How's It Going?....Pretty well!

When I first began reading Chapter 7 of Anderson's How's It Going, I immediately began to think that this man has clearly been in my classroom and knows exactly what I am dealing with and how I am feeling. His anecdote about the initial feelings in terms of the structure of Writer's Workshop was almost identical to how I felt. In first implementing the workshop, my students seemed to be extremely dependent upon me during this time and relied on me for everything, sometimes even before attempting to start on their writing. When planning for conferences, I found it so frustrating to have students crowded around me while I was conferring with one student because they wanted to ask something as simple as "Can I sharpen my pencil?" Also, similar to Anderson, another issue I noticed was the fact that while I was conferring with a student, the students that would be at their desks working on their writing would be talking loudly so it made it very difficult for me to hear what the student I was conferring with was saying. Because of this, I began straying away from conferencing and spending more time walking around the room monitoring students' noise level. I found this to not be very beneficial for the students and it was also exhausting for me as a teacher. However, by conferences with my coach and reading this text, I have found some really helpful insights that will assist me in the management of my conferences moving forward. Below are the main points that squared with my thinking, pointed me in a new direction, and things that are still circling in my mind:

Square
"Unless our students can work independently, it can be almost impossible to conduct conferences."

This quote squared with my thinking mainly because I have known this to be evident in my classroom. When students are constantly being needy and asking questions and seeking assistance from the teacher, it only insinuates that there is no structure present so that students know what to do at all times during the workshop. When students learn to navigate through the workshop independently, conferences are much more productive.

Triangle
"We begin our envisionment work by imagining how students will make the transition from the mini-lesson into writing time. When we effectively manage this transition, students have more time for writing, and we have more time for conferring. Managing the transition requires us to create predictable routines."

This idea pointed me in a new direction because at first I felt as if since I started the workshop too late in the year, that it would be impossible to manage and students would never be able to run it themselves. However, when Anderson points out that we must envision how writer's workshop will look in our classroom, I thought about how helpful doing this would be for me. My students need predictable routines they can rely on so by implementing them and being consistent in the implementation, students will be much more successful at being independent during writer's workshop and more will get accomplished.

Circle
"When writers come to their writing each day with a sense of purpose, they're much much less likely to get off track or be distracted. We need to teach students to be the kind of writers who begin writing time by making plans for what they're going to do that period."

This is something that I am still thinking about because sometimes it seems as though my some of my students can be distracted during the conferences and it seems to be very frustrating because I feel as if they are off task. However, I like how Anderson points out that we must teach writers to come to the workshop with a sense of purpose and assist them in finding ways to make plans for their writing.



I wanted to read Chapter 7 first, only because I felt that the issue of management was more pressing in my classroom. However, in reading Chapter 6, there were a lot of helpful tips that Anderson suggests as you learn to choreograph conferences with students. The following consist of the main points that squared with my thinking, pointed me in a new direction, and are still circling:

Square
"When I confer, I choose to go where students sit in the classroom. While conferences are not conversations between equals, students seem more at ease talking with me when I meet them where they feel most comfortable, at their desks or tables, even on the floor in a corner if that's where they're writing. By going to students to confer, we show them we are interested in talking about their writing."

This squared with me because I never liked it for students to have to lug all of their belongings to my desk to conference with me about what they were working on. I have found it to be extremely comforting for students to be able to feel at ease and relaxed in conferencing because then the conferences are much more likely to be successful. Also, this is a great way to build relationships with students.

Triangle
"I usually take notes in three areas of interest. First, I write down what I learn about a student as a writer: the work he is doing and insights I gain into who he is as a writer from what he says or from looking at his draft. Second, I record what I teach him in the conference. And third, if I think the class might benefit from hearing what the student and I talked about during the conference, I jot down "Share" or "Mini-Lesson" to remind me at the end of the period to refer to our conference in that day's share session or to return to it when I plan the next day's mini-lesson."

When I read this, I found it to be very helpful! Although I had been taking notes during my conferences with students, I still sometimes found myself unsure on what exactly I should be writing and in doing so it was hard for me to determine how to be helpful to students the next time we conferred. I think by using the template for note writing that Anderson provides, it will be much more easier and beneficial to keep track of conferences.

Circle
"I try to see four or five students during writing workshop period, which means that each conference is on average five minutes long. Five minutes is enough time to have a quality conversation with each student, and (in a class of thirty students) see each of them every six to eight days. If I'm able to make a teaching decision quickly, a conference might take only three or four minutes. Or if I need to give a student a lot of assistance during the have-a-go, then a conference might take seven or eight minutes."

I am still wondering about this component of writer's workshop because I still don't have it timed perfectly. Sometimes I feel like my conferences are too long and other times I feel like they aren't long enough. It is sometimes a struggle to make sure that the conferences are meaningful and making sure that you are maximizing the time spent conferencing. In using Anderson's suggested format, I am hoping to become more successful in this area.

All in all, I think that this book has become instrumental in helping to inform my planning for Writer's Workshop. The way that Anderson has so eloquently mapped out the logistics and struggles of making the workshop possible while simultaneously having successful conferences have been extremely beneficial. I plan to continue to use this book as a resource moving forward and I am excited to see how future writing workshops will look in my classroom.

Moving Forward in March

March has been a month of ups and downs and ins and outs. I have learned so much and have grown so much as not only an educator over these last few months but have extremely grown as a person. The experiences that I have gone through in the classroom over the last month has shown me how it is never too late to implement new ideas and concepts in the classroom especially if something hasn’t been previously working in the past. In looking over my TiP chart (my FINAL TiP chart) I have been able to identify so many celebrations for myself and my girls and also a lot of places that are left for growth. In this final analysis of my interactions from this past month, I will synthesize the overarching themes that have been prevalent in my findings.

Re-Inventing Mathematics in the Classroom through Cognitively Guided Instruction

Since we have begun to really dive deep into teaching addition, I was more than excited to teach students this concept through the use of number stories. When I first began this venture, I was not focused on the number stories that were being used, but I was only concerned with the strategies that students could use to solve the problem. I realized that the actual number stories needed to be more relevant to my students and because of that I decided to personalize the number stories using my student’ names and interests in the problems. I reflected back to the math class and remembered “Children do not have to be taught that a particular strategy goes with a particular type of problem. With opportunity and encouragement, children construct for themselves strategies that model the action or relationships in a problem. (Stein, Grover, & Henningsen, p. 3, 1996). I started having the students explain what was the story being solved before heading off to solve the problem. I also, encouraged the students to focus less on getting correct answers and more on their thinking behind how they solved the problems. “Opportunities for student learning are not created simply by putting students in groups, by placing manipulatives in front of them, or by handing them a calculator. Rather, it is the level and kind of thinking in which students engage that determines what they will learn (NCTM, 1991)” We have now created a ritual in our class that at the end of our math block, we reserve time for a “math talk” where students have the opportunity to discuss their thinking behind solving the problems.

Strides in the TICC Project

I have been amazed by how far my students have come in our TICC project. I remember when we were first presented with the task and I feared how students would be able to tackle such a challenge. Our Critical Pedagogy class has really inspired me to discuss issues that are serious with my students and for them to consider their roles in the world. My students and I had a conversation about power in our school and I found it to be extremely heartbreaking that my students felt powerless in our school. This conversation made me reflect on the quote, “I wanted students to feel empowered, capable of creating change through their peaceful actions.  My job as their teachers was to “provide students with a  conceptual framework” (McLaren, p. 80) so they could then respond to their burning questions and feelings of injustice.  The students needed to see that people are not powerless in the face of injustice.  They needed to see action” (Neher and Smith, 2013, 28) because that is the exact message that I wanted students to walk away with.  We continued our conversation to have a guided discussion for my students to realized how much of impact that they actually do make on the school and how much more they could do. My students used this conversation as a means to develop what eventually became our TICC project.

When we first began, one of my biggest concerns was the fact that we wouldn’t have enough time to discuss our project in class. I started out only allotting time in the morning for us to discuss what we were going to do and how we were going to do it because I didn’t view student advocacy and social justice a part of the “standards” that we were required to teach. I soon was able to realize that are TICC project was really connected and embedded within our learning because it addressed all of the overarching themes that were supposed to have been being taught in other subject areas. When that realized came about, I began analyzing other areas of my instruction that could be improved.

Introducing the Daily Five and Re-Implementing Writer’s Workshop

As I analyzed the current instruction that I was doing in the classroom, I considered what I was currently lacking and what I could do more of. I then thought about the engagements I was doing in reading and I felt as if I wasn’t doing enough. In consideration of this, I remembered that many teachers used the Daily Five as a means to teach reading. I was interested but I was unsure of what this may look like in my classroom. Because of this, I began to research what other teachers have done to implement the Daily Five in their classrooms. I found some really great ideas and decided to implement it in my classroom. I think in the past, it would have been really hard for me to admit that I don’t have all the answers and that it’s okay to solicit the help of others. Now I am much more comfortable with using available resources and have really seen how I can benefit from it. The Daily Five has changed how I teach reading completely and this is the most engaged and excited that I have seen my students about reading in a long time.

One of the greatest things that I could’ve done in my classroom was re-implement writer’s workshop in my classroom. Although I had still been teaching writing, I felt as if the way I was teaching it did not provide a lot of choice and autonomy for my students. My students who once were very excited to write and looked forward to it began to loathe it and produce low quality writing. As I pondered on how to get my students back excited about writing, I realized what was different, we were no longer using the structure of writer’s workshop to engage in writing. I then decided to take some time out to read the Lucy Calkin’s resource that I had on opinion writing and all of a sudden a light bulb went off and I suddenly realized that this style of teaching writing just felt right. Also I began to read how I could connect this type of writing to so many other concepts that we had been currently discussing in class. Although my students are just now getting back in the groove of things, I have been able to see a significant difference. The greatest difference that I have noticed is the fact that our writing conferences are no longer conferences but they are now conversations. “Conversation about the work the child is doing as a writer and Conversation about how the child can become a better writer” (Anderson, 17, 2000). In having these conferences with students, I have been much more resourceful to them in their writing.

Moving Forward

In closing, I am so excited to end this year out with my girls. We have made it so far together and we have so much further to go. I am much more insightful and encouraged moving forward because I have gone through so much this school year. I think my biggest accomplishment thus far is the simple fact that I have not given up hope and each day I am currently seeking out ways to learn and grow. My students also possess this same drive and it is evident in their learning. I can’t wait to see how much more I learn and grow alongside my girls and I am extremely thankful for all of the experiences and realizations that have occurred this year.

How's It Going? (Part 2)

In reading the next two chapters of Carl Anderson's How's It Going, I have gained so many new insights on how to conduct Writer's Workshop in my classroom. Since I am the person who plans writing for the entire Kindergarten team, I think this book has become such a golden resource for me and not only provides the support needed in my classroom, but also allows me to share this resource with colleagues. In an effort to organize my thoughts, I have decided to split the two chapters of and reflect upon my biggest takeaways from each of them.

Ch. 4: Matchmaker, Matchmaker

"When we are successful in showing students how to learn from writing mentors, we teach students how to teach themselves." (Anderson, 2000, p. 110)

I was completely enthralled on this chapter about how to use mentor texts in an effort for students to learn writing strategies for their own pieces. As I was reading this chapter, I thought about myself and what strategies I use as a writer. Although I consider myself a fairly decent writer, I can think of countless incidences on where I felt as if I was completely stuck on a piece of work and I looked to other author's for inspiration and/or guidance. For example, I am not a great technical writer and for research pieces or writings that require you to be very technical, it is very imperative for me to see and example of what an exemplary writer using that strategy does so that I can then figure out how to do that for my own writing. When considering that, I thought about how much of an impact using that type of strategy could work on my students.

In continuing reading in the chapter where Anderson discusses his conferences with students who currently have mentor texts that they can refer to when they want to use a specific strategy for their writing, I began to think about my young writers and how they might be uncertain to what a mentor text even is, yet alone how to consider how to use it in their writing. Then Anderson lets us know that as the teacher, it is our job in these conferences to match students up to texts that our class has already read and studied in mini-lessons. I never even thought about how many stories that my class and I have read together and how they might use those texts in teaching them strategies. The only concerns that I have is whether or not my students will be able to pick up on what strategies that the author is using. I guess if they do not seem to, then using what Anderson says about directly naming what they do and then inviting the student to try it out will be beneficial.

The next idea from this chapter that I found to be challenging was where in the world was I going to get a collection of mentor texts from? How was I going to be able to find a set that would be appropriate for my students? And how on earth was I going to be able to pay for the texts? Luckily, I am going to have to put together my own collection of mentor texts that meets my needs as a teacher and the needs of the students that I teach. In thinking about this, I considered the idea of using wordless picture books in my collection for those writers who are still using mostly pictures for their writng and also incorporating student writing as mentor texts for my students who are using words and pictures.

Ch. 5
In this chapter of the book, I really enjoyed reading about the format of the mini lessons that Anderson uses for Writer's Workshop. In reading about the format, it reminded me very closely of the way that I planned for writing using the guidance of Lucy Calkins. I think the biggest component of the writing workshop that I have been taking for granted is the importance of the mini-lessons and the purpose of them.

"Mini-lessons are effective, then, only when we inspire and enable students to try out what we've taught." (Anderson, 2000, p. 139)

In the past, I found that my mini-lessons were too long and overemphasized the lesson and students hardly had any time to put anything on the paper or to try out the strategy. Or, I found that I rarely spent any time on the teaching point and when I sent students back to work, they were unsure of what they were supposed to be doing or was still very dependent on me to help them. In considering this, I really can appreciate how Anderson lays out the foundation and framework for mini-lessons.

"Within the predictable architecture, we noticed that teachers have parts of their mini-lessons in which they teach students, encourage students to try what they've taught in their writing, and equip them to do so." (Anderson, 2000, p. 140)

I think the most important part where the book discusses the architecture of the mini-lesson is where the steps are clearly laid out for you.

Steps:
1. Connect: Make a connection to what students are doing and why they're doing it
2. Teach: Explicitly teach the strategy that is being learned to students
3. Have-a-go: Let the students briefly discuss/try the strategy
4. Link: Link the strategy to students' independent work

These steps were very helpful in outlining a plan for creating mini-lessons. The only step that I am still wondering about is the teach part mainly because I'm trying to find a way to demonstrate how to use a strategy to students without them feeling the need to copy my ideas for their pieces and writing exactly what I write (I've noticed that they have done this in the past). This is something that I am still trying to navigate in my practice.

The last part of the chapter that I found to be really interesting was the importance of students being able to share at the end of the workshop and how impactful it can be for students.

"When students see that their classmates have tried what we talked about in mini-lessons, they are often inspired to try the same work." (Anderson, 2000, p. 153)

The biggest takeaway that I got from that section was the fact that it allows students to see which of their friends tried the strategy and how they used it. It gives them a clearer picture of what it may look like for them and also gives the student sharing an opportunity to discuss their process.

All in all, I think that there was so much to learn from these chapters and I'm so excited to try to use some of these suggestions and resources in my classroom. I look forward to exploring the final chapters of this helpful book!

February...Where Art Thou?

Wow! I can’t believe how short of a month February was! With all of the winter breaks, “unannounced snow days”, and me having to travel out of town, I never knew that I would learn so much and grow as an educator. As I look back and analyze my TiP chart from February, I have noticed that I have a lot of celebrations to make as well as a lot to still be working on.

Literacy

A very common pattern that I noticed for last month was the need for an increase in authentic literacy activities in my classroom. In the past, the SuperKids reading program was supposed to be the sole source for literacy instruction, however, I have seen so many gains by integrating other resources in the classroom in order to teach literacy to students. I have found a really great way to still use the SuperKids program in some aspects of instruction but also use activities such as interactive sight word games (drawing sight words in paint) and for students who need additional support with letter recognition (making letters out of Play Doh). The best thing about creating these literacy centers is the fact that I can make them as differentiated as possible from the independent centers to the guided reading small groups. I am exciting about seeing how much more smoothly things will go in my classroom in terms of literacy by initiating these centers.

A Call for a Change

Another big pattern that I saw in my chart was how often I was referring to behavior issues that were arising in class. By noticing this, I saw the need to revamp my entire Morning Meeting portion and making it more meaningful for students. I re-introduced our Morning Song to affirm each student every morning. We have also began to play a literacy or community building activity immediately after singing the song. This has started a new wave in our classroom and my students have been holding themselves more accountable of making sure they are trying their best to be a good friend.

This look at the behavior issues in my class also made me consider the actual behavior management plan that I use in my classroom which is not much of one at all. My students did not know the consequences for breaking a rule although they were very well versed in what the actual rules or expectations were. Reflecting on this, I decided to implement a unique reward system to acknowledge students who had been working really hard to follow directions and show kindness to friends. I implemented to use of Teacher Coupons where if students earned a certain amount of points, they would be eligible to receive coupons to do special things like walk around the class with their shoes off or sit at my desk. I figured out what students were really interested in and what they were willing to work for.

Need for Integration

Another common theme was not having enough time to teach all subjects or teaching subjects in isolation. This caused me to reflect on the need for integration. Because of that, I have spent more time trying to determine how to integrate subjects amongst lessons instead of departmentalizing each one. Thinking back on some of the literature from the summer class, “Whatever the motivation for integrating the curriculum, it is clear that the most common recommendation for effecting the transformation from fragmented, departmentalized, or isolated instructional periods to integrated contexts is to develop a theme approach. Authors and programs often assume that thematic teaching is a self-evident way to achieve integration in the curriculum.” (Lipson, 1993, p. 253),

I remembered how important it is to make subjects cohesive and meaningful to students. The text reminded me that the best way to do this was by creating thematic units and spending more time in the planning process.

Challenges Ahead

Although I have made many strides this past month, I still have some challenges ahead. I’ve begun to face the fact that I’m probably not going to have an actual para for the rest of the year and I’m going to have to start navigating ways to teach students as if there is only one teacher in the room. This wasn’t what I was expecting so this will be a bit of an adjustment for me.

Also, I am still trying to find my voice in my school community. Despite being a rookie teacher, I know that I have great ideas and have learned some phenomenal strategies for teaching kids. I am hoping that within time I find my voice and let my thoughts and opinions be heard in an effort to advocate for best practices.

How's It Going? (Chapters 1, 2, and 3)

When I initially found out we were using this book for our Book Blogs this semester, I was extremely exciting. Writing has always been something so very important and personal to me that I even use it as an outlet now as an adult whenever I need to express how I am feeling. Becoming an educator, I became particularly interested in the writing continuum, especially since I teach beginning writers. My first thought was "How can I teach someone how to write?" The thought was a scary thought for me. Joining my team at the school that I teach in now, I volunteered to plan writing for our grade level. Everyone warned me not to as a first-year teacher because of how difficult it is to plan writing and how they felt as if the curriculum used for writing wasn't as structured for Kindergarten. That's when I was introduced to Lucy. Lucy Calkins, that is. Upon looking through her texts giving teachers direction as to how to launch Writer's Workshop, I am became thrilled yet anxious. Although I agreed with the format and the way in which to introduce the mini lessons to students, I began to wonder how my particular group of students would adapt and respond to it. I think it started off great and I loved how my students got the chance to really show their skills as writers. However, I noticed that I really didn't know how to help my students or where exactly they were in the writing process. It was then I realized that I was lacking the most important part of Writer's Workshop, initiating writing conferences with my students. Now that I have read the first few chapters of Carl Anderson's How's It Going, I have a more solidified understanding of the importance of the writing conference.

One of the biggest takeaways that I got from the first chapter is understanding the purpose of the writing conference. Anderson focuses on two main points for the structure of the conference:

Conversation about the work the child is doing as a writer and Conversation about how the child can become a better writer (Anderson, 17, 2000). 

The author then dives deep into the three steps of conferencing where we focus directly on the work that students are doing as writers, making an assessment of what they are doing as writers, and putting together a detailed picture of the work that the child is doing as a writer.

From Chapter 2, the biggest takeaway that I got was the examples of the kinds of work that writers do when they compose pieces and the strategies that they might use to compose them. I thought that this was extremely helpful when thinking about ways to help students figure out what tools they can use when they are working on a certain piece of writing.

Also, the questions suggested on page 29 of Chapter 2 were really helpful in thinking abut how to start conversations in conferences because one of the main things I was pondering about was how to initiate conversations with students during their writing so things such as "How's it going? or What are you doing as a writer today?" seem to be really great lead in questions to initiate conversation and get students to begin talking through their writing process. I particularly liked the rationale that Anderson uses behind starting conversations this way. He states, "By using a predictable opening, I'm simply taking advantage of students' implicit knowledge of the nature of conversation, and that some conversations begin in predictable ways" (Anderson, 29, 2000). This then creates routine for students and they know what to expect during writing conferences.

In chapter 3, I was particularly interested in teaching students about their role in the conference. The chart on page 83 breaks down what is expected of the student in the first and second part of the conversation. In the first part, the student sets an agenda for the conversation by describing their work and then responding to the teacher's questions. In the second part, the students listen carefully to the teacher's feedback. I particularly like the way Anderson breaks down each role respectively so that everyone knows what they're supposed to be doing. I think the most important part of all this would be to explicitly teach and model for students what and how this conversation might look so that they understand when they begin their conversations.

All in all, I am really excited to continue reading the next few chapters and understanding how to make all of these great ideas practical in the classroom. I look forward to exploring ways to monitor which conversations to have with certain students and how to keep track. This book has given so much insight thus far and I'm sure it will become a very helpful tool for me in the near future.

New Year, New Beginnings

Commonalities Across the Board

What a month January has been! I can't believe so much time has gone by with my girls and that the year is almost done. There has been so much that I have learned from my girls thus far and we still have so much more work to do. Reflecting on my TiPs chart, I've been focusing a lot on my actual instruction and the lessons that went great and why they went great and they lessons that failed horribly. The main commonality that I noticed among last month was the fact that the lessons where I really prevailed consisted of students interests and choices being a main factor around the successes. In areas where I wasn't so successful consisted of times when my understanding of what I wanted students to gain wasn't clear or students lacked clarity of the objective or if it was just plain out boring to my students. Looking at all of these reflections give me better insight on how to plan for next month.

Venting and Frustration

I felt as if January was such a transformational month for me because not only did I have a better understanding for my class and what resources were available to me to meet their needs, but I had also enlightened myself about the parallel I had been facing at my school. I had been torn between the struggle of following suit with what the rest of my grade level team had decided to conform to because it is "easier" or stepping outside of the box and challenging myself to dive deep with my students and stimulating their inquiry. The issue that I have been constantly battling with is playing it safe or actually finding and making the time to do what I know works best for kids. I have become extremely frustrated with the ever-so-cumbersome testing that is "mandatory" for all grade levels.

I became a part of our school's Assessment Team in an effort to better inform myself about how grade level assessments are created and how the data is used to better plan for instruction. Although I believe assessments give us very valuable and usable data, I found the Kindergarten assessments particularly to be extremely problematic. Some of the questions I think were biased and did not cater to students' specific and unique experiences. Also, I felt as if the assessments were way too long for the attention span of Kindergarteners and that it was not thoughtful at all to only give them a multiple choice test. I could go on and on about the problematic factors of these tests and how much time from instruction was taken away because I had to complete them. I feel as if I was doing a disservice to my students and missed out on critical instruction time. Now I am grappling with how to meaningfully assess my students without it requiring them to miss so much valuable instructional time.

Celebrations
Besides some of the frustration that I have felt this past month and some of the criticism among peers, I have learned that my students are uniquely themselves and they enjoy coming into a classroom environment that they are welcomed to bring in all facets of their lives.

Using writing to teach others has been particularly exciting as students explore the meaning of American symbols

 

I also noticed that students lacked the opportunity to read books of their interest and engage in them just for fun

Lastly, I know my classroom may look very different from "traditional" classrooms but if there's one thing we know how to do well.....it's how to get down! :-) 

I'm excited to see where February takes us!

October Book Blog- Pathways to the Common Core Ch. 1-4

"Pathways to the Common Core" Reflection

Square

"The Common Core Standards are a big deal. Adopted by forty-five states so far, the standards represent the most sweeping reform of the K-12 curriculum that has ever occurred in this country. It is safe to say that across the entire history of American education, no single document will have played a more influential role over what is taught in our schools. The standards are already affecting what is published, mandated, and tested in schools--and also what is marginalized and neglected. Any educator who wants to play a role in shaping what happens in schools, therefore, needs a deep understanding of these standards. That understanding is necessary for anyone wanting to be a co-constructor of the future of instruction and curriculum and, indeed, of public education across America." (Calkins, 1)

When reading this book, this is one of the very first quotes that stuck out to me, mainly because the Common Core Standards are such a big deal. I remember when I was interviewing to become a teacher and every single principal must have asked me "So what do you know about the Common Core?" I remember being bewildered not having a clue what they were even talking about. I quickly learned and became very familiar with the standards. This quote resonated with me particularly because of what it says how the standards are affecting what is marginalized and neglected in schools. The new standards call for teachers to not just teach students the "what" and the "how", but it also requires them to dig into the "why" as well. For many years, that was often the big piece of the puzzle that many students were missing and were just in school just to be in school but not really understanding why they were learning what they were learning. Because of this was the main reason that this quote squared with my thinking about the implementation and use of the Common Core State Standards.

Triangle

"When NCLB expectations became the law of the land, there was zero emphasis on writing. Writing was not even mentioned in those mandates. What a reversal! Now, in these new standards, the emphasis on writing standards is parallel to and equal to the emphasis on reading, and furthermore, one can't help but think that reading will be assessed through writing, making writing even more critical." (Calkins, 10)

When I read this quote I initially got excited! Anybody who knows me, knows how passionate I am about writing and why I think it is so important especially with young children. The fact that in the past there was zero emphasis on writing really concerns me on how my generation and the generation before me was taught when the subject of writing was considered. It excites me to know that with these new standards, an emphasis is placed that reading and writing somewhat go hand-in-hand. As Flint says, "Children learn to read and write by reading and writing." Being that I am a Kindergarten teacher and that I plan writing for my team, I am grateful to have been able to engage with the text and understand how to better make use of the standards in the classroom and help my students to understand them as well.

Circle

"Undoubtedly students will need explicit instruction in high-level comprehension. They'll need a repertoire of strategies that undergird these reading skills. They'll need skills broken down into manageable steps, and then they'll need to practice these steps and get expert feedback along the way. They'll need lots of repeated practice, on a variety of texts. As they do this practice, teachers will need assessments that will allow them to carefully calibrate their teaching, to move kids up levels of skill and text difficulty. They'll also need structures that will make reading work visible--structures such as reading partners and clubs, which give students opportunities to have the rich literary conversations about fiction and nonfiction that the standards call for. Teachers will also need to focus on methods of giving feedback while kids are practicing these skills, with gradual release and decreasing scaffolds, to lead students to internalize these skills." (Calkins, 30)

This particular quote still circles around in my head because it describes the methodological process of how to explicitly teach high-level comprehension. Although I agree with the build upon process the author has set in place, that still doesn't lower my anxiety about properly executing this in the classroom. For some reason this year I feel as if I am constantly being observed and instead of focusing on if whether or not what I am doing is truly benefiting students and meeting their needs, I am more focused on "Am I doing this right?" I am working to shift my mindset about this but I can't help but to feel if I am one step off that my students might not fully learn and master all that they need to know before they leave my care and head toward First Grade. Because of this, I am thoroughly excited about continuing to read and learn about how to use the Common Core Standards in an effort to inform my practice and work for the betterment of my students.

April Theory in Practice Connections

April has seen to just come and go! With Spring Break taking up a week of our time together, I was nervous that my students would fall behind in this month, however, they surprised me so much with how far they have come! It's just very rewarding as an educator to see students who came in not even speaking have full on conversations about their learning and being very excited to share what they know to others. I am just honored to have had a helping hand in helping my little people blossom. I think that this month I was trying to make learning as fun and hands-on as possible also while trying to be culturally responsive to my students various backgrounds. I also have been trying to focus more on letting students take control of their own learning. The challenges I have been experiencing is their age level and them not necessarily knowing how to take ownership of their learning and looking to me for directions and answers all at once. I've been attempting to introduce strategies to show them just how powerful they can be even for little people.

I big subject that I really wanted my students to do more of this month was science. As I was going over the standards and everything we've covered so far. I noticed that they have had very little opportunities to really build their scientific thinking and act as scientists so I wanted to make sure that they got the opportunity to do just that.

                                                                

Recording the life cycle of a butterfly                                                        Experimenting with electricity

It was so great really engaging with a topic that they don't get explicitly taught as much and really being interested in the content.

In doing the Digital Storytelling Project, exploring my students' communities was also a big challenge for me as well mainly because my students do not come from the safest of neighborhoods. However, as I reflected when piecing the project together, I really that there are so many strengths that my students possess just by being a resident of their neighborhood and there is also value and knowledge that they bring with them to the classroom as a result of it. I wanted to expand upon this and let my students be able to see themselves and their communities within the realms of our classroom.

                                

I think that our classroom community has grown so much as a result of these projects! I am extremely excited to see how much further we will go together as we continue to learn and grow. By the same token, it saddens me to know that I only have one more month to make a lasting impact on these phenomenal students' lives. I am doing my best to make the most out of my time left with them and can't wait to witness their growth in the end.

March Theory in Practice Connections

March was definitely a month of growth for both myself and my students! I think collectively we learned so much about ourselves and what we could do individually and as a class! I can definitely say that this month was really centered on strategies around building students conceptual knowledge of mathematics as well as get them really thinking about their thinking. I can't believe how far we've come together and yet how close we are to the end. However, considering our late start I think that we've been making remarkable strides.

The biggest challenges that we were seeing in the classroom this month were getting friends to get along with one another and really learn how to show empathy towards each other. I remember discussing in our psychology class about how understanding the feelings and emotions of others can be a difficult trait to grasp for four-year-olds because most of them are still in that preoccupational stage. I really learned to leverage Bailey's text as a guide for a lot of strategies to help my students learn to be caring towards how they make others feel.

I think one of the coolest and most memorable lessons that we had during the month of March was watching my students learn to decompose numbers which I thought would be really difficult for them to grasp at first but they rocked it. I taught them all of the different ways to decompose numbers and then I let them explore with these different methods in their math stations.

They could find it in books!  

Build it!

Make it in the ten-frame!

Draw it on the number line!

And use the geoboards to make it!

Watching my kids actively engage in these math centers made me so very proud to watch! The only thing that didn't go as well as I would have liked for it to was the transition to the different centers the first time we engaged in the activity mainly because they were so eager to try all the centers because they were so excited! However, I can tell that students actually learned from these engagements because the assessments to follow up were remarkable.

      

My little people definitely surprised me with all of the great things that they were able to accomplish in mathematics and the biggest thing that I learned was when work is fun, engaging, relative, and hands-on to students, that is truly when they learn the best and are more likely to retain knowledge. Now my kids can spot the number four out a mile away no matter what form it comes in!

Can't wait to see where April brings us! :-)

Morning Meeting (1-100)

First off, let me start by saying how much I have enjoyed reading this book so far! I was so excited to actually have a copy of this book and to be able to use it because Morning Meeting is an essential part of Pre-K. It not only gives children the opportunity to see value and importance in all of their classmates, but it also really helps students to develop their socioemotional skills.

The author does a great job so far with providing little anecdotal stories throughout the chapters because it really helps you to visualize how this could actually play out in a classroom. I also like the fact that the purpose of each topic is discussed so that the teacher can understand why it is so essential. Including possible questions that may arise for teachers reading the book and providing the answers to each question was extremely helpful especially for somebody like me. However, the true treasure of the book (and yes this is me peeking way ahead) is the appendix provided at the back of the book that gives you boundless resources.

Now I am going to provide some key quotes that really stuck out to me in the book:

Research indicates that educators who establish firm boundaries, foster warm personal relationships in the classroom, and enable students to have an impact on their environment strengthen students' attachment to their school, their positive behaviors. (Elias et al. 1997, 44)

This was one of the first quotes that I definitely wanted to take note of mainly because when I started in my classroom I had to get acquainted with my students and I knew the best way for me to do that was to immediately attempt to form relationships with them. I knew that that a way to do this was through Morning Meeting. It was just really comforting to know that research has been done to prove that by establishing the positive relationships with students it benefits them in more ways than one.

Meetings are rich with opportunities for students to assume responsibility and actively participate. (Kriete, 1999, p. 23)

This quote stood out to me because it was accompanied by a photo of two students up writing on the Morning Message. Reading this quote and looking at the picture just made me think about how the meeting is really less about me and more about students. They should be able to run the entire meeting while the teacher is just there as a facilitator. However, I know that for my kids they would need a lot of modeling and opportunities to practice before they could virtually run the morning meeting with less guidance from me. But, it is a great thought to have in mind for the beginning of the year because you have more time to really teach students how to take ownership of Morning Meeting.

Most teachers find it helpful to have a sign-up system which ensures that each child is a sharer at least once a week. Children sign up to share the day before Meeting or that same morning. Another way is to assign each child a regular day for sharing. (Kriete, 1999, p. 61)

I was sooooo happy to read this!! I have been having a huge issue in my class with children not being able to understand that not everyone will get a chance to share all at once and that we all have to take turns to share. Also, it helped me to consider the children who never get a chance to share at all. I think a sharing sign-up sheet is totally doable for my students. However, I think that the first couple of implementations of this would definitely consist of me assigning children to share for that day. I also do think it could work with students signing up for a day once they understand the method of how signing up works and the guidelines that go with it. I think this idea could be really beneficial for some of my more chatty students and it would also give them a reason behind why they have to take turns sharing.

Younger children tend to blurt out what they need to say when they need to say it. With the help of their teacher, however, they are very able to recognize that some news is serious and demands a different kind of response than other, lighter news.

This quote was very relevant to my classroom setting because my students always tend to blurt out things when students are in mid-sentence of presenting. I have found this to be something very difficult for me to get around during Circle Time. Lately I've been trying to give some students something else related to the topic to discuss while I am talking to the rest of the students about the topic. It seems to have been working in terms of blurting out but I'm not sure if it's really effective in terms of them paying attention. However, I am glad the book touched on this a little. I just wish they would've suggested more resources about how to teach young children to begin to take turns in conversations.

All in all, I have really enjoyed reading the first couple of pages of Morning Meeting and like I stated earlier, I am extremely excited to have the book! The information that I have been discovering from it has been priceless and I cannot wait to see what other considerations are present when thinking about how to facilitate  one of the most important parts of the day.

 

 

February Theory in Practice Connections

February has definitely been such an eye opener for me! I've learned so much about myself and my kids in this short but sweet month (the snow days didn't help much with shortening the month even more lol) All in all, I must say this was a big month for WRITING! I want my students to engage more with pleasure writing so I allowed for them for them to have ample opportunities to write whenever they want and for whatever reason. I really wanted my students to have journals so that I could make free writing easily accessible for them, however, of course my school doesn't have the funds to provide for such a resource (yes this is sarcasm) But despite that, I had to get creative so I made notebooks for my kids using construction paper and by placing writing tablet paper on the inside. I also put my students' names and pictures on the front of them to add its own personalized flare. Students have started off by recording things they learned about in the stories we had been reading:

These writing engagements have been really remarkable to watch and are perfect ways to assess students to see for one, if they were actually interested in the story (because they want to write about it) and for two, whether or not they understood the objective that was at hand.

The Strategies that Work text has been working wonders for me so far and I'm so excited to try out and fail, succeed, and experiment with many more strategies. The ones that were really fun was my first attempts with the List/Group/Label strategy and also the Turn & Talks. At first my kids were really confused as to how to turn and talk to their neighbors but now they seem to really like it and it gives them an opportunity to get those talkative jitters out. 

This month we really talked a lot about Famous African Americans which I thought may have been a difficult concept for my students to grasp but they were so interested and engaged. They didn't know that they, too, could grow up to invent something or be famous for an awesome reason. My goal in the future is to not only talk to them about Famous African Americans during February, but make it an ongoing discussion throughout the year. 

I noticed that a lot of my lows this month were  in mathematical instruction. I'm really excited about diving deep in the Van de Walle text and finding more innovative ways to really effective instruct my students and create an excitement about math for them. 

I also really benefited from reading Conscious Discipline this month and addressing my idea of Positive Intent and what Choices mean in my classroom. In reading these chapters, I found out about a lot of great new ideas that I plan to really try to implement in my classroom to make it a better place for both my students and myself. I'm nervous about entering March mainly because I feel like it's grind time and it's so many things I still haven't covered yet that they need to know before they go to Kindergarten. I feel so much pressure on myself especially for some of my students who are still falling behind a little bit. However, I plan to make the best of this month and learn all I can about my students and ask them about the personal goals that they have for themselves and what they want to learn and try my best to meet those needs so if I am not able to do as much as I wanted to, above all else, I was able to do something that matters to my kids! :-)

January Theory in Practice Connections

Wow! January has been an eventful month to say the least! From being shut down on the first day back due to the icy cold temperatures to explaining to my students where snow comes from, January was definitely a great month to build upon my little ones' exploratory skills!

I think I have grown so much as an educator and am really beginning to feel my way throughout navigating my classroom and helping my students really become comfortable with the classroom setting. I can say that I'm really looking forward to diving into the Morning Meeting book because I feel like my students are starting to get bored with the same routine every day. We greet each other, we go over the months, the days, and we even do some counting and they are just over it! Right now I've just been trying to think of different ways to make it more interesting to them because some of them still haven't mastered these important skills yet and I just want them to be well prepared for Kindergarten. Luckily, I've been very good lately with thinking on my toes so once I notice that the morale is low, I've been trying to spice things up more and make the months seem more interesting than they really are lol

If I had to pick a theme for the month of January I definitely would say that I really keyed in on my students' interests. We have been talking about Wind and Water this month and I was really amazed to see how they could think scientifically and a lot of their thoughts and observations and even the connections they were able to make was just really remarkable to witness

It was really rewarding to me as an educator to hear my students leave from school telling their parents about all of the interesting things that they had learned for that day. I'm really looking forward to continuing to speak with them about things that matter to them and finding ways to incorporate those things into my lessons.

In terms of progress with my students, I would say writing has been one of their most improved area collectively and they also really enjoy it. I was already proud to see that almost all of my students are able to identify their names but now it's even better to see many of them try to write it! 

At the end of the day, I think little moments like Malik being so excited that he can finally identify that little letter between the "l" and the "k" in his name that had been troubling him or moments when Marley can literally retell the entire story to his classmates with supporting details without assistance from the teacher really make being not only an educator, but an educator of little people so much more worth it. I'm looking forward to seeing what February brings & I can't wait to talk about African Americans who have made strides in history to my students! :-)

Ladybugs, Tornadoes, and Swirling Galaxies Ch. 8-10

SQUARE:

“Our ELLs have been really successful when given access to a variety of strategies to communicate, and art is a great way for them to express their ideas. This is particularly true for emergent writers. Although their vocabulary and grammar may not yet be as sophisticated as it is in their native language, they are able to add to the words by using art as a means of communication” (Burhow and Garcia, 2006, p. 106)

This text really squared with my thinking because from my experiences with English Language Learners I have noticed that art is the best way for them to communicate themselves because even though we may not verbally say the same things, we visually see the same things. I have found this to be an awesome means of communication for me and my ELL students and even some times when they are saying something to me that I cannot quite decipher, I then draw a picture on a sheet of paper and allow them to engage in a back and forth pictorial conversation with me.

TRIANGLE:

“Instead of lists of vocabulary words or labels of innate objects, we use content-based word walls with images. These thematic words walls are often very useful for new English speakers. Instead of thinking of them as isolated vocabulary words, imagine a mural of exquisite art. Each and every piece is interrelated and creates a mosaic on the classroom wall that is useful and purposeful. Word walls based on the theme of study for a specific unit help children access new and prior schema, which allows them to write about what they know or what they are learning” (Burhow and Garcia, 2006, p. 133)

I really love this idea! In thinking about the quote that squared with my thinking, this one really pointed me in a new direction because by interrelating everything in our lesson while simultaneously including the use of pictures could create so much meaning for my students. The thing that I really like about this text is because the techniques are not only beneficial to my ELL students, but they are also beneficial to the class as a whole. Considering the fact that I teach Pre-Kindergarten students, I really see how a lot of the things that are discussed in the text coincide with strategies that can be beneficial for emergent learners as well.

CIRCLE:

“Differentiating instruction takes place in every classroom; however, in  a classroom where there are ELLs, two kinds of differentiation must take place: for complexity of content and for complexity of language. One easy way to facilitate this is to keep blocks of time open for inquiries” (Burhow and Garcia, 2006, p. 140)

While reading this quote, a lot of thoughts were still circling in my head. Although I think that this is an awesome idea and something very critical to consider during instruction, I am still wondering about how I can actually implement this in my classroom. I have no doubt that considering both these aspects while differentiating instruction can be accomplished; however, I think just the juggling act of it all and remembering to consider both content and language simultaneously during instruction will definitely be something that I will have to navigate through. All in all, I think that I am up for the challenge!

November Theory in Practice Connections

Wow! I cannot believe November has come and left! It seemed so very short of a month mainly because Pre-K had a week long break from school (which was much needed lol). Besides that, November was an extremely transformational month for me! I started out with one group of students and transitioned to a totally new batch toward the end of the month! My TiP connections consisted of tracking my "highs" and "lows" with both groups of students. I noticed from recording these that although my classrooms had changed, my patterns within a classroom setting were still very similar!

I'll begin with my lows... I noticed that a lot of the moments where I noted my lows were during Morning Meeting! I didn't understand how one of my favorite parts of the instructional day was such a low point for me during the month of November! The more that I looked over my reflections I noticed two things were missing: classroom culture being established and routines!

Thinking back to Becky Bailey's Conscious Discipline, I really was starting to see the negative effects of not starting the day off on a positive note and allowing children that down time to really get settled in for the day's lesson. 

“To build a school family you must focus on the following: physical environment, social environment, school routines, rituals, rules, and expectations” (Bailey, 2000, p. 60)

This quote became very evident to me in both classes and I was able to note why I was noticing so many lows during Morning Meeting and it was because I had not yet began building our school family and Morning Meeting is the perfect place to see that flourish.

As far as my highs go, I noticed that the trend that I saw across the board was really giving the children exciting and engaging lessons to look forward to. All of the lessons, read alouds, and activities in which I incorporated my students interests and/or a real world aspect to seemed to really make a difference in whether or not they cared about what I was teaching. All of these activities went so well mainly because students felt like they were in their natural element of discovery and I think that was really important for them. 

“We are learning all the time, so anything we engage in we learn about- provided we are interested and not confused. How they learn and what exactly they learn depends on whom they are doing these things with and on their perception of themselves and of what they are learning about” (Smith, 1998, p. 56-57)

This quote was very evident in my classroom through these activities were students interests were really valued and the objective was not overwhelming or confusing for students. 

All in all, I feel as if I have grown so much and really learned a lot about myself in the month of November. I've noticed the things that I am really great at and the things that I still need to continue to work on. I really love reflecting back on the month because even though day-to-day I might not always be able to see the progress being made by students, reflecting back always shows you how much not only have your students grown but yourself as well. I'm really looking forward to ending this year strong and taking on whatever new challenges the new year brings!

Ladybugs, Tornadoes and Swirling Galaxies Part 2

Let me start off by saying that this section of Ladybugs, Tornadoes, and Swirling Galaxies really captivated me! It was such a pleasure to read more about Brad and Amy's classroom and all of the wonderful things they are doing to implement skills into their students. Every time I read some new information from this text it really hits home for because I teach a large percentage of English Language Learners. I really liked how the authors helped me think about questioning and how that looks for kids. Buhrow and Garcia discussed how questioning is the catalyst for inquiry and gave examples of ways to help children question and how to note take. This is a strategy that I most recently tried with my students and for some reason it didn't go well. After reading the text, I know that reason is probably because the way that I framed some of my questions was difficult for students to think of their own (mainly since they haven't had much practice). I really like the idea of having a "I learned, I wonder" type of question based chart rather than the typical KWL chart. The main reason why I really thought the charts that Brad and Amy use in their classrooms might work in mine is because they integrate tons of pictures during their questioning and I didn't have any, I just used my words.

On top of the things that really squared with my thinking, there were several other aspects that pointed my thinking in a new direction as well:

"Kid generated word walls give kids more access to meaningful print" (Buhrow & Garcia, 2006, p. 81)

I absolutely loved this when I saw it and I cannot believe that I haven' thought to do this sooner! I truly believe that allowing the students to become more involved in their classroom that they really will begin to take ownership of their learning. I think something like this could work perfectly for all Pre-K teachers because they could get the students to draw pictures of the words that describe the theme for that week and the teacher can simply just label them.

Some Scaffolding Strategies for Inquiry Projects 
Drawing first
Lines for words
Scribing
Word wall
Compelling images
Modeling
(Buhrow & Garcia, 2006, p.83)

I think a lot of the strategies that the authors suggest are ones that I was trying before but I had no idea that I was helping to develop my students' inquiry based skills. I definitely would like to implement the use of lines for words because I think that would be extremely beneficial to Pre-K students. I recently tried an unsuccessful lesson using a KWL chart and I believe that my lesson would have went much more smoother had I had compelling images.

"By giving them the opportunity to choose we are giving them the opportunity to think and to explore what is relevant and pertinent to them. This drives their learning, and rarely do we find that kids are distracted or bored when they are working on something that they've chosen." (Buhrow & Garcia, 2006 p. 93)

I recently liked the fact the authors pointed this out because oftentimes children are bombarded with tasks that they do not care about and end up involved in other activities that will spark their interests. I think in a classroom where children are in charge of their own learning then it makes it way more easier for teachers to provide proper scaffolding because they are not as focused on the negative behaviors in the classroom.

In conclusion, of course with all great things there comes a few things that still float around in your head. Although I love everything that Brad and Amy are implementing in their classroom, I can't help but wonder how feasible is this really. It seems like the author's classroom is a set up where the children are very much in charge of what they are learning and how they are creating it. I guess my question now is in a place where standards and formal instruction takes precedence over exploratory learning, how do we balance and find that happy medium? I am excited about trying out a lot of the strategies that Brad and Amy use especially since they can really aid me in fostering the growth of my English Language Learners. I am just going to keep remembering the question of who holds the power in my classroom and continue to stay true to my answer: children.

Responses:

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October Theory in Practice Connections

Man oh man! October has truly been a roller coaster ride for me! Although I have only had three weeks to get to know my students, I have learned so much about them in such a short period of time. Looking over my Theory in Practice connections, the main patterns that I see during my highs is that I have the best days when my students are actively engaged in the lesson and are able to be very hands-on during the lesson. Many of my students are still four-years-old so I definitely had to reference back to Chip Woods' Yardsticks to re-learn four-year-olds and the best practices for them in my classroom.

In our Child Development course, we talked a lot about Piaget and his theory about children and the way that they develop. I learned that the vast majority of students in my class are still in the preoperational stage of development and have a very hard time seeing a perspective other than their own. This explains why so many incidents in my class have been due to students having a lack of empathy for their classmates because they haven't  quite developed to that stage yet. It was so very interesting to try out the Piagetian tasks with my students and be able to see where they were in the developmental continuum.

A lot of my lows for this month consist of classroom management issues. I'm not sure if it is because my students have not been properly introduced to the classroom rules or if they still aren't used to me yet but for whatever reason, I have been having a bit of difficulty trying to manage my classroom. I must say that Conscious Discipline has helped me a lot in thinking about how to keep my composure in the classroom and ways to approach managing my classroom better.

Despite all of the challenges that I have faced so far in the classroom, I have so many things to celebrate! One of my ELLs who first had a lot of difficulty recognizing and writing letters can now recognize the letters in her name and write them!
                        
 
My students are learning how to cooperatively work together and how each person has something valuable to add to the class!
                   

And also, they are making strides in their writing and coming along so very well in the writing process!!

                           

Looking at all of the things that I have to celebrate in short a short period of time gives me hope for how much more I will be able to accomplish in the future. I'm exciting to keep getting to know my students and keep seeing them grow in all aspects of learning. Also, I'm looking forward to seeing the growth that I am going to make as an educator and all of the memories I'm getting ready to make with the awesome students of Pre-K 3! :-)