My teaching beliefs change as my education continues....

         My thoughts on the classroom and my teaching beliefs were molded throughout my final semester on campus here in Iowa City.  None of my beliefs previous to this semester were completely eliminated they were just reaffirmed.  Beyond this, from the information presented to us I can now add to my teaching beliefs things that I feel strongly about as a future teacher.   Specifically, my beliefs in regards to the importance of technology in the classroom, their relation to education, and ideas about 21^st century thinking skills, were added to my ideas about teaching. The TED talks we watched were inspirational and kick started my thinking about what we should really be teaching in our classroom.  My teaching belief has molded in regards to teaching students how to think and integrating curriculum as oppose to teaching curriculum and integrating ideas about how to think.  In our ever progressing world it is important to teach innovation and creativity.  Our world is not assembly line black and white any longer and has not been for some time.  While the basic skills and information is important, we need to continue to move forward.  New technology is being created and we need to teach our future how to use it.  As a teacher it will be important for me to learn and grow with the students and the use of technology.  They are more engaged when using it so it only makes sense to incorporate it into their daily routines. 

            I love the idea of kid blogging.  Especially at younger ages, if one to one technology is available, kid blogging would be huge as a way to get kids excited about writing and expressing themselves through the use of words.  It is amazing that through blogging you are potentially connecting with people all around the world and kids can receive feedback on their writing through more than a smiley face sticker from their teacher.  They can respond to questions and comments left by parents, other students, other students parent’s etc.  I am really excited about this whole idea.  Previous to this class I wasn’t even quite sure what a blog was, and now here I am excited about integrating it into my classroom as a learning tool.

            I am also going to focus on using higher order thinking skills in each of my lessons.  To change how we think and approach things it takes practice.  To mold from the regurgitation type of teaching to instead being the inquirer and the one who is creating is not a simple task.  Easier said than done, I want to encourage my students to question the world around them.  I want to inspire curiosity and creativity.  I want my students to paint a picture of their promise and the ability I know they possess with my lessons and resources a tool through which to do so.  I have left this semester with reassurance that I am where I am supposed to be and excited to reach out and be an advocate to the future of our world.

Tech Wizard or Granny?

“Teaching in the Internet age means we must teach tomorrow’s skills today.” –Jennifer Fleming

As an emerging teacher amidst the ever evolving and increasing use of technology how do I integrate it into my own classroom? How do I use it to my advantage and as a way to motivate students?  We recently had a very knowledgeable speaker come to our classroom and share some trending and helpful technology tools.  On a scale of wizard to grandma I am somewhere in between in regards to my technology smarts.  The presentation was eye opening and I found myself excited to use some of the tools she shared in my future classroom.  I was excited to learn about ways to use technology both as a professional and to encourage my students to use as well.   For example, through twitter it is possible to network with educators all across the country and world, and be kept up to date with news and innovative ideas and experiences other classrooms are trying.  I think overall that is what most excites me about technology.  It is this brand new aspect that is being added to the classroom with limitless possibilities.  Teachers are using technology in their classroom management, to aid in organization, and to motivate students learning and participation.

I am particularly interested and excited about the idea of kid blogging.  It is highly motivating for students to know that not only is their work viewable by fellow classmates, teachers, and parents, but everyone in the world.  Kids will be excited about using computers, ipads, etc, and more likely to produce high quality work when they know that anyone on the internet can view what they wrote.  It is especially neat because both their parents, and other students’ parents can then leave comments on their work, making them feel valued as writers. The student blog she shared with us appeared to be a very successful overall experience and I am anxious to see how I can incorporate one into my future classroom.  Blogging not only is fun for them but helps them develop their digital literacy.

After her presentation I also decided that if I teach upper grades it will be required they have a google account.  The capabilities to work on a project or paper or chart with another person while working at different computers is genius.  An entire class could be contributing to the same chart or piece of work if necessary. You can use the google resources to site your sources with the click of a button.  No more spending hours on ebib! I think that you could do some really cool things with this. 

Overall the limitless possibilities of technology amaze and excite me.  Sometimes I convince myself I am already a wiz, however things are progressing and it is important that I continue to explore and keep up with emerging technology because I believe they can have some very positive impacts on our classrooms.

Integrating Learning Conversations

 What is teaching? I mean really.  Is it about teaching kids the presidents, math facts, and enlightening them with rich literature? These things happen, but ideally we are teaching our students to think.  To be able to think, understand important and ideas and to reason is to thrive in our world.  To be literate is all sense of what needs to be read and understand in the world we live in.  As it sounds, it is an ever-encompassing difficult task that we as teachers have at hand.  This leads me then to my thoughts in regards to instructional conversations in the classroom.  Research has shown that what students analyze, think critically about and then teach others is what they most deeply understand and remember most.  This makes sense.  It then makes sense that we should aim to encourage this type of engagement in the classroom.  Of course content first has to be taught in order to have a basis of information from which to gather and pull conclusions and thoughts.  From there though we must teach students to reflect, question and reason with each other.  This is the main idea of instructional conversations. 

While this sounds like something that could only take place in the upper levels, it is amazing students of all ages are capable of this.   Although their ideas were more surface, and in regards to more simply put ideas, the concepts were their and my group of first graders excelled.  This led me to think that we are such natural born thinkers.  What I mean by this is that at first grade they thrive through sharing and communicating their thoughts.  They are not afraid to disagree with their peers and have simply no hesitation.  Somewhere along the way it seems this gets lost and it is important that we continually nurture this type of thought process and conversation throughout all ages of students. 

So my first graders were reading the book Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Carnival Prize for their literacy Circle.  We had read the first four chapters and had previous lessons on making connections with you, other texts and the world around us.  They instantly took off with the conversation.  They began by making connections with the carnival and their own school carnival.   This led to conversation on the bike and how it was stolen.  One kid mentioned that her brother’s bike had also been stolen.  Another kid chimed in and mentioned that the bike wasn’t locked up so it was easy for someone to take.  They then discussed that just because it was easy to take that didn’t necessarily mean it was right for the unknown person to take it.  It was a small group of 6 kids and all were eager to share their ideas and thoughts on the matter.  Without much instruction on how this was to go, they pretended like I wasn’t even in the room.  I interjected only to bring them back to their own reflective ideas when a student would bring up silly ideas as first graders usually do.  Overall I had a very positive and successful experience and I can’t wait to use this learning strategy in my future classroom.

“To find yourself, think for yourself.” 

― Socrates

Writing Analysis

To be honest it was challenging for me to write about the strengths and weaknesses of the class as a whole because of the wide range of abilities.  Some kids have the "I just want to be the first to finish" attitude and some students love writing and would write all class if they had the time.  It's so crazy how much you can learn about your students and their writing just from looking more closely at their work.  You can understand their know about the content AND what they know about writing in general.  It was neat to see the ways they were experimenting with writing structure and incorporating ideas about spelling patterns and such.  I had them write a letter to a fictional character, Michael Recycle. Who wouldn't love this? However, I'm not sure if this actually lowered their motivation.  Maybe they would have been more motivated if they were writing to a real person? By real person I am thinking a mayor, or principal, or someone who has the power to make a real change.  It might have been cool for them to actually mail these letters then! It would be really neat if they actually got a letter back from one of these un named important people!  One of the main weaknesses I discussed was the need for details in their writing.  Many of them had one-word answers or short responses that I know they could talk more about, but didn’t put in the effort to write more about.  I am anxious to see what they take away from a mini lesson on details and using their senses to help them explore this in their writing.  They are a very capable group of first graders and it will be interesting to see where we go from here.  As developing writers the students exhibited many strengths in regards to their writing, demonstrating their previous knowledge about how writing works. As I have been in their classroom for a couple months now I have observed the immense differentiation that occurs in this classroom of writers.   For some, they flourish writing lavish sentences with details original intriguing ideas.  For others, they struggle to even put the pencil to their paper, searching for ideas and ways to translate their thoughts into communication through the written word.  Overall they understood their purpose as authors of their letter was to write ideas about reducing, reusing and recycling. All of their responses shared ideas about ways they improve their environment.  This shows me that they understand their purpose as writers to communicate related ideas within their letter.  Many of the students included several ways to reduce/reuse/recycle within the same sentence.  This shows me that they understand you can use lists as a type of sentence structure.  Perhaps they observed this more complex type of sentence structure in something they read, and they were exploring how they could as writers use this type of sentence structure themselves.

“The difference between the right word and the almost right 

word is the difference between lightning and a lightning 

bug.”

― Mark Twain, The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain

Thinking Aloud With A Chance of Meatballs

During our Literacy class we’ve been talking about how to have more engaging classrooms yada, yada. So, we lately we discussed this whole idea of a Think Aloud in the classroom.  I love the idea because it is kind of like mind reading, which is pretty cool.  You never thought it could be done and then someone came up with this idea for a think aloud.  It is basically a free ticket to the mind of your students, which is what every teacher wants am I right? Sometimes we want this more than others.  You can use strategies like text tagging or even thought bubbles to help your students discover their own thoughts while reading through different text in the classroom. The Think Aloud strategy can be such a powerful tool in the classroom.  Just like any good lesson, you should model, guide them and then gradually let them be in charge of their own “thinking” aloud. Especially when you’re first working on this I think it really helps to have a focus of some sort.  For example, teaching a mini lesson on description or discovering meanings for words based on context, etc.  Basically, reviewing the reading strategies that they already know or teaching them a new one to focus on before doing a Think Aloud would be super helpful.

So, as per my own advice I choose to focus on making connections with the reading.  I decided to do a think aloud in my own classroom with one of the above level readers in the classroom.  Before we performed the mind reading session I reminded her that it is important to make connections when we read.  Thinking back on our own life experiences can help us understand descriptions or how other characters might feel.  Even better it helps us as readers visualize while we read.  I’ve noticed by cooperating teacher stressing the importance of visualizing while we read, especially at the ripe age of first grade. While I was discussing this with her I was thinking about how I really need to practice what I preach more, or maybe I visualize without even thinking about it? It’s been awhile since I have read for my own enjoyment so I am anxious to test this out.  Regardless, I wanted my impressionable student to focus on making connections with what we were going to read.

I choose to have her read the book “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”. How fun right? I absolutely love this book and was sure that she had most likely seen this movie before so she was already set up with some kind of visual.  Seriously though, how fun to picture raining orange juice? Way easier than picturing a “dismal day” or some sort of boring text. This text is fun and fun equals a better chance of coming up with connections I am sure.

Just like with anything, I knew I would need to do the whole gradual release of responsibility. I would have to show her how awesome I am at thinking aloud, let us think aloud together, then I wanted to try the Open Mind think aloud strategy with me as her partner instead of a fellow student. So I reminded her that we were going to try to make connections with the reading and began by reading a couple sentences, and then making a connection, reading a couple sentences, making a connection and so on.  Then, I had her read a couple sentences and I would make a connection. We did this until I thought maybe she was catching on. We were about halfway through the book at this point anyway so I decided it was her turn.  She could handle it.

I modeled by making connections to having my grandparents making me breakfast in the morning. Who doesn’t love this, and thought she might be able to relate to this too.  I also mentioned that it’s crazy to have pancakes fly of course and if orange juice was raining? It would one crazy sticky mess. An orange juice coated backpack would not be ideal. Needless to say when it was her turn to make connections the only original connections she could make were related to what she saw in the movie.  I had to guide her thinking by asking her questions myself.  I think that next time I perform this I need to use a different strategy and maybe more explaining would be helpful.  She was able to connect with my questions as a sort of bridge but no original connections were made.  I thought for sure this would just sort of happen. Turns out it takes more than a good book and focus.  More minilessons and guided think alouds are a must.  Maybe the read-pause-write or sticky note strategy would be more helpful for this think aloud first timer! Both me and the student!

Rote vs. Project Based Learning. The Battle.

“For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” 
― Aristotle,

I am very interested in this whole idea of Motivated Learning. I think that to be motivated and to be engaged and to be learning all go hand in hand. What’s the point of teaching something to our students if they will forget it a week later? Did we truly teach them? Did we do them any sort of life favor by getting through the curriculum 100 lectures later while they memorize facts and dates that have no application or relevance or interest? I think motivation and excitement about a topic are a gateway to the deeper critical thinking where true learning occurs.  I am excited to dig deeper and learn more about Project Based Learning.  From what I have gathered it uses this idea of learning through criticial thinking and problem solving.  Students work together to solve a problem and are thus learning together. It seems to be used as an alternative to rote memorization and lecturing that is so often used in the classroom but is only so helpful.  Research has proven time and again that rote memorization learning sticks but generally only for a short time.  Isn't the goal of teaching to teach your students information that they can keep and use then as lifelong wisdom and knowledge as they journey through their individual lives? These are such basic and essential real world tools for students, the idea of cooperation, collaboration, connecting, and problem solving to name a few.

Learning through working together is an absolutely critical life tool.  Almost no matter what you do you have to be able to communicate and collaborate with others.  “Two heads are better than one” is so cliché but so true.  By thinking and learning with other you are able to make more connections that are related to their age, interests, previous knowledge, etc.  By working with others you are not only learning the content but how to be a part of a team in general. As I mentioned before it’s a critical life tool. By working through problems together I think it also makes the learning more meaningful.  If they are problem solving things within their own community it is more meaningful to them.  If they are learning something as a gateway into another project or something else that will excite them it is more meaningful.

            I am very excited to learn more about this.  I want to learn how to incorporate this in multiple subjects.  I want to hear input from other teachers who have used this.  Was it successful for them? Did the students enjoy it? Did they gain the intended learning?  Were they excited and engaged? Did they go beyond expectations? Do they have to be real world problems? Can they be made up problems to incorporate information? I am hopeful about the success of this but also have an open mind in regards to project based learning.

OTSMA

 I performed an over the shoulder miscue analysis with a first grade boy.  We read the book The mouse and the Fox, a short story for on level readers from a previous curriculum the school had used.  It was very repetitive and included many short words that followed the journey of a mouse through the forest as he tried to outrun the fox.  Overall it was very informative to listen to him read.  One on one was a great opportunity to evaluate how he was doing as an individual reader.  I was able to gage what kind of reading strategies he used when he was struggling with a word and watch him work through words he struggled with.  Beyond this I was able to evaluate his reading fluency and his read aloud skills.  Did he pause after a period? Did his voice fluctuate properly with the story? 

            After asking him to retell the story back to me I was able to observe how well he was able to comprehend the story. Was he able to recite back main events? Did he remember details? Did he remember them accurately? From here, as a teacher you can evaluate how well he was able to actually understand what he was reading.  After looking at how many miscues the reader had and what kind of miscues you can better assess the reader and what kind of literature they should be reading and exposed to daily. 

            However, as a flourishing reader it is important to stay motivated.  This particular student was already an excited reader but for those who do not enjoy reading as much it is important to give them choice in their reading and allow them to read about things that they are interested in.  If they are more interested in the selection for the miscue they may be a more or less actively engaged reader than usual.

            Next time I perform an over the shoulder I want to be more prepared with what I will be reading to them.  I think it would be beneficial to have tried to locate difficult words before having him read so that I could be sure to observe how he problem solved.  I think having prepared questions to ask him about what specific reading strategies he thought he was using would be beneficial.  Although it takes time to do this with each student I think that it is a great way to individually assess how your students are progressing as readers.  Some readers can become content with reading their on level books and books that are too easy for them.  Through the over the shoulder you can even quickly evaluate that they perhaps need to be reading more challenging books and then suggest works to them accordingly.