A New Challenge!

Two new, non-Engish speaking students are moving into our school system and my classroom next week. I'm very excited about the challenge, and thinking about how we'll help these girls feel comfortable while they learn.

As soon as I get the paperwork, I'll send out an email for volunteers.  We have a mom at our school who speaks the same language, and is eager to help out.  I also have a couple of dual-language speakers in my class who speak the same language so I'll enlist their help with making signs and thinking of ways that we can all help the students understand.

I'll also think about some ways that we can have a two-way language learning opportunity happening in the classroom.  I know that the experienced language-teacher, parent volunteer will teach the English speakers her native language, and help the non-English speakers learn English.  I've also asked the tech integration specialist for a couple of additional iPads or notebooks to give the girls one-to-one access so they can access Google translate for "conversations" with other students, and research in their own language that can be easily translated and read in English using the computer.

What else? If we have time, we may begin a whole study of the girls' native country.  Since it's the end of the year, and we've met most of our goals, I think I'll be able to carve out some time for this teachable geography moment.  I'm sure I'll be blogging more about this new challenge.  Please let me know if you have any helpful ideas.  

Learning Fractions in a Flipped Classroom

I used the fraction unit to explore the concept of the flipped classroom.  In a flipped classroom, students do most of their "learning by reading/watching at home" and their active, collaborative learning in school.

I thought about this as I planned the unit.  Students studied at home using online videos and tasks.  Then in school, students mainly worked on collaborative fraction projects including the creation of story problems, charts, graphs, illustrations, and interactive white board presentations.

Presentations were completed using Google presentation and/or Google docs.  The table feature on Google is great for making fraction bars.  Then the presentations were easily downloaded to pdf, then uploaded to ActiveInspire flip charts to facilitate students' interactive white board lessons.  This is a video snapshot of one project.

Today, after a couple of presentations, I asked the students what they thought.  Some commented that it was much better to present, than to sit and listen.  Others thought that it was helpful to learn about fractions from many different voices.  Still more liked the interactive aspect of the students' lessons.  On the other hand, some students questioned the efficiency of learning -- were they learning enough and was this process too slow?  All good questions and all good thinking.

When students taught they experienced the same challenges teachers face.  They were challenged by just-right pacing, keeping track of all the lesson materials and ideas, and making sure their charts, graphs, and data were accurate.  I had the luxury of sitting in the back of the room watching, only participating when guidance or an important correction were needed.

Will I continue to foster flipped classroom efforts.  Definitely! I like the idea of active, engaged students who are empowered by their classroom learning.  I was excited by the number of children that worked on these projects for added hours at home (thanks to Google docs).  One girl exclaimed today that she had worked for more than two hours one night on the project. Another girl, who was about to go on vacation and miss the project, decided to collaborate via phone and computer to complete the project in two-days time rather than in the six-seven scheduled in-school periods so she'd be able to present to the class.

Did students learn as much or more about fractions throughout this process?  I'm about to examine their assessments right now to find out.  It seems like they got a good dose of fractions, and terrific experience with 21st century skills of creativity, collaboration, critical thinking skills and communication.

I'll continue to revise and refine my flipped classroom techniques.  I'll also continue to investigate and learn from colleagues at my school and through my PLN.  Thanks for listening.  I welcome your thoughts and ideas related to this project, and/or the flipped classroom model. 

Welcoming New Voices in the Classroom

Today a parent visited our classroom.  He shared his thoughts and experiences related to his career as a writer.  He keenly began his presentation by asking students questions about their writing attitudes, processes, and opinions.  As each child spoke, he affirmed their thoughts.  I enjoyed and learned from each provocative question, presentation detail and student response.

It's important for educators to welcome new voices into their classrooms.  Voices of parents, community members, and others impact students' lives and broaden their perspectives.  Those same voices also allow teachers the chance to sit back and listen to their students' thoughts, opinions and questions without the pressure to quickly respond, direct or facilitate.  This is just one more way to deepen your students' educational experience.

Student Blogs

My fourth graders blog each week.  Two - five students pose questions or topics each week, and others are invited to share their responses.  Recently one of my students sent me a video of his wonderful talent as a piano player, and that prompted me to ask students to blog about their talents and passions.  I've copied their responses, but deleted names, icons, and pictures to protect their privacy.  This is a typical fourth grade blog response thread in my classroom.  Our blogs are posted on our private NING social network which students sign on to with parents and/or guardians.

Comment by teacher

Hi,  I just read your comment.  Thanks for sharing your talents and passions.  When I was young I used to play "Olympics" in the backyard.  My friends and I would create gymnastics' routines and perform for each other.  We had lots of fun.  Thanks again for posting. - Ms. Devlin   ________________________________ Comment by student

Hi !   I LOVED your piano playing.   I want to play the piano someday, too.   Do you love it?   How many songs do you play?

I love to play the trombone.  The fast slides are really fun!  

I also love doing gymnastics!  You get to learn new moves and keep doing them faster.   The more you practice, the faster you get better!   At first, I did back bends on a hill.   Then I tried kicking over with some help.  After lots of practice, I could do it myself.  

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Comment  by student

I LOVE to write and learn and talk about sharks. I also like to draw sharks too! I have tons and tons of books and pages of shark facts that I have written. I get the facts on the internet and from books. I have pictures of sharks, books about sharks, and a million facts. I could just study sharks all day long! When I'm older, I want to be a scientist that only studys sharks! I think my talents are being good  with animals and being creative. Because I think that I draw really good and I don't know why, but every animal I see, seems to like me!

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Comment by teacher

I am so lucky to teach such a passionate class.  Thanks for sharing. ________________________________________

Comment  by student

I have so many. I play viola and piano, I do soccer and swimming, I love gymnastics, and I like reading and writing fiction stories. I also like baseball and playing with my sisters and cousins. I also love technology. I use computers and phones and everything else. I love figuring out new things on computers! ___________________________________

Comment by student

all I really do is play the bass and do ti-kwon-do

Teacher Response:

You are wonderfully creative too,  I love the way you visualize a big project, then get right to work completing it step-by-step.  You're super at technology too.  I'm sure you have many more wonderful talents and passions.  One exciting part of life is that you're always discovering new things about yourself, that's why people often refer to life as a journey.  Thanks for joining the conversation. - Ms. Devlin ___________________________________

Comment by teacher

Thanks for sharing.  One person can't have all talents and interests, but we can learn from each other and enjoy each others' talents. I hope more students will post to this thread. _____________________________________________

Comment by student

I canoe a lot. I can unicycle. I just reached the limit-8 ft. I also have helped teach ____ in Mr. M's class and ____ from the same class. The unicycle training goes Trixie the Trainer, Mountain Unicycles, 5 feet, 8 feet, and in between  all that the Talent Show. Currently I am the only one out of me ___ and ____ who 8 foots, but there are lots more tricks that I can learn.

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Comment by student

Did you know that I am a numismatist? that means coin collector, I have a wide collection of Quarters,dollar coins and pennies. I have just finished my 50 state quarter collection. Every year starting in 1999 the US mint came out with four different states on the quarters until 2008. It ran in the order the states came into the United States so they started with Delaware and ended with Hawaii. Each state quarter has something famous about that state on it. Like Arkansas has the countries only diamond mine, it is called the Crater of Diamonds, it is also the only diamond mine in the world that is open to the public. You can take any diamonds you find. The Arkansas quarter has a diamond on it to represent it

The one below is from my collection.

Treasures

What do you treasure most?  How do you care for your treasures?



My family is my greatest treasure.  From the time I was a little girl, I dreamed of having a family.  I drew picture after picture of my little children living in interesting mountain, island, city and country locations.  I named the "children" and created a myriad of adventures for my imaginary families.  I also enjoyed reading books about families.  My favorite childhood books included A Sundae for Judy, Children of Noisy Village, Jubilee and Mrs. Mike.

Later, as a preteen, when caring for my little brothers, I'd pretend that I was the mom and they were my children.  I'd take them on walks, create games, read to them and, to their chagrin, regularly play school in the the basement of our little green house.  I felt a kind of magic when I was with children, a sense of peace and creativity.

As a teen, and in early adulthood, I wanted nothing more than to be a wife and mother. I was hoping to marry a man who would be a great dad.  That was so important to me.  Serendipitously, I met that man. We married, and went on to have three sons.  Parenting those boys has been both joyous and challenging.  Like parents everywhere, I want the best for my sons.  I also want my sons to live their life, be who they are and follow their dreams.  I support my boys' energy, drive and desires, while also guiding their direction towards peace, love and strength.  I marvel at their unique gifts and talents, and anguish when they meet struggles, big and small.  I wish I could be all things for them, but I know I can't. Like them, I'm only human; I can strive to be the best, but I'll never be all things.

So that's how I take care of my treasures.  I guide and support.  I marvel and anguish.  I love those shining stars to the best of my ability.  Now, after many weeks of passionate, driven work in the ed-tech evolution, it's time to polish that treasure box and enjoy the treasures within.