Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Wait for it...

There is a post from over at NYC Schools Parents that is worth the read. The long and short of it is that many facts were used, and re-used in Waiting for Superman. Those facts weren't entirely vetted to ensure quality- or perhaps they were, but used anyway. The end result is a gross misrepresentation of public school teachers in reference to other professions (namely lawyers and doctors).

Don't get me wrong, there are many districts in need of help, support, and reform. Data is one way to show that. But, numbers can be used in a myriad of ways to prove the point you want to make. Even embedded in the post above is an extrapolation that says public school teaching is on par with the attrition rates of the other professions (which I'm not sure has been fully vetted). The point in all of this is that when we use data to draw conclusions, we best be sure our data is accurate. Even more important is the need for discussion about the data, and the reasons for it. Instead we've had a really vitriolic reaction on both sides with no end in sight (one angry about the system and saying blow it up while the other is equally angry for being villianized sans-debate).

Looking Back at Assessment

I spent 2 hours in my classroom today. I was filing some student work, hanging some things on my bulletin board, and downloading my social studies assessments. I've grouped a few of the chapters together, and have clear understandings I want my kids to have. The next logical question is, how are you going to assess your kids?

Last year I think I blindly looked at the assessments. I knew they existed, and used them in full or totally changed them to fit my teaching. Even more interesting is that I only casually looked at the assessment prior to my instruction. While it worked, it really wasn't my best practice. Saying that a question "is really dumb" after the fact doesn't really help you direct your instruction. Instead you craft an assessment to meet your instruction, which is ridiculously backwards not to mention short-sighted.

What am I doing now? Looking at the questions that the textbook has for assessment for the three chapters I am molding together. From there I am deciding what fits with our reading goals, as well as the big social studies understandings the kids need to walk away with. The questions that are simple recall of knowledge get dropped, and others are potentially crafted. More importantly I have the kids using the book during the assessment- using it as the text that kids will draw conclusions, evaluate information, etc (reading skills we are practicing). Huge change from a year ago- thankfully!

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Imagine Nation

Merry Christmas!
If you go back to last year, I set out to do a little bit of work curriculum mapping. In truth, I did some work but probably not as much as I'd have hoped. I did a little bit on Thursday, and I was really productive. But I've also been doing a ton of reading (on book 4 of the break!)
In the spirit of giving I figured I'd pass along a fantastic book to read. If you read one book in the next month, read Jack Blank and the Imagine Nation. I was never much of a comic book fan, but the book (which centers around comics) is wonderful. Short synopsis: orphan boy gets kicked out of boarding school, and taken to a mysterious island (the Imagine Nation). Turns out he is infected with a robot (Rustov) virus that the nation fears, but they agree to test him (and two others) to join the prestigious School of Thought. He goes through testing, leading to an epic finale centered around good, evil, and the notion of destiny.
I really enjoyed the themes that were woven into the story. The ideas of good/evil are clearly evident, yet not overpowering. You also clearly see the idea of using your imagination, and believing in yourself. Obviously kids aren't always as aware of these themes (part of a teacher's job, and the idea of exposure), I feel like these themes clearly come through in the end. Total must read. Next up is Ring of Fire (#1).

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Bend Don't Break

Winter Break started at 3:01pm on Friday. I, like many teachers this time of year, am in need of the break. I need a chance to rest, get some sleep, and do things outside of school. That being said, I'm likely heading into school tomorrow. I'll make the 20-25 minute commute post-rush hour and take care of some odds and ends. I need to file some student work in their returned work folders. I also need to take down a bulletin board, and put up a new one (something I absolutely detest doing during school time- file that under more important things!). Lastly, I hope to tackle my winter/spring curriculum map, taking another look at the standards and content we'll be working our way through.

I figure that doing some of the stuff tomorrow, and a little bit next week will allow the break to be stress free.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Trackers by Patrick Carman


I have a few things to do over this Winter Break. The most pressing on the list is getting more sleep. Weeks of 5-7 hours of sleep (I'm up early on Sat/Sun for runs) grinds away at you, so sleep is number one.

I'm also planning some curriculum mapping. I want to look at the next few months and check over what units/content pieces I am going to be using, and which standards I'll hit. But the last big thing is reading. I've sworn off adult books, and only read blogs, professional development books, or kids books.

Last night I purchased a ton of books (list on previous post). I plowed through Trackers by Patrick Carman, reading off and on for 5 hours. If you read it in one sitting (and aren't easily distractable) it should take about 2-3 hours. Really light, but very engaging.

Trackers is about a 14 year old named Adam Henderson who gets into computers at an early age. His dad owns a repair shop, and Adam is allowed to run free on the hardware/software, getting to a point where he becomes a hacker or digital entrepreneur. Ultimately he makes gadgets and software that are very advanced, and is most intrigued by surveillance. He meets one of the other trackers, Finn, by chance in downtown Seattle. After that he meets the other 2 (Emily and Lewis). Long story short, they do a field test of some hardware/software and find out they are being watched. The person who watched them wanted Adam to find out, leading them through this puzzle or maze of clues that put you on the edge of your seat. How do they know Adam? How have they been watching? What do they want?

What is probably most fascinating about this book is its use of technology. It is definitely centered around computers and gadgets, sucking you in (at least if you like computers etc... which I do). But it also has spots at the end of sections where you can go to the appendix to read a transcript of a video... or you can go to the Trackers Interface online to watch the video that the appendix transcribed. The videos were well done too, which adds to the allure of the book. I watched 2 of the videos, and skipped the rest as I wanted to keep reading.

This book was the first in a series, which I am sure will become well read in my classroom. It seemed to be really similar to the 39 Clues (or at least what I've heard about the 39 Clues!). Next up: The Jaguar Stones

Saturday, December 18, 2010

New Books!

I was fortunate enough to receive some Barnes and Noble gift cards from the kiddos. They certainly are smart, as they know the books will make their way back into the classroom. I've essentially sworn off adult literature (although I am intrigued by Jonathan Franzen's newest Freedom). I would rather be up on the books that my kids are reading, and be able to recommend books to them. Tough to do when you aren't acquiring and reading new books.

Today I picked up a bunch of books, all new. A rare treat for me. I prefer Third Place Books for their used book selection, particularly as they are mixed in with the new books. It is a good way to get a mixture of books. I also rarely get hardcover, largely stemming from my college days working at Borders- a pain in the rear to tote around hardcover books! Heavier for sure!

So what did I get?
  • Trackers by Patrick Carmen (started it right away, really good. I'll post on it in the next day or two).
  • The Jaguar Stones by Voelkel (found via the ReadingZone). It is supposed to be similar to Rick Riordan's stuff, except this involves Mayans instead of Greeks, Romans, or Egyptians.
  • IQ by Roland Smith
  • Half Upon a Time
  • Ring of Fire
  • School of Fear

I tried to find a seek of some new series as well. Books like the Percy Jackson series, the Ranger's Apprentice, Mysterious Benedict Society, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and the Guardians of Ga'hoole have been huge. Kids enjoy getting into a character, and following that storyline. I'm hoping for good things with the books I just picked up. Should be great.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Spin, Spin, Spin

Picture this: You create a unit plan. It is filled with great lesson plans, and ideas for kids. You've looked at your state standards and you've got them covered- real depth with a few standards, or some breadth as you cover them over the course of the year. You start teaching and the first day or two goes great. Day three or four and you've lost your pacing (man that written response took a long time; gosh I forgot to build in time for those scaffolds so that they could ask effective questions while reading).

Soon enough you are looking at other content areas and going, "ummm how am I going to get to that?" You look ahead in your content area/time block and start to scratch your head. The same statement you were saying previously is running through your head again, particularly as you run the mental calculations regarding remaining time (total time, time per content area, time needed to effectively address units or standards...).

That definitely happens. At some point you need to exercise professional judgement regarding what needs to be covered in your standards (all of them- but some are more glaring with your kids than others), and where your kids are or what they are like. I just thought about that in light of issues regarding workload get voiced by peers and fellow teachers (in a myriad of districts). There really isn't any resolution to this post... just mere acknowledgement that it is there.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Using Wikis

We're in the midst of tying up some work in our 5th grade reading text. We're using the opening theme to practice some of the reading skills we'll be using throughout our literacy workshop, and to further engage in non-fiction (outside the Amer. Revolution). The theme is Nature's Fury, with the big picture takeaway being that nature can be really destructive. We've read a snippet of realistic fiction involving earthquakes. We've also read about storm chasers, particularly of tornadoes.
The final piece is about volcanoes. As a whole, the text is really high interest. Kids go "whoa" when they see black funnel clouds or volcanic eruptions, which helps kids keep going when the vocabulary gets a big dense. Part of today's extension was to find the Ten Largest Volcanic Eruptions (leaving it open ended), and to classify (or categorize?) by continent (skills we are using- organizing information in category/classes). About a quarter got to the research, and I put one group in charge of getting the information onto the wiki.
I left their task pretty open ended, even leaving off the classifying part. Above is a snippet of what they found, with the link being of their own doing. While it isn't ground breaking, it is a step in the right direction. We can do some research, post it, and link it. Eventually we'll do full fledged projects on here, posting arguments about things like the Stamp Act, Tea Act, and the revolution as a whole. That is #'s 2, 3, and 4 from the 50 Ways to Use Wikis link. There are a variety of other ideas in there, but the top 30 have some good nuggets to cull through. The overall hope being that we can share what we learned in a different format (and cut out some of the paper!).

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Wiki Practice

I am excited to begin releasing control of our class wiki. Last year I jumped into it, and tossed kids into the deep end. For the most part, it was successful as judged by the content posted. This year I decided to release control a little differently. Previously I trained kids on an individual/small group basis. Those kids would later become trainers, and it worked fairly well.

This year I opted for login instructions. Kids would be able to log themselves in, then use the practice pages to get familiar with the text editor in PB Works. I made 11 copies of the directions, and had kids work in pairs to log in and complete one of the practice pages (they're all the same). The goal being that kids would all be able to log in and add text information to the wiki. As a whole that was really great, with the next step being learning how to add pictures to the site.

While it isn't perfect, I'm confident that kids will know the basis information needed to be turned loose on the wiki. That opens up a whole end of extension work which should be fantastic.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

20 Book Challenge: Check-in

Back in October I kicked off our 20 Book Challenge. I was challenging each 5th Grader to read 20 chapter books over the course of their 5th grade year; 5 from a recommended list, 3 during novel study, 12 of their choice. The whole purpose was to push kids to seek out books that they might not ordinarily seek out, largely because the path of least resistant is... well, it is easier (hence least resistance)!

Where are we now? Well the kids that would eat it up are doing just that. I've got a few that have completed the challenge already, and are aiming for 50 (that is just the type of kids they are- book in hand all the time, excited to read, challenging themselves, getting it). I've got quite a few in the 10+ range (say 10-15). Many of those kids I would expect to be there, but not all of them. I've also got a variety in the 5-10 range, and a few in the 0-5 range for a myriad of reasons. The volume is fantastic, which really is half the battle. You become a better reader by reading more, and at an appropriate level. While they didn't start the year seeking out thicker, more challenging titles, they are often are now. They know that the expectation is to have a book with them at all times (throughout the school day- although beyond would be best). I couldn't be happier.

The next step is creating a book project that shows understanding of a book they read. We'll start that work this week. While we continue with some non-fiction reading, we'll add in the project with plenty of work time attached. Then we'll take time during the last week before Winter Break to present our books to our peers, post them on our wiki, and get feedback. It'll also be a great chance for the kids to experiment with posting on the wiki, something I have held off on thus far. Combining the 20 Book Challenge with our novel study will hopefully lead us in the right direction for narrative writing understanding.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Discuss Amongst Yourselves

One of the things I really want to do is get kids having a variety of discussions. Kids need to talk to each other, arguing their points of views at times. They aren't vessels to be filled with knowledge by me, as I'm certainly filled with a variety of faults of my own. Instead I want them to exercise far more abstract skills, like analysis, prediction, and evaluation. If you can take information and use it appropriately (leveraged if you will) for the purpose of your argument, then I am definitely doing my job.

A comment earlier mentioned how technology had largely been used for a test taking purpose. I have an Interactive Whiteboard. I could teach without it, but am fortunate to have it. One of the tools that come with my Activboard is an Activote. In short, it is a device that is shaped like an egg, and can transmit voting information to your IWB. You can use it to do an informal comprehension check. You can use it for more formal assessments. You can simply use it for opinions.
Last year in my first year, I was fortunate to observe in a few different classrooms. One in particular had been doing some novel study around the book "True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle." With that, she had a variety of opinion questions that students responded to. The whole group discussion was one of the more powerful things I've seen. Everyone participated in voting with each question. But the teacher then acted as moderator as kids debated responses, agreeing and disagreeing with each other. Kids were able to respectfully disagree with each other, pointing out ways that each other's arguments were flawed. It was a fantastic way to see kids interacting and learning together. There was incredible power in seeing kids talk together, and seeing a myriad of kids participating. I can't emphasize how useful the activote was in that discussion, as kids were inspired to act based on the results- seeing it as vindication (or a challenge) to/for their argument.