace and places for social gatherings, etc.. but how do you maintain such spaces? It can be a struggle to get them to clean up after themselves at lunch :). No, I'm not all of a sudden changing my tune, but sometimes even coming close to the ideal is just way too much thought of work. On the same note, we just spent an afternoon moving perennials and flower beds to beautify the outside of the building - actually we will be under construction to not only beautify, but fix the outside of our building. So I am with the "outside is important'; but I'm not up for tons more space to be monitoring pick up. Any other ideas?

# 8 (drumroll....) Emotions Count in Comfort

"One of the most uncomfortable things about schools is the degree to which students feel anonymous in them." Okay, this is showing to be more true than ever within the past few years. This is not more important because the news is showing more and more incidences of those who are through being anonymous, but because it's part of being human. Connecting with other people is vital to a person's well-being. Some choose to connect in ways that others might consider odd, but that connection is still necessary. How can we foster this in schools? It goes beyond character education and beyond teaching social skills I think; how as teachers, aides, leaders, etc...., particularly when we are feeling overwhelmed by standards and all the other aspects to our job remind ourselves that we are the most important role models? If we act as if each student is important through our actions, words and decisions then they are more likely to feel that way. When we teach these concepts, but still feed into the stereotypes of specific students - the "bad" kid, the "slacker", the "nobody", the "cut-up", etc... through our actions, words and decisions, again, they are more likely to feel that way. This is not all on teacher though. Society portrays many things as "important" and kids interpret this in many ways. How can we help them interpret them in healthy ways; and, if I return to the education arena, how do we do this in this world of "high standards" and No Child Left Behind. How are you emotionally comfortable at school when No Child is Being Left Behind, but you?

Okay, I'll stop now, but I know that at our school there are less than 50 students in grades 3-12 and I know them all. Some better than others, especially since I really only teach middle school this year, but I know them all BY NAME. They all know that someone misses them when they are not in school; they know that someone will notice if they start struggling or stop turning in work; someone will notice if they cut their hair - or read that challenging word, or write an awesome essay, or draw their first recognizable drawing (okay, so that's me and I'm still waiting for that to happen); but they know someone, usually more than one someone, will know! They may not always like this attention, but I'm good with that. I'd rather they had it and were irritated that they couldn't "get away with anything" than feel noone cares. That is one of the most horrible feelings in the world - and it has no place in a school. True learning is learning from everyone around you, and you can't do that if everyone is not there..

I asked some of my family and friends to check out my blog to see if it made sense, etc.. and my aunt told me she was proud of me - okay, I may be thirty-something, but that still sounds awesome to me! She also told me that one thing she has learned about special needs kids, her term not mine :), was that she has found that she learns more from them than she does from "regular" kids. How true, and you know what, that's why I love my job!