If you'd like to come and find me there, I'd be delighted! You can find me at https://mrshebertcom.wordpress.com/.
See you soon! (Hopefully.)
I've decided to move over to a WordPress site. There are many reasons for this. I'm not going to go into any of them. Because they're boring.
If you'd like to come and find me there, I'd be delighted! You can find me at https://mrshebertcom.wordpress.com/. See you soon! (Hopefully.)
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I had the privilege of presenting at school with my teacher bestie this week. We were tasked with presenting some of the knowledge we gained from NCTIES with the rest of our staff. We had both gone to so many amazing sessions and learned so many things that it was hard to narrow it down to one thing. So we didn't...really. We decided to use several of the tools we had learned about and center them around a theme of creation. One of our major takeaways from NCTIES was the idea that students should be using technology tools to CREATE things that show their learning. Technology is often used as a tool to be learned FROM...which can be awesome...but it isn't enough. We started with a question... This brilliant answer came from my partner in crime. She's amazing. She won't always admit it, but she is. And, of course, you simply can't say it better than Sylvia Duckworth can. (She even tied in a fabulous quote from Sir Ken Robinson. It doesn't get better than that, folks.) We gave a quick and dirty rundown of a few tools that we use often (or have just started using, but want to do more with). Being Seesaw ambassadors and being thoroughly in love with everything that it is and can do...we started there. Then, we shared PicCollage, ChatterKid, Thinglink, green screens, and makerspaces. We gave a quick description of what it is, shared links for more information, and then showed some examples of how we used the tool. This, admittedly, was the boring part. Then, it was... This was the most important part...and the part that we didn't allow enough time for. We had asked our participants to bring a standard, a unit, or a topic that they would be teaching in the next quarter. We asked them to consider what a student could create using these tools that would show mastery. And they played... And it was glorious. I, of course, had to throw a little George at them. Any opportunity, right?
It's important that kids are LEARNING and making sense of their learning. That is the most important thing. How they show what they've learned should be (at least somewhat) up to them, because they are the ones doing it. If you want to work on personalizing learning, this could be a good place to start. By making how they demonstrate what they've learned personal, then we are getting there. So... What are you afraid of? What worries you about this? If this is how you roll, what are your favorite success stories? What are the most creative ways you have used the tools above? What tools do you love that I'm missing out on? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Here's the post that I set out to write last week, but then had to get in their way and so wrote about that instead.
After attending George's (I'm sticking with his first name from here on out because if you don't know who I'm talking about, then you don't know me) Creating Blended Learning Environments session at NCTIES (which was somewhat awkward because he started by letting us know that he doesn't think blended learning exists...it's just called learning) and listening to him talk about putting the cognitive load back on the students instead of carrying it ourselves, I decided to change a few things.
I'm fairly student-centered as it is, to be honest.
However, I still do teacher-y things like spending hours searching for and curating resources to use with my students. I spend lots of time looking for the perfect video or clip for whatever lesson that I'm teaching. George told us to spin it around. For example, instead of spending hours looking at 50 videos for the perfect one to teach probability, we should give that job to the students and ask them to justify their choice. That way, those who aren't already in the know watch the 50 videos on probability and have to reflect upon and reason out which one does the best job. Brilliant. I decided to start this in a small way with spelling. As I sat down to plan the weekly spelling lessons, I was groaning in my head. I realized that if I was already over the whole thing, the students weren't going to be any more excited than I was. So... I decided to flip it around. I taught each of my three spelling groups a five-ish minute lesson on the spelling pattern. Then, they broke into groups and used this to plan and organize a spelling lesson that THEY were going to teach to other students. They even had to come up with the word lists by identifying important words to know with that pattern and how many were a fair number to learn.
They used our literacy workshop time to search out resources and craft their lesson. Many found videos from YouTube. Most created a Google Slides presentation. Some created games using Flippity. One group created a Google Site.
On the appointed day, each group presented to two other groups of students. After the presentations, each student filled out a Google form reflecting on the experience and sharing some knowledge about their spelling pattern.
How'd it go? Pretty well, I'd say.
In my opinion, they learned the spelling pattern just as well or better than had I designed a bunch of activities for them to complete. They spent a bit longer on the creation of the products than I would've liked, but that was completely on them. They love them some Google Slides. Their products were beautiful, so I can't argue too much. According to them, 64% loved it and 36% said that how we learned spelling didn't matter to them. No one said that they didn't like it. So... Wins for my students:
Wins for the teacher:
Will I do this again? Yes. And I will be moving in this direction with more instruction as well. So often, handing the learning to the kids and getting out of their way is the best way for everyone to reach the goal. I'm going to try and remember this the next time my teacher-y instincts try to take over. I had intended this post to be about getting out of students' way. After a session with George Couros at NCTIES, I've rethought a few things about running my classroom. In the last couple of years, I've reworked things to be more and more student-centered, but George pushed me to go even further. This post was going to be all about what my students had done this week when I got out of their way. And they did some amazing things! However... It became apparent as the week wore on that my kiddos did need me to get in their way for a few reasons. We've gotten to that beautiful place in the year when we're family. Everyone knows each other so well...and knows just how to get under each other's skin. We love (and fight with) each other like family. It's lovely...and frustrating. There were several instances where children who are bestest buddies actively worked to hurt each other. There was bickering and fussing at every turn. Little things were becoming big things simply by how they were being handled. So we took a break from the student-directed learning for a day and had Friendly Friday. I sent a Remind text to all the families on Thursday night that t-shirts with positive, friendly messages were encouraged as well as board games. We spent the day reconnecting with each other and remembering all the things that make us awesome. Each student spent time thinking of something that made every other student amazing. We got some regular classroom business out of the way, and then they had time to play their games with each other. It wasn't a lot, but it was clear that they needed a little help to work through some bumpy patches. I have a few things planned to keep the friendly momentum going.
Often, what students need is to be set free to do amazing things. But sometimes, they need a little help. By truly listening and paying attention, we can be who they need us to be. I ran across this quote on Facebook yesterday and had a really visceral reaction. I wanted to throw my iPad across the room. Some context... I just got back from NCTIES. I spent 2.5 days learning and sharing with some AMAZE-BALLS educators who are changing the world and thinking (and sometimes failing) forward. It was exhilarating. I left with a brain on fire with ideas and a heart that was full of hope and possibility, but also a little bit heavy with the realization that reality isn't quite what the last couple of days have been. My ideas will not be embraced or built upon in the fashion that occurred over the last few days. Things will move decidedly slower than I'd like...for reasons as much my own as those from others. I'm in space mentally where the sky is the limit, except for the limits that are there. Navigating between them is tricky. And then I saw that. I saw it as an excuse. I get it. I'm busy. I'm tired. I need more time, energy, money, caffeine, resources. I get it. I'm doing the best I can. But not really. I'm aware at every moment that by doing what I am doing, I am failing something (or someone else). I'm aware at every moment that if I was just trying a little harder or a little more organized or being a little more patient. I'm aware that if I just read that last article, book, tweet, whatever that I could find that one piece that would make the puzzle complete. I'm writing this right now instead of grading papers or eating lunch or taking a shower or planning my lessons or writing my class newsletter or writing my currently far-away son a letter. By doing this, I am failing in several ways. I could definitely be a better wife (that shower), mother (that letter), and teacher (those papers and plans). I see these words as something held on to by those who are refusing to acknowledge that better is out there. We are never our best. Ever. There's always something we can become better at. Always. This is a cop out. This is an excuse for not trying the new thing or reading that book or writing that post or embracing whatever the opportunity is that has presented itself to you. By clinging to the "But I'm doing my best" narrative, we keep ourselves from looking for the better. Is it ok that I'm doing the best that I can in this moment? Yes. Will I ever accept it as truly the best I can? Never. And then, just a few posts down, I ran across this. And it was like a cool breeze on a summer day. And then I noticed the difference in my reactions.
Why can I allow myself grace here, when I couldn't accept gentleness there? The difference is growth. I can give myself grace (and maybe a bit of the gentle) as long as it is because I'm growing. I'm not overwhelmed simply because of life. I'm overwhelmed (and exhausted and frustrated and hungry at the moment) because I'm constantly striving to be better. And that's ok. I'm not clinging to the excuse of doing my best. I'm pulling myself toward it. It's exhilarating. And it's hard. And that's ok. |
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