Choices, Choices, Choices

I firmly believe in the power of choice for kids. I will admit that I'm not nearly as good about making sure choice is built into our day as I would like to be.

I recently heard another first grade teacher talk about ways she incorporated choice in her classroom. One thing she did that really struck me was not assigning seats and setting her tables at different heights. Not assigning seats is new to me. I've always assigned seats, although I have let kids make requests.

I was really excited about this possibility. So, this year I have one tall table where students can stand to work, two typical tables with chairs, and one table on the ground for students to sit on the floor and work.

So far, I'm thrilled with it. The kids haven't seemed fazed by it at all and just find a spot at different times throughout the day.

One interesting unexpected result is that the kids have adopted other areas of the classroom for themselves. I have one desk set up as a home base for the other teachers who come to work in my room and the kids have sat there to work. One certain kid has totally grabbed it as his place. I also have a desk sitting alone for students who need a moment on their own before rejoining the group. Kids have also decided to work there. It seems that no spot is off limits to them. It seems that the classroom is ours rather than mine already. I couldn't ask for more than that on the third day.

(Just as an aside, I'm sewing a skirt for the tall table. It is driving me crazy that it looks so messy with all the stuff underneath it. I want it for storage, but I want it to look nicer. We'll see how the sewing goes, I'm not much of a seamstress.)

Rookie Mistake

Today was our first day of school. We crammed a lot into the few hours we had together. One of the things we did was sketch quick pictures of ourselves. Before sending the first graders off to sketch we talked briefly about the different parts they might have in their picture. I used thinkblocks to help with this idea. After a bit I asked the kids to return to the carpet with their pictures. A couple of kids shared some parts of their picture and we used the thinkblocks again. Then I sent them off in pairs to use the thinkblocks to discuss the different parts of each of their pictures.

As I walked around the room I kept gently reminding kids of the directions because so many were playing around with the blocks. After a few minutes I realized this was my own fault.

Tomorrow we will spend some time just exploring with the thinkblocks. Then we'll dig back in with them in more structured ways. I really do know better than to hand 19 first graders a new manipulative/tool/toy and not give them time to play around. I'd want time to play around!

New Year, New Kids

We had our open house this afternoon so that kids and parents could come to meet their new teacher. It's the real kick off for the new year. I love meeting the kids for the first time (or seeing them again if I knew them in kindergarten) and seeing them with their families.

Last year was my first year in first grade and meeting the kids was a whole new experience. The two years before that I was teaching our gifted fifth grade class and I knew most of the class long before they arrived in my room. The year before that I had looped up to fifth grade with my class. So, it has been a long time since I have gotten a bunch of new kids just like the previous year.

I really enjoyed meeting them this afternoon, but as I watched them wander around checking out the room and each other, I felt a tinge of disappointment. I don't have an attachment to them (yet). For all the challenges of last year, I adored those kids. I want them back.

I know that in a few days I will love these little ones just as much. I know that I will be carrying their joys, successes, frustrations, and issues with me all day everyday. But right now they seem like outsiders in my classroom.

It's time to think about the best ways to make it our classroom and make it quick.

A Pat on the Back

We started off this morning with a meeting (not what we all wanted because we desperately want to be working in our classrooms getting ready for all the little faces that will be dropping in to meet us tomorrow). The assistant superintendent for our cluster had asked to talk with us, however, so we gathered in the library first thing this morning. As it turns out, I'm really glad we did.

We did not make AYP last year or the year before. Fortunately two years ago we missed one subgroup in math and last year we missed one subgroup in reading. So we're not facing sanctions at this point.

Our assistant superintendent wanted to be sure that we started off the year recognizing the fabulous things we are doing as a school. She talked about what a model we are and what miracles occurred here last year. We grew by 150 students last year and we already have a 40% mobility rate. That's a lot of kids coming and going in one school year. In spite of that we don't have a noticeable achievement gap between subgroups and we met expectations in all but that one subgroup in reading.

I can't describe how much I appreciate the fact that she came out to share this message with us. It's easy to feel weighted down by not making AYP and forget all the amazing things going on. I am so lucky to work at such an astounding school and it's great to know that others (especially in positions of authority) recognize that as well.

Gotta Get Going

As teachers we go back a week before the kids. We are now three days into that week. On my drive home today I realized that I've been so caught up in preparing my classroom for the year, I have forgotten to plan for the students for next week. This happens to me every year.

I don't mean to suggest that the time spent on my classroom is not worthwhile. It certainly is. Setting up my classroom involves thinking through all sorts of important issues for the year. It makes me think about the community we want to create, the different learning experiences we will have, and the possible personalities in our class. I get so excited about creating a space that will offer many possibilities and be as flexible as possible, that it becomes all consuming.

Tonight, tomorrow, over the next few days, it is time to think about the kids. What will we do on that first day? How will we get to know one another? How will we organize all our materials? What will we do to begin building a strong community?

Even more importantly, it is time to begin really fleshing out my vision for the year (some might fairly say I should have started sooner actually). I still don't have a big picture view of this year and without that I'm just throwing things together here.

I'd love to hear about the way you spend your first days with students. What's your vision for that time and how to work to reach it?

NECC Day 4 & 5

Day 4

This was the day I presented with a couple of friends and co-workers. That was the major focus of the day and I actually didn't manage to attend any other sessions. We presented on the work we've been doing with technology at our school. We shared the various types of things students have done from first through fifth grades. It was a well attended session and we had a good time. The information from the session can be found here. We also created a delicious page with all of the links.

Being a part of this presentation was surprisingly energizing for me. It helped me to recognize all of the fun stuff we did this year that was really great. As a result, I'm feeling more excited about this year and all the possibilities.

Day 5

I debated about whether or not to head into town for the final morning of NECC (I live outside of DC so I took the metro in most days. It made for a very different conference experience, I think.) I knew I couldn't stay for the full morning because I needed to get home to my daughters but I really wanted to hear Alan November speak. I'm really glad I went because I greatly enjoyed his talk and I'm looking forward to the tweets and posts from folks at his upcoming conference.

Lisa Parisi liveblogged this session. It was called Designing Rigorous and Globally Connected Assignments. In this session, as in many others, I felt like one of the main messages was that it's not about the tools, it's about the learning, the pedagogy, all the things it has always been about. The tools are simply that, tools. However, these tools open up possibilities that didn't exist or were too difficult in the past. We can bring families into the classroom through skype. We can learn from people around the world immediately. Another message that came through here and elsewhere was that teachers have to let go of control. We can't solely own the learning anymore. I find that exciting, but I'm not sure most folks do. Most at NECC, however, certainly seem to.

NECC Day 3

By the third day of NECC I was getting a little worn out. I had already done two days of fabulous professional development, networking, and learning. However, this was just the start of the official conference!

I quickly learned that I couldn't attend too many sessions. The sessions overlap and it took some carefully reading of the options and thinking about timing and location to plan out my day. And then I only ended up in two sessions!

I was looking specifically for sessions aimed at primary classrooms. Having taught fourth/fifth grades for many years I had many challenges switching to first last year. One great challenge was technology. I didn't have many ideas for how to help my students and how to use technology efficiently and effectively. So I was hoping to get some new ideas.

The first session I attended was Improving Reading Skills with Digital Media. This session was all about PBS kids' programs and corresponding websites. A lot of the focus was on how they develop the shows and sites. While I found it very interesting, I did not find it hugely helpful for me as a teacher. The basic message I heard was that my students should be using these sites. I'm still trying to decide what I want to do with that. We've gotten our five year old started on the PBS Kids' Island and I'm hoping to get a better sense of it through her. The Island requires a log in so that kids can move progressively through lessons. It is not obvious to kids that they are doing so as it offers them a lot of choice, but it controls what options they have to help them build reading skills. Parents can track their child's progress and there is a lot of information to help parents understand the various skills. The site was designed with low-income children and families in mind. It is possible that I will spend some time discussing it with parents on Back to School Night if it seems worthwhile. Again, it is something I'll be spending more time thinking about.

The only other session I attended was a panel discussion with Maria Knee, Kathy Cassidy, and Amanda Marrinan titled Global Connections in the Primary Classroom. I have followed all three of these women online for some time now and I have immense respect for the work they are doing with primary students. The room was full so it seems clear that there is demand for information and ideas in this area. I liveblogged this session. There were a couple of powerful take-aways for me. The issue of keeping kids safe online is always brought up when talking about elementary school. These teachers remarked that we think about ways to keep kids safe everywhere, on the playground, on field trips, in the cafeteria, etc. Keeping them safe online is our responsibility and something we are quite capable doing. The other big thing I remember is the idea that these classroom don't really look that different from any other kindergarten or first grade classroom. These students are learning to read, write, do math, and more. Various forms of technology are just some of the many tools they use for this learning.

NECC Day 2 - Constructivist Celebration

I spent most of the second day at NECC at Sidwell Friends School at the Constructivist Celebration. The Constructivist Consortium is a group of educational software companies who have a focus on creativity and student empowerment. The group was formed (to the best of my knowledge) by Gary Stager. I heard Gary speak at Educon back in January so when I learned about the Celebration I immediately signed up. I didn't really know what to expect, I just figured it would be worth my time.

It definitely was. I enjoy hearing Gary speak. He is passionate and does not suffer fools. He might drive me nuts if I disagreed with him, but I don't so it works for me. He had representatives there from the different software companies and they gave us their software to explore. For a good portion of the day that is what we did. It was wonderful to have the opportunity and the time with the products.

I fell in love with Peter H. Reynold's products, Stationary Studio and Animation-ish. I can't wait for the year to start so that I can put Animation-ish up on my smartboard and we can begin creating. (It goes quite well with the book I am reading, Talking, Drawing, Writing.) Peter also spoke that afternoon and he is inspirational. His love of children and his passion in the power of creativity are contagious.

The other software that held great potential, in my opinion, was the stuff from Tech4Learning. I used Pixie quite a bit this past year and now I'm very excited by the possibilities in Frames.

The Constructivist Celebration was an inspiring, energizing day. It also was an opportunity for me to meet a lot of fabulous educators from around the country.

(I expect to be posting more about how I've used these products in the next several weeks as the school year gets rolling.)

Edubloggercon at NECC

It's been weeks now and I'm finally beginning to write my reflections from NECC. I greatly enjoyed the conference and had the chance to meet, chat with, and learn from some truly fabulous people.

Edubloggercon, the unconference type of day that happened before NECC officially began was a true highlight for me. It was a reasonably small number of people who took the opportunity to discuss the things that mattered to them. I had to leave early due to another commitment and I was very sad. As a result, I was only able to attend two of the sessions.

The first was Liz Davis's discussion of professional development. Alice Mercer liveblogged this one and has already written a great reflection. I don't have anything of significance to add to those two posts.

The second session I attended was Steve Haragadon's on social networking in education. This one I liveblogged. (Edubloggercon was my first real experience with liveblogging and it was wonderful. I think it helped me focus better and keep my mouth shut a bit more.) The first issue to discuss what how we wanted to define social networks for this session. After agreeing to include pretty much everything we moved on to whether or not they should be used in schools and what that means. Steve made the argument that we need to bring these tools into schools, not only because they are being used in the world but also because they are pedagogically sound. The discussion made its way through a whole host of interesting questions. One that really struck me was what are the implications of not using these tools in school. We also talked about closed social networks, limited just to a school or district. It was a fascinating conversation that gave me a lot to think about for a while.

Edubloggercon allowed us the freedom to focus on topics important to us. Even within the sessions we could be flexible and go where we wanted to go. In Steve's session we could take a moment to determine how we wanted to define social networks. In a more traditionally structured session we would have talked about social networking based on the presenters' definition. That made for sessions that had true meaning to us.

Our NECC Presentation

My first foray into NECC is over and I am exhausted. I have so many thoughts, ideas, and questions flying around in my brain and I need time to reflect before any real posts are ready. However, I presented with two others from my school, Mark Smith, our technology guy, and Jennifer Metcalfe, a fourth grade teacher, on Tuesday. We had a good turnout and a fabulous time. Mark generously posted a summary of the presentation and information about the three of us here. The powerpoint is posted here. Finally, we created a delicious page with a wide range of links showcasing our students' work from the past several years. We also managed to get some pictures during the presentation and I'm hoping to get them up on flickr soon.

NECC Exhibit Hall Rant

The exhibit hall here at NECC defies description. It's in the basement of the Convention Center and runs under both buildings (essentially two blocks). I've been down there twice and accomplished nothing, partly because I'm just too overwhelmed.

However, the other reason I've accomplished nothing is because the great majority of the exhibits are a huge waste of time. Actually, that's an understatement. As an educator I'm offended by the existence of some of these companies. Their core beliefs are 180 degrees from mine. I spent a good five minutes listening to a young man explain one website to me (without blowing up at him because I don't truly blame him). The things he kept saying are clearly the 'selling points' for this product. Things like, "It's so bright and colorful and fun it keeps the kids from realizing they are learning." and "That's a fun little graphic that will keep them interested." God forbid we should make the actual learning interesting!

In addition to that frustration, I felt like the program was basically electronic worksheets. How is that 21st century learning?

It seems to me that so many of these companies are creating electronic worksheets or they are preparing kids for testing or they are trying to make school 'teacher-proof'. I'm not okay with any of those goals. Many companies have learned the right buzz words, but the reality doesn't match their sales talk.

The worst part is that they are clearly making lots of money this way. It makes me so sad (and angry, obviously).

Last Day Sadness

Not my sadness, my daughter's. Tomorrow is her last day of kindergarten. Her class has become a community like none I've seen before. Her teacher has been amazed by them. They were the ones that planned an entire wedding for their class bear.

This sadness keeps waking her up tonight. She's devastated by this ending. I want to honor that feeling, but I also want to help her become excited about the new things to come. How do we grieve for the past while simultaneously anticipating the future?

Goodbye Little Prince

My little prince will be moving this summer. So he will go on to second grade at another school. Today he said to me, "Can I bring you a picture so you'll remember me?"

A picture? I need a picture? Is he kidding?

I told him, "Of course you can bring me a picture. But, don't worry, I'm not going to forget you!"

I have to admit that it makes me unbelievable sad when kids move. I think it's even more true now that I teach first grade. It is so exciting to think of watching them grow for years to come. (I know we have a 30-40% mobility rate, but why does it have to be MY kids?)

Thanks Tweeps!

First thing this morning I tweeted: "Report cards are nearly finished. Doing them always reminds me of how much I hate assigning grades. I just don't believe in them."

This is a big pet peeve of mine. I have many issues with grades. I think they put the focus in the wrong place for students. I don't think they communicate anything informative to parents. In fact, the more time I spend thinking about them the more frustrated I get.

Fortunately my tweeps were there for me this morning.

This response made me laugh out loud: Give everyone A's you meanie

The next response was one of those reassuring reminders that I'm not alone: I feel the same way.& then parents ask what a 3 is equivalent to...grrr. We have done so much parent ed to get them to understand.

Finally another giggle: To not believe in assigning grades? That concept sounds vaguely un-American. :-)

Those responses made starting my day so much more of a positive experience. Thanks!

More Gardening Goodness

Last week I wrote about our plans for a garden. The students wrote a fabulous letter and copied it out four times so that I could take it to different places. I wanted it to be in first grade writing because I figured that would be more powerful. I also printed out a few pictures of the kids measuring the garden plot (and I typed a copy of the letter in case folks had trouble reading it).

Our third stop was a success! A nursery near us donated $60 worth of small, plastic, white fencing. It's just perfect for our needs. Today we wrote a thank you note to the woman at the nursery. The kids wrote it almost completely on their own - composing and actually writing. It says, "Thank you for the free fence. Now none of the kids will walk on our garden. You're super duper nice. We like the fence a lot." Perfect.

Today we went out and spent some time just digging in the dirt. I gave each kid a small spade or cultivator. It was amazing! The kids were fascinated by the roots of the different weeds and grasses. We did study plants not too long ago. One boy kept running over to me with weed after weed saying, "You won't believe it! I found another root!"

We just started studying worms this week (nothing like starting a new science unit in the last week and a half). They found a ton of worms and were noticing the way they moved and their different parts. They also found other sorts of critters in the dirt. They found one I didn't recognize, but it looked sort of worm-like. One student noted that it couldn't be a worm because it had little legs. I couldn't have planned a lesson that would have been this fabulous.

Our principal walked by at one point and proved, yet again, why I love her so. She cheered the students on in their work and when one student ran over with a worm she said, "That's my favorite worm! How did you know?"

We won't get much of a garden planted in the few days that are left, but we'll get it started. I'm quite certain that next year's class (and the years' to come) will have a lot of work, learning, and fun in this small corner of our school.

Garden Goodness (I Hope!)

With only a week and a half left in the school year I've decided to try to plant a garden with my first graders. It's not a brilliant idea by any means, but once I had mentioned it to them there was no going back.

Our principal has given us a plot of land between the cafeteria and the playground. Students often run across it in their haste to get to recess. So we want to plant there and put up a small fence to discourage such behavior.

We went out one day and measured the area so that we would know how much fence we needed. We then wrote letters to local nurseries and hardware stores asking for a donation. I'll be taking the letters (and some pictures) around this weekend. I hope we get a bite!

My New Toy

We've done it. We've ordered a netbook. I've been mulling this over all year but I haven't had the guts to pull the trigger. My husband finally took that step for me. It should arrive tomorrow.

My goal is to use this netbook for all my anecdotal record keeping. I'd like to keep these records in google docs that could also be used by my amazing co-teacher. Sadly, I'm really bad at being able to plan well for something ahead of time. I tend to have to modify again and again in the midst of everything (hence my classroom being rearranged almost a dozen times this year).

I want these records to be easy to use both as we input information and as we come back to them. I'm pretty good about keeping anecdotal records on my students but I am awful at using them to plan future instruction. I want to solve that problem. My hope is that google docs will make it so that I can sort and search in order to form small groups for enrichment or remediation.

Do you know of anyone who has done something like this? Do you have any advice for how to organize it? Can you think of any pitfalls we should be planning to avoid?

Say Cheese!

We got our class pictures today. I wrote briefly about the experience of taking the picture a while back. I've been waiting and anticipating since them, wanting to see the results of such an event.

Now that I've seen it I've shown it to everybody I can find. It makes my day.

At first glance it looks like a perfectly normal first grade class picture. The students are mostly smiling and in their spots. But when you take a moment to look more closely you will find a fascinating little boy completely backwards to the camera. All you see is the back of his head.

I have eleven years worth of class pictures. This is, by far, my favorite.

What is use number 3?

Since I moved to first grade I've had to adjust to a bathroom in my classroom. It's convenient, but takes up a lot of space. (So far I've managed to avoid any horrific experiences with it. I'm sure they'll start tomorrow now that I've said this.) The bathroom is about 2 1/2 feet by 5 feet. This year it has simply been a bathroom. I want it to be more.

Any advice on how I can use that space? Hang things on the wall? If so, what sort of things? Other thoughts? I'm looking for ideas that are totally off the wall!

My Golden Rule

One of my amazing co-teachers was remarking on my patience this morning. Compared to the other teacher with whom we work closely I am not even on the scale, I am so impatient. However, I think I have become more patient, and more loving, as a teacher in the past few years.

I credit this to being a parent. There are many times that I think about how I would want my daughter's teacher to respond to an issue. I want to believe that I treat my students the way that I want my child to be treated. That is the bar I set for myself. (I know my daughter's teacher, however, and I don't even come close to her. She is not only exceedingly patient, she is astoundingly happy at the same time.)

Paul Bogush's recent post reminded me of these thoughts. It's not quite the same idea, but it triggered my thinking. As always, his thoughts are well worth reading.


By the way, I don't believe that only parents make good teachers. I taught for five years before my first daughter was born and I think I did a pretty good job. My daughter's teacher is not a parent. I just think, that for me, becoming a parent strongly impacted the way I respond to my students.

That? Then? They?

A while back I wrote about a student who was dealing with a horrifically traumatic event in her life. It tears me up to even think about her life outside of school. She's been in a reading group with the absolutely amazing special ed teacher with whom I co-teach. When we reorganized our reading groups recently I took her on. We've had numerous discussions about this student, both because of the outside issues and academic concerns. However, I underestimated her challenges in reading.

The book we were reading recently had the word 'that' on almost every page. She was reading words I thought were more difficult so I decided we should tackle this one. She read the 'at' chunk in it just fine and knew the 'th' sound for the start. But she couldn't put the parts together to save her life. So I pulled out the little white board and we looked at lots of 'at' words. Interestingly enough she could read almost all of them. She never could get 'pat' right, she said 'put' or 'pan' each time. She also never read 'bat' correctly. She read 'but' always. And, of course, she never did get 'that'. I finally just told her the word, had her reread the sentence and move on. However, she came upon 'that' on subsequent pages and could never read it. I have no idea where we go next!

Investigating Investigations

Several bloggers I have discovered through posts about parenting (although they blog about many other things as well) and greatly respect have had a lot to say lately about the Investigations math series. Their comments have not been positive.

This has got me thinking about my evolution as a teacher of math. When I began teaching eleven years ago my school had a very traditional math textbook (I don't remember which one) and I used it for a year or two. But I quickly became frustrated with it. I began pulling together any and all resources I could find and taught based on my state and county standards rather than working our way straight through a textbook. After about a year my teammates were doing the same thing and it became a lot easier as we all collaborated to create lessons and assessments that were appropriate and effective.

After a few years of this my school adopted Everyday Mathematics. It took some time to adjust to having a textbook and to how different this series was from the traditional textbooks. I was so impressed with Everyday Mathematics. It helped me gain a much deeper understanding of math. However, a few years later I participated in some professional development in math with a fabulous consultant who continually referred to the Investigations series. I started doing some research into it and got really excited. One of our math coaches was familiar with it and ordered me a set.

I've used Investigations with a general education fifth grade, a gifted and talented fifth grade, and with my first graders this year. I don't believe it is a perfect series, but I don't think such a thing exists. I do believe that Investigations assists students in building deeper understandings of the math they are studying. Having worked with three different math series I believe that Investigations is the most challenging for students and teachers.

I know there is a lot of passion about the teaching of math, more than just about any other subject matter, but I'm still surprised by how strongly people feel against this specific series. I'd love to hear more about the reasons for this.

Making Change

I'm stuck. The calendar program we use (which I love!) has the kids making change from a quarter based on each day's date. So, today on the 12th, we had to pretend to pay for something costing 12 cents with a quarter. They had to figure out the change. Most of them don't get it. That doesn't shock me because I can't figure out how to help them understand it. It's such a tough concept. Any thoughts?

Forever Recorded on Film

Today was my first class picture day with first graders. As an upper grade teacher I always felt I was forcing a smile and trying super hard not to look to my left to make sure the kids were truly picture ready. That's a piece of cake compared to today.

I wanted to write about it, but honestly, I was too exhausted from the experience to actually do so. Fortunately, organized chaos is a better woman than I and has done so. My class is the second one she describes. (That's one of the reasons she's a better woman, she had to go through the nightmare with two classes.)

For those of you unfamiliar with elementary school class picture procedures, you should know that they take a quick shot of the class to print out so that the teacher can write down the names of all the folks in it in the correct order for each row. This picture had to be taken more than once for my class today. When the photographer handed me the picture and form to fill out, he said, "This isn't the final picture. But that one's not much better."

Sweating the Swine Flu

I finally addressed the swine flu with my first graders this morning. I didn't go into any real details (I don't feel that knowledgeable myself) but I'm sure that many of them are hearing things and I don't want them to be worried. So we talked about smart hygiene decisions and how we can work to not spread germs. Later we stopped at the bathrooms on the way to lunch to wash hands (something I really should have been doing anyway).

As we were walking into the lunchroom my little prince asked if we were going to have school tomorrow. I started to sweat thinking about what an awful teacher I must be that I've instilled panic in six year olds over the swine flu. I was wracking my brain about how to address this at such an inopportune time as the beginning of lunch. So, to buy time, I asked him why would we not have school tomorrow.

"Because it's the fifth of May."

Nearly laughing with relief I explained to him that we would be having school on Cinco de Mayo.

Kindergarten Wedding

My kindergarten daughter attends the school at which I teach. Some days, like yesterday, that is the greatest thing in the world. In the morning her class performed a song for the volunteer breakfast and I was able to go and see them (my class has art on Friday mornings). That afternoon her class had a wedding I was able to attend (my class has music on Friday afternoons). This wedding was the idea of the students and their fabulous teacher just let them run with it. I think it started as a fun discussion and then became something they truly wanted to do and she let them.

She has a bear named Nicey that goes home with a student each evening. They journal, writing or drawing, about what they did with the bear. Throughout the year the various extras that go with the bear have grown as children have added little blankets and toys for her. After reading Lily's Big Day the class decided that Nicey should get married. So one little boy offered his Mr. Bear as the groom, another little girl took both bears home on different evenings and her mother made their wedding clothes.

My daughter volunteered her bear to be the ring bearer. They used little plastic toy rings (which went over the bears' entire paw). Several students were ushers who gave each guest (students, teachers, and parents) a corsage (a paper flower taped to the guests' shirt) and seated them, girls on one side and boys on the other. Two little girls served as flower girls dropping more paper flowers as they headed up the aisle. A couple of students were in charge of the music as the bride walked down the aisle.
The teacher officiated the wedding in a simple, but formal manner. It ended with the bears hugging and the kids getting ready for the reception. There was a wedding cake with teddy graham crackers as the ornamental bride and groom on top. The whole wedding and reception probably lasted 30 minutes on a Friday afternoon. These students will be writing about the experience until the end of the year!

More Fun Than Should Be Allowed

I took a step back today and let my kids explore with the thinkblocks. I've demonstrated with them a couple of times but I hadn't put them in their hands yet. So, today we just spent about 15 minutes playing around with them. Responsive Classroom describes this as 'guided discovery' (pdf). The students couldn't wait to get their hands on the blocks. They manipulated them in as many ways as they could imagine, attaching them to one another, putting them inside one another, lining them up, etc.

When we put them away I asked the students what they noticed about the blocks. They had so many thoughts it took a bit to get things under control enough to make our list of ideas. I expected some of the things on this list but I was surprised by others they mentioned.

I have to note that one of our free choice options is a basket of magnets and various small metal items and things. This has been a favorite station all year and they have noticed a lot of things about magnets. Then, earlier this week we read a big book, How Magnets Work, because we are studying explanation texts. The kids are now utterly fascinated by magnets. So they noticed that some sides of the thinkblocks push other thinkblocks away and other sides attract them. They realized and were able to explain that it was because the two poles are the same.

In second grade we have a state science standard about magnets:

The student will investigate and understand that natural and artificial magnets have certain characteristics and attract specific types of metals. Key concepts include
a) magnetism, iron, magnetic/nonmagnetic, poles, attract/repel; and
b) important applications of magnetism including the magnetic compass.

I think my kids are in good shape!

We've Come A Long Way, Baby

It is hard for me to believe that these kids are the same ones that were in my class way back in August. They have come so far.

This week I watched one little girl playing with some magnetic letters during free choice time. She wasn't just messing around with them, she was creating a long list of words. She created my full name first. Then she continued with words like frame, outside, and myself. She just made any and all words that she could and all were spelled correctly. I loved that she spent her free choice time making words.

Later the same day another girl pulled out her library book, Egg to Chick. She has been reading it obsessively for days now. I have to note that it does not look like an exceptionally engaging book; the illustrations are quite basic, the layout is dull. That does not stop her however, from grabbing me frequently to share something new she has learned. "Ms. Orr, did you know that people come from eggs, too? Look!"

It IS About Me

Wednesday morning my students were especially squirrely. (As it turns out the problem was school-wide come Thursday.) By the time we were half an hour in the day I had sent three students back to their seats because they couldn't appropriately participate in our lessons.

At one point, as they were all sitting at their tables, I realized that those three were three of the brightest students in my classroom. At that moment it hit me that it is much more likely that the problem was me, not the kids.

I have a lot of thinking to do about my classroom management, structure of our daily schedule, and engaging my students in the lessons.

Groundbreaking Progress Report

I spent last Saturday with the 5th and 2nd grade teams from my school and one other in our district learning about a new progress report they will be beta testing. (I was there because my former principal is heading up this project and she knows my very strong feelings about grades. She invited me to join them and give my feedback.)

This progress report is being created by our district and the folks at Thinkworks. They created the thinkblocks that many of us have blogged about recently. I've got a couple of pages of notes and thoughts from the day and other random ideas swirling around in my head. It may take a while for it all to settle and truly make sense to me, much less anyone else!

However, the gist of the new progress report is that it will include traditional content areas (math, reading, art, etc), social/citizenship skills (uses time wisely, works well with others, etc) and the patterns of thinking from the Thinkworks folks. This much I understood before Saturday.

The progress report will not have any letter grades. That's worth repeating in case it didn't really sink in, there will be no letter grades. Everything will be scored on a scale of 1 to 3. 1 means 'needs more time to approach standard.' 2 means 'approaches standard.' 3 means 'meets standard.' There is also what is being called a 3E, 'extends standard.'

Those scores will be used for the patterns of thinking in the same way as the traditional content areas. This will be the progress report for grades 1-6 in our district in a few years (if all goes well). I can't begin to describe how exciting I think this is.

I'm impressed with the elimination of letter grades. For years now I've felt that letter grades do little or nothing to communicate with parents about their children's learning. If that's the goal of a progress report I think it comes up short. I'm also very, very impressed with the idea of communicating progress on the patterns of thinking.

We talked a little on Saturday about students who would be successful in the patterns of thinking but not in the traditional content areas. I immediately thought of a student of mine from 5 years ago. He had a learning disability and was almost completely unable to decode text. As a result, he was convinced he was stupid. However, when I read a book aloud his comments and questions were the most insightful in our class. I'm not sure if it was his learning disability or his lack of confidence that made school so difficult for him, but I am sure that he deserved better. I think if he had been able to see his strengths on a progress report like this one it would have made a world of difference for him.

(I don't think this post makes nearly as much sense as I would like it to. For that, I apologize. I'll try to be more coherent in the future.)

A Crystal Ball

Having taught fifth and fourth grades for years and now teaching first grade, I look at these kids and wonder what they will be when they reach the end of their elementary years. I have many predictions and some concerns.

One little girl in particular concerns and fascinates me. Even in kindergarten she was 'too cool for school.' She has problems with friendships because she can be bossy and mean. At other times she can be kind and helpful. She is bright, excited about learning, and, in many ways, a joy to have in class.

I have to wonder, though, if she will be a 'mean girl' when she is a bit older. She seems to show the signs for it. And, if so, what could I be doing now to keep that from happening?

Is it possible for us to control that in a child? Is that outcome set already? I don't like the idea that I can't 'fix' this and make sure that my students grow up to be kind, generous people. At the same time, I find it overwhelming to think I might have control over such things.

We Need to Look Closely

I know I'm lucky to teach at a fabulous school with a dedicated staff and darling children. I also know (although I do tend to forget sometimes) that my school is not the norm. I've worked for two amazing principals who have helped form an outstanding school.

That said, I still struggle with the idea that our educational system is as bad as it is rumored to be. I'm aware that there are many awful schools, especially those serving our most disadvantaged students. I do believe that there are many things we can and should do better in our schools. I'm just not fully convinced that it means our schools are failing our students, at least not across the board.

I was struck by Mark Pullen's recent post after Secretary Duncan called for longer school days, weeks, and years.

Is it really more accurate to say that some of our schools are failing some of our students? Or is it really a societal failure? Or a parental failure? Or even a prenatal failure, in some cases?

In addition to carefully pondering each policy idea coming from Mr. Duncan, I urge teachers everywhere to reconsider their tacit acceptance of the notion that our schools are a complete failure.

I think we need to be willing to carefully analyze everything about our educational system, but as we separate the wheat from the chaff, let's not throw them both out.

Earworm

I had never heard this song before (I only listen to NPR on the radio) but my special little friend sings it all the time. So as you listen, you have to picture a six year old boy who is socially awkward singing "I want to move it move it. I want to move it move it." again and again and again, at appropriate and inappropriate times.

Work Hard Be Nice (Final Thoughts, Hopefully)

I've finished Jay Mathews's Work Hard Be Nice. (previous posts) I'm really glad I read the book, something that will please Mathews, I'm sure. I genuinely enjoyed the book. I'm exceptionally impressed with Levin and Feinberg and all they have done. They are two of the hardest working individuals of whom I'm aware. They deserve a lot of credit.

That said, I still have some issues with KIPP and the view of KIPP.

1. It's all about the test scores. I had this same issue with Geoffrey Canada's work in Harlem when I read Whatever It Takes. In some ways I don't blame Levin, Feinberg, or Canada. They are playing the game as it stands in our country today. I do hold the media somewhat responsible, however. In the chapter near the end of Work Hard Be Nice in which Mathews address the critiques of KIPP he focuses almost exclusively on test scores. There is a bit about drop-out rates and demographics, but not much. If what we present to the public is all about test scores, that is all that will matter. There are so many other important things to consider.

2. When KIPP is discussed in the media (main stream, blogs, everywhere) the focus is on the wrong things, in my opinion. The focus is always on the longer day, week, and year and on the skill and drill part of the instruction. If Mathews has made an accurate presentation of KIPP, beyond the schools Levin and Feinberg started originally, then there is much more that is critical here. The cultural events to which they took students as well as the huge trips each year are rarely discussed. I would consider those aspects a huge part of what made KIPP work for students.

3. The skill and drill part of the instruction. I don't believe that all the instruction is this way, but it is a part. It seems to me that KIPP teachers are working so hard to bring their students up to grade level and able to pass the tests that they sacrifice deeper understanding for broader skills. It is unfortunate that students reach middle school and that choice has to be made because they are behind, but I still don't believe in memorization without understanding (such as rolling their numbers for multiplication).

4. I don't believe that KIPP is the savior for our inner cities. KIPP administrators get rid of teachers quickly if they don't cut it. That's not a bad thing. However, if enough good teachers were out there already we wouldn't be in this position. Not every inner city child will be able to have a teacher of the caliber of KIPP teachers, there just aren't enough fabulous teachers out there. That's an issue that needs to be addressed in some way and it is a critically important one.

5. I don't believe most middle class parents would want their kids to attend KIPP. I don't believe they would want the discipline level that KIPP employs, at least in the beginning. I don't believe they would want the skill and drill part of the instruction. That makes me wonder why we believe that disadvantaged kids should have things that we wouldn't want for our own children.

I have two close friends who taught at a KIPP school in Houston. In addition, I chatted with a bunch of teachers and students on the metro many years ago from a Houston KIPP school. They were here on their annual trip to DC and we just happened to be on the same train. I noticed the shirts and heard the chants and took the opportunity to talk with them.

I don't want to get rid of KIPP. I just want to know that we are looking at it closely, considering the positives and negatives, and moving forward from there. I'm bothered by the presentation of KIPP as THE answer. That's how Mathews presents it here. The book is worth reading, but not unless one is willing to go beyond it to learn about KIPP.

Work Hard Be Nice (Continued)

I'm about 2/3 of the way through the book now and I have a huge amount of respect for Levin and Feinberg (the founders of KIPP). I still disagree with many of the ways they chose to run KIPP (more in a post soon) but I am amazed by them. They worked (probably work still) harder than just about anyone I've ever known and they truly want what is best for kids.

However, an anonymous commenter on my previous post said

Do you have kids, Jenny? If so, or if you did, would you send them to a KIPP school?

I think it's a great question. Honestly, it's one I've been wondering about Jay Mathews. His son is grown now, but I wonder if he would have wanted him to go to a KIPP school.

Jay Mathew's Work Hard Be Nice

I've finally started reading it. I'm about a third of the way through and so far, I'm feeling more positively towards the founders of the KIPP program and even less positively towards the Teach for America program.

I'm sure I'll post more thoughts as I move on in the book, but I didn't want to forget these early impressions. Teach for America comes across as a rich kid toy, almost. Acceptance into it seems to be seen as an honor, but attending the summer institute seems less important to the pre-service teachers than partying in the evening does. Dave Levin and Mike Feinberg got out of TFA about what they put into it. However, they already felt strongly and passionately about educating disadvantaged students. All TFA did for them was give them an easy place to start.

Levin and Feinberg are smart, dedicated young men. They believe in what they are doing and are trying their best for their students. I'm still not completely sold on KIPP in general, but I am impressed with them. There's still a lot of reading for me to do, so we'll see how that goes.

One of my biggest issues at the moment is with Jay Mathews writing a book that is so pro-KIPP. He has every right to write anything he wishes, but it makes it harder for me to take him seriously as an education reporter. Maybe as I progress more it will seem like less of a cheerleading for KIPP and more balanced. That doesn't mean that I think it has to be equally positive and negative, but so far everything has been overwhelmingly positive. Even when Levin or Feinberg have made mistakes Mathews has immediately shown how it turned out well in the end or what they learned from it. That's great, but it's hard for me to believe that everything was so close to perfect. I'm skeptical that Mathews is writing this through a reporter's eye rather than a supporter's eye.

Again, I'm only a third of the way through the book so my attitudes may change drastically or not at all. It remains to be seen.

The Case of the Feisty First Grader Continued

Yesterday I posted about the beginning of my intersession class.

Once we started getting the hang of what makes a mystery, we got to move on to some really fun stuff. We spent one day looking at secret codes. We read The Mystery of King Karfu which includes a secret code. I stopped at the first spot with code and had them decode it (I had made copies for them). Then we continued reading. At the end there's another section with code that I had them solve. It was great because it's a recipe (it says to mash the grapes and spread on bread, mash the peanuts and spread on bread, fold and eat) and the kids had to figure out what it would make. We did a couple of other activities with secret codes, one requiring addition and subtraction and one I created with wingdings. The kids could then write their own secret messages to one another. I would like to have done something with disappearing ink, just using lemon juice and such, but I'm afraid to get involved in using an iron to make it show up. If anyone has a safe, easy way to make it show up, I'd love to know.

The next day we studied fingerprinting. We read The Great Paper Caper, in which the bear's paw print identifies him as the culprit. Then we took our own fingerprints, using ink pads. The best part of the day was dusting for fingerprints. I had tried it before class and not been able to make it work. The kids (and eventually me) were able to make it happen!

The last activity we did was to create paintings with our fingerprints, Ed Emberly style.

On another day we looked at wanted posters. We read and The Secret of the Circle-K Cave and Chicken Little by Steven Kellogg. I know it's not a mystery, but it has a great wanted poster in it. We looked at a bunch of historic wanted posters so that we could brainstorm a list of the sorts of things one finds on a wanted poster (picture, reward, crime, name, etc.). Then we brainstormed a list of possible first grade 'crimes'. I didn't want any killing on these posters! I took a picture of each child and they created their own wanted poster. It might have been their favorite activity all week.

If I get to teach this class again I'd like to spend one day looking at handwriting, but I couldn't find a good mystery for it yet. I also want to do something with puzzles of various sorts. As usual my ideas all come together in the midst of things rather than ahead of time!

The Case of the Feisty First Grader

That's the name of my intersession class for this two weeks. (See bottom of post for explanation of intersession if you are unfamiliar with it.)

We're reading lots of mysteries and doing some really fun activities with them. We started the two weeks just looking at the different components of a mystery; detective, setting, clues, crime, victim, suspects, solution, etc. We read several different mysteries and the kids painted these different parts.

We spent a few days just reading lots of mysteries and identifying the different parts. We read Ducks Disappearing which was great because it's not a typical mystery story. It's about a little boy who notices some ducklings disappearing at a hotel and he solves the mystery. We also read Helpful Betty Solves a Mystery and had some great discussions about whether or not Betty was a detective, whether or not she was helpful, and whether or not she actually solved a mystery. We also read a High-Rise Private Eyes mystery, because those are my personal favorites.

After that we started working on observing. During our morning meeting time we played the game in which one student leaves the room, another student leads some movements (clapping, snapping, tapping legs, etc.) and the first student has to figure out who the leader is. Another game we played was to have one student leave the room and change one thing (untie a shoe, turn a shirt around). Upon return the kids had to figure out what had changed. We also had a guest come in for a couple of minutes just to say hello. After he left the kids drew him (I took a picture so we could compare). We read Cam Jansen mysteries while we talked about observing.

The other observing activities we did included having students build something with pattern blocks, show a partner, cover it up, and have their partner try to recreate it. I also put out a tray of small items (paper clip, pencil, block, etc.) then took one thing away and they had to identify what was missing.

During this time of observing we kept talking about the parts of a mystery in the stories we were reading.

I'll share more about the rest of the class soon. It's been a blast.


My school is on a 'modified calendar' year. We start in late July, rather than in early September. We take breaks after each quarter, in October, January, and March. During those times we offer an optional intersession. Students can come and take two classes (one morning and one afternoon) that are a lot of fun. We have cooking, tennis, scrapbooking, art, author studies, music, etc. sorts of classes. We can teach for extra money or we hire 'outsiders' - retired teachers, interested community members, and such.

The Joy of Children

We have some folks in our building today doing Junior Achievement activities with our first and second graders. They are very brave.

In the morning they asked my students, "What makes a family?" The first child to respond said, "When our mothers don't have babies, they ask strangers to be in their families." He continued on about how that changes after the mothers have babies, but I missed some of it due to attempts to control my laughter and write down what I had heard.

This afternoon the volunteers were having the students look at map symbols and identify them as wants or needs. As one prepared to show an ice cream cone he said, "I'm sure this is something you will all want." My little prince, before seeing the picture, yelled, "Attention!"

I was impressed with his knowledge of self there.

Encouraging the Next Ada Lovelace

Today is Ada Lovelace Day. In her honor bloggers all over the world are writing about women in technology. You can see a long list of posts written for this special occasion.

As I thought about all the women for whom I have immense respect in the edublogosphere, I kept returning to Maria Knee. She is far from alone in what she does, but she deserves recognition because she is introducing a whole new world to her kindergartners. Through technology her kindergarten students in New Hampshire have access to so many people, places, and ideas that they could easily be unaware of. She is opening doors for students.

In addition, she is a mentor to teachers around the world. We learn from her about ways to use technology with our students (especially our young, primary grade ones), teaching in general, and ourselves as learners.

She's supporting us all, teachers and students alike, as we grow as learners, especially through the use of technology.

(If you are intrigued by the idea of posts for this purpose, check out my personal favorite for the day, celebrating Ms. PacMan. The video there is completely worth watching.)

Schools to Learn From

A colleague of mine recently mentioned that she really learned to teach when she arrived at our school. She spent the first few years of her career at another school, just down the road from ours. It has a very different population. It's in a middle class neighborhood and hosts one of our district's gifted and talented centers (meaning that children from a number of schools are bused there to be in special, accelerated classes).

When she came to our school she realized that she had to raise the bar for her teaching. I'm not saying that her teaching was bad before, it wasn't. I am saying that I believe the majority of students in schools like her previous one will learn, and learn fairly well, even with mediocre teachers. That's not to say that they don't deserve fabulous teachers, they do. All kids do. Simply that they don't rely on them the way our students do.

The students in our Title I school are missing many of the advantages those other students have. Many of our kids are hungry. About 2/3 of our students receive free or reduced price breakfasts and lunches. Many of our kids don't have books at home. They may have parents who struggle with reading, especially with reading in English. Many of our kids have led exceptionally mobile lives. They have not had the opportunity to remain in one place for multiple school years. That lack of stability has hurt their learning.

There are many other issues facing our children. As a result of all of this, how we teach matters immensely. We can't assign a project asking students to build a model of the Susan Constant (one of the boats that brought settlers to Jamestown) and expect that they have learned all they need to know about Jamestown. We can't just hand them a book about insects and assume that they know how to make sense of a nonfiction book. We can't just give them a worksheet of multiplication problems and send them off to work. We can't make assumptions and expect that they will learn regardless.

We do lots of fun learning, but it is all carefully planned. We are focused on the skills our children need, what they already are able to do, and how we can move them forward. We are constantly taking anecdotal notes to help us plan the next lesson or next unit. We are constantly talking to one another about individual children and how we can meet their needs. We are constantly learning ourselves; reading professionally, taking classes, reading blogs, and listening to podcasts. The level of instruction at our school is higher than at many middle class schools. Because it has to be.

If you want to see powerful, meaningful instruction taking place, look for schools teaching struggling learners. The students may not be scoring on standardized tests as well as their middle class peers, but I'd bet they're making more progress on a daily basis thanks to their hard work and their teachers' dedication.

Seeing Inside

We went on a field trip last week (more on that later, I hope) to see a puppet show of Peter and the Wolf. In preparation for the trip we listened to the music and narration. Then we read a picture book of the story. The students clearly understood more from the book.

As I read it to them I noticed one little girl sitting with rapt attention. She has many pets and her mom works with animals. When the wolf ate the duck she looked horrified. She spent the rest of the book with a very concerned look on her face. I've never seen such an expression from her.

At the end of the book it is revealed that the duck is still quacking, inside the wolf's stomach, because the wolf swallowed the duck whole. I've always thought that was awful. How does that help the duck? It's not as though the duck is going to get back out. The look on this girl's face suggested that she felt the same way.

Just about fifteen minutes later this same child was sitting across a table from my little prince. He was conferencing about his writing with our fabulous literacy coach. I'm not sure about the topic of his piece, but he was trying to come up with a word and he said, "You know, it was the glue on the tree."

This little girl looked at him and said, "Tree sap?" He was shocked that she knew what he meant and she went back to work on her writing with such a proud, happy look on her face.

Just watching her face made for such an interesting afternoon.

St. Patrick's Day First Grade Style

When my students arrived this morning they discovered that our classroom had been visited by a leprechaun. There were a few little messes and a new message scrawled across our morning message. I couldn't believe how quickly they cleaned things up or how excited they were. After some discussion of the excitement in our room (and a lot of indignation on my part that anyone could do such a thing to our room) we headed up to the computer lab for the first time in a long time.

The kids created patterns with shamrocks and leprechauns. They were quite concerned about what might happen to our room while we were in the computer lab. Fortunately no one managed to get in during that time.

However, while we were at lunch our visitor came back. He left a message on our smartboard about his gold. There were footprints on our classroom door, the window, the wall near the smartboard, and each table leading up to a green carnation.

As soon as we walked in and discovered all of this, one little friend grabbed some green construction paper and scissors and quickly cut out some shamrocks. During writing time the students worked in small groups to write instructions on how to catch a leprechaun. They had some fabulous ideas.

I have to admit that days like this are a ton more fun in a primary grade than they are in the upper grades!

Multiple Paths

One of the free choice activities my students have the opportunity to do several days a week is creating a marble run.

This tends to be one of the favorites and is always full (meaning four children). On a recent day one of the girls called me over to show me what they had built. I headed over and quickly noticed that if they started the marble at the beginning of the path there were plenty of side paths it would never hit. I immediately thought that they had not put a lot of thought into their plan. I almost said something to them about this, but managed to keep my mouth shut while they showed me.

The girl put the marble at the beginning and I watched it head down the main path through the tower to the ground. At the end she said to me, "Now look where else it can go." Another student dropped the marble at another starting point and ran it through that path. Then yet another student started it in yet another place.

They were so proud of how they had created multiple paths for the marble. I was grateful for the reminder that we all take different paths and I need to honor them.

Who's the Boss?

We went on a field trip yesterday (my first one with first grade) and it was wonderful. I have more to share but at the moment I just need to tell about one small incident.

We went to see a puppet show. As it began I was chatting quietly with another teacher. My little prince looked at me and shushed me. The shushing was absurd coming from him, since he can never keep his mouth closed. But it was cute.

Then he looked at me, took two fingers to point at his eyes and then pointed at me. HE'S going to keep an eye on ME? I love it!

Our Primary Purpose

We have a very local election today (a district seat on our county board of supervisors) so folks have been in and out of the building all day voting. I've actually been really impressed with the number of people.

I was less impressed, however, with what I just overheard. After dropping off my students in music I saw a man and woman, probably in their thirties, walking towards our parent center to vote. He said to her, "Other than November, obviously, this is used primarily for school rather than for elections."

Long Overdue

I recently read Whatever It Takes by Paul Tough about Geoffrey Canada's work in Harlem. I wrote about it at In Practice, my first post there in a very long time.

Some Random Thoughts

I spend today participating in the process of interviewing applicants for the education program at a local university. We are a PDS (professional development school) working with them. A couple of things struck me.

The professor I was partnered with taught in second and third grades for three years before joining the academic world. She mentioned today that she is thinking about taking a year sabbatical in order to go back to the classroom and do some action research. One thing holding her back so far (other than her own children) is her fear. I was so impressed to hear her say that she was terrified of going back into the classroom. However, I also had to wonder how she prepares new teachers for something that is so scary to her. I think she is wise to be scared and I think she is a wonderful professor. I guess it seems strange to me that professors preparing new teachers have no classroom experience or very little that may have been years ago.

The other thing that struck me may show my own bias. As I introduced my self to each new potential student, I explained that I am a first grade teacher and the site facilitator for my school. After saying it a few times I was struck by the fact that I almost feel ashamed saying I teach first grade. Somehow it seems less respectable than when I taught fourth and fifth grade. Do we, as a society, have less respect for primary teachers? And possibly even less for preschool teachers? Or am I misreading my response and I have an issue?

Happy Birthday - First Grade Style

This card was created by one of my darlings for her mother's birthday. I'm sure her mother loved it!

Awesome Librarian

We have a new librarian, Tree. She has only been in the position since the beginning of January but you would think she's been at it for years. On a recent Monday morning my class headed to the library just as it was beginning to snow. The first thing she did was teach the kids a song about snow and send them to the windows to watch the snow and sing to it. Only after singing a few times did she gather them for the planned lesson.