this week

I think it was Wednesday I went to observe one of my first graders with autism. Once again, it was confirmed that I am going to LOVE being in administration. I love going into classrooms and seeing students highly engaged in meaningful and FUN learning!

In this first grade class there were 5 math stations. My student was measuring, using nonstandard units (cubes), different objects that were placed in a basket. There was an accompanying sheet that he was filling out as he was measuring each item. He measured the pencil. "1, 2, 3, 4...17! The pencil is 17!" He then measured the crayon. "1, 2...6! The crayon is 6!" Each measurement was like a discovery. This was coming from a student who isn't necessarily intrinsically motivated to work this hard. But, it must not have seemed like work for him. He was on a journey of discovery.

I looked around the room and realized that every student was engaged in this journey. And the teacher was not at the front of the class. She was monitoring the learning. Wow!

Seven minutes later the timer went off and the students switched. They could choose which station they wanted to go to based on a check sheet each student kept that told them where they had already been.

Walking down the hall, after the observation, I noticed an ABC chart on the wall with a list of spelling words to the left. The students were using their bodies to spell their words for the week. I can imagine how excited these students are to work on their spelling words...their SPELLING WORDS! Sure, they have the students work on their words through other traditional, paper-pencil methods. But, we prefer to learn through experiential means. So, the kinesthetic component of learning spelling words really helps the students with storing the spelling words into long term memory. So, it is an essential piece to the overall puzzle that is learning.

So, what happens around third grade? It's almost like we think that third grade students require more desk-and-chair learning. I guess we think some unique transition occured for students during the summer before their third grade year? Maybe they spent the summer practicing with mom and dad how to sit and behave in a chair. They've practiced sitting long enough over the summer and now they are ready for lectures, paper/pencils, and worksheets! This is farthest from the truth.

Think about recent professional development you've attended. Which ones do you remember? Which ones captured your attention (and brain)?

-The ones that were interesting to you? (Students need to feel the information is meaningful and interesting)
-The ones in which the presenters were entertaining? (Novelty and joy are two major components of learning)
-The ones that required you to manipulate materials or actively engage in something? (Students/we remember 95% of what we experience, and 10% of what we hear)

Obviously, our 8 year olds are the same way...if not more so.

Remember the next time you try and teach a lesson through 45 minutes of lecture how bored you were when someone did that to you at your last professional development. Think about how much you would remember from a sit-and-get, and then divide that by 10! That's how much your student will get from this type of lesson.


This was a good week!