Dream School

Dream School:

• "All hands on desk" most of the time, with educators working directly with children.
• Collaboration:  educators w/time to meet, collaborate, learn and plot the course for optimal learning.
• Communication: a steady stream of communication so people know what's happening.
• Lead Time: time to plan, think, prepare -- w/flexibility for necessary last minute changes.
• Optimal Differentiated Professional Development -- targeted pd for staff to help schools/teachers meet their goals with children.
• Tools:  Optimal, up-to-date tools to promote success for all students.
• Voice:  A chance for all educators in the building to be part of the decision making process.
• Honesty:  Clear, honest communication always with the lens of what's best for children.
• Scheduling:  Clear, targeted scheduling to best meet the needs of all children.
• Protocols and Ethics:  Ethical decision making related to hiring, evaluations, vision.
• Role Definition:  It's important for educators in all areas of school life to understand their roles as well as the roles of their colleagues. That builds respect and camaraderie.

Educators generally want what's best for children.  They look forward to working hard to promote success for every learner.  A thoughtful, collaborative environment where mission trumps ambition is my dream school.

Know Your Audience: Survey Prior to Teaching

I'm presenting a couple of tech workshops to two dozen teachers in June at Wayland's Literacy Institute.  As I started preparing for the workshop, I wondered about what the teachers were most interested in.  What did they want to learn?  What tech were they already familiar with?  That's why I decided to send out a survey prior to the workshop.

Thanks to Google forms, I was able to create a survey in minutes.  I was also able to pick a template that matched the mood of the workshop - a bright, spirited, beautiful pattern.  Then I sent the survey out.  Within a half hour, I had my first response. The teacher asked so many wonderful questions, and demonstrated a desire to learn specific tech skills to help her students.  Then today I received many more responses.  Each response once again reflected the educator's desire to motivate, facilitate and create optimal learning events for students.  Now, I'll tailor my presentation to the needs and desires of the workshop participants.

Next year, I want to use Google forms more often as I teach.  I'll begin by sending out a Google survey to parents in my class in late August.  That will give me a great snapshot of the incoming families.  Later, I'll use surveys to query students prior to unit study and class endeavors.  I'll check in with parents throughout the year too.  That will help me to make my teaching more meaningful and responsive.

The challenge now is to create a couple of one-hour workshops that will meet a diversity of educator needs and interests.  I'll let you know how it goes in a future blog.  Thanks for listening.

Fabulous Field Day

Today our intelligent and committed physical education teacher orchestrated field day.  He coordinated numerous creative, cooperative and competitive games for approximately 300 third, fourth and fifth graders.

He prepared for the event by communicating with staff and preparing students during their weekly physical education classes.  He split students into four teams: red, green, yellow and blue.  Third and fourth graders started the day by moving with their classes from one event to another.  My class started with jump roping then moved to basketball toss, tennis baseball, pizza box relay, long jump, softball, 50 yard dash and the 300-yard run.  Fifth graders were busy working on cooperative games in the gym.  It was wonderful to watch the fifth graders collaborate to earn points and complete tasks.  Later the fifth graders competed in the tasks we completed earlier.

After a needed rest period and lunch, students returned to the field for a 300-yard run relay, 50-yard dash relay, and tug of war.  At the end of the day, fifth graders competed against the teachers in the annual student-teacher tug-of-war.  Then they all enjoyed a popsicle and free play.

Throughout the day students earned extra points for cheering on their classmates, helping each other out and cooperation.  A spirit of community, cooperation and fun marked the day.  We also had the bonus of terrific weather.

It was such a joy to be part of this event, and it was a great learning experience to watch a colleague create, facilitate and manage a healthy, collaborative and enjoyable day for our school community.  Student success depends on the dedication and skill of so many wonderful teachers in a school.  Today our physical education teacher shined!

Magnificent Music

Yesterday, more than 50% of our third, fourth and fifth graders performed in either the band or orchestra performance.  The event was magnificent.

It was amazing to see our young musicians play a wide variety of instruments and music to entertain their classmates, friends and family members.  The children returned during the evening to perform again for more friends and family members.

Our music department is sensational.  That's due to the incredible commitment of so many talented teachers, parents and students.  Each week children practice twice at school as well as at home.  The music staff communicates with parents, teachers and students via websites and emails.  They continually encourage the students.  They also match interested students with high school mentors, and provide links to camps and other instructional venues.

Twice a year, our young third, fourth and fifth graders perform with middle school and high school musicians in the high school gymnasium.  It's an astounding event.  The organization is awesome, and the music inspiring.

Our students are wonderful musicians. Their discipline and musical experience also strengthen their overall academic commitment and success.  In two weeks, our chorus will sing.  They practice once a week in the mornings.  That event always brings a smile to my face.  It's just one more way that our system promotes music.

As I think about restructuring schools, I realize that our music program is one component we want to keep.  It's exceptional.

The Edit

How do you edit a child's story, presentation or project?  How much time do you take?  What do you prioritize?  What's your process?

For me, editing is intense.  I sit down with a child, and he or she shows me their work.  I think a lot about that child and the piece before even starting.  I think about where that child is in the learning progression, what he/she has accomplished thus far, and the next steps for growth.

I usually start with a few questions:  Do you consider this project complete?  Were there any parts that you got stuck on?  What do you really like about your project?  Did you follow the check-list?  Then the child or I will slowly begin to read the presentation aloud. As we listen together to the words and view the images, the child or I will stop now and then to highlight grammatical errors, a research question, a format possibility or an area for growth. When we read, we'll think about our audience, the readers, and wonder:  Will they understand the piece?  Will they learn from the process?  How can we format for greater meaning and enjoyment? Are the facts correct and clearly presented? We'll correct errors and make revisions as we edit.  We'll also create an after-edit to-do list.

The edit usually lasts about 15-20 minutes.  That's a long time when you consider that the other 20plus children are working independently.  If you're lucky, some or all of the students will be under the guidance of an assistant or specialist teacher.  It's also challenging because the room is rarely quiet enough for full concentration, so you have to continue to remind the others to stay on task with whisper voices.  Solid training at the start of the year helps with that. Then there's the fact that most teachers have 20plus students, and 20 X 20 = 400 minutes or almost 7 hours of editing.

Coaches have visited my class and recommended that I cut those edits down to two or three minute meetings.  "Pick one strategy, and edit for that.  Then leave the other goals for a future piece," they've instructed.  Sometimes colleagues choose to edit the pieces at home without the one-to-one conference.  I've done that for some pieces too, but when the goals are high and the editing sensitive, I like the thoughtful, lengthy one-to-one meeting.

During my education, those one-to-one meetings with professors and teachers were invaluable.  I can count on one hand the number of those meetings I had from kindergarten to graduate school, yet when I had the chance to sit down with an educator to discuss and improve a craft, it was a memorable, productive and unforgettable experience.  Also, as a teacher, I look forward to those one-to-one editing meetings with every student.  I really get to know the student.  I also get to encourage the child, and help him or her move forward with specific skills, content and knowledge in their unique and personal learning ways.  Furthermore I'm able to model editing, spelling, research, writing and presentation skills  and strategies with the child by my side.

With a dozen or more endangered species presentations left to edit, and about 20 fiction Google presentation story books to review, I'm feeling the editing challenge in the last few weeks of school.  Yet, as I focus on the purpose and strength of one-to-one editing, I am excited about the learning these conferences offer my students.

Editing and one-to-one student conferences are a large part of the teaching process. It's a challenging, but enriching curriculum piece.  How do you fit edits into your day, year and program?  What kind of time do you give to this task?  What's your focus?  What do you deem to be the benefits?  How does this process change throughout the grades?  As we rethink schools, the one-to-one conference and/or edit, may become a regular, valuable part of every school program and schedule.  Ideally it will take place in a quiet, welcoming space without distractions.  I look forward to your thoughts and comments about editing and one-to-one conferences.  This might also be a great topic for Twitter #engchat, #elemchat, #edchat or #4thchat in the weeks to come.


Note:  The "Get Schooled" video shows President Obama editing a speech with Sarah Hurwitz, a Wayland High graduate and speechwriter.