Teacher Restoration

This week I attended The Lead Learners Summit Institute, formerly known as All Write. This conference, set in the middle of cornfields, always jumpstarts my thinking for the coming school year...even if it is the month of June.

Todd Nesloney was the keynote speaker, and his quote, "You cannot teach the mind if you have not reached the heart" is one that will stick with me for a long time.

I was also able to hear Stephanie Harvey talk about comprehension and Gravity Goldberg talk about teacher decision-making and reading notebooks. Katherine Sokowloski talked about the importance of expanding our audiences for students. Colby Sharp shared his top 2018 books so far, and Christy Rush-Levine opened my eyes about social justice book clubs.

It was two days of learning, thinking, and spending time with great educators.

Tonight as I sit out on my porch and look at an old trailer my husband is restoring, I can't help but reflect.

This past school year was a difficult one for me. By the end of May, I felt more than exhausted; I felt defeated.

In a way, I felt much like this trailer. My drive and motivation to teach had been stripped down to the bare minimum, and all that was left was the frame -- rust and all.

Leaving Summer Institute with my overloaded brain and a four and half hour drive ahead of me, I began to process the learning which had taken place over the past two days. I began to think about the changes I wanted to make, the books I wanted to purchase, and the new ideas I wanted to try. The excitement of teaching began to restore itself.

As I take a second look at that trailer, I see it's potential with a little restoration. The frame is sturdy, and it stands solid on two new wheels.  With new side boards and a new hitch, this trailer can be (somewhat) functional once again.

This past year may have left me with nothing but a rusted frame, but this old frame still has potential.

Summer learning inflates my flat tires with air. Surrounding myself with educators who share their ideas becomes my new side boards. Spending time in professional books hitches me to new ways of thinking and improving my teaching.

Tonight, I begin to feel like I can be functional once again, just like this old trailer.

This is teacher restoration.

Summer PD ~ Celebrate #14

 

Each week Ruth Ayres extends an invitation to share and celebrate events, big or small, from our week.

Today I celebrate summer learning.

Betsy Hubbard from Two Writing Teachers wrote about making summer learning plans to achieve goals in the classroom next year.  Summer learning is one of the best parts of summer.  

I have attended several conferences and workshops already this summer, and still have a few left. Sharing our learning ranks right up there with making the plans.  Together, we can improve our own learning, and in the process, strengthen our students' learning as well. I will be writing blog posts about my summer learning, in hopes that you may learn something too!

I spent two days last week at an eLearn conference, and Alice Keeler was the keynote speaker and also presented several sessions on Google Classroom.  Alice knows Google!  

I kept hearing over and over again about using Google Slides in my classroom.  I have dabbled in Google Classroom and created small collaborative presentations, but I was excited to come home and start thinking about how I could use this tech tool in my classroom.  

Imagine presenting a question to the class, and each student responding on a Google Slide.  If you have any experience with Google Slides, then I am sure you are thinking - utter chaos.  

This may not be easy in the beginning, but Alice assures me that they will get better at it.  The end result is a slide show with all of their responses.  What a great way to collaborate, as well as to create deep class discussions and teaching moments around their responses.

Alice wrote a blog post about using Google Slides to have students introduce themselves at the beginning of the year.  Here is the link to that post and step by step directions.

In order to share our learning this summer (and for me to practice too!) I have created a collaborative Google Slide presentation.  Click on the link below, upload a picture, and share something you have learned this summer.  Then come back and take a look at all the summer learning!

Add your summer learning slide here and celebrate summer learning with me!

Summer PD ~ Conver-Stations

I love many things about summer:  reading by the pool, eating summer produce, sleeping in, and taking time for me.  But at the top of my list is personal learning. Summer grants us time to read professional development books, collaborate on-line and in real time, and attend professional development conferences and workshops.

People frequently ask me why do I "waste (their word, not mine!) my summer with school stuff?"

My answer is simple.  First of all I do not consider it a waste.  I do it because I am a learner, and I want to improve my teaching and my students' learning.  Over these next fews weeks, I hope to share some of my learning with all of you.

I taught 4th and 5th grade for seven years before I became a middle school teacher. As an elementary teacher I created learning stations or choices which I preferred to call them.  A part of me misses this type of learning because it was so easy to differentiate and keep students engaged.

I attended a session this week presented by Jill Lyday and Melanie Martz from our Indiana Department of Education which put a twist on station work in the secondary classroom.  They presented a learning strategy called Conver-Stations.  I absolutely love this idea because it can be adapted to any content area and with many types of texts.

Here's how it works!

Procedure:

1. Select a text.  We read an article, but this strategy could easily be used with a poem, an image, or even a video.
2. Prepare an essential question which could encourage deep discussion. 
3. Have students read and annotate the text.  If you use a video or image, notes could be taken.
4. Divide into groups and have groups discuss the text and the essential question.  During the discussion students record good discussion points from others.
5. After 2-3 minutes, rotate 1-2 students into another group.  The number of rotations and students who rotate will depend on the class size.
6. Continue discussion for several "conver-stations" and then come back as a whole group to share out.

Benefits:

1. Gets kids moving.  Many students find it difficult to sit still and stay engaged.  This allows students to get up and move around.
2. Facilitates deep discussion. I found when doing this activity, the first question asked was what did you talk about in your other group?  These stations allow the discussion to go in different directions and give different perspectives, one that the group may not have thought of.  
3. Creates a culture of learning.  Every student is involved in the discussion, unlike what you may have in a whole group discussion.  Having the students record discussion points from others, gives introverted students more confidence to share with others.  It helps them to contribute to the conversation.

Conver-stations have so much potential.  I can't wait to start using this strategy in my classroom.

If you wish to view this strategy in action, here is a link to a video from Teaching Channel!