Rabbit Hole and Gratitude

I stumbled upon this blog post this weekend: 

90 of the Hottest Tech Tools according to Education Experts

Oh my.  Talk about a rabbit hole!  I'm not sure if you call it a rabbit hole if you truly understanding that you are most definitely not putting FIRST THINGS FIRST, but are having so much fun that it is worth setting aside pesky priorities.  

How invigorating!  How exciting.  I knew what I was doing, but have to admit, that I'm not sure if I could have stopped even if I wanted.  There is something about reading about fresh, new options and ideas that is invigorating.  Stay tuned and I will report what I found later.  

This I know.  Though I am not 100% "prepared" for the week (yet), I am totally ready to hop back into school tomorrow.  Why? one might ask.  Here's why:

1.  This week we get to test out a Global Expedition with Mr. Jerlecki on Tuesday.

2.  We are continuing our study of great women and I am looking forward to some more thinking and discussing and reading and writing this week.

3.  I get to work with other classes exploring some new venues, activities, and challenges.

4.  I got groceries, so I have good food in the house and a bottle of wine, too.

5.  We get to go to the park this week. 

6.  Dentist appointment Tuesday morning, which I don't love, but it does give me a little more wiggle room in the morning.

7.  Team Awesome 174 is going to explore Write About, a blogging platform that I want to learn more about.

My kiddos are keeping gratitude journals in Book Creator right now.  We are finding ways to wire our brains for gratitude.  Someone in another class said a wise thing the other day.  They were talking about appreciation and she said, "Well, you don't have to LIKE it, but you can still appreciate the thought." (in reference to a gift)  I think that was a great thought.  Even the things that don't go well this week or are hard or frustrating or bumpy, I can appreciate the learning I am dos
ng and the growth I am experiencing because of those challenges.  Too Pollyanna?  

Right?  No such thing on a Sunday night as being TOO Pollyanna!

Joy in our hearts

Joy in our community

Joy in our learning       

                                                                 

Good Day Sunshine

As I walked my kiddos out the to bus today I caught myself listing all the things that went wrong today. Like, that is the instinct I have.  That's a pretty shitty thing to do to myself.  But how to change?  I need to build a new habit.  Obviously this is not gonna "just happen".  Time for a new goal!

I'm all for reflecting, and that is where my mind goes at the end of the day.  Oh my.  I just noticed that I connect reflecting with things I've done wrong.  I can't believe I just did that.  Like, I reflect on things that I want to do differently next time.  

Aha moment happening!  Reflecting on the good things does this (just making this up off the top of my head):

1.  Puts a smile on your face and calms your weary heart
2.  Helps you to see what went well, so that THAT can keep happening
3.  Brings to the front of your mind happy moments from the day

I haven't read the research, but that kind of reflecting just HAS to make me a stronger and happier teacher.  Right?  

I'm gonna give it a try.  Most certainly can't HURT to try and run through the positive in my mind first.  You know another reason I start with the negative?  "If I don't, I can't get better."  "If I don't focus on the negative, I will become a slacker and accept status quo."  Which really is ridiculous when I stop and think about it.

That's a goal I can get behind.  If I can remember. Maybe some kind of visual reminder.  I'll let it simmer.  Here's what I am going to think about every day after school.  See if that helps.

Good Day, Sunshine! oh YAH!

Procrastiosity

http://blog.qsample.com/the-hero-guide-to-destroying-the-death-star-of-procrastination/procrastination-meme/

What is the phenomenon called when you put something off and then the longer you wait, the more grand the something has to be when you actually do it?  There's gotta be a name for that.  Procrastination + Grandiosity =  Procrastiosity?  That's what I've done with posting on my blog here.  But if I am only posting for myself, that need not matter.  So here I am, Self.  With some reflecting to do.

Today I tried something different.  During read-to-self, I went around and talked with each child for 1 minute.  Today was casualish, like, "How's it going?" and "How's your day going?" and, "How was your break?"  I had wondered if a minute could count for anything, but you can actually get a lot said/heard in a minute.  I. loved. it.  

Now I need to think about how to incorporate this kind of practice in different ways, so I get more one-on-one time with my kiddos.  I think I will experiment this week and see where it leads me.  Have speed-conferences about reading or writing.  

Really amped up what I had our student of the day do today.  I said, "Man, I am working you hard."  He replied, "I kinda like it."  Shoot.  Another reminder I am doing too much!  Bring on the leaders.  

The end of the day always seems to be a bit of a struggle for us.  This article came across my desk and so I am trying to implement this routine.  A Lovely Silent Well Behaved way to End Each Day

https://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/2018/04/07/a-lovely-silent-well-behaved-way-to-end-each-day/

Timing was a little off today, but I already so improvements.  Must train them better tomorrow (i.e. let them know what the system is, exactly).  

It was a good day today.  I can actually say I had fun today.  

Oh!  Tried out the Authentic Literacy Template form Focus given to us by our fearless curriculum leader.  Figuring out how to best use it with my kiddos, but today we did a poem and it was quite invigorating.  

One thing I need to "fix": Class discussion.  I gave it 10 minutes and 7 students had a chance to talk.  The others were not listening very well.  It is supposed to help everyone, so I need to think about how to get more participation.  Tomorrow I will try Wagon Wheel.  I think some collaborative structures will hold the answer for me. 

Joy in our hearts

Joy in our room

Joy in our learning

What in the day?

What in the day?

Reflections on the day

1. I introduced my students to making tutorial screencasts to teach others how to use an app.  Oh my, were they excited! (So was I because people would WAY rather listen to them than to me!)  

First posted screencast was for Toontastic.  Thanks, JS!

2.  We read Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters and talked about possible themes in the book.  They've come so far in their understanding of theme.  I put their assignment in a Seesaw Activity, so that was a first for me.  I love it that they know more than I do!  

Here's BS's theme and support.  Good job! (Oh how I love 💜 teaching themes!)

3.  Introduced new fluency passages.  We are studying themes, so the passages are about themes.  It is so awesome that they have this routine down.

All in all a sunshine kind of day!  

Goal for this week?  

Made at recite.com

Joy in our hearts

Joy in our room

Joy in our learning

Here's what I know about Team Awesome 174

1.  They love to sing. 🎼🎵🎤
2.  If given the chance, most will dance. 

When talking with my principal the other day he asked me, "When are they at their best?" then continued to say,  "Use that structure more often." 

3.  RAZ Kids tops EPIC and Front Row.  
4.  Spelling City, Flocabulary, and Ed City are equally enjoyed.
5.  Team Awesome 174 appreciates having choices.  📕📚📰📖📝

So this got me thinking.  
When ARE they at their best?

6.  They are creators and thinkers. 💡
7.  They love to post on Seesaw and Twitter.
8.  Making a video is right up there in preferred activities.  📹🎞📽

And I narrowed it down a bit.

9. When a story is being told, they are enraptured. 
10.  Sharing is important to them. 

And here's what I came up with for myself as their educational leader.  I narrowed it down to four things I need to remember as I plan lessons and experiences for Team Awesome 174.

😎 Read aloud to them every single day.  #morereadaloudsin2018 (Okay, so this is already one of my goals.  Carry on...)

🐰 Loosen up.  Choices matter.  I find myself wanting to control all content distribution at all times.  I am thinking that is not entirely as necessary as I think it is.
  
🍑 Play a song during transitions.  It makes everyone happy.

🏆 Give them more opportunities to work with partners.  Trust them.  😀😀

Now to think of what this means for implementation.  The song and read aloud are rolling.  What about the choices and partners?

I'll be back when I figure that out!  

Joy in our hearts

Joy in our room

Joy in our learning

Share something you are excited about in your classroom

So, our agenda for our meeting this morning came through an email last night.  

Item #1: Share something you are excited about in your classroom.

Well, I am glad you asked. It is funny that yesterday I had an exciting and delightful day with Team Awesome 174. So I am happy to share! Some of the things I am excited about?

Fluency-Poetry-Flocabulary-Themes

1. Fluency Practice  

I let the students pick a poem from 5 different ones this week. I was curious which ones they would pick. (Would they pick the "easiest" one?) Some interesting results. Many chose the easiest poem. But it was surprising who chose the hardest one. I listened to one boy read his and had to grin from ear to ear. Because of the nature of the poem, he started singing it. (Did you know you can make QR codes for Seesaw posts?)

2.  We used the book of poems by Doug Florian (one of my FAVORITE poets) yesterday titled Insectopedia.  

One of the members of this book group wanted to record it onto Seesaw.  I said sure and he went into the middle room to record.  He stayed there for 27 minutes!  These poems are not easy.  His fortitude amazed me.  

3.  I 💙 Flocabulary so much!  I love raps!  I love it when students create!  Some of my students have started writing raps with the vocabulary they are learning.  Here is one that J wrote: 

4.  I always get excited when theme is the subject of the hour.  We watched the story of the The Monkey King yesterday and talked about the themes in that story (sacrifice, changing behavior, greed).  Then later we read Half Chicken (Journeys 2nd Grade Vol. 2) and one of the students notice a part where the fire sacrifices itself for the sake of the chicken.  Making connections is VERY exciting, wouldn't you say?

And one last thing, if I may.  

As you can see, we are getting our read aloud in!

What are you excited about in YOUR classroom? Do tell!

Now what about that Twitter goal, Ms. Hostetler? Ok, ok...I'm on it!

Follow us @teamawesome174

Joy in our hearts

Joy in our room

Joy in our learning

Keeping the love alive for the standards

Every get bored with the standards?

Do you get bored with the standards sometimes? Here are some thoughts and ideas about keeping the love alive.

Thanks to the contributions of Katie Bradford!

PS I know some of these ideas seem "obvious", but I wanted to make a list for myself to go to when I am feeling this way.

Joy in our hearts

Joy in the room

Joy in the learning

Finding the Good and Encouraging the Growth

I had a rough day the other day and by the end of the day I felt discouraged.  But I had my wits about me enough to remember that it WAS a good day.  I started writing things on my white board that brought joy to me and moments where my students shone.  I just kept writing and writing and writing (19 items when I stopped).  And guess what?  I turned that frown upside down. (Yes, I did just say that.) This whole thinking-of-the-good thing works.  Most days, anyway.  When I remember to apply it.  

It is SO easy for the hard things to creep in and exhaust me and wear me out.  That's the natural default.  There are plenty of things in my environment that can get me down.  To find the good and lobby for the good and see the good takes intentionality.  I'm in.    

As far as correcting mistakes goes, I see that one of them is going to take a while to sort out.  

Sticking to the plan and sticking to the times.  

I am basically following the allotted time slots.  Most certainly getting my 90 minutes of reading every day. 

I have to point out the good of it. (see above) I get so engrossed in what I am doing that I go over.  But because of that I really must set a timer for EVERYthing.  

It is so easy for me to slip into a place of self-doubt.  Reflecting helps keep me grounded.  Putting my thoughts in writing is helping me:

• notice my areas of growth and make plans for change.
• celebrate the things that are going well.
• work towards my goals and stay accountable. 

It's a bit like sitting down and having a cup of coffee with an honest and encouraging friend.  And who doesn't love that?

Joy in our hearts

Joy in the room

Joy in the learning

The Joy of Reflection #morereadaloudsin2018

Ah, the joy of reflecting.  No, but really.  Friday was a busy day that didn't go exactly as I had planned.  Yay!  An opportunity for reflection.  

I realized that two mistakes keep appearing before me:

1.  I do not give enough examples of what I want from them before sending them loose.
2.  If something is going well I sometimes let it go on longer than the allotted time.  

Guess what? Both happened on Friday.  So when I say things didn't go exactly as planned, obviously a big chunk of that is on me.  It usually is.  

So, what to do?
1.  Give more examples than you think necessary.  Over-teach, if you will.  More modeling, more I do and we do.  
2.  Keep to the schedule.  Because almost always the "Let's go a little longer because they are doing so well" mentality backfires on me.  Stop while it is going well.  

The solutions are simple.  The implementation will not be.  I will be back to reflect on this reflection!  

Joy in our hearts

Joy in the room

Joy in the learning

One Read Aloud a Day in 2018

I did not accomplish my goal this week.  😕 One student asked me on Friday, "Will you read us a story?  About snow?"  (We just finished up a unit on snow).  So, there's one little affirmation that I am moving in the right direction.  This whole reflecting thing is becoming meaningful to me as I grow as a learner and a teacher.

Plan for next week: 
Read the story every morning when I meet with your students for 10 minutes.  I am actually wondering how I can make it more like a read aloud kids get at home.  I'll sit on the floor for sure, but what else?  

📖📚📕

We are starting a new unit based on folktales, fables, and legends.  I have a BIG pile of books.  New books, new energy, for sure!  

Happy Reading!

Joy in our hearts

Joy in the room

Joy in the learning

Fluency in Seesaw

Last week I chose poems about snow to put into Seesaw for Team Awesome 174 to work on fluency.  I tried to go over each poem with the small groups, but there was still some issues with word understanding and pronunciation.  I think next time I will record all of the poems so they know how to pronounce the words.  I will also stop to define words as necessary. 

I can have students or parents or other parents do the reading!  (If I can plan ahead!)  Sorry--I gotta run and get on that.

Here is one example of how a student worked on fluency last week.  

Read 1:

Read 3:

(I wrote this post before our PD on Wednesday.  There will be a part 2 to this post.)

Pushed a little too far?

Team Awesome 174 has been talking a lot about transmediation as of late.  (Transmediation: the process of translating a work/text into a different medium.  It may utilize more than one media form.)

But I think I may have pushed the team a little too far this week.  Here are some of the things ways we have been transmediating:

1. Reading a text and sketch-noting (drawing pictures and diagrams and labels)
2. Watching a video and taking notes with words and illustrations and labels
3.  Taking a difficult text and acting it out (spoiler alert: this did not go well)

We are currently researching the benefits of Flocabulary in order to present a convincing argument as to why it is worth the money invested.  Here is the document I tried to have them turn into "acting":

Research Summary Link

I was excited about trying this text because I thought it was just beyond their reach but still accessible.  Well, it may have been, but the whole acting thing?  Fail on this round.  

To transmediate information, you have to understand the information in the first place.  This article was too much for them to turn into acting.  "I don't get it." was the cry of the crowd.  

It was one of those moments you think, "Oh, but you will.  Just a few more examples..."  Yah, no.  That didn't happen.  But no regrets here.  I think it might work on a more appropriate text.  I know that acting out a fiction text helps students remember it and understand it better.  Now I want to figure out how to best do that with nonfiction text.  

In this case I do believe I failed forward.  Which is different than failing-because-I-did-not-plan-or-think-things-through-adequately.  

My reflection question is this:  How could I have taken these new concepts and helped my students understand them in a deeper way?  We went over the paragraphs together.  We sketch-noted one of the paragraphs.  I divvied the concepts up to different groups to conquer.  All of those things helped us move in the right direction.  BUT I think maybe these things would have helped as well:

1. Do an intentional close read with the text.  

2. Support complex/new ideas with images, videos, and other multimedia options

3. Give adequate examples for each paragraph.  

We got to where we wanted to go.  But next time I do believe we can go further.  

Joy in our hearts

Joy in the room

Joy in the learning

Harder than I thought it would be...

Getting a read aloud in every day was harder than I thought it would be.  I had to be very intentional about getting those read alouds in every day.  But, boy-howdy!  It was SO lovely!  I love love love reading stories to my students.  And from their body language, I can tell they love it too.  

I told the kiddos about my goal so that they can help keep me accountable.  Next week I'd like for the student of the day to tweet out our read aloud of the day, but that does take a lot of intentionality.  I'm hoping once I get them trained it will be easy peasy.  Now that I am typing, maybe it would be best to train one student well, and then in a week or two, have that student train the next tweeter.

Here are the books I read aloud this week:

In writing this week Team Awesome 174 had some choices about what they wanted to write about this week.  Acrostic poems about winter, cold, ice, snow, and other cold things was one of the options. 

With this (classic) story by Ezra Jack Keats we talked about how stories can be about simple things that happen in a simple way.  Students could also write stories about their own experiences with snow.  

With this book, we worked on finding the main idea on each page.  Students recorded their thoughts  in Seesaw.

With this book, we worked on transmediating the information from this book into our own words and images.
(taking notes for nonfiction writing)

Gotta keep the ball rolling on this...does not take a lot of work or effort, but it does take a lot of intentionality. (apparently the word of the day) I'm up for it! Read on!

Joy in the room
Joy in our hearts

Joy in the learning

More Read Alouds in 2018

I love love love reading to my students.  But I also know that there are a bazillion other things I need to do with my kiddos.  But one of my WIG (Wildly Important Goals) for 2018 is to read aloud to my students every single day.  How am I going to do that?  What are my short goals and how will I stay accountable?

1.  One read aloud a day will be written in my plans for either reading or writing time.  I might not get the whole book read, but my instruction must be grounded in a text.

2.  Another way I can do a read aloud is by posting stories on Seesaw or reading during guided reading.  

3.  How will I stay accountable?  Once a week I will post what books I have read to my students in the previous week.  I am going to choose Thursdays to do that.  I am going to go pencil that in my calendar right now.

Right now we are studying snow, so that will be the theme of my text selections.  Can I count articles as read aloud?  Hmmmm.....I will have to think about that.  

Here's to more read aloud in 2018!