Don't Let the Pigeon...

• go to town
• play on the computer
• cook dinner
• steal your candy
• drive a car
• go trick or treating
• get a girlfriend
• go outside
• steal your car
• take a picture
• fall in love
• take your presents
• fly
• come to your birthday party
• kiss a girlfriend
• steal the plane
• have a party
• eat candy
• have your toys
• steal your books
• ride a bike
• get married

That's the list of ideas my first graders generated after we read many Mo Willems' books and watched his simulcast. We then picked one item from the list to write a pigeon story together. The top choices included all the ones about girlfriends, love, or marriage. I made an executive decision to not write about any of those because the giggling was out of control. We wrote Don't Let the Pigeon Eat Candy instead.

You can view the VoiceThread of our book here.

Don't Let the Pigeon Eat Candy

Getting It

I am a musician. I began studying the piano in late elementary school. Somewhere in early high school I began taking two lessons a week. One lesson was the normal playing and improving technique. The other lesson was theory. I don't remember a whole lot about those theory lessons but I remember really struggling with the circle of fifths (a basic, important concept). I spent years trying to learn it with my piano teacher to no avail. It never seemed to click.

In college I was a music major and took music theory my first semester. Early in that first semester our professor taught us about the circle of fifths. I can vividly remember immediately thinking, "I get it." I don't think he did anything noticeably different than my piano teacher had done (she was an exceptionally talented, well educated musician) but it clicked this time. In fact, it seemed unbelievably simple and I was astounded at how difficult it had previously seemed.

As a first grade teacher I think of this often. I work with many students who are reading 'below grade level'. I wonder if they just aren't ready yet. Will they sit in a reading group one day and just have it click? Am I beating a love of reading out of them because I'm pushing them so hard before they are ready? Is all of our hard work in reading the foundation for that aha moment when reading finally works for them?

I have no idea. However, I have watched my own daughter, a first grader this year, as she has been learning to read. She finished kindergarten right on benchmark. However, I would not say that she was really reading yet. Recently, around the end of the first quarter of first grade, she just seemed to get it. All of a sudden she wasn't just guessing what word it might be or skipping words that were tough, she was reading. A friend says it's like the reading fairy has come to visit kids. It seems like an overnight change.

I had looked at the circle of fifths countless times for several years without understanding. Then, I looked at it and got it. Did those previous years play any role in my understanding? Do my guided reading groups with very beginning books make a difference? Would it be just as good to spend that time reading to the kids and talking about books until they are ready to get it? Is it possible we are telling parents their children are reading below grade level when they are simply getting ready to read at their own pace? I wish I knew.

Teachers Who Teach Me Often

A couple of comments from folks in the last few days have really stuck with me and are filling my brain right now. I was chatting with the best first grade teacher I know recently and sharing with her how impressed I am by how much patience she has with others. Sadly, patience is not a strong suit for me.

She said that when she gets frustrated with people (we're talking about adults, our patience with children is less of an issue) she thinks to herself, "She is some one's daughter." or "He is some one's brother." Looking at irritating people in that light helps her to think more kindly. It's such a simple concept and yet I think it is awe-inspiring.

The other comment came from a blog post by organized chaos. She wrote about the teacher she wasn't. It hit home because it also described me that day. Based on the comments, she and I were far from alone. One reason her post really struck me was because I find myself thinking WWOCD (What Would Organized Chaos Do?) on a regular basis as a guide for good teaching. If I can follow the answer to that question I am often more patient, more caring, more quick to pick up on cues from students: academic, social, and emotional. So, if she has days like that one, somehow it makes it more okay that I do so as well. I will strive against them, but it helps me accept my flaws.

I'm full of ideas. Sometimes they even get implemented. Every once in a while an idea seems brilliant. Even more rarely, when implemented the idea actually plays out to be brilliant.

Centers during reading workshop go fairly well. Most of the time I feel as though the students know what to do, are doing it, and are actually learning to be better readers as a result. Success.

However, getting started with centers can be tough, especially by Friday since I explained any new centers on Monday. So recently I took a picture of the various places students might need to go for their centers and put the picture up with the center name. Now at least they know where to start! Centers that are used often stay in the same place so the picture is less necessary, but I include it anyway. The visual cue really seems to help some kids get rolling and makes center time smoother, which means I can accomplish a lot more with my guided reading groups.

Same or Different

My first graders sign in every morning. This was a recommendation from my fabulous reading co-teacher and I love it.

The kids:

• see each other's names everyday
• practice writing their own name (neatly on lined paper) everyday
• practice writing with an upper case letter followed by lower case letters

Plus, it makes it easy for me to see who is absent.

Today, I changed it up a little. For those kids who are consistently writing their names correctly , with upper case and lower case letters I added their last name to the sign in sheet. Many of these kids don't know how to spell their last name and some can't even tell you it. So, this is good practice for them. Also, we're hoping those who aren't consistently writing their first name properly will focus more on it in order to add their last name.

I overheard one little girl, as she was signing in, say to a boy, "Hey, we have the same last name!" I thought, "How fabulous that they'll make these connections now."

Later, when looking at this with my amazing co-teacher, she pointed out to me that I put the wrong last name for this little boy. They do not have the same last name. Thank goodness she caught it early so that he doesn't write the wrong name for weeks! He didn't seem to notice that it wasn't right. Ah, first grade.

Update: When I picked my students up from art this afternoon this boy was so proud to show me that he had written his first and last name on his work. It was not the correct last name. Ugh. On Monday he and I will have to look at the new sign in sheet and talk about my mistake.

I can't decide if I should be so impressed with how quickly he has taken on trying to write his last name or depressed that he doesn't realize it isn't his last name. (They do start with the same letter and are similar, in his [and my] defense.)

Making the Grade

Our school district is trying out a new elementary school report card. I wrote about it last year when it was in early stages. We've tried it for our first quarter and so far I'm quite impressed. They have made changes from last year and the thinking skills are no longer on the report card. In spite of that, I'm excited about the possibilities.

Dean Shareski recently tweeted about his district's grading policies. These dos and don'ts are very impressive. Like our new report card, these guidelines require us to think about grades in a new way.

These guidelines suggest that teachers should ensure that grades reflect the learning rather than the attitude, effort, or timeliness of assignments. For some time now it has been accepted that these things as well as homework and practice should impact grades. As a result, grades have not typically been a clear reflection of a child's learning. It's exciting to see different districts challenging traditional grading practices.

I know many teachers, including plenty at my school, are struggling with these new ideas of grading. I wonder how isolated these innovations are or if districts across the country (and in other countries, like Shareski's district) are pushing these boundaries as well.

Research Shows...Very Little

I'm taking a class, Introduction to Supervision of Instruction. It's actually been a very intriguing course. One of the few assignments has been to choose one skill, competency, or program that you believe has a positive impact on student achievement and look closely at the research on it. (Basically our professor figures we'll find that there is very little valid, reliable research proving positive effects on student achievement for just about anything.)

As a result of this class, Bud the Teacher's recent tweets really struck me.





I am amazed at how often we say that research shows something when there is minimal proof of such things. This is true not just of teachers and administrators in schools and districts but for reporters and politicians. I am finding it shockingly frustrating.

Out of Control

I've been thinking a lot about control in my classroom. What do I want to control? Where do I want to let go of control?

Over 12 years of teaching my views on control have changed quite a bit. To an outsider I think it would look as though I control very little (for better or for worse). My first graders do not have assigned seats. In fact, our tables are at different heights so that they can sit on the floor, in chairs, or stand while they work. Clipboards are available to them anytime they want to use them as are various other surfaces (student desk that was planned as a 'thinking spot', a teacher desk that was planned for my fabulous co-teachers, small table our amazing librarian passed on to me knowing of the various options in my room). The students have taken over the physical space in the room. They work where they want and with whomever they want.

I retain control over some obvious aspects. I move kids when they aren't able to work because they are bugging another or unable to stop chatting about karate class during a read aloud. I move kids in line if needed so that we can walk respectfully past other classes. I'm totally in charge of our schedule (well, more than the kids are anyway - I don't have total control here either).

The most important thing I control now is in the shadows. I work hard to offer my students experiences that will scaffold learning for them. I think hard about exactly how to present something or which experience needs to follow which in order to build schema in a way that will set them up for the future. I control this in the hopes of maximizing the time we have together. I don't want to waste a minute.

I think a lot more about this area than I do where kids sit or who they work with in a group. I couldn't do that ten years ago. I'm grateful for the experience that has allowed me to focus on what I think is truly important.

Image from planegeezer on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10261531@N05/2197822659/

Probably Thinking

I'm teaching an intersession class to first and second graders right now. (If you need/want more information on intersession, it's at the end of this post.) We're studying probability. I really enjoy this topic in math and thought it would be fun to explore for a couple of weeks.However, I made that decision without doing any real research or planning (anyone who knows me well is not shocked by this). Later, when I did begin to plan, at the last possible minute, I learned that probability is not really in the state standards for those grades. This appears to be because first and second graders aren't really able to comprehend probability (something I learned as I continued my research, somewhat desperately).

So, I turned to the Patterns of Thinking to help me plan. A couple of fabulous folks at Think and Thrive were exceptionally helpful to me and pushed me even further in my thinking. Derek Cabrera has said several times that probability is all about systems, something I had, so far, been unable to wrap my head around. After some time on Thinkipedia and a discussion with Derek this was beginning to make sense. And probability was beginning to seem really complicated.

So far, three days in, things are going pretty well. We started with the ideas of possible and not possible (impossible) and then moved on to likely and not likely (unlikely). Just these concepts were surprisingly difficult for the kids to understand. Surprisingly, at least, to me. Then I added the idea of certain and we looked at these in a line, moving from impossible to unlikely to equally likely (which we haven't really explored yet) to likely to certain. I think the students are beginning to comprehend those concepts.

Today, the third day, we actually spent some time pulling bears out of a bag and recording the data. We'll do more with the bears and some spinners tomorrow. For now, we'll really focus on collecting the data and discussing what we notice. Next week I'll try to bring this data back around to these concepts we've dug into this week. I really believe the kids' understanding of these concepts is much better than if we had simply begun with the activities and data collection. It's really been exciting.


If you understand the concept of intersession or if you simply don't care, you're done!

Intersession explanation: Our school begins 5 weeks before the majority of schools in our district. We have regular classes for the first quarter and then we are 'off' for two weeks. We then do the second quarter, have winter vacation and an extra week 'off'. Then, third quarter followed by spring break and another two weeks 'off'. This puts us right with everyone else for the fourth quarter. During those weeks 'off' we offer intersession classes. These have a math or language arts focus, but are theme based. We have offered cooking, theater, camping, tennis, art, music, and video classes, to name just a few. The kids are in one class for the morning and a different class for the afternoon. Most of the classes contain students from two grade levels. It's a lot of fun for the kids and for those of us who teach.

An Uphill Battle

My first grader is giving her fabulous teacher a ton of trouble. She's defiant, argumentative, sulky, and an all around pain in the tush. Her teacher has tried a huge variety of ways to help her and enlisted the advice of other experts in our building. We've attempted to address this at home through more attention for her and discussions of the behavior (when we aren't furious with her). Yesterday it escalated to the point that she ended up in the principal's office (that principal is, of course, also my boss - just to add to the complication here).

I genuinely don't think my daughter has any real understanding of why her behavior is such an issue. When I talked with her yesterday after things had cooled down, she did not seem to recognize how her behavior impacted her classmates. I can't figure out how to help her see this.

In addition, I'm trying not to let this issue feel like it is all about me. I can't get away from feeling like a failure as a parent. I'm pretty sure that is not helping me handle the situation well. We'll get through this, as many parents have before. Somehow, knowing that isn't as helpful as I would hope.

More Ruminations from Rafe Esquith's Talk

Another thing Rafe Esquith said during his talk that has really stuck with me was, "My favorite word when teaching children is yet."

He went on to explain that there are many things kids aren't ready for yet. It doesn't mean they will never be ready. I'm finding this seems like a great way to help kids understand when they lose a privilege or opportunity. I explain to students that they are not showing that they are ready yet for the responsibility of new materials or that they are not ready yet for free choice because they have not finished their math work or they are not able to control their body/words/actions. Saying that they are not ready 'yet' suggests that they will be ready soon. I like that implication.

Rafe makes kids explain to him what they need to do to in order to get to do whatever they are not ready for yet. This adds more responsibility for the students to think about what they need to do.

No Follow Through

I'm great at thinking of really fun, engaging, high level projects (although, often at the last minute). I'm not, however, good at finishing them. This is a problem across all aspects of my life and one that my parents are probably nodding their heads about as they read this. It's been true all my life. I'm good at starting things and terrible at bringing them to completion.

This frustrates me in the classroom. It frustrates me at home, but not quite as much. In the classroom I start wonderful projects with students and then I move on to other, new, exciting ideas. There is no way these projects are even beginning to fulfill their potential as learning experiences when done this way.

I hope somehow, I think, that by writing this I will begin to keep my focus long enough to finish at least a few of these projects. We'll see.

(By the way, it is shockingly hard and embarrassing to admit this, even though folks who know me well must already have identified this flaw.)

Reason #723 Why I Love My School

Everytime I walk past offices of non-classroom teachers (you know, folks who have offices, like literacy coaches, math coaches, ESOL teachers, special education teachers, admins, etc.) they aren't there. They are away from their desks, in classrooms, working with kids. If that isn't one major, positive sign of the climate of a school, I don't know what is.

Good for Roaches

We've been working with the kids on thinking about what would make sense in their reading. Rather than just having kids focused on sounding out words we want them to think about the meaning as well. The awesome ESOL/reading teacher I co-teach with did a lesson with a big book last week. She covered up certain words in the book and had the kids list what the word could be. It was a great lesson.

She used the book, One Cold, Wet Night. One of the words she covered was weta, an insect in New Zealand. The kids did not manage to come up with weta, of course. They listed cricket, grasshopper, and such. One child suggested roach. This child is a bit of a talker and as the teacher called on the next student, he continued talking. He was explaining that he thought of roach because they have a lot of roaches at his house. The teacher, in an attempt to keep the lesson moving, responded distractedly with, "Good for you."

It took a second for it to register with me. I don't think it ever sank in for the kid, thankfully.

Watching, Always Watching

Rafe Esquith framed his keynote speech around three things teachers need to remember and think about everyday. I've been thinking about all three of them a lot lately, but I'm going to focus on one for a moment. He said that teachers are role models. Basically he was saying that, like it or not, our students are modeling themselves after us. "If you don't think your kids are watching you constantly you are sadly underestimating their powers of observation."

I figured that out years ago so this didn't come as a surprise. However, it did push me to think about some of the things I do that maybe I shouldn't. I expect my students to be silent (or nearly so) as we walk down the hall out of respect for other classes. Unlike them, I talk to teachers frequently. In my defense I do so because those opportunities to talk to colleagues are few and far between and we tend to grab them when we can. Even given that fact I'm working on curbing this habit. I don't like the message that it sends to my students that they have to be respectful of other classes but I don't.

I also tend to talk to other teachers in my classroom while the students are reading independently. That doesn't happen as often because I'm usually conferencing with students, but it does happen and I don't think it sends the right message either.

I also am often still pulling things together in the morning as the students are coming in and getting ready for morning meeting. I set a timer (as a result of some serious dilly-dallying) and I'm not always ready when it goes off. I'm not sure how I'm going to have things ready better than I do now, but I've decided I must. I have to be on the carpet when the timer rings.

I guess my take away from Esquith's point is more focused on being respectful of my students in my position as a role model. I'm much more thoughtful about what my actions say to them and I'm grateful for that.

Rafe Esquith and KIPP schools

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to hear Rafe Esquith speak. Ever since reading Jay Mathews' book Work Hard Be Nice back in the spring I've been curious about Rafe Esquith. According to Mathews, the founders of KIPP cite Esquith as one of two significant influences and mentors (the other being a teacher in their building in their first years teaching). Esquith is well known for his various awards, books, and his students' Shakespeare performances.

I enjoyed Esquith's talks and found a lot to think about over the next little while. He did, without mentioning KIPP by name, say that those schools are not based on his classroom. He believes that their model is based on fear and bullying. He made these remarks in a smaller, breakout session, not in the main keynote.

I found his remarks on the subject of KIPP to be interesting. I found him to be charismatic, talented, and an engaging speaker. However, I also felt that he completely defines himself through his students. He has had many opportunities to leave the classroom and yet he remains there. That is admirable and I respect him for it. That said, I believe that one reason he is still in the classroom is because he cannot live outside of it.

I've got more thoughts and posts brewing based on his speech. He has many years of experience teaching some of our neediest students and there is much to learn from him.

TGIF

Because I can't bear to spend anymore time thinking about the absurd hoopla around President Obama's speech next week, I'm going to think instead about the amusing things first graders say.

During free choice several kids are building towers to run marbles through (I hope that makes sense, I couldn't think of a better way to describe this toy). Several marbles escape and go rolling across the room. Another child notices and hollers, "They're losing their marbles!"

All I could think was, "No, I'm pretty sure I'm the one doing that."

This morning we went to the library and our old librarian was there subbing for our new librarian. Our old librarian retired last year so the kids remembered her from kindergarten. One of them said to her, "Why are you here? You're retarded."

Thank goodness these kids make me smile everyday.

Desperate for Ideas

A fabulous fourth grade teacher at my school just dropped by briefly to ask me to mull over a challenge in her classroom. She has a new student (just arrived from Central America) who is illiterate. He can not read in Spanish; he can't actually identify all the letters in the Spanish alphabet. According to records he was in school in his country and repeated one or two grades.

She's looking for ways to engage him and help him learn at a level completely different from the rest of her class. Any thoughts?

Update: For more details and/or to get the story from the student's classroom teacher,go here.

She Who Hesitates...

Yesterday evening, at the end of a long school day and afternoon with my girls, I noticed the way I was responding to them. I found that I was hesitating before any question or comment that might have been harsh or chastising. It wasn't a conscious decision by any means, but it meant that I enjoyed a fun evening with my daughters. At points when I would often respond to them in ways that would increase conflict my hesitation meant that I managed to use a different tone, question, or phrase and keep things positive.

I'm not sure how to ensure that I hesitate in responding to my daughters more often. I'm even less certain of how to do this in my classroom. With 20 students, rather than just my 2 girls, I tend to respond to things immediately, if not sooner. As a result, I often regret my actions and wish I had been able to react in a way that did not escalate the situation.

Thinking about this reminded me of a comment from Rafe Esquith when he spoke at an event here recently. He said, "When I learned to shut up and listen I became a better teacher." One goal for this year is to listen more.