Change of Plans

Probably the most important part of teaching is knowing your kids. As a first year teacher, I don't have the wealth of experience that veteran teachers do, and that I second guess myself a bit. Are my kids having the expected outcome? Are they meeting my learning target? What could/should I change to make maximize engagement?

This week I had one of those second guessing moments. We had transitioned from reviewing some cause-effect relationships in fairly easy text to looking for them in our social studies text. In particular, what caused events that formed colonies, and what was the effect of those events? Once we transitioned, the learning became fragmented, and lots of off-task behavior started. For me, the off-task behavior isn't the kids fault. It is related to my instruction, and my lack of scaffolding (as well as engaging work).

Instead of working with small groups and helping them on the text, we read whole group. We stopped looking for events that happened, and looked for the cause/effect. Big questions were "Why did that happen? Who did that impact? or What was the impact of that?" For example, the Jamestown colony was built on a marsh. What was the effect of that? Light bulbs went off as we traveled through the idea that mosquitoes were there in the wet marsh. Mosquitoes carry malaria, and the settlers got bit by them... hence they died. Ah ha!

Again, it takes re-reading. Re-reading isn't lots of fun. But it needs to be done.

Teaching non-fiction

I think the most difficult part about social studies is the content. Textbooks, like most non-fiction, are dense in information. Where students find difficulty is in deciphering what is "interesting" and what is "important." Non-fiction is just one of those things that most students don't have tons of exposure to, and they aren't as familiar with the structure (as it is far different from fiction).

I'm approaching social studies as a content area, and reading as the tool to comprehend it. What that means is that I need to teach specific reading skills, and use those skills to gather important information. How is that going you ask? Well, it has just begun. Being a first year teacher I struggle a bit with pacing, which makes me feel like things bog down. But as a whole things move quick. As we just finished our second day of swapping kids (an hour per rotation of math, science, and social studies- middle school-esque), and I am starting to look less at the clock (pacing) and worry more about engagement.

Kids are engaged for sure. I am working to circulate, checking in with kids throughout the room. I feel a bit like I am a cattle prodder though, which has me thinking about how I can be more intentional. Perhaps it is a matter of setting things up more clearly so that I can work in depth with small groups. Perhaps it is a matter of establishing centers where kids rotate through a center with me... a center where they are working on something, another center working on something, and another where they are reading with me (or working on something with me).

The bottom line is that non-fiction takes time to teach. Kids need to be familiar with the structure. They also need to know what is important, and they need to know how to record that information so that they can more efficiently synthesize it. Eventually I want to move more towards having kids recording questions, and working them towards searching for answers and information. It is a work in progress.

Reflections Eternal

The first full day is in the books. No one got hurt, no one got lost, kids were engaged, and kids were happy. Student teaching is an odd land where the classroom is in the control of someone new while still being the classroom of the master teacher. To help kids meet the learning objectives, you need to be sure you are clear about your expectations (or so I feel).

Crafting and demonstrating expectations in timely efficient way is an art. I bogged down while spending additional time in being clear with expectations. For the most part, it was effective as I'd say that 75% of the kiddos met those expectations and worked hard throughout the day. The other 25% weren't quite with it, and struggled to acclimate. I think some of that is pushing boundaries to see if I would push back or if I would relent. Another part of it is being clear, direct, and continuing to repeat those directions and expectations to them. They're kids, not robots, and they need many reminders.

Instructionally I felt ok. I was able to get through 4 reading conferences, and feel like I have a good idea where they are. Some other kiddos were tying up a literacy project, so the entire literacy block doesn't feel cohesive. Math was fantastic, and is probably where I feel the most comfortable currently. I was successful in integrating the virtual manipulative for money, which rolled straight into my own spin-off of the Everyday Math activity for the day. Writing is still a work in progress, which isn't surprising. Alas...

I live to give it another go tomorrow with the wealth of today's new found knowledge.

Read Books, Get Inspired

I'm in the midst of reading The Year of the Dog (children's book by Grace Lin), In Schools We Trust for a second time (by Deborah Meier), and Whatever It Takes by Paul Tough. Also on my list is Coraline by Neil Gaiman (children's book). I am really excited about the Year of the Dog, and wish I had more time to get through the other books I have. There is a short block of time between the end of the quarter and student teaching, and hopefully I'll make my way through at least one book.

All of the books make me really reflective about reading instruction. Some of the best instruction in reading is just letting kids read. Do they need to be shown how to use fix-up strategies? Yes, of course they do. Do they need to be shown how to use comprehension strategies? Yes, of course they do. Even more, they need shared/guided practice using those assorted strategies in becoming better readers.

But what good are those strategies if you don't want to read? I wish every kid loved to read, but that is like asking for root beer lakes and cotton candy clouds. Utopia is hard to find. Kids need practice, on their own, with books that they enjoy. They need a chance to search for books that are just right, and a chance to sit down and stick their noses in those books. Without the time dedicated to sustained reading, even at the 1st grade level, students won't have the independent practice important to their growth. I want a little less basal reader practice, and more independent reading.

Blinded by Science!

I have become increasingly enamored with teaching science. I was never a huge science person in high school or college, but do have a passion for learning. I enjoyed Physics, and I liked Biology and Chemistry because my friends were in the classes. As a whole though, science wasn't very memorable.

Ah, but now I am teaching science... and I love it. In fact I want more time for it. Lately we have had a whopping 35 minutes. (dramatic pause)... I know your head is a little sideways right now, or you are scrunching your face up into a nasty sour and confused look, as 35 minutes isn't enough! Tell me about it.

Today our 1st and 2nd graders got as far as gluing in their focus question (What do all living things need to live?), compiling a list of living things (including coyotes, trees, AND some non-living things accidentally) and drawing the living thing of their choice. They then drew the surroundings, and what it needed to survive. Things I learned...

• Pigs eat food (specifically garbage) and use mud so as not to burn their bodies
• Plants need food, in particular that Miracle-Gro stuff
• Lizards like water
• Oxygen is the forgotten, perhaps assumed, part of what living things need

Mr. Hanson, what is texture? Like, feeling?

Today was science for our 1st/2nd grade kiddos. In a nutshell, our goal was to learn that we can use properties (details) to describe things. We took our super duper describing skills to 4 different foods: oat cereal (cheerios), split peas, sunflower seeds, and macaroni.

How did they do? Awesome! We had some kinks (read further), and we didn't have enough time. Science has been pushed from a 45 minute block to a 30 minute-ish block at the end of the day. Can we do some of the work? Yes, but it makes the exploration, sharing and closure all very confined.

Kinks? After going over that we use all but one sense in science, our sense of taste, we had someone push the boundry. I am not so sure who has touched the materials, as they come from the district, so the issue is more one of safety than anything. Other kinks? Well I went through words that we could use for our describing (shape, color, texture, etc) but then failed to follow through and say exactly how we would get there... hence where the title comes from!

Alas the responses were awesome. We had descriptions like greenish, half-moon shaped, like a C, soft, smooth, bumpy, sounds harder than the others, like a bridge, felt cool, holey... Plus I had responses from just about everyone, and everyone was engaged.... Success! I just need more time...

Engaging Lessons

I am only teaching sporadic lessons during this quarter, and tomorrow I get a chance to tackle science and math. In truth, I tackle science every Tuesday with our kiddos, but this is my first foray into math. The lessons couldn't be more different.

The Seattle School District uses the Everyday Math curriculum set. It is a highly recursive curriculum, and tomorrow I am introducing Turn-Around Facts for the first time (5.10 of the 1st Grade guide). I looks like the lesson is 3/4 whole group, which will have it's plusses as far as bringing forth discoveries about patterns in the facts, etc. To some degree there is a level of comfort in the sheet with the facts that the student needs to fill in. But is that really engaging? Isn't there a better way?

Fast forward about 2 hours and I'll be in science. We are working with the concept of balance, and more specifically how weight and position affect balance, not to mention the position of the fulcrum. It is a 45 minute block (too short, I know!) that seems to run out too quick. The kids are engaged, and the only real struggle comes in teaching kids how to be partners with others (particularly those not their best friends). There I struggle more with having effective whole class discussion in a limited time than having an effective lesson. If only I could intermingle the best parts of each of the lessons.... there is still time!

(note: credit to penywise at morguefile for the above photo)