It's Not All That.....

    I work in a smallish/medium sized urban school district. In recent years, the school budget has been cut so to eliminate instructional technology teachers and the staff holding up the technology infrastructure hangs on by their collective teeth. We are not an affluent community; no PTO is holding a raffle to raise funds for Smartboards or laptops or anything else as a matter of fact. The not-a-recession has hit this community - and thereby the budgets - fairly hard.In my own classroom, I have one old iMac "jellybean". It no longer gets operating system updates or browser updates. CDs make an interesting hum when spinning in the drive. The "teacher/desk" computer is 2 years old; I've taken it off my desk so the kids - all 24 -- can be a crack at using it in the classroom. For my own technology use, I brought in my old (6 years) Dell laptop. Because it is my own personal property, the District won't allow it to access the school network or the Internet.Getting the picture? Technology just isn't pretty in this urban district.I used to feel pretty sorry about this, but an article in the Times and Boston Globe this weekend is causing me to rethink. Here is a link to the Times article about a Silicon Valley School where technology is not part of the infrastructure of a student's learning.Think about it. When do you use technology? Is it a tool for getting work done? Or is it entertainment/edutainment?I think there's probably room for both types of applications in education. And while I certainly would appreciate having some hardware that wasn't purchased before my students were born, maybe the application of technology needs a revisit.  

The Layered On Effect

Maybe this post needs a subtitle: Right hand, please call the left hand!Yesterday my colleagues and I spent the day in training for a new program being used in third and fourth grade - Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading. From what I can see, the program has many merits. And of course, there's the little matter of students and science instruction.For many years - I'm going to say 8 or 9 now - our elementary schools have been without a science specialist to help guide teachers and students in teaching science.Those positions were eliminated during budget cutting - along with library and computer specialists in the latest round of fiscal roulette. With state standardized testing in Middle School showing our kids' science test scores in the toilet (can we all say a big DUH here?), there is a renewed interest in teaching science in the late elementary grades.All good, right?Here's the challenge. There is no time in the day to implement this program unless we are allowed to give something up - isn't that always the way? 90 minutes of reading instruction + 90 minutes of mathematics instruction + 60 minutes of writing workshop and don't forget breakfast, lunch, recess, specials and Morning Meeting. Where will new hour for science come from?fI can see a couple of options - but for every option tossed on the table for discussion, there is an alternate roadblock. If we take time from math or reading instruction or writing instruction, our students will most likely lose some of the gains we have made. The new program is developed in such a way that I don't believe it will fit into the structure of Daily Five - something I'm committed to philosophically AND pedagogically.Will this program become just another layer of stuff we are required to do? I hope not. What I do know is that I can't cram another hour into a school day without something giving.Hopefully it won't be my sanity that gives.

Will I Ever Learn Not To Read the Sun?

The local newspaper, the Lowell Sun, seems to just love to stir up the locals  by telling about half the story - if that.Normally I don't read this rag - reading inflammatory and sensationalized news is not how I care to spend my reading time. However, this morning, we were having a discussion about who was running for elected office in Lowell (outsider, can't vote, but still interested); I heard that there were candidate statements on the Sun's website and went searching for them.However, I was stopped by an article claiming that the UTL - the local teachers' union to which I belong - had categorically rejected a 3% raise offer made by the school committee at the last negotiation session. I stopped dead in my tracks as I read the anonymous contribution by a school committee member who a) asked to remain anonymous and b) was violating executive session by speaking to a reporter.What kind of a moral compass must someone have when that same person has agreed to the rules of executive session, but violates that trust by speaking to a reporter and "sharing" -- by sharing I mean telling only the part of the story that makes one look good to the electorate? Is there an agenda here?The Sun tried to get a comment from the UTL  president who took the moral high ground and would not comment. The reporter also asked another school committee member who also refused comment citing executive session. Thank goodness for people who operate under acceptable behaviors and do not hide behind "anonymous" super secret conversations with a reporter.As a union member, I know that this is not about money alone. That much has been shared with the general membership. There are other issues - issues that probably wouldn't sit too well with the regular Sun readers if their employer tried to pull the same stunts. But I do not know the exact conversations - I am not a negotiating member, am not privy to detailed conversations held under executive session, and even if I were, I would not stoop to violating those executive session expectations.Too bad anonymous didn't have the intestinal fortitude to say what they wanted to say without the cloak of anonymity.The local paper posts what suits them in order to sell newspapers.  Their agenda is their agenda. And I don't have to read it - even online. Will I ever learn that?

Yet another foray into the medical labrynith

It's a time of year that I dread and a time that is necessary. I am a breast cancer survivor. A yearly mammogram is not an option, it is a necessity. Some bean-counter in a medical or insurance facility, far far removed from real humans can designate my mammogram as a "screening" all they want. It is a stress-filled hour when I relive the moments 20 years ago when I first learned my body had betrayed me. For me, it is an hour of fear.I rely on the reassurance of that first radiologist reading to quell the demons that cause my mind to race ahead with the what-ifs. What if they find something? What if it IS cancer again? What if I have to endure chemo again? What if I don't make it? Maybe this is self-indulgent. It is what it is on mammogram day.This year, the empathetic technologist offered that I could wait - even though I was "just" a screening - for the radiologist to read the mammogram. I understood that waiting would mean that there could be others ahead of me; I had a book, no problem. She even came into the waiting area about 15 minutes later to tell me that there were a couple of people ahead of me. "Not a problem" I responded.Imagine my surprise 5 minutes later when another technician - who seemed to be overseeing the Friday afternoon events, asked me to step into a next door room. With her finger shaking at me, she told me I shouldn't even be there, that I might have to wait another 45 minutes. There were people ahead of me. If you've ever been called into the principal's office, you know exactly how I was feeling.I explained I understood that, I had no intention of bumping other patients and I didn't mind waiting. Apparently that was not satisfactory because the next thing I was told was that it was late, the facility was closing soon and that my mammogram may not even be read. I shouldn't bother waiting. Has the medical world changed so drastically that even the doctor is "on the clock"?This insensitive woman then went on to lecture me about making my appointments early in the week and early in the day. That did it.I cannot come during the day, I teach. I also don't care to have anyone outside of my family speculating about my personal health issues (already experienced that when I was on chemo) so I do NOT make medical appointments during the school day.The fact is, my original mammogram - the one when the cancer was found - happened in June, right after school had gone on hiatus. Due to our crack medical system in this country - the one where yearly means 365 days + 1 and where diagnostic facilities are so overloaded that you cannot schedule appointments conveniently, my "yearly" mammogram has slipped from year to year until it is now 3 months later.So when I get accused of princessing up because of the time of my appointment interferes with getting the weekend started, I take offense. Lucky for me, my internal medicine doctor is in the same building. I was able to walk up to the office and, reduced to tears and barely able to speak, told my story.I hate that my one bout with serious illness has changed me so that every change in health, every "routine" diagnostic sends me into a panic.Is it possible that our country's medical system has become so insensitive that professionals on the front lines become so concerned about quitting times, that they don't notice the human in front of them.Has the US healthcare system been given the assembly-line, CEO, best business practices overhaul? I am afraid of the answer.

Opening the Newspaper Can Hazardous to Your (Mental) Health

Caught a news article in today's Boston Globe - which you may or may not be able to read depending on whether or not the Globe is instituting its $16-a-month subscription fee.  Here it is, just in case: State aims to test its youngest students (October 2, 2011).I'm relieved to hear that this is not an "early MCAS", that kindergarten students won't be tossed out of kindergarten (really? that was on someone's radar?), that Kindergarten students won't have to fill in bubble sheets or write essays.  If the Globe article is correct, the assessment will be used to determine what resources early childhood students may need. And while this is laudable, I agree with the Boston Public Schools director of Early Childhood education - we already assess students quite a lot - in Boston's case, there are 14 other assessments; is there really a need for another? It appears the answer is in making the state eligible for grant funding offered through RTT.... hmmm, is that reason enough to put 5-year-olds through another battery of tests?The Globe article continues to point out that 3rd grade MCAS scores are flat; that scores in high-poverty cohorts haven't improved much.  Well, there's a shock; and here's a factor that won't require anyone to test a 5-year old. Poverty and the traumas students deal with are a gigantic factor in whether or not students in the urban school districts cited as not performing can test as well as more affluent peers.You see, when you come to school hungry you can't think. When your family has been kicked out of your apartment, when the power is turned off, when the world around you is one big sh**storm, you probably won't do well on a standardized test. Dare I say that test-taking may not be the most important part of your day?Until we get serious about providing a social safety net for those who are most vulnerable, you can test kindergarteners, third graders and any one else you want. The results will be the same - and all that will be accomplished is that a company who writes and provides scoring for a test will get rich.

Let's Toss All the Balls in the Air

Last week, we created our last I-Chart; the one for Listen to Reading. So now we have all the components of the Daily Five in place. It's an exciting yet frightening time .It has not always been smooth sailing. I find I have to keep pinching myself as a reminder that one of the most important parts of the Daily Five is that the responsibility for our classroom environment, for developing independent learners, is for me to give up control. Kind of a challenge for an obsessive, compulsive control-freak.This week I'm identifying some of my barometer kids - I have 3 - those kids who have difficulty maintaining stamina and who need to build their independence with smaller steps. Each of these children have difficulty throughout the day with attending/listening; their hands are always in motion (I've never seen a third grader disassemble a pencil sharpener before!). This is going to be a challenge.Now with all the components in place, it is a matter of logistics -though  my students concept of time is somewhat off reality. What some students feel is about 20 minutes - the time I would ideally like them to spend Reading to Self each day - falls somewhat short; the students like to move through all five choices. We are working through the intermediate Daily Five structure and some days there isn't enough time to complete 5 activities.What is gratifying is to have students choose to read, choose to write. There is a subtle change in attitude that makes all the hard work we have been doing to build independence worthwhile.  There is a lot of work we have to do yet, but the Daily Five is making a positive difference in transferring the responsibility for learning to my students.

Whew - 4 down one to go

We are still laying down the routines and expectation for the Daily Five. Here's how my morning goes: Get up (usually before the alarm), start coffee, sit down with my laptop, check email (and Facebook, okay I admit I'm addicted) and then watch one of the Sister's videos on the Daily Cafe website.Most of my students - with the exception of two who are exceptional in that they have significant developmental delays - are able to sustain 15 minutes of Read to Self  followed by 15 minutes of Writing.  I don't suppose it is that unusual at this point in the year to find my students can sustain stamina for nearly 30 minutes for the first choice session, but the stamina in the second choice session  is about 2/3 of that.There are a few glitches. I can hear my students using Check for Understanding when they Read to Someone. But the voice levels are so loud - or at least I think they are. Coming from a background in constructivist mathematics where the classroom can be a noisy place, I am torn about stopping and restarting the students - they are talking on topic after all.Next week we will add Listen to Reading -- without the benefit of a listening center. (shameless plug: I've written a proposal on Donorschoose.org if you are feeling supportive). We will be using our boombox for that... wish us luck!What I am seeing is a powerful transfer of responsibility to my students. They are starting to feel empowered by choosing what they will work on. And I am delighted that I was able to give a complete Fountas & Pinnell benchmark test without waving off at least one student who didn't know what to do next and who wanted to interrupt me.I think we're getting somewhere.  

Stamina

I've been working - really working - at the conferencing table for the last several session of D5 choice. Up until this point, I have been "fake working" -- monitoring students without their knowledge -- so as to regroup if and when stamina for an activity is broken. We are nearly pros with Read to Self now and becoming much more independent with Writing; just a few missteps in the ""work quietly" department.Word Work is still a work in progress as is Read to Someone. The kids are getting very accustomed to setting their goals for independently working (hurrah!) and are starting to verbalize why we do what we do in the classroom (extra hurrah).When I hear other educators talk about the Daily Five, it is often said that D5 is simply an organizational structure. Well, yes, there is that aspect. However, for me, the beauty, the benefit of working with this structure is the explicit guide for creating independent students - students who become responsible learners.It is not enough for students to comply in school just because teacher "said so." Think about it: when you were a kid, you were probably often told to just do something. When you didn't understand the point of the activity or the routine, did you find it easy to remember and to comply? I didn't.Building stamina for independence has been a painfully slow process. It is natural to want to get the show on the road, to be able to get in the routines of the day - all of them - as quickly as possible.Independent habits of mind take time. We are building our stamina this year and already the payback is becoming obvious.

D5 One Day at a Time

We have been in session with our students for 3 days now. At one point yesterday afternoon I came to the realization that these third graders are funny and likeable and want to learn. Being somewhat superstitious I'm a little nervous about saying that out loud so early, but there you go.We started our journey with the Daily Five on our very first day of school - just like the Sisters advocate.  I picked out one of my favorite read alouds, Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems and began by asking students about the ways they thought this book could be read. That resulted in a blank look that telegraphed, "Lady, if you don't know how to read a book, we've got a big problem here."It took some coaxing, but we finally came up with 2 bullet items to add to our anchor chart. We tried reading the pictures for Knuffle Bunny first and then I modeled reading the words. I have quite a few students for whom reading is a challenge, the permission to read by pictures gave them a sense of accomplishment -- just as the Sisters said it would.We continued building the anchor chart for 3 Ways to Read on the second day of school by adding "Retelling the story".  We've been talking about good fit books and will continue to develop that concept over the next week.Working on developing the I-Chart for "Read to Self" was quite an eye-opening experience for me. It took a bit of coercing to get kids to realize that reading to yourself can be fun -- but it also makes you smarter.  That's a term I use a lot with my students as I am a big proponent of using attribution theory in developing habits of mind for effective effort. So instead of "becoming a better reader", I've tweaked the sense of urgency to get smarter by reading.As teachers, I think we assume that children intuit that we are working hard when they are working hard. my students had absolutely no clue what I might be doing while they were reading to self... really.  Blank stares followed by tentative guesses that I might be walking around the room.  So we stopped and took the opportunity to talk about teachers listening to students read, coaching students to improve their reading, and meeting with a small group.I've paid close attention to the purposeful use of a good model and a  not-good model of nearly every routine we are working on. What a powerful way to get my barometer kids to buy in to successfully participating in focused and meaningful reading activities!I find it is challenging to resist the urge to just dive into a fully developed schedule; I want to get everything rolled out all at once, but I know that doesn't work. This year as I implement the Daily Five more purposefully, I am resisting the urge to rush building stamina and go right to sustaining a block of reading for 15 minutes. I learned from experience last year that even though I felt like the kids could sustain their attention, in reality, they could not. We're up to 5 minutes as of today; five minutes when they are truly independent, when they are truly employing those 3 ways to read a book, 5 minutes when they are totally ignoring me because they are focused on reading. Awesome!So far.... so good.

What Matters

It is terribly difficult to keep one's focus on the things that are important - the "prime directive" for those of us who grew up on Star Trek - no matter what your profession.For me, the prime directive is to encourage children to be curious, to encourage them to take learning risks, to encourage them to love learning new things, whether or not those things are academic. In current times, education has taken on an air of desperation as policy makers try to jam every child into a one-size-fits all curriculum. What we gain in test scores, we lose in creative possibility.  But I digress.How easy it is to lose sight of what is important! We have been in school (officially) 2 days and here it is, the morning of the 3rd day (4:30 in the morning to be accurate). So far the things that are occupying my mind are schedules, logistics, paper management, and directives. "When your up to your ass in alligator, it is hard to remember your original objective was to drain the swamp." I don't know who said that originally, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was a teacher during the first week of school.Before any magic can take place in my classroom, I need to put aside these distractions. The outside influences that are impeding what I would like to accomplish - my prime directive - need to be shut out.Energize.

August 27, 1979

They say it's your birthday..... click the picture:I will resist doing this: Angel Birthday Boy.  Happy Birthday Matt! You are one heck of a good guy!

Ramping Up For the Re-Entry

My colleagues and I were taking a break from dusting, washing, organizing and throwing yesterday to commiserate on what every educator knows is true: if you don't get some stress-related malady just as school is starting, you must not be paying attention.  Hello insomnia.I used to feel like I had some character flaw because this happens to me every year. But my first year in public education, when my new principal - who had 25 years of administration experience AND classroom experience on top of that - openly admitted at Staff Orientation that she never sleeps the "night before", it was somehow comforting. Maybe this behavior is normal after all.Holding on to a more relaxed summer lifestyle is not easy to let go of. No matter how much I promise myself - and my spouse - the craziness starts up the minute I start working on my classroom. Some people buy new shoes, new clothes, new school supplies. I buy melatonin in the hope that I'll sleep through the night. Never works.Law and Order at 3 anyone?  

The Grand Plan

I broke down today and started to work on a room arrangement.  I am planning on 24 kids - already have 23 on the roster - and have a contingency for a 25th.Here are some "before" shots from last June:Step one was to move shovemy desk out of the way. I have a large, desk with anequally large return; thankfully it is not attached! I have rotated the return around so that that kids have access to the knee hole. On top of this space I've put a 24-slot letter sorter we use for "mailboxes" and the shiny new iMac that actually runs the web-based programs our district subscribes to. I'm kind of happy with this arrangement already. The mailboxes are inside the classroom space now and not at the doorway causing a logjam. They are lower so the kids should be able to access them. And the computer is now easily accessed by students.I have an old(er) Dell laptop that I have replaced with a personal netbook. I willhopefully gain permission from the computer network gatekeepers to access the internet from within our school's firewall - which will allow me to do what I need to do assessment and data-wise, unplug the laptop and bring it home to continue my school tasks.  We'll see how long it takes to get all of that permitted.I've also flipped where the classroom library was located to the front of the room. My classroom is at a junction point for 2hallways - it is often noisy - which means it is distracting to put the reading conferencing space and/or student tables in that vicinity. I placed the shelves to create a kind of barrier which I hope will insulate us a bit from the hallway noise.  This is also where the gathering space is for whole group lessons.Finally, I've decided to group my students in 6's - not because that's such an ideal number for cooperative learning, but because there will be less real estate involved with the desks when we get down to 4 groupings.Now to work on the tossing; after sending out an all-school message, I got a taker for the table I wanted to get rid of. Next up is to get the TV cart moved in to storage and clear off the countertops. Once that is accomplished, I can bring in my plants and lamps -- and some other homey touches. I've even located some fire retardant valances on the web. Things are starting to come together.Yardsale anyone?

Another Look at the Daily Five and Math

How does that saying go? If you're not green and growing, you're rip and rotten. One of the key components of the Daily Five - teaching learners to be independent - is not only appealing, but imperative. After some false starts last year (based on my reading of both the D5 and Cafe books), I attended a Daily Five workshop. And the whole thing is becoming less muddled.Typically, my students don't do well with a million and one different teaching models thrown at them. We already have a Launch-Explore-Summary model in place for our mathematics instruction. There is a great need for small group/individualized math conferencing and intervention, particularly this year when we transition from the Massachusetts 2004/2009 Frameworks to the Massachusetts version of the Common Core Curriculum. There will be gaps, that is certain.To address both the transition to a new curriculum and my students' need for consistency, I have decided to make a go at implementing a Daily Five model during mathematics instruction. What are the five areas going to be? Well, here's what my current thinking is:

• Exploration activities based on the launched mini lesson (a "must" do)
• Strategy Activities. Through the use of games and other constructive activities, students will address computational and conceptual gaps.
• Problem Solving. All of my students, but particularly second language learners need practice in the structure of problem solving situations. This will be a weekly assignment with time built into our schedule for students to discuss how they solved the problem (rigor! perseverance!)
• Basic Fact Games/Practice
• Technology Tool (a chance to use the accompanying programs for our math program OR the interventions found in the Galileo program).

I'll need a minimum of 85 minutes; 90-100 would be better. That means getting back to class and started on our mathematics work right after recess. Hopefully the stamina-building and direct instruction in expectations for independence will give us greater success. On paper it looks do-able, in reality - I am hoping so.

Planning out the block comes next.  Suggestions welcome.

Purpose

What is my purpose in life?I was asked that question recently and my white glare honest answer is, I'm still working to uncover that answer. My purpose has been defined differently at every stage of my life.At different times, my purpose has been defined by different roles: daughter, sister, wife, mother.  Each role carries a separate purpose.  Supporter, caregiver, even pain in the ass. For my family, my purpose is often to be historian; my deep obsession with family history leads me to honor and respect those who came before. It connects me with the history of our country and our world. It causes me to pause, to wonder at the hardships endured so that I could be here in this place at this time.Professionally, my purpose also has evolved over time and again has been dependent upon my role. I've taught every grade level from Pre-K through 12th grade.Currently, my purpose is intertwined with my role as a third grade teacher in an urban school. For me, my purpose in the classroom carries the responsibility of opening minds to possibilities, to embrace discovery of something new, to discovering that as a learner, you are far more capable than anyone had imagined. To love learning and creating and finding your way - not without false starts and missteps, and not without learning from those missteps.Not without having some fun either. To take pride in what has been accomplished; to ignore those who say "you can't" . To know that smart is what you are when you work hard... not what you were born with.My purpose in life, my mission, is to guide learners to these ends. Surely there is no test for this, no measure. The pursuit of such overtakes my life, not just 10 months of the year, but all twelve. It is critical. It is important.It is my passion.

Classroom Reorg: Making Our Space Less Cluttered

I've been spending a bit of time thinking about what the physical atmosphere and arrangement of the classroom projects.  I am a packrat. There, I've said it. I saved egg cartons - must have had to toss about 50 of them when we moved 16 years ago - knowing in my teacher brain that I "might need these some day." Well, someday never came.As much as I would like to make the classroom into a homey place, I worry about the wisdom of bringing upholstered furnishings into a space and risk bedbugs or other interesting things. Fire inspectors tell us that only 50 percent of our wall surfaces (or is it 20?) can be covered - and nothing within X feet of a door. Sprucing up foggy plexiglass windows with a window valance is out of the question.Even so, there are things I can take control of. I have a concern that a cluttered classroom translates into a chaotic message for students who are easily distracted. I understand that there have been rules created to ensure teachers have equitable access to equipment -our Union book spells out some of this. But an overhead and extra cart in the room - I don't use this any longer as we recently obtained projection equipment - just takes up space.Here are some of the things I am considering:

• Clear the countertops as much as possible. Use the surfaces for displaying special literature or projects.
• Using the "return" on my desk for the students' mailbox center and for the newer computer. Where will all that "stuff" on the return go? I am rehabbing a 4-drawer file cabinet which I'd like to use to get stuff of the surface areas.
• Get rid of the rectangular reading table. I have a round reading table that can be used for conferences or listening or what-have-you. I want to conference right at the student's desk or read in small groups in a rug area.
• Put the television in storage. The cart it sits on must take up 6 square feet.
• Throw, recycle, sell - get rid of any personal teaching material that doesn't support the current framework or hasn't been used in more than 2 years.

This year I will be sharing my space with at least one - possibly two - SpEd/ health paraprofessionals and some medical equipment for one of my new students. It is not only a nicety that the room becomes less cluttered, it is imperative. There may be decisions to be made about where adults put personal "stuff" and how much can or cannot be in the room. That will most likely not be met with enthusiasm.Time to roll up sleeves and get cracking.

Aug 9: A Rembrance

August 9, is the anniversary of my Dad's death. If he were still with us today, he would have been 93.My Dad fought a long, hard and brave fight against COPD and emphysema. He had been a smoker - first cigarettes, then cigars and pipes. I once heard him express regret over smoking, but the 1930s and 40s were a different time.  It never came up, but I would bet money that he would have been sorely upset if any of us had taken up smoking.He didn't talk much about his childhood. His own mother died when he was nine so he didn't talk much about his own childhood. But once in a while - especially when my aunt, his older sister visited, family stories would creep out. He (and she) signed their own report cards. His family went on a camping trip in the early 1920s to Gettysburg, where his grandfather had fought, and to Washington, DC. He sat in one of the chairs in the White House.He loved chocolate - and I think may have genetically passed that on to all four of us. He could fix just about anything; that's something he did not pass on. He couldn't spell, but he could burp "oh baby".  An excellent driver, I don't believe he ever had an accident; all the dings in his cars in the late 1960s - those were from me.When my Dad died in 2004, one of my friends told me that there won't be a day that passes when you won't miss him.  She was right. Especially today.

Words of Encouragement & SOS Rally

Underneath all of the coverage of the debt crisis was another important event that really needs some attention: the Save Our Schools rally in Washington DC over the weekend. Stakeholders in public education got to listen to and rally around some educational heavy-hitters - Diane Ravitch, Jonathan Kozol and others whose writings and voices I admire. They have the fortitude to call public education - or what passes for it - on the carpet and not worry about jumping in to the fray.One speechmaker that surprised me - not because I didn't think he was thoughtful enough for it - was Matt Damon. That's right. Matt Damon the actor, writer and pride of Boston (Cambridge really, but we won't worry about ZIP codes here).How proud his mom, Lesley College educator, Nancy Carlson-Paige must have felt to hear Matt talk so poignantly about the impact teachers made on his life. Teachers who did not have to worry about whether or not the single-shot, high stakes test scores that we live with now would measure whether or not they were effective educators of children. They provided students with opportunities to express themselves creatively, to learn about the world, and to learn to love learning. Can we say the same happens now?Maybe it was the turning of the calendar to August when thoughts turn to preparing for the upcoming school year, but I personally really needed to hear these words:

So the next time you’re feeling down, or exhausted, or unappreciated, or at the end of your rope; the next time you turn on the TV and see yourself called “overpaid;” the next time you encounter some simple-minded, punitive policy that’s been driven into your life by some corporate reformer who has literally never taught anyone anything. ... Please know that there are millions of us behind you. You have an army of regular people standing right behind you, and our appreciation for what you do is so deeply felt. We love you, we thank you and we will always have your back.

So if you live with, know, appreciate or support a public educator or someone working in public education, speak up. We need to know that once in a while, we get it right.To read Matt Damon's speech in its entirety, here's a link.

Common Core and Clarity

The Massachusetts Common Core Curriculum implementation starts this coming school year.  As a District Team, we've looked at how the standards are expressed with increased attention to Focus, Coherence, Clarity and Rigor.  In Lowell, we began our look at the new standards by defining exactly what these four terms mean. One idea that has stuck with me as we work on preparing materials for our colleagues is that  the standards are not "intended to be new names for old ways of doing business. They are a call to take the next step...."Where this becomes apparent is in looking at clarity as applied to the Common Core. I've been taking these standards apart since early June now, and each time it amazes me at how clearly each grade levels' responsibilities for student learning is spelled out.As a Third Grade example, our former Frameworks (2000, 2004) 3.N.10 asks students to "Add and subtract (up to four-digit numbers) and multiply (up to t2o-digit numbers by a one-digit number) accurately and efficiently".  This standard corresponds to the Common Core 3.NBT.2, "Fluently add and subtract within 1,000 using strategies and algorithms based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction."For me the new standard is truly packed with specifics. Fluently add should mean that no matter what the strategy, students can perform the operation without hesitation.Using strategies and algorithms based on place value does not mean the standard algorithm -- in fact the standard algorithm does not become specified until later grade levels (Grades 4 & 5).  What this standards tells us - clearly - is that all students need to be able to perform addition and subtraction within the thousands place using relationships - such as friendly number strategies - or using a process reliant on place value (decomposing and then adding partial sums for instance).While we may have students who are ready to record these problems using a standard algorithm, unless the student thoroughly understands and can explain the use of the standard algorithm - thereby demonstrating that the student is ready to use a standard algorithm - the student should use some other process for computation. Blindly applying a process without the knowledge of the what and why is no longer accepted.To me, this is refreshing - a recognition that understanding and comprehending a mathematical topic with depth, and rigor is of importance.  The wording itself of the standard is clear and direct.As we explore the Common Core, we discover that there is much more clarity about the level, or depth of thinking, to which we need to bring our students. And that is a good thing.

D5 and Barometer Kids

One of the most powerful and admirable things about Gail and Joan - the Sisters - is how they openly share their teaching life.  They don't preach that they have all the answers, and anyone who has spent more than a nanosecond in a classroom knows that absolutely no one can have all the answers. Teaching is organic; it changes from day to day and sometimes from minute to minute. It changes from year to year as well as the culture of the classroom is fluid and dependent on the humans that make up the class.According to The Sisters, one of their most frequent troubleshooting queries is about children who don't seem to develop the stamina required during independent work periods.  Fake reading, avoidance tactics (bathroom visits, taking FOREVER in the bathroom), whatever you call these behaviors, the kids aren't reading and are often sucking away valuable teaching and learning time.Joan and Gail call these kids "barometer" kids -- depending on which way they are going directly impacts the entire atmosphere in the classroom.Last year I think I had quite a few kids who could make or break the learning in the day. Some of this distraction was a cry for attention and some was something deeper. Whatever the cause - attention or organic -- the impact on all of us in the room was immense.  Here's a link to what they have to say about one of their students who had difficulty building stamina.The Daily Five structure demands that children learn to own some of the responsibility for their own learning -- and that includes building the stamina it will take so that I, the teacher, will not always need to be the ring-master.It will take a bit of trust for me to let go, to trust that my students are capable of learning how to do just that -- to be trusted to make good learning choices without me getting in the middle of things.We will all be learning new things this school year.