The Room Plan: Time for Revision

(note: these good plans were thwarted by unexpected events. . . . as is often the case in teaching/learning communities)

Every so often there comes a moment in teaching when you have the energy and clarity to update the learning environment. I welcome moments such as these and look forward to the work I'll do this morning to complete that update. What will I do?

Reorganize student supplies and materials
There are many supplies that students use regularly and making those supplies easily accessible creates a more streamlined, supportive classroom environment. Those supplies include the following:

• White boards, markers, and erasers
• Colored pencils
• Markers
• Sticky Notes
• Graph Paper, plain paper, lined paper, colored paper, cardboard
• Chromebooks
• Glue Sticks
• Tape
• Popsicle sticks
• All kinds of containers in all kinds of sizes
• Envelopes, stationary
• Dice and other math tools and manipulatives
• Staplers
• Clear sheets
• Notebooks
• Legos, K'nex, Lincoln Logs, and other building and play materials
• Clay
• Pizza Boxes, plastic bottles, and other STEAM supplies

Get rid of old books and materials we no longer need

I'll hunt for a new place to store these materials in order to make more space in the classroom.

Teacher supplies

With no desk, I need to rethink where I'll place the few teacher supplies I need regularly. Right now most of these items are located in an old canvas bag, but I'll likely move them to a supply caddy that sits behind my overhead projector.

Student displays and teaching/learning reference materials

I want to reorganize the hallway displays which include wonderful student writing, a reference timeline, posters, and maps so that we make space for students' past-present-future timelines, timelines completed with the wonderful support and teaching of our tech teacher as part of our effort to teach the new social studies standards and primary focus which is that the past affects the present and future. 

Giveaway Box

I'll likely find a number of items for the giveaway box, a box students may use as they complete Global Cardboard Challenge arcade games for our spring playground festival. 

Making space for an hour and a half big clean up on a Friday morning works well since a relaxing weekend lies ahead as well as the student teacher take over week, a week where she deserves an organized room. Onward. 

Friday Musings: The Week Past and The Week Ahead, November 2018

It was a very good week of teaching. The highlight of the week was the investment so many students displayed related to leading their own learning. That leadership was evident in their questioning, choice of seating, the people they chose to work with, and the practice efforts accomplished. I knew that almost every child was invested in the week's learning menu, and because of this I was able to make good time for those who were struggling and those who had questions and needed help. This is one ideal I strive for as I teach.

I also enjoyed working with the student teacher this week to organize her planning and prep for her takeover week next week. Due to the shared model, she and I will both teach the math unit so we'll be able to discuss how it is going for the homeroom she's teaching and the homerooms I'll teach. My colleagues have graciously agreed to work with the student teacher to guide her teaching in reading and writing too. I know that the student teacher is ready for this take-over week, and I know that the students will profit from her organized, enthusiastic, and well-prepared approach.

The fact that the student teacher will take over means that I'll have time to catch up on a number of school matters that require phone time, reading, research, and prep such as copying and preparing materials for upcoming learning experiences. This will be particularly helpful for the science teaching ahead since that requires lots of material prep.

A big focus of the work I do next week will include the kind of explicit teaching, coaching, and support that leads to mastery in the coordinate grid unit that the student teacher and I will teach. This is an enjoyable unit of study for students, one that lends itself to creativity and tapping the whole brain in new and interesting ways including learning why coordinates were invented and engaging in the many ways they are used to locate objects, draw pictures, and solve problems.

In a week's time when that study is complete, we'll move forward to multiplication review and then new teaching related to working with whole numbers and decimals related to the traditional algorithm for multiplication, multiplication models, and related problem solving.

This morning I'll go in extra early to prep the room for the student teacher's takeover week. It's clear that now that I know my students well, it's time to reorganize a number of materials as well as get rid of many more. This will make space in the room for students to spread out more and access needed materials and supports with greater ease.

As a team we'll get out the newsletter, share ideas for RTI at PLC, support students' completion of the unit two math test, and help students complete their portfolios as we prepare for a week of family-student-teacher conferences. This year every family signed up for a conference which is awesome. The conferences always shed light on curriculum revision and enrichment too and make for a very busy teaching-learning week. Onward.

The Privilege to Sit Back and Listen

Recently I listened to individuals debate an issue that I was not passionate about. That gave me the privilege to sit back and consider both sides with little personal investment. My initial thoughts were, why the fuss, but as I listened more, I heard the rationale for why people were so invested in this debate, the reasons they were advocating for one side or another. In the end, I thought, this debate is good. On both sides there is a will to do better, and on both sides there's a need to slow down the decision making to give time for all the important issues to be discussed. There's a greater chance of error with rushing ahead than with taking time to make a good decision rather than a rushed, flawed decision.

Today at PLC I'll ask my colleagues if it's worth it to engage in a debate about a schedule revision for 2019-2020. The revision is based on some small, gnawing issues related to how we use time at fifth grade. I think that we might be able to tweak the schedule in a way that buys us better time for good learning in fifth grade. I'm willing to work towards change, but I believe this change has to come from all of us, not just one. So if my colleagues decide they want to go forward with this, then I'll work with them in a systematic way to lobby for this change.

The privilege to be able to sit back and listen to a debate that you're not wholly invested in, gives you the insight, experience, and open mind to better tackle problems that you do want to solve. This is a good thing.

A Better Balance: Teaching and Living Well

Teaching is the kind of profession that seeps into all aspects of one's life which means that educators have to strike a good balance to both teach well and live well. I write about this regularly since that balance is always one I'm reaching for, and changes in both my personal and professional life mean that balance continually changes too.

As a young mom, it was particularly difficult to strike that balance given the extensive time-on-task with children at home and at school. There was rarely a moment to myself in those days, and fortunately my husband and I were able to support one another to make the time we needed to do our professional work and care for your young children too. Now with grown children, I have a lot more time, but not quite as much energy as I had twenty years ago. Though I miss that young mom stage, I love the time I have now.

With good time and a focus on digging in deeper with regard to the daily work I do, I find I am more discerning with my time. I don't want to commit to committee work, organizations, or efforts that are not well designed or directed. I've served on too many committees over time that seem to go nowhere or that are not a good fit for the specific teaching/learning goals I have. Instead I want to spend my time on initiatives and efforts that matter--effort and endeavor that positively impact the work I do with and for students, colleagues, and family members.

That work includes considerable reading, research, re-designing, and refinement. This is a betterment stage of my career--a time when I'm improving the day-to-day efforts of teaching well. While these efforts aren't glamorous or ground breaking, they are efforts that significantly improve what I can do with and for students, and they are efforts that do take good time and effort. Hence my professional work now is more singular as I make better with regard to the daily routine, lessons, units, student help, room set-up, and more.

The balance means more dedicated collegial and classroom time while at school, and more energizing, supportive work at home. With regard to outreach, that work includes a lot of online study and connection now, more than real time conference work, yet I will continue to reach out to the local math organization, ATMIM, for good math support and study. I also plan to continue to work with people in district and outside to think about how we might improve systematic patterns and structure to elevate teacher leadership, voice, and choice too as I do believe when teachers are well supported and able to lead their professional work, schools thrive.  Onward.

Yet Another Room Make Over: Teaching Better

My classroom continues to morph and change as I update the teaching and learning. Our new tables have been a terrific addition to the learning/teaching environment. The tables provide a modern environment for teamwork, projects, and flexible seating. Also the supply caddies on the tables ensure that there are plenty of pencils, colored pencils, sharpeners, and other materials that students need on a regular basis.

Now it's time to rethink the room again as we ready for a number of hands-on science and STEAM projects that include lots of materials. What will I do?

Make Space by Getting Rid of Materials We Don't Use
Since students have Chromebooks we rarely use paper books and resources so it's time to move those books from the room--the books take up a lot of space. It's also time to go through the book case and get rid of books that are worn and rarely read. And many of the supplies in our multiple supply drawers can be better organized to make more space.

Hallway Displays
There are many signature and informative displays hanging in the hallways including maps, posters, a timeline, students' writing and more. I'd like to add a few informative signs and students' latest timeline projects to the hall display--these displays help students and teachers to get to know one another and to provide context and direction for year-long teaching in all subjects.

Now the challenge is finding kid-free time in the room to begin this makeover. I could do it with students, but right now their classroom time is devoted to a large number of learning goals. Onward.