So, it is 3:08 on the Friday before spring break. The children were dismissed 23 minutes ago. And I am not sure how I feel.
I am looking forward to this break. I have already started reflected back on the chunk of the year that has passed. I believe I have seen a lot of success and growth in my students. I have developed some great relationships with parents, students, and staff. Did I do things perfectly? Of course not. But, I know I can learn from my mistakes. I can shoot for more than what I got last time. This break will give me the time to really reflect on how I can improve my performance and continue to move forward.
The mindset I embrace tells me that I am flexible, that my abilities are never fixed, and that I should constantly grow, learn, and try new things...even if those things aren't so easy at first.
The growth mindset allows people to try things that are difficult for them. The growth mindset values effort of any kind of fixed ability or intelligence. People who are growth mindset oriented are those who come out stronger in the face of adversity. They see a fall as an opportunity to rise back up.
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."- Thomas Edison.
That is a growth mindset mentality.
Fixed mindset people often give up quickly when they fail or something is difficult. They believe that ability and intelligence is fixed. They believe in talent over effort, practice, dedication, and hard work.
In my growth mindset I know that I am continually learning, growing, and changing.
And this is part of what I will reflect on over this glorious and much needed break.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Twenty Minute Impromptu Lesson
I've been meaning to post this experience from a couple weeks ago. I really enjoyed this opportunity.
So, I went to observe one of my SCSS students in a first grade class. I saw a life-size (meaning it was maybe 12 ft long by 8 ft wide) 100s chart placed on the floor. The students were using it independently while the teacher was preparing for her next step. I began to tell her how excited I was that she had that in her classroom. She informed me she got the idea from my workshop from Feb. Conference. (Okay, this life-size 100s chart was NOT my idea, but I did share it with folks at our conference). I also told her about all the wonderful things she could do with it. She asked if I wanted to work with the kids using it. I said, "Sure, why not!?"
So begins my 20 minute impromptu lesson with the life-size 100s chart.
First, we found a magic number wand (which happened to be the teacher's pointer she used during circle time). Then, we picked magicians (the students) to pick magical numbers. Then, we did magical things with the number. I told them this was magic that was all made possible by the powerful tool that is the 100s chart.
The magical things we did with the number? Well, we started with adding small one-digit numbers. Then, we added by tens. I taught them how to move the wand according to the number we were adding to the original number. I differentiated based on ability. Some kids ended up doing two to three-step addition and subtraction problems! All because of the magic 100s chart and wand! Not only were they engaged, they were entertained!
As I write this, I am remembering what Rich Allen (author of Green Light Classroom) has said: It is true, our job as educators is not necessarily to entertain. However, our job IS to engage students. Sometimes, we can get students engaged BY entertaining them!
Had I more time, I would have transferred this learning to pencil paper through a series of addition or subtraction problems they were to solve using a paper-sized 100s charts at their desks.
The applications of this life-sized 100s chart are literally too many to enumerate here. This would be a tool that I would use throughout the year, both in life-size and paper form.
Great times!
So, I went to observe one of my SCSS students in a first grade class. I saw a life-size (meaning it was maybe 12 ft long by 8 ft wide) 100s chart placed on the floor. The students were using it independently while the teacher was preparing for her next step. I began to tell her how excited I was that she had that in her classroom. She informed me she got the idea from my workshop from Feb. Conference. (Okay, this life-size 100s chart was NOT my idea, but I did share it with folks at our conference). I also told her about all the wonderful things she could do with it. She asked if I wanted to work with the kids using it. I said, "Sure, why not!?"
So begins my 20 minute impromptu lesson with the life-size 100s chart.
First, we found a magic number wand (which happened to be the teacher's pointer she used during circle time). Then, we picked magicians (the students) to pick magical numbers. Then, we did magical things with the number. I told them this was magic that was all made possible by the powerful tool that is the 100s chart.
The magical things we did with the number? Well, we started with adding small one-digit numbers. Then, we added by tens. I taught them how to move the wand according to the number we were adding to the original number. I differentiated based on ability. Some kids ended up doing two to three-step addition and subtraction problems! All because of the magic 100s chart and wand! Not only were they engaged, they were entertained!
As I write this, I am remembering what Rich Allen (author of Green Light Classroom) has said: It is true, our job as educators is not necessarily to entertain. However, our job IS to engage students. Sometimes, we can get students engaged BY entertaining them!
Had I more time, I would have transferred this learning to pencil paper through a series of addition or subtraction problems they were to solve using a paper-sized 100s charts at their desks.
The applications of this life-sized 100s chart are literally too many to enumerate here. This would be a tool that I would use throughout the year, both in life-size and paper form.
Great times!
classroom observations
Today I went to observe two different SCSS (Social Communication Support and Services) teachers work with students on the spectrum. And I walked away with some new knowledge, things to consider, and activities to do with my SCSS. But, the most important thing I learned is that these kids sure do have personalities!
So, you met one kid with autism. You know what that means? It doesn't mean that you can say you know what autism universally "looks like". It doesn't mean that you are now qualified to go around picking out the kids with autism vs. the kids without autism. It just means you met one kid with autism. This is one of the hardest things for educators to wrap their heads around in this day of labeling and categorizing. Remember, let the kid tell you who they are, not the label.
The label:
1. Impaired social interactions. Students on the spectrum sometimes struggle with nonverbal interactions (e.g., eye-contact). They also do not typically seek out relationships or play with other children.
2. Delayed communication. This could range from the inability to speak to the ability to maintain a conversation.
3. Repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior. This could mean a unique attachment or interest in something (e.g., trains, computers, whales, insects, Star Wars, etc.). This could also mean a near inability to deviate from structure or routines. This could also mean some type of movement that is repetitive (e.g., hand flapping).
So, a child with autism will exhibit some of the above descriptions. However, that is only a small piece of who that child is. And furthermore, these descriptions do not classify or categorize or mandate a child's personality. They are merely behaviors. Each child with autism has a personality that is separate from the aforementioned criterion.
And what I realized today was that I am blessed to work with some of the most amazing personalities at my elementary school!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Job Performance and Employee Satisfaction
I was talking with a 2nd grade teacher at my school about children who chronically perform below average in school. These children, often at a very young age, become disgruntled and bitter about education, school, and learning altogether. They often become the students who give up quickly or who quite trying because of constant failure. After all, why try it if there's a really good chance you won't be good at it?
We were talking about how awful it must feel to go to school for seven hours a day, five days a week and be constantly bombarded with things that you are just average or below average at. That must be tiring!
Think about that in our lives as teachers. What if we tried being a teacher for an entire year. Throughout the year we were told we were below average or we were struggling. How would we feel even after ONE year of not being that good at something? Then, we had to go and do it another year. And that year, we weren't so hot, either. But we still had to go back for a third year. And guess what? That year we were even worse than the first two years. How long would we last? Two years, maybe? Three years max.
So, think about the student who struggles year after year after year. They have a right to be disgruntled and feel a sense of disenchantment toward school, toward learning, and maybe even toward teachers.
So, here are some tips to get those kids excited about learning again:
1. Start with what the student is good at or likes to do. Working with students' strengths and interests is the best way to make them feel successful.
2. Start with what the student DOES know, and go from there.
3. Give specific and sincere praise. Go beyond, "Good job!"
4. Praise effort and not "smarts". For example, instead of saying, "Wow, look how you solved that math problem. You're so smart." Say, "Wow, look how your hard work and effort paid off! You figured out the answer!"
5. Get excited when students learn or you see "aha" moments!
It's important to empathize (avoid sympathy) with struggling students. It's important to remember the struggles they have been through to get to you!
We were talking about how awful it must feel to go to school for seven hours a day, five days a week and be constantly bombarded with things that you are just average or below average at. That must be tiring!
Think about that in our lives as teachers. What if we tried being a teacher for an entire year. Throughout the year we were told we were below average or we were struggling. How would we feel even after ONE year of not being that good at something? Then, we had to go and do it another year. And that year, we weren't so hot, either. But we still had to go back for a third year. And guess what? That year we were even worse than the first two years. How long would we last? Two years, maybe? Three years max.
So, think about the student who struggles year after year after year. They have a right to be disgruntled and feel a sense of disenchantment toward school, toward learning, and maybe even toward teachers.
So, here are some tips to get those kids excited about learning again:
1. Start with what the student is good at or likes to do. Working with students' strengths and interests is the best way to make them feel successful.
2. Start with what the student DOES know, and go from there.
3. Give specific and sincere praise. Go beyond, "Good job!"
4. Praise effort and not "smarts". For example, instead of saying, "Wow, look how you solved that math problem. You're so smart." Say, "Wow, look how your hard work and effort paid off! You figured out the answer!"
5. Get excited when students learn or you see "aha" moments!
It's important to empathize (avoid sympathy) with struggling students. It's important to remember the struggles they have been through to get to you!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Barnyard Style Painting
I was painting the door to our shed this weekend. In the beginning, I was quite thorough around the corners and in between cracks. I was making sure that I didn't get any of the bright red paint on the white trim outlining the door.
I was painstakingly perfect for the first thirty minutes. Then, I started to get bored of the whole process. So, I sped it up a bit. I dipped my paintbrush deeper into the can to slop a good amount of paint onto the surface of the door. The more paint I could get on the brush, the fewer times I had to dip it in the can. A thicker first coat meant I would have to spend less time on a second or third coat. I decided to call this style of painting "Barnyard Style". And I called it this because I concluded that barnyards, though bright red, were probably painted rather sloppily with little attention to detail. I imagined this because, really, the only living creatures that would see the barn up close would be the farmer, the farm animals, and the feral cats that hopefully keep the rats away.
(I later learned that barns were painted primarily to preserve the wood. So, the precision of which the painter painted was secondary, if not irrelevant, to the preservation of the wood.)
And as I began to paint in my new style I realized, by simply putting a label with my painting, I had justified a sloppy painting process. And I'm not the only one who has ever said, "I meant to do a sloppy job". You can find art these days that appears to be paint thrown against a canvas.
Sometimes I think we do this in education. Once we give a kid a label, we have suddenly justified performance that is less than standard. We say a kid has autism and suddenly he or she can't perform like the others. We say a kid has a learning disability, so we don't expect growth like we would in other students.
So, I argue that we should not allow labels to tell us what a student cannot do. Rather, we should allow students to tell us what they CAN do. Let's not promote barn-yard style education for our students.
Instead of, "They can't and so we won't" we should think, "Let's go until we can't".
Some background information on barns and the color red:
"Ever wonder why old barns are usually red in color? Red is (or, perhaps, was) a popular color for barns due not to its color shade but for its usefulness.
Many years ago, choices for paints, sealers and other building materials did not exist. Farmers had to be resourceful in finding or making a paint that would protect and seal the wood on their barns. Hundreds of years ago, many farmers would seal their barns with linseed oil, which is an orange-colored oil derived from the seeds of the flax plant. To this oil, they would add a variety of things, most often milk and lime, but also ferrous oxide, or rust. Rust was plentiful on farms and because it killed fungi and mosses that might grow on barns, was very effective as a sealant. It turned the mixture red in color.
When paint became more available, many people chose red paint for their barns in honor of tradition."
Farmers’ Almanac Trivia – Why are barns painted red?
by Sandi Duncan | Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 | From: Farmers' Almanac Blog
I was painstakingly perfect for the first thirty minutes. Then, I started to get bored of the whole process. So, I sped it up a bit. I dipped my paintbrush deeper into the can to slop a good amount of paint onto the surface of the door. The more paint I could get on the brush, the fewer times I had to dip it in the can. A thicker first coat meant I would have to spend less time on a second or third coat. I decided to call this style of painting "Barnyard Style". And I called it this because I concluded that barnyards, though bright red, were probably painted rather sloppily with little attention to detail. I imagined this because, really, the only living creatures that would see the barn up close would be the farmer, the farm animals, and the feral cats that hopefully keep the rats away.
(I later learned that barns were painted primarily to preserve the wood. So, the precision of which the painter painted was secondary, if not irrelevant, to the preservation of the wood.)
And as I began to paint in my new style I realized, by simply putting a label with my painting, I had justified a sloppy painting process. And I'm not the only one who has ever said, "I meant to do a sloppy job". You can find art these days that appears to be paint thrown against a canvas.
Sometimes I think we do this in education. Once we give a kid a label, we have suddenly justified performance that is less than standard. We say a kid has autism and suddenly he or she can't perform like the others. We say a kid has a learning disability, so we don't expect growth like we would in other students.
So, I argue that we should not allow labels to tell us what a student cannot do. Rather, we should allow students to tell us what they CAN do. Let's not promote barn-yard style education for our students.
Instead of, "They can't and so we won't" we should think, "Let's go until we can't".
Some background information on barns and the color red:
"Ever wonder why old barns are usually red in color? Red is (or, perhaps, was) a popular color for barns due not to its color shade but for its usefulness.
Many years ago, choices for paints, sealers and other building materials did not exist. Farmers had to be resourceful in finding or making a paint that would protect and seal the wood on their barns. Hundreds of years ago, many farmers would seal their barns with linseed oil, which is an orange-colored oil derived from the seeds of the flax plant. To this oil, they would add a variety of things, most often milk and lime, but also ferrous oxide, or rust. Rust was plentiful on farms and because it killed fungi and mosses that might grow on barns, was very effective as a sealant. It turned the mixture red in color.
When paint became more available, many people chose red paint for their barns in honor of tradition."
Farmers’ Almanac Trivia – Why are barns painted red?
by Sandi Duncan | Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 | From: Farmers' Almanac Blog
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