days of happiness, day 2

day two of things that make me happy (with pictures)


More math. If you read the problem my students solved yesterday, you'll note that the solution to the problem was 60. Yesterday I'd challenged Antonio to figure out how many shakes it would be if two people did the energizer. So, he ran out of time yesterday but today he asked if he could work on it.

Not long after, he came to me to tell me that it was 120 shakes, because he knew that "40 was inside 60 and there was 20 left" and that he also knew that 60 and 40 made 100, so 100 and 20 was 120.

Yup. My students, ladies and gentlemen. Showing brilliance on Wednesday afternoons.


This one I love because of what came out of it. My class has really grabbed onto the idea of squishing words together. We use it to encourage word play and the use of other words to help them spell new ones (ie, if you know how to spell "make" you know how to spell snake and rake). Sometimes, at Morning Meeting, I might put the Greeting and Activity together, and we call it a "greetivity"

This afternoon we were clearing off the easel so we could put up our cooperative posters to share. The easel looked like this. Then Nijjar said, "don't forget to move the fragnet."

"The fragnet?" I asked.

"Frog. And magnet. The fragnet."

hahahahahahahaha, yes! How did I not think of that?

lightbulb moments

Masonhall made a good point here on her blog in talking about different types of reading. She had an a-ha moment when she realized that her 5th grade students might not know how to read a magazine, so she did something about it.

It reminded me of this post I made back in November about my students getting interested in reading Mr. Putter and Tabby books on their own and checking them out of the library to read at home. As a corollary to that, I thought the students might find as much joy out of the Henry and Mudge series by Cynthia Rylant and started recommending them to my students.

Didn't work.

Well, it worked for Lanie, who pretty much takes my word as the gospel, but the others? Not in the least. They nodded and smiled at me as I told them a bit about Henry and about Mudge, basically giving me the 6 year old equivalent of a pat on the head, and then went and checked out other books.

Well, it took me another week to have the *lightbulb* moment of: "If I want them to enjoy these books, I can't just tell them about the books, I have to read to them!"

So, I did.

And now? Every Wednesday, the library supply of both Mr. Putter and Tabby and Henry and Mudge books is well depleted by my class.

Awesome.

days of happiness, day 1

In various places online, I've seen the 8 days of happiness meme (I don't remember exactly what it's called). Essentially, for eight straight days, the blogger posts something from the day that made them happy. I think I'm going to try to do this -- but with photos! Much more interesting!



My desk drawers aren't always clean, but I try very hard to keep the top of it clean and uncluttered. It makes me feel more centered and I can get work done there. score!


This math solution just rocks my world. With my class, I do a lot of "energizers" -- little songs/activities to wake us up when we're getting a bit glazed over. One energizer is the 5-4-3-2-1 shake, where we shake our left hand five times (and count to 5), then shake our right hand five times, then left foot, then right foot. Then we do them all again with 4, 3, 2, and then 1. Well, in Math today, their challenge was to figure out how many times they shook their hands, how many times they shook their feet, and how many times they shook them all. The kids could use whatever tools they needed to solve the problem and they could work independently or with a partner.

They had some truly amazing strategies for solving they problem, which they also were able to explain to others. This image I love because you can see they used tally marks, but ALSO made groups of 5 with the tallies so they could count them easier, then they used groups of ten to count 30 + 30.

This is the kind of thing I always want to show to people when they claim that public schools are failing and horrible places for children to be. Not in my classroom, ladies and gentlemen. Not in my classroom. ♥

on writing...

Something I think about...

Why have I taken so well to blogging?

Just recently I was looking over a bunch of my blog entries from November -- a month where I'd committed to (and succeeded!) blogging every single day. Rereading many of the entries re-inspired me, both as a teacher and a blogger. I think one of the reasons it was so empowering was because I was thinking, reflecting again about things that were on my mind in November.

When I was younger I would sporadically write in a journal, but it was never a habit I could develop or maintain for any length of time.

Yet somehow this idea of SHARING writing in blog format has really clicked for me. I don't know if it's the idea of it being public, or the idea that friends and family might read something and come to me to talk more, but something about it makes me aware of what I write in a way that I never was before. As a teenager, sure I was worried that someone might find and read my private thoughts, but I was vaguely aware that I didn't know who my audience was. Was it me? So if it was, why bother to write it down when I could just think it? Now, though, while I write knowing that others might read (which I both love and encourage!), I think I've realized that my audience is, well... me.

As a teacher, so much of my day is spent by myself with my students. One a particularly full day, I might have another teacher with me for two hours, tops. Generally, though, it's my students and me for 90% of the time. So, that's a whole lot of just me to grapple with. When I take the time to write out something about which I'm wondering (academic choice) or something that amazed me, or something I needed to feel... it's out there for me to read, later on. It serves so many purposes, not the least of which is reminding me why I teach, why I love it in spite of the things that dishearten and discourage me. Also, when I reread, it's often just me thinking with myself.

So, maybe that's exactly why I've taken to it so well. I write with the idea that I'm talking to my future self, in anticipation of further thinking.

Whoa.

random housekeeping:

• I have an email attached to this blog now: skirted.blog [AT] gmail [DOT] com. It's an easy way to get in touch with me if you'd like to contact me privately, rather than commenting.



• Second, due to the brilliance of Swampy, it's now possible to receive email notifications when I put up a new post. If you go to the main page of my journal -- here -- you'll see a subscription box in the top right. Type your email, follow the directions, and voila! Messages in your inbox when this blog is updated. Ain't technology grand?
  
  And, yes, this is mostly for my family. ♥

professional dilemmas

A professional dilemma I keep facing:

How do I balance what I truly believe is right for children with the ever-increasing expectations (and standards and mandates, etc...)?

How?

One example: this class. They love books. Love them. Now, it's not odd for children to love books. In fact, it's quite rare when they don't. But often, even during a read aloud, many children zone out, fidget, and etc...

But not this class. Nope. They are many things: young, loud, varied, talkative, curious, challenging -- but if ever I want to regroup them, to calm them down, to amaze them... I read a book. It's amazing to watch. Really. They are always mesmerized. PIcture books, nonfiction, chapter books -- anything. We have two read aloud times per day but I've been trying to find time for at least one or two more.

But, oh... the guilt...

In order to carve in 1-2 more read alouds, I would have to take time away from another subject area. This worries me because there is just so much packed into the curriculum that they have to know (to be tested on in grade 3) and if we don't do it, they might not get it at any other time.

And yet I keep thinking: what is more powerful than delving into literature? What is more powerful than talking, discussing, wondering, counting, thinking, feeling? Should I really have to justify reading aloud more often when my students get so much out of it?

In my heart... I just don't think so.

the world is just awesome

It feels rather apropos that I finally get back to blogging today. I've missed the chance to sit and write and think. Also, that I share someone else's project -- because isn't teaching often the sharing of amazing things that other's have done?

This video is Matt Harding, traveling over the world and dancing a little dance in countries all over the world. It's absolutely incredible. It had me in tears. I want to hug this guy and then dance with him and everyone in the world and then hug him again.

I can't explain why this affected me so... maybe just because it reminded me again of the fact that no matter where we go, we're all just people... humans that laugh and cry and dance and sing.

It's rather amazing to watch people doing so together.

So... watch. And dance. Then come back here and I'll dance with you, too. ♥


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

[the link is here in case the embedding doesn't work]

Happy Inauguration Day!

a good lead...

In my class we've been writing "How to" books to teach someone else how to do something. The students write/draw a plan, then check their plan with a partner, then use the plan to write their book, then meet with a friend to read/revise/edit the book, then they get to type the book on the computer and illustrate the printout for a published copy! We make a copy -- one to take home and one to keep at school.

Well, after we'd been working on the first three-four steps, our class started looking at and talking about writing a good lead to "catch" their reader so they'll want to read more.

Every year, I follow this process with the students and always find it so amazing. First of all, for many kids, the simple act of there being a very clear process to follow takes away some of the stress or writer's block that they may sometimes feel. Secondly, there is a very clear product -- a book that they published! -- which is satisfying and motivating (and pretty exciting!).

It also lends itself well to starting to talk about our other writing work and how some of the same procedures can be used to make other writing (ie, not "How to" stories) even better and more interesting.

Well, today Ammar finished illustrating his book, How to Ride a Bike, and decided to look in his writing folder to see what other unfinished pieces were in there. Not too long later, he came to me with wide eyes,

"Miz F," he told me, in sort of breathless amazement, "did you know that you could also write a good lead in other pieces to get a reader to want to read that one, too?"




Yes, ladies and gentlemen, those are my students. Figuring this writer thing out all on their own. Something tells me I'm going to learn a lot from them this year.

♥

carpet work...

I just love watching children work on the floor. Don't you?

one but not the other...

So...

I have conjunctivitis (but not too bad or too contagious that I can't go to work tomorrow). But!!! I don't have lice. This pleases me because lice skeeves me out more than does conjunctivitis. I've had both (several times... ahh, the perils of being around beautiful, brilliant, young germ carriers) and I'd pick the eye one over the hair one every day.

I guess "neither" just wasn't an option for today, eh?

How are you all? ♥

success!!

This marks my last post in November. As of right now, I've done it. 30 posts in 30 days. Holy pajamas.

I took on this challenge to get myself more in the habit of blogging daily and I'm so glad I did. I started thinking more in terms of writing. I don't think I would have necessarily made so many connections between my daily life and its impact on teaching had I not had the underlying knowledge that I would be writing every day. I really appreciated the chance to get myself thinking about writing and sharing and audience every day.

On the other hand, I didn't accomplish one of the things I thought I would, namely, finishing some of the half written reflections that are lingering on my computer.

Over the past few years, I've discovered that I am a slow writer. I think part of that might be because often I write to reflect on something. If I haven't yet gotten "there" with a thought or an idea, then the writing stays unfinished until I do.

Similarly with this blog. There are very specific teaching or education subjects about which I've been ruminating for weeks or months now (curriculum requirements, teacher expectations, government involvement, inequity) and haven't made their way here into my blog because they're not yet finished thoughts.

In taking on this challenge, I expected that I would somehow complete everything in my finish this folder. Silly me. In my writing life, nothing is ever finished until it's ready to be, so I should have expected the same.

I do expect to finish them one day, but this has proved to me that even a commitment to daily blogging won't make me write something that isn't yet ready to be written. Interesting to undertake different experiences to learn more about myself, though, I must say.

To those of you that have followed this November journey, thank you so much for doing so. It's been interesting to meet some new people during the month and I'm looking forward to continued connections.

See you all in December! (um. decidedly less often, though.) ♥

academic choice...

One of my teaching goals this year is to deepen my understanding of, my experience with, and my all around knowledge base with Academic Choice (one element of the Responsive Classroom). This element involves a three part process for children (planning, working, and reflecting) which builds upon children's natural curiosity and allows them a sense of autonomy as they make choices about their learning.

I've discovered that I'm pretty good at building Academic Choice into a culminating activity, a chance for children to showcase what they know. For example, just last week in my classroom we had Academic Choice time related to Benjamin Franklin. Children are expected to learn three specific pieces of information about him, so those were the three 'have to' elements of their work, but they were able to choose both the mode of representation as well as whether they showed other pieces of what they learned about him.

This was the planning sheet. Several children used the back to draw some of their ideas in the morning when they used this planning sheet. We planned and made our choices in the morning and used our time in the afternoon to get right to work. This way, children had some time to think about the work before they did it so they could have the full time for working.

This is the second year running that I've run these types of Academic Choice projects and I've always been really amazed at the depth of the students' work. My struggle is conceptualizing Academic Choice as an ongoing, daily activity. Children have a lot of choice in our classroom, but I want to figure out how to include all three componentsinto something that's more ongoing, rather than only with culminating activities.

As I try various things on this journey, I'll share them. Also, for those of you that are also part of the Responsive Classroom approach, what have you found helpful in your own journey with Academic Choice?

Mr. Putter and Tabby...

On Wednesday, we read Mr. Putter and Tabby Pour the Tea. It's the second book about these two characters that our class has read and I can't say enough about how enjoyable these books are and how much my students love them.

Reading them is a unique experience because they have underlying themes that adults connect with and are so drenched with love that children just adore them.

That afternoon, at the library, eight of my children checked out Mr. Putter and Tabby books. Eight.

Guess it's about time to put a basket of Mr. Putter and Tabby books into our own classroom library...

thanksgiving

It's the tail end of Thanksgiving here in my house; we hosted sixteen people this year. Some have gone home, some are sleeping here, but we were all well fed, well conversed, and rather sated. Whenever I spend time with my family I'm always thankful for them, even the idiosyncrasies and odd uniqueness of us all.

Similarly, I find myself quite thankful for the internet and blogging... this ability to write about oneself, one's thoughts or struggles or successes... to find others out there with similar interests, with similar goals... to learn about each other... to learn from each other.

It's rather amazing when I think about it.

So, tonight, on this late hour of Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for the connections I've made here online, for the opportunity to both talk about teaching and read what others have to say. Have a wonderful night. ♥

class books...

I love watching the absolute hush that falls over my students when we premiere a book that our class has written...



I think part of it is the excitement of seeing the page that they made and the joy of seeing those by some of their best friends.


I think another part of it is being able to relive an experience or remember and connect to some learning they have already done.


Whatever reason it is, though, it is absolutely beautiful. Sort of makes me want to do nothing but make books and read them aloud all year long.

my six year old artists...

Our principal has been on maternity leave since August, so our Assistant Principal has been the Acting Principal and we had a retired principal as our Acting Assistant Principal (so many titles!). Well, our principal will be coming back from maternity leave after Thanksgiving so we're preparing to say goodbye to the man that has been our AP for the past many months. The kids are really going to miss him.

In our class, we like to make cards. We make them for every child on their birthday (think of how amazing it is to turn seven and go home with an envelope full of brightly colored cards created by and written by every person in your class!) and for other people on other occasions, as well.

For our AP, we decided to make the cards a two day project. Yesterday we pulled out the watercolors to paint the front of the cards and today we will write special messages to him.

As I was laying out the cards to dry yesterday, I was struck by the sheer beauty of them. They're so varied in design, in what the children chose to create. Really, any of them could be framed and hung up on its own. So, I assembled them and took a photograph to share here.



Beautiful, aren't they?

watching the children...

Over the summer I made several posts while I was setting up the classroom. There was one area of the classroom that was rather an experiment -- this one:

note: you can click on any picture to make it bigger


You'll see our library area and a table over to the left. The table was very close to our meeting area (which we use for everything) and I wasn't sure if it would end up being a good spot for the table.

It wasn't.

With about six more bodies than the meeting area is used to, and with the needs of these students as they are, the kids needed more space and needed some other spaces to be more defined.

So, in October I moved the table and closed in our library area a bit more. It's worked out really well and the kids love it. The library is one of their favorite areas of the classroom (notice the two funky chairs there. That also helps.)

So, now the area looks like this: (pardon the blurriness)



Here is a better picture of the library:
The space is more defined with the small bookshelf jutting out, the chart stand with poems we've read, and the two funky chairs. Behind the waterfall bookcase we keep carpet squares, and will eventually be a Conflict area for the children to go and resolve problems together. I also keep the projector there out of the way, but it's easily retrieved for when we need it.


And a view from far away where you can see the easel and the (messy!) tools underneath that we use for almost everything. (We sit by the easel a lot!)(random: If you see the white tape on the floor where the funky chairs are, it's actually a guide for the kids so they know where to put the chairs so they don't get in the way.)

One thing I miss is the pretty curtains over the area, because it looked so lovely, but it just doesn't seem to make sense to keep the curtains and cover up the books...

Heh.

So, all in all, it was a good experiment to learn from. Having a table there might work for a different class, or for this class at a different time. Just not now. I like watching and learning from the children.

who's calling the shots?

We're in the midst of cleaning and straightening our house to get ready for Thanksgiving. In my flurry of pile decimation and dust attack, I found this book: Who's Calling the Shots: How to Respond Effectively to Children's Fascination with War Play and War Toys by Nancy Carlsson-Paige and Diane Levin.

I read this book more than ten years ago and found it incredibly helpful in thinking about how to support my students in their dramatic play. I think I'm going to stick it on my bedside table and re-read to see what jumps out at me during this read.

The first time I read it, the biggest thing that stuck with me was giving the children the chance to engage in the war play they were going to do anyway. I'd always thought it made sense to tell the children not to use play guns and always stopped any bomb or gun talk when I heard it. What I remember from this book was the fact that it advocated being there when children were beginning to engage in talk of guns and bombs and shooting in order to ask questions and direct the conversation, ie:

student: Boom! Bang! The bomb just fell on the building!
teacher: Oh no!
student: What?
teacher: What about the people inside? Where is the hospital?

and etc...

This was from a conversation that I actually had with a kindergartner years ago. We ended up using blocks to build a hospital and used a Matchbox car for an ambulance and we made sure to bring the people to the hospital for care. The point I remember from the book, was that often children need someone else to help make the consequences of various things explicit, because they don't always make the connections themselves.

I feel sort of like a fraud, recommending this book that I haven't read in ten years or so, but it was such a helpful guide for me, and I'd hate for it to get lost among all of the books being published now.

Also, I wanted to share this recipe for Play-doh that I found in this book. It remains, hands down, the best play doh I've made in all my years of teaching. It takes a little longer, because you have to cook it, but it is well worth it.

Cooked Play-doh
3 c flour
1 1/2 c salt
2 T cream of tartar
3 T oil
3 c water
(a few drops of food coloring or 1 t tempera paint -- mix this into the water if you want to color the play doh)

Mix ingredients in a large pot and stir over low heat until the mixture starts to thicken like mashed potatoes. Then, remove from the heat, scrape into a bowl or another pan and let it cool. When it's cool enough to touch, knead for a while with your hands. It keeps for a long time in a sealed container.

Enjoy!!

button thoughts...

This afternoon, we were getting ready for a wedding and my husband looked at the shirt I'd put on, shook his head, and commented,

"I could never understand why women have buttons down the back of their shirts..."

It reminded me of a conversation I had years ago with one of my kindergartners. At the time I was wearing a long dress with buttons down the back. Our class was getting in line to go outside and there were a few of us waiting by the door for everyone else to finish cleaning. This student, Jaime, looked at my dress, and then thought for a while.

"Miz F?" he asked finally. "Do you live with your mom?"

"No," I told him. "I have some roommates that I live with. They're teachers -- remember I told you about them?"

"Yeah," he hedged and kept looking at my dress. There was something clearly on his mind, and it took a moment or two for it to click in for me. It did just as he asked,

"Then who buttons your clothes?"

I remember telling him that most of my clothes I buttoned myself -- and that this particular dress didn't have to be unbuttoned, but could be pulled over my head, like a shirt -- but if there was ever something I couldn't put on, I'd probably ask a friend for help.

I'd long forgotten this conversation, but it came back to mind today and made me smile because it's another example of the way that children's minds work in such interesting ways. So often, there are these puzzles that they try to figure out, and Jaime was clearly trying to figure out how I got my clothes buttoned when the buttons were in the back. He couldn't figure out who did it so he had to ask.

I think also, because that sort of thinking was so uniquely Jamie, it's a story that I've kept in my mind.

It does make me wish, though, that I'd started keeping a more frequent teaching journal years ago. How many stories have I let go of because I didn't write them down... how many learning opportunties have I forgotten about...

Guess it's a good thing I'm trying to do this now. ♥

journeys...

Another quick post, because it's nearly 10pm and I am absolutely knackered...

We took a field trip today (I'll talk more in a future post), and one of the things that I was reminded of is that often, the journey is just as memorable for the children as the actual destination itself.

Today we went into Washington DC to visit the Capitol Visitor Center (before it officially opens to the public, no less!). It was brilliant, cold, exhausting and exhilarating.

When we got back to school and were drawing what we'd seen, just as many children drew pictures of what they'd seen on our bus ride as drew pictures of something from the Capitol itself.

Which, honestly, sums up a lot of what I believe is important in teaching and learning. It is so typically the journey in learning that is the most powerful, where the most growth and reflection occurs. Outcomes and destinations are fine -- important, even -- but certainly not more so than the rich journeys toward that outcome. I invite anyone to think about something they achieved and reflect upon the journey it took to get there. Probably? An important story lies within...

Maybe... just this one time... I can come home from work and do nothing related to work for the rest of the night.

We'll see how that goes.

♥

little mountains...

Years ago I had a little girl that was on the playground, sitting on the bench and looking at her fingers.

"Look, Miz F," she told me, putting the tips of her pointer fingers and thumbs together. "When I do this, it makes a little diamond."

We talked about that for a long while, looking through the little diamond to see what we could see, even convincing some other kids to try it in the process.

What I took away from that experience (other than glee) was a reminder of how young children, almost above anything else, notice things. They are experts at it. They notice with their ears, their eyes, with how things feel, how they taste... anything. Everything.

I was reminded of this again today while walking back inside from recess. We were taking a short cut across the field when Rubiah turned to me and said,

"It's really bumpy under my feet. Like little mountains."

As I walked, I could feel what she meant. It has gotten a lot colder, so the ground is much harder than it used to be. Under my feet I could feel bumps and little ups and downs.

"It does feel like little mountains, doesn't it?" I said. "I wonder what it would feel like to a bug or an ant..."

"Probably like big mountains!"


How wonderful to hear such unique six year old insight into things. I love being reminded how interesting and intricate their minds are. ♥

what's in a name?

Currently, we're studying timelines in our class. The assignment was to cut out the pictures and put them in an order that would show a person's life. After students cut and arranged the pictures, I encouraged them to tell a story about the person's life: they could give the person a name and write about each part, or write a story the way they wished.

I walked up to Jack and looked down at his paper. At the time, it had the pictures in order and just his name and the letters "OWNK" printed underneath.

"Read this to me," I said, pointing to the word.
"It says, oink," he told me.
"Why does it say oink?" I asked. (note to self: silly question)
"That's her name," he said, matter of factly.

I nearly lost it laughing. Oink. Her name. Yup. I did encourage them to name the person and tell a story, never expecting that an animal noise might end up as a name.

After I composed myself, I told Jack, "Don't forget to write about each part of Oink's life."

He giggled at me when I said it.

"You named her," I grinned.
"It just sounds funny when you say it."
"I think it sounds funny when anyone says it."
He considered that. "Yeah, I think that's right."

Then he wrote the story. About Oink, of course. I wonder if she'll appear in any writing during our Writing Workshop...

democracy in action...

Our hermit crab died a week ago. :(

So, we mourned and examined the dead body, which was highly interesting to my students. Don't worry, though, we examined it through a plastic bag and didn't actually touch it.

An appropriate amount of time has passed, so today we set up some voting booths and got to vote for a new pet. The question was:

Please circle the pet you would like our class to have. Circle only one.


The grand total -- (click on the image to see it larger)
Fish = 18 Hermit Crab = 4

I guess the Hermit Crab didn't make as much of an impression as I thought it did...

what do you think?

This may be a strange way of making this count for NaBloPoMo, but I'm going to do so anyway.

I write to communicate, to straighten my thoughts, to reflect, to come to a conclusion, to share, to do so many things. I do a lot of personal writing, a lot of public writing. I was even telling a friend this weekend that if I have a strong reaction to something, I will often write, write, write, and then email it to myself. Most of that writing never makes it anywhere-- it is ultimately personal -- but serves a specific purpose for me.

Now, while I write for myself, when I post something here, it is with the knowledge that someone might read it and a conversation or a small interaction might result. A lot of blogging, for me, is the interaction. Sometimes the interaction is related to a specific thought or idea, but many times it is meeting another teacher/writer/reflector and building a new connection.

And so, I ask...

What would you like to see me blog about?

I can't promise to write about everything, but now that I've said that blogging is about interaction, how about I put my money where my mouth is?

Have a great night. ♥