Gratitude Continues

Life has been so full of things for which to feel grateful that I haven't taken time to write about my gratitude. 

For the moment I'll start with my students who make my day regularly. We start each morning when I greet each student at the door. We shake hands and say good morning. Usually it's pretty quick as my goal is to get all 20 of them in and going on our day. But sometimes, especially at the beginning of the week, they have much to share with me. Yesterday was totally awesome:

• One girl shook my hand and sighed deeply. Very deeply. When I asked what was wrong, I was told, "Well, first of all, I couldn't get to sleep last night. It was like 11:30 before I could finally go to sleep! But even worse! I have a zit on my head!" and off she headed into our room. 
• Another girl held up a pink toothbrush (looked like a pretty normal pink toothbrush to me) and told me with great excitement that she was going to share it at morning meeting. She did.
• One more girl walked in holding Smile. She couldn't wait to show me the author picture in the back, saying, "See? She looks just like you!"

Raina Telgemeier, author of Smile.

More gratitude coming soon!

Cross-posted from jenorr.com.

More Gratitude

Tonight I am exceptionally grateful for a husband who makes sure dinner is ready when we get home often. Especially on days like today. Walking in and sitting down to eat when the girls and I are exhausted is immensely helpful. Otherwise, we would most certainly have grabbed something on the go tonight and this is more relaxing and healthy!

I'm also grateful for my public library. There are so many reasons I love our library system - I can put books on hold, even postponing the hold for however long I want, I can renew books online, I can even pick books up at a drive through window at one branch. At any given time I have around a dozen books at home and about as many on hold. My girls and I are currently listening to a book on CD from the library. Our next family read is from the library. I'm reading my next book club book from the library. It is fabulous.

Cross-posted from jenorr.com. 

Lots of Gratitude

I'm a firm believer in the power of mindset so when Glennon Doyle Melton (a former coworker who has since gone on to write a New York Times bestseller and hugely popular blog) suggested that we use Lent to give up ingratitude I totally bought it. I have so much to be grateful for and it's worth my time to focus on it.

So, for today, I am so grateful for my daughters and their absolute love and adoration for books. As soon as we get in the car they are ready for me to turn on the CD (currently The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan, an Enola Holmes mystery by Nancy Springer). The older one was upset because she thought we would be eating dinner on the run tonight but we ate in the restaurant. She was upset because she had left her book in the car. The youngest couldn't wait to read me her new guided reading book (Tomie de Paola's The Cloud Book) because, as she said, "It's not really nonfiction. It's more like nonfiction and fiction together."

I'm also grateful for my amazing first grade team. One suggested we have a pajama day on Friday because she realized we haven't done a whole lot of things just for fun lately and we missed Dr. Seuss day to the snow this week. These teachers have high expectations for their students, give their all to help them meet those expectations, and see them as kiddos who should get time to be a kid.

I'm grateful for my folks too. My daughters checked their email this afternoon (something they clearly don't do too often) to find ecards for Valentine's Day from my folks (I'm guessing mostly from my mom). They called me over to share because they were so excited by them. My daughters spent so many years seeing my parents about once a week, on average. That will not be so true now but my parents are doing all they can to make up for that. They send postcards, facetime/skype, email, and call my girls.

I'm very, very lucky for so many different reasons.

Cross-posted from jenorr.com.

Teacher Leaders

This post was started in my drafts about a month ago. Since then I attended Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teaching and Teachers (ECET2). Lots of discussion there about teacher leaders and teacher leadership.

Before the conference my thoughts about teacher leaders, in draft form here, were:

- open their classrooms in as many ways as possible

- how is this different at different levels - hard for elementary teachers to have time out of the classroom compared to middle/high school teachers

Clearly I intended to flesh that out a little. The big idea in my thinking was that one thing teacher leaders do is to teach as transparently as possible, they open their classroom to as many people as they can. This requires time to make it happen as well as, hopefully, some time to discuss what others are seeing. Because middle school and high school schedules are set up in periods, it is possible to have teachers teach one or more fewer periods in order to offer them time. It makes it easier to teach some and do other things. At the elementary level, without scheduled periods, it's more challenging to be partly in and partly out of the classroom.

My time at ECET2 reinforced my thoughts here. ECET2 is a conference hosted by the Gates Foundation to, not surprisingly, elevate and celebrate teachers and teaching. One of the most exciting things about the conference was being in a room with more than 200 teachers. Not administrators, not central office folks, not consultants, but teachers.  Everyone of them is in a classroom. These were my people.

Many of these teachers are in the classroom full time and managing to do amazing things. Some, however, spend part of their time in the classroom and part of their time leading in other awesome ways. From purely anecdotal data, the middle and high school teachers are doing that with more ease than the elementary teachers. I heard from several elementary teachers how stressful it was. They were still responsible for many of the little things for their class of students (attendance, forms/paperwork, parent communication, documentation, etc.) but someone else teaches their kids for a period (typically an hour or so) each day. I think, also, that elementary teachers aren't accustomed to giving up their kiddos for some of the day. Middle and high school teachers don't have to do anything significantly different to have more time away from students. They're used to having kids come and go.

This is a bit rambling and not nearly as well said as I had hoped. The demands of teaching are not small, no matter the grade level. Balancing those demands with time for other professional activities and leadership will help elevate our profession and help teachers grow. How do we make that happen? Especially for elementary teachers?

Or, just to expand the question, what does teacher leadership look like to you?

Cross-posted from jenorr.com.

Thoughts on Common Core State Standards?

I spent the past three days in Salt Lake City thanks to The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. I have so much to think about as a result (both from the conference and from all the amazing teachers there) but first I've got a question.

I teach in Virginia, one of only two states (I believe) that did not adopt the Common Core State Standards. As a result, I have to admit to having paid scant attention to them. I have, however, paid more attention to the reception of the CCSS in the media and from teachers, at least those on Twitter or Facebook. I've seen positive and negative reactions.

So, if you've taught the CCSS, what do you think? And, even more importantly, why do you think that?

It seems wrong to ask a question and then require that you go to another site to leave a comment, but I am trying to keep all the comments on the new site. Sorry! And thanks! So, head over to jenorr.com to share your thoughts.

Classroom Community

As a first grade teacher I hate being away from my classroom. I have worked hard to build community and to establish routines and every absence feels as though it makes a dent in those, sometimes a significant one. But I'm a mother which means there are times I must miss to stay home with a sick daughter. I'm a wife which means I'll miss a day soon to be there when my husband receives a teaching award. I'm a professional which means I miss days to attend and present at conferences. If I could just get my twenty little darlings to stay home on those days I would do it!

Every year I struggle with how my students behave when I am not there. They are not the class they are with me. To some extent I expect that. But it also frustrates me because I take it as a sign that our classroom community is not strong enough to withstand my absence. It suggests to me that my students are only being so fabulous because I am there.

Andrew Campbell has me rethinking this concern. In a post about listening to teachers' expertise, he writes about what happens in his classroom when he is out.

We see it when a class transforms from a pleasant helpful group of students to a horrible, nasty mob simply because a supply teacher arrives. It happens when I merely walk to the back of my classroom so a student teacher can present a lesson. These other teachers aren’t me and aren’t connected with the class the way I am.

It had never occurred to me that my students were fabulous with me because of the connections and relationships between us. (Head slap.) Without those, the community is not as strong.

Andrew goes on to write:

This doesn’t happen by magic. I spend many days planting the seeds of these connections, and every day thereafter cultivating and maintaining them. I love the term “classroom culture” because my science nerd brain immediately thinks of the kind of the culture found in a lab to grow cells. It’s a useful metaphor, because like growing cells, the “complex web of connections” is organic and it grows and develops as the school year progresses. And just like a cell culture if it isn’t maintained under the right conditions it dies.

I too work really hard to plant these seeds. I greet my students one by one at the door every morning, with a smile and a handshake or a hug. I want to start our day connecting. Once a week I eat lunch with several students so we have some relaxed time to spend together. I try to listen when they share things with me, and first graders have a lot to share! When I can I go to their soccer games or drama performances or other outside events. I firmly believe those relationships make a difference in how well I can teach them and how much they will learn. (Our new superintendent seems to share the belief that this is important.)

I'm not completely sold on this but it's got me thinking. One of my concerns with Andrew's thoughts here is that it gives me more power and focus in the classroom than I really want to have. I'd love for my students to have a community that is so strong that someone's absence, including mine, is not critical. The difficulty there is that my absence isn't just an absence, it means an unrelated person enters the mix. I wonder what the day would be like if the special education teacher who also teaches in my room was the one with them in my absence. Would the connections and relationships she has with them mean a day much like any other?

I've got several absences coming up. Andrew's post has me thinking differently about how to prepare for those absences and how to respond upon my return. Before I leave we usually talk about why I'll be out and doing our best. Maybe we need to talk specifically about our community and how it will feel to have a stranger in it. Typically I have shared my disappointment with some things when I am back with the kids. I don't believe this is likely to help our community. Maybe we should talk about why it happened instead.

Clearly I'm not settled in my thinking yet. Maybe I won't ever be. But I've got three conferences in the next six weeks so I'll have some great opportunities to test out some new ideas.

Bud Hunt was also thinking about community recently. Clearly it matters. I appreciate all these folks giving me new perspectives and thoughts.

Cross-posted from jenorr.com.

Another Cultural Bias

I'm sure there are many times when I am completely unaware of how my own biases impact things I do and say. I'm sure there are many times when I am completely unaware of my own biases in general.

This school year, however, one bias is glaring me in the face. I have two kiddos whose mothers are only peripherally in their lives. (I don't know either of these mothers so what I know about them is second hand. Based on that, it's quite possible these kiddos are better off without their mothers closely involved in their lives.)

Out of my twenty students, I know that three of my students (maybe five, I'm not certain) have fathers who are, at best, peripherally involved in their lives.

I am highly judgmental of those two mothers who are not involved in their children's lives. Highly. I can't possibly understand how they make choices that take them away from their children or that push their children away from them. I don't understand it at all.

I don't feel the same way about those fathers. I barely think about them. When I do, I'm disappointed in them. But that's about it.

Why is this? Is it because I'm a mother so I identify with the mothers more than the fathers? Is it because it's more common for fathers in our society to be absent from their children's lives? Is there something else I'm missing?

Cross-posted at jenorr.com.

Educon Encienda

For the 5th year, I did an Educon Encienda presentation. These are Ignite-style presentations, 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds. This makes for an exactly five minute presentation. It's a bit nerve wracking, but, for whatever reason, I really enjoy doing them.

This year I focused on offering students choices, especially beyond academic choices. Often we talk about the importance of offering students academic choices, which I believe is important. But I   believe other choices are equally important.

My part in this video comes in at about the 30 minute mark (and lasts, shockingly, five minutes!), It's tough to hear the first part but becomes more clear about 30 seconds in.



Cross-posted from jenorr.com.

Educon Session on Privilege

This afternoon I was working on progress reports and found myself wondering how much each student's gender and ethnicity played into the grades I was entering. How much were those factors impacting my perception of their growth in reading or math or science? Were boys in my class earning lower grades in organizational skills or self-control than the girls because of gender? Were African-American and African students earning lower grades in reading because of their race? I hope not, but I'm certain those factors play a part no matter how hard I try not to let them.

This is fresh on my mind because of a session at Educon led by Audrey Watters and Jose Vilson. Both are educators I was familiar with and respected greatly before this conference. That has only increased after this session and the opportunity to speak with them some. I have to say how impressed I was with both Audrey and Jose for their ability to allow this to truly be a conversation. They introduced themselves and the topic and then let us run with it. (They later shared that they really hadn't planned anything. So what? They didn't dominate the conversation at all, in spite of, I'm sure, having plenty to say on the topic.)

The conversation roamed extensively and covered a lot of fascinating ground. By the end, my head was swimming. I'm left looking back at my tweets from that period to remember what I was thinking (I, like many others, take notes by tweeting at conferences).

One of my thoughts mirrors that of my thinking today as I worked on progress reports. As a white, heterosexual, middle-class woman, I worry about how I sound to those who have less privilege. I can only, truly know my own experience in life and that is limiting. That is true of all of us, but as one with significant privilege, I worry that it means my biases alienate others without my ever realizing. As a result, I'm grateful to those who point out to me when I am biased or showing some ism that I may have missed. It takes courage to do so, but it's tough for me to grow without that perspective and help. 

This led to some thinking about the collective responsibility we share here. Those with privilege are responsible for being thoughtful and for reflecting on their own biases and changing, or at a minimum attempting to do so. Those with less privilege bear some responsibility to help those with privilege see through their lenses. That seems unfair in many ways, but I can't figure out how else we make change happen. Everyone, regardless of privilege, has the responsibility to be thoughtful and respectful.

I've taught my entire career in a Title I school. The great majority of the students and families with whom I work lack privilege. I'd be hard pressed to name one area in which they have privilege. As a result, I find myself struggling to remember how much they know and have to offer me. It's easy for me to see myself as the expert about education and children and ignore all that I can learn from them (including about education and children). Luckily, I have at least one fabulous friend who reminds me of this regularly. 

During the session we discussed how teachers often feel marginalized in their profession as we are rarely excluded from decision making or serious discussions of any sort. But we do the same thing to families regularly. That really hurt to realize.

Mike Thayer hit on this same idea when he tweeted: 

As he noted, these questions are important. They're also seriously hard to answer. They're even, often, hard to discuss. That said, at Educon we spend an hour and a half discussing them. And doing so with strong emotions and great respect. 

Others have written about this session far better than I could ever do.

Audrey Watters shared a brief reflection and a collection of tweets.

Rafranz Davis wrote about the entire conference, but with a thoughtful paragraph about this session in particular.

Sabrina Stevens shared a collection (from some time back) of resources on this topic. Impressive.

Cross-posted from jenorr.com.

Educon - Teacher Rockstars

I don't know what was said at the Sunday morning panel at Educon, but something prompted me to tweet:

Jennifer Orr ‏@jenorrJan 26

Is it reasonable to believe that every teacher will be as dedicated and passionate as those at #Educon? It would be lovely, but possible?

After that I think I missed a lot of the panel (which I intend to rewatch this weekend) because I was so engaged in conversations about this on Twitter. Sadly I'm not sure I was ever able to truly sort out my question, much less make it clear in 140 characters. That didn't keep me from having some great discussions though.

I am lucky enough to work at a school full of fabulous teachers. A number of years ago, one of my coworkers said, "We're a nitwit-free school." She was right. My own daughters attend my school because they could have any teacher there and be in good hands. 

But most of those teachers don't attend conferences. They aren't on Twitter or blogging or even reading serious educational blogs. Many of them don't know who Arne Duncan or Michelle Rhee or Diane Ravitch are. They are thoughtful, kind, generous, engaging teachers. They know their students and they know their content. They are involved in conversations in our building about how and what to teach and why. They have parent conferences and write happy notes home for children. 

Thinking about these teachers was at least a part of my question. Are they not as dedicated as those at Educon? Are they less good as teachers because of that? (This gets even tougher when I start thinking about teachers who aren't as fabulous as my coworkers but that's a whole other issue.)

People pushed back on my question in ways that helped me evolve.

Tony Borash ‏@tborashJan 26

@jenorr If not us to expect to achieve a community of learners and learning, than who? @BeckyFisher73 #educon

My response was not good enough in the moment. Looking back over these tweets, this one caught me because I firmly believe we should expect to achieve a community of learners and learning. But does that mean teachers have to attend conferences? What does a teacher have to do for us (whoever that might be) to feel they are doing enough professionally to be a community of learners? Not everyone can or will spend their time and money attending conferences. Is that a necessity? 

Michael Doyle ‏@BHS_DoyleJan 26

@jenorr I think it's reasonable--I think most of us started out that way. Too many of us break.

Doyle got me thinking about how expectations should vary. New teachers have a ton on their plates and expecting them to engage in the same way as a teacher with five or more years under their belt seems a bit unfair. Should expectations also vary depending on other circumstances? Should the teacher's financial situation (and what the district will/will not help with) be a factor? Should their family responsibilities play a role? Every teacher is an individual person with a unique set of circumstances. How much do we take that into consideration?

Aaron Akune ‏@aakuneJan 26

@jenorr we're all here because we're oriented towards growth. How do we spark a growth mindset in others? #EduCon

I loved Aaron's bit about sparking growth. I'd love to think that my excitement, energy, and passion for the conferences I attend and the blogs I read spreads to others. I gain so much from these and I hope that others have the same opportunity. The idea of being oriented towards growth is one I have to think on some more. How do we identify a growth mindset in teachers? At least a growth mindset about their teaching. I'm not sure.

I think, in the end, that's what I believe is critical for a teacher; an interest and drive to continue growing in their profession. However they do so, that's the bar I think I'd set.

Cross-posted from jenorr.com.

Students Sharing

At some point at Educon, and unfortunately I can't remember when, where, or who, someone said something about 'sharing between students bandwidth.' I made a quick note to myself asking, "What is the sharing between students bandwidth where I am?"

I know that my most powerful learning comes out of conversation, be that in person, on Twitter, or elsewhere online. It helps me to talk to others, listen to others, and try to see other perspectives. I think I have a lot of bandwidth for sharing.

I don't know that my students do. There is a significant amount of time in our classroom during which students are talking to each other. The amount of time they spend listening to me is pretty small and the amount of time they have to be quiet is minimal. This is something I have worked hard to achieve over the years. So, that would seem positive.

However, I'm not convinced that most of their talk is powerful. I'm not sure they truly know how to share their learning and discuss it in ways that will help them and their classmates grow. I think they have a lot of bandwidth for sharing, but I don't think they know how to use it.

Having the bandwidth isn't very meaningful if it isn't used well. I wouldn't let them get on our computers and just use them to watch PBS Kids videos or play drill and kill games. Those aren't terrible things to do, just as their talk right now isn't terrible, but both could be a lot better. We need to ensure that we're making good use of our bandwidth. At least most of the time.

Cross-posted from jenorr.com.

Educon Overload

Educon was this past weekend and my head is still swimming. I could use a day or two, locked away on my own, to reflect and sort through all this thinking and questioning.

As that won't happen (somehow I'm expected to teach and parent and such no matter how full my brain is), I'm dedicating some time several evenings a week to this space. My girls have gone to bed (not to sleep by any stretch as I can hear the music and chatting quite clearly) so this is the closest to 'me time' as I'm going to get.

Educon is always an amazing event. I think there are several reasons for that. One is how respectfully participants are treated at this conference. Sessions are conversations, not presentations, so everyone can be involved. Some sessions are more participatory than others, but all offer opportunities for active participation. While there are lots of folks at Educon who could be considered EduCelebrities, they are there participating like everyone else. There is a sense of equality.

Another reason I think this conference is so spectacular is the location. It is hosted by Science Leadership Academy, a public, magnet high school in Philadelphia. The people at SLA, principal, teachers, students, parents, even former students, are all highly involved in Educon. The conference simply couldn't work without them and that is important. Parents and students are the ones working behind the scenes (and in the midst of everything) to make Educon run smoothly. They also engage in conversations about education with those of us who are visiting. On Friday they welcome us into their school and for the rest of the weekend they work hard to keep things going while adding important perspectives to our conversations.

Due to the location, the size is relatively small. Philadelphia hosted the ALA (American Library Association) conference this weekend as well. That included 12,000 participants (or so I'm guessing, I have no source for that number). We were between 500 and 600. We didn't like sharing the city with them, they hogged all the cabs. Anyway, as a result, there's a level of intimacy at Educon that is lacking at other national conferences. (And, if you're doubting, Educon is most definitely a national conference, I spoke with folks from Wisconsin, Texas, and Canada that I remember off the top of my head.)

Most of the participants in Educon are on Twitter and/or blog. This weekend is a chance to talk face to face with people we engage with regularly online. There is a sense of coming home as we all gather. It's amusing to hear people say, "Wait, what's your Twitter name? I think I follow you!" or "Oh my gosh, you're ----- on Twitter!" (Those of us who just use our regular names as our Twitter names are not nearly as exciting.)

The tone of the conference is that we are all learners. I'm not certain how that tone was originally set or how it has been maintained so well, although I'm betting is highly deliberate. But it plays a significant role in making Educon so powerful.

I'm sure there are other reasons Educon is my favorite conference of the year, but this sums it up pretty well. (There goes tonight's 'me time' and I haven't even begun unpacking the issues/questions/big ideas from the conference!

Cross-posted from jenorr.com.

Am I living what I value?

For the past month, since I was lucky enough to attend both annual conferences for VASCD and VSTE, I have been thinking about this question. I started a list of things I value and believe. When something strikes me strongly, I try to add it. 

So far, my list of things I value includes:

• play
• explaining one's thinking
• student choice
• student responsibility
• reflection (for teachers and students)

Under the idea of things I believe:

• testing is a lazy way to assess learning

I anticipate adding more to these lists, but for the moment there is plenty to think about. Over the next week I intend to reflect on each of these items and analyze how well I am actually living them in my classroom. Too often I think I get caught up in what I'm told to do, what others are doing, what is easy, or what I've always done, and don't do what I believe is best. That doesn't upset me too much, I'm human, but I do want to take some time to see where I'm going strong and where I want to focus more energy.

(And, to be honest, I want to spend more time writing as I have missed that and think it is important. Hopefully this will help me get back in the groove.)

Original with comments open here.

Making a Major Change

This is my 16th year at my school. In that time I've taught three different grades, looped twice, taught our gifted and talented class, taught students with IEPs and students learning English. I've learned so much about teaching, school, students, and life. I work with the most amazing people. (That's truly not an exaggeration. I don't believe there is another staff as good as this one anywhere.)

In spite of all this, I'm planning to change schools. There are many different reasons for this. I feel that 16 years is a long time at one place and I need to move in order to grow. My oldest daughter is finishing her years at my school so it seems like a good time. And I'm terrified. Oddly enough that is one more reason for me to go, in my mind at least. (There are many more reasons, most of which don't need to be shared.)

This is the only place I've ever taught. Prior to this I substituted quite a bit between gigs on a cruise ship and after I left the ship, including one long-term job in a fifth grade. But this has really been my only school. That makes me a lucky one. I landed at an amazing spot from day one. 

My goal now is to find the next perfect school. I know I want it to be a Title I school. I'd like the school to have Reading Recovery and a well stocked reading room. In addition, I'd like to find a school that believes in the Responsive Classroom philosophy. 

What would you look for in a school? How would you know if you found it?

Cross-posted from new site where comments are open. Please share thoughts!

VSTE Photo Walk

At VSTE in early December, Tim Stahmer organized a photowalk for those who were interested. In spite of the fact that it was ridiculously cold I couldn't pass up this opportunity.

This photo was taken by Tom Woodward, who went along on the photowalk and documented us. He got some other non-us great shots because that's just what he does. I like this picture, in spite of not liking how I look in it, because it is so noir. I could so easily be a private detective wandering the dirty streets, mulling over a challenging case.

These are only a few of the pictures I took on the walk, only my favorites. We started on an enclosed, pedestrian bridge which made for a slightly warmer, very bright start. 

This hangs at the end of the pedestrian bridge, above the escalators there. We all took pictures of it and I'm sure there are better ones, but I liked this one.

On our walk we passed a store. I have no adjective to add to that noun. I have no idea how to describe this store. I took about a dozen pictures there because it was just so astounding. Most didn't turn out the way I had hoped.

Another shot from that store, this one captured the beveled sides of the door that I tried to capture in others and failed. The best part of this one, at the time, was that I hadn't noticed the huge head in the corner until I took this shot. That's how insane this store was.

This picture was taken back at the hotel. If you look really closely you can see my reflection in the ball on the gift. 

Cross-posted here.

Moving On Up

After thinking about it for a long time, purchasing a domain a year ago, and finally beginning to give it a try, I'm making the move to my own domain. I've moved all the previous posts and comments over there and for the past couple of months I've been posting to both sites. I intend to continue to do so, but I think I'll close the comments here in the hopes of moving everything over there for the future.

I still have a lot to learn about using WordPress rather than Blogger and about managing my own domain. In addition, I haven't managed to move the pages from here to there so I'm rethinking what I want to do with those. I haven't been happy with how they're set up here but I haven't figured out exactly what I want that to look like.

Anyway, on the off chance that you're like me and still rely on an RSS reader, you might want to change the link from this site to the new one. I hope you'll join me there! I also hope I'll manage to do some more writing in the coming weeks than I've been doing lately.

Homework: About Me

It's been almost ten days since Philip gave me this assignment. That's embarrassing but such it is. I've read these posts from several others and enjoyed learning a bit more about them. 

So, 11 facts about me. 

1. I was born in Austin, Texas and grew up there and Dallas until I was about 12. I don't sound like it most of the time, but if I talk with family there the accent comes back quickly.

2. My uncle married a woman from Spain and I was lucky enough to spend two high school summers in Spain with her family (one in Burgos and one in Cordoba).

3. I have one sister and two daughters. My oldest was born the day after my birthday. The youngest's birthday is ten days before my younger sister's birthday.

4. After college I wanted to travel. I needed to find a way to travel and play the harp (as I had only learned to play in college and knew I would lose any skills I had gained if I stopped playing for a while). I got a job on The Royal Viking Sun, a cruise ship. I was Harpist Jennifer, or at least that's what passengers often called me.

5. Playing the piano is therapeutic for me. If my husband gets home and I'm playing he gives me a wide berth.

6. I could eat Mexican food on a daily basis. Freshman year of college I worked with my mom during the winter holiday. I think we had Taco Bell about three times each week.

7. I love musicals, almost any musical. Les Mis and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat are my favorites and I've seen both multiple times. My girls share this love.

8. I come from families of teachers and musicians, although neither of my parents does either. My mom has four siblings, two of them were teachers. My dad has three siblings and all teach/taught. 

9. In college I had a small music scholarship. For it I had to do some accompaniment. Some semesters I accompanied the women's chorus, other times I accompanied vocal students. The voice teacher was Helga Bullock, Sandra Bullock's mother. This was after Love Potion #9 and when Speed was being made. Sandra Bullock was not well known and it was amazing to hear her mother rave about her and see her immense pride.

10. I love water. Growing up in Reston, Virginia I was on a swim team in the summers. In high school I joined the diving team (I was terrible). In college I did synchronized swimming. I think I need to find a water polo team so I can add another water sport.

11. I covet formal dresses and chances to wear them. As a first grade teacher and wife to a college professor, I don't have too many opportunities. (It was a highlight of my time on the cruise ship.)

Next up, questions from Philip for me to answer:

1. If you could take a “dream” vacation, what would it be?
Australia and New Zealand - it's expensive to get to them and a long trip so it seems unlikely to happen but there are so many reasons I want to visit both.

2. Hollywood is casting a biopic about you. Who should be cast in the lead role?
Idina Menzel - I want her because then the biopic can be a musical!

3. The director changed her mind and has decided to create a reality show about you instead. What should the title be?
Oh my, what a terribly dull reality show! How about if I stick with the title of my blog (I don't often create titles I love).

4. What’s your favorite book?
I don't think I could answer that question if my life depended on it. I can pick a favorite movie (The Princess Bride) but a favorite book...I don't think I could even pick a favorite author. Right now Far From the Tree is taking me forever to read but is frequently on my mind (and I've been reading it for months).

5. We take a trip to Yolo, one of those fill-your-own-cup frozen yogurt shops. What all do you put in your cup?
Anything Reese's - peanut butter cups or pieces - both are fabulous.

6. It’s a busy night at the karaoke bar. You’ve got one chance to blow away the crowd and leave your mark. What will you sing?
If I could sing (which sadly I can't) I'd get some friends and do Seasons of Love.

7. Who or what inspires you most?
This is cliche I'm sure, but my family. My husband and my daughters inspire me and make me a better teacher and a better person.

8. What was your favorite class in college or graduate school?
This will pain my college professor husband, but I don't really remember most of my classes. I did take a Mozart class from a professor who was so passionate about Mozart that I came to love him too.

9. If you could snap your fingers and magically change one thing (only 1) about your job, what would it be?
We would not be required to be teaching the same lessons on the same day (or within days). We'd be able to plan to meet the needs of our kiddos.

10. Name one important thing on your “bucket list.”
 Get a PhD.

11. What’s your favorite holiday tradition?
My sister gives our daughters a book every Christmas. We wrap them up and put them at the foot of their beds so these are the first gifts they get.

Here’s how it works:

1. Acknowledge the nominating blogger.
2. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
3. Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
4. List 11 bloggers.
5. Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer, and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. Don’t nominate a blogger who has nominated you.

I can't handle picking 11 bloggers right now. And it seems mean to ask people to do this right now. So, if you have free time during this break and want to share, consider yourself invited! (I can't even handle coming up with 11 questions. I really stink at this homework.)

Big Takeaway from VASCD 13

For the majority of the past day and a half here in Williamsburg I've been inspired, amused, and pushed to think. The conference has been fabulous.

One brilliant colleague at my school is going to ask me, "What's your big takeaway? What are you going to do as a result of this conference?" Great questions. Ones that usually stump me, unfortunately.

Today, though, I'm prepared. There is one question, one big idea that has been bouncing around my head the whole time.

Am I living what I believe and what I value?

This question has resonated with me in so many different ways. I will be exploring those, both ways I do live what I believe and ways I fall short, over the next little while.

It's a question well worth exploring.

Bedtime Reading

This past week two other first grade teachers and I hosted a bedtime reading event at school. Our school is fabulous about evening events for families, sometimes academic focused and other times more for fun. We've done Partners in Print for our primary grades and a variety of other SOL (state standards) focused events in the upper grades. This event was different. We invited our students for an event in our rooms with us. The hope was that being in their child's classroom with their child's teacher would be motivating to attend as well as more comfortable and relaxed than a bigger event in the cafeteria or gym. Plus, we invited folks to come in their pajamas and we wore ours!

The total number of students invited was just under 60 (remember, just our kiddos). For a typical event, getting a quarter of our kids would be a success. For this evening, we invited families to arrive about 6:45 because we wanted to really get started at 7:00. We began in a resource classroom where we could all gather as folks trickled in. At 6:30 families were already arriving. We had bookmarks ready for the kids to stamp. There were almost 100 bookmarks and they were almost all well stamped by 6:45.

Due to the astounding turnout (quite a bit larger than we anticipated), I gathered most of the kiddos on the carpet and read them a big book. This was a last minute idea, I saw a big book sitting nearby and rolled with it. It worked quite well, thankfully.

About 7:00 we all moved on to our own classrooms. We had a short, about four minute, video to show of bedtime reading. (The video was taken by one of my students last year. She recorded her mom reading with her younger brother and then her mom recorded the two kids reading together. All of it in pajamas curled up in bed. I took two minute segments from each bit to share.) We used the video to highlight bedtime reading routines and benefits. We didn't want to talk at families too much so we kept this part short.

For the next twenty minutes families read together. We had worried that this might not work well, that folks might not buy into it, but our fears were unfounded. I wandered around, listened as families read, suggested other books, and laughed with families. I watched one mom and her two boys reading several Elephant and Piggie books laughing until they nearly cried. At the end she said to me, "We've got to get some of these!" I spoke with one mom about her daughter's fabulous reading this year and she told me that her daughter had invented "Power Hour" at their house. For an hour they all read together, moving from one bed to another. At first the younger brother didn't like it, apparently, but now he's enjoying it too. Some kids wanted to read with their friends while parents read with younger siblings. Others, the whole family read together.

Just before 7:30 I stopped everyone. I heard at least one parent say, "Already?" It made my night. Before leaving, every child, our students and their siblings, got a brand new book to keep. (We bought the $1 books from the preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and fourth grade Scholastic catalogs.)

I had 13 out of 20 students there with families. Across the hall there were, I believe 11 out of 17. I'm not sure about the third classroom. It was an impressive turnout. We teachers all went home exhausted and fell asleep in the pajamas we had worn all evening.

Growing Number of Homeless Students

These graphics are from Education Week. (From what I can tell the graphics are not online, although the article is.) I looked at them a few weeks ago (this is Education Week's November 6th issue). Looking at it now, when I had some time to blog about it, I was reminded of Dean Dad's recent post. He writes about how different things can be for students depending on their parents' life experiences.

This matters. It matters way more than some folks would like to admit.

From my warm, cozy home with a fridge full of food, closets full of clothes, and comfy beds for all of us, it can be easy to be blind to the challenges faced by many children in our country.

In the graphics here I am struck by several things.

1. The continuing rise in homeless students is surprising to me.

2. The quote,"Of the homeless students who took state exams, around half or fewer scored at proficient levels in mathematics or reading." comes as no shock. The most surprising thing here for me is that nearly half of these students are passing. Children are astoundingly resilient. But you'd think we wouldn't be forcing them to be quite so often.

3. There are a handful of states in which the percentage of homeless students has gone down. What is going on there? Have families left those states? Have they done something positive to support those families (sadly, I am skeptical of that possibility)? Are those students dropping off the radar somewhere and not getting counted? I want a deeper story.