A Common Thread

If you don't subscribe to the weekly Tip of the Week newsletter from the Sisters - Gail Boushey and Joan Moser, you are missing out on something really special.This week's front page essay was written by Joan and it really struck a chord with me. Teachers in current education practice are often stuck between a rock and a hard place: we often are charged with a mandate that we, as teachers, as professionals, know is not in the best interest of our students. What do we do - beside the obvious choice of continually attempting to change thinking? Joan - and Gail - raise an issue that, in my opinion, makes education a different kind of career.Or does it? When an employee in the private sector - an employee at a large corporation - encounters a mandate that just doesn't make sense is there ever any pushback? When the directive is one that impedes or prevents the employee from accomplishing a goal, do employees abandon their own thought and analysis to blindly follow a directive "just because"?My sense, which is anecdotal of course,  is that they do not. Maybe educators need to be more forceful advocates for what benefits our students when we get a mandate that clearly won't be helpful.Which brings up another blog entry that was recommended to me this week: The Real Mr. Fitz. In his "Letter to Mr. Obama", David Lee Finkle points out the irony of some of the more head-scratching initiatives that have impacted education in recent memory. Need I mention it is statistically improbable - if not impossible - that 100% of all students will read on grade level by 2015.As David Lee Finkle says

...reformers are saying we should put students first. That is what I try to do every single day in my classroom. But I feel the reformers are putting everything but students first: test scores, data, common standards and assessments, value-added models, and standardized curricula are all coming first. Real, flesh and blood students with real problems, hopes and dreams are the last thing on the reformer's agenda.

Two blog postings connecting with a common theme: teachers DO know what they are doing, we are here for the kids.

Divide and conquer?

When I hear people pit new teachers against experienced ones it makes me crazy.I cringe every time I hear that catch-all "burnt out" attached to experienced practitioners.  Yes, I'm sure you can find teachers who are marking time until they can get to the retirement board, but that's the exception, not the rule. And yes, new teachers bring a fresh viewpoint to education. Don't we have room for both?If you believe the half-truths of newspaper editors, you'd think a person like me - a teacher who has dedicated the last 25 years to elementary education - is just an ass in a chair taking up space and keeping a newly licensed teacher from solving all the problems of public education.What education needs are inquiring professionals regardless of the number of years spent in a classroom. Teachers who are experienced, but willing to research, consult, and learn from colleagues. Teachers who may have just entered a classroom for the first time, who reflect on what worked and what didn't and are unafraid to ask for help.What is the purpose behind the continual barrage from those who continually pit experienced (i.e. tenured) vs. new teacher? Is it economic? Is it ignorant? Is it some disgruntled adult now reliving a memory?Whatever it is, it is divisive. What teachers need is time and opportunity to share, to collaborate. And a bit of respect for the important work that needs to be done regardless of how long a person has practiced it.

Teacher as Learner

I have long gotten past being the "sage on the stage". If educational gurus hadn't already convinced me that students learn best from peers and self-exploration - constructing the meaning of something themselves from experience - anecdotal evidence from the classroom would have.This week I arranged with our school's Literacy specialist/coach, Pat Sweeney, to have her model peer writing conferences.  Knowing how much language we need to build into any speech-based activity with English Language Learners, help in supporting my students is always welcome.Pat started by engaging my students in thinking about why an author may want to ask a peer  for advice. First Pat laid down the ground rules for the author (read your work and listen to peer input), the peer group (listen and then offer 1 compliment and 1 suggestion).  The rule of compliments (always start the sentence with "you or your") and suggestions ("I think.....") was next.Then kids then looked over and clarified a list of compliments and suggestions that Pat had placed on anchor charts. Having previewed some independently written narratives my students were working on, Pat selected two students to be the first to try out peer conferences in a whole group.I was pleasantly surprised at the level of constructive criticism my students had. They offered compliments and useful suggestions about the plot of a story, the beginnings, the endings, descriptive languages. Pat wrote down up to 3 suggestions for each author - fitting them on a 3x3 stick-on note - and then instructed the author to keep the note with their original work so when they later conference with me, we can both see which suggestions were incorporated into their pieces. Self accountability - brilliant!Several days later, when Pat led our peer conferences a second time, she gradually released the conversation to the students. And the students were much more willing to sit in the author's chair or offer suggestions and compliments. As we continue this process, my hope is that students will move eventually to arranging with a smaller peer group of 2-3 students or even with a critical friend.As for me, I've learned that I have a habit of offering a compliment but linking to the suggestion with the conjunction "but" - which negates the power of the compliment. I'm also going to need to do some work to remember beginning compliments with "you" and not "I think". I also was delighted to see the authors who had been through the peer conference check in with me ("Do you think I should rewrite this or just write this part on my draft?") -- how many times have teachers given students a writing suggestion and then notice it never makes its way in to the final copy?Having a valuable critical friend for my own teaching is not a luxury, it is a necessity. We learn from each other - just as the students do. 

The Places We Write

When we returned to school this week, I knew I would need to revisit some of our routines. The first week in January always seems like a good time to do such things. One thing I knew I wanted to clarify was where to put writing.In my third grade classroom, there seem to be 4 categories of writing activities - Reading Responses, Writers' Notebook captures, Genre/project based writing, and Free Writing.  So this week I set out to redefine these 4 with my students through the creation of anchor charts and practice. As we work to refine the kinds of writing we do in  the four places, we created an anchor chart for each.Our Writers' Notebooks in particular had become a mash of full-blown stories - not simply observations, ideas, snippets of conversation that might later turn in to something more substantial. We've started with a new notebook this week, a notebook that students are expected to keep on their desks during the day just in case a new writing idea comes to mind. While that spontaneity has not yet been achieved, I hope my message is clear: writers need to be ready to jot down ideas at any time.Organization, as any teacher can tell you, is where we succeed or stumble. If the structure for keeping track of materials and tasks doesn't make sense to me personally, it probably won't be helpful for the students. For me, and hopefully for my students, this past week's activities has helped us to clarify and to organize tasks more logically.

New Traditions

As the parent of an adult, the holidays are kind of odd for us. The old and comfortable ways we used to celebrate have morphed and changed to be less child-centered. We have never been big party people - Adrien used to play gigs on New Year's Eve. Once you have had to work a New Year's party, they kind of lose their luster I think. Most New Year's Eves we share a glass of wine, cook something together - and continue the family tradition of watching the Three Stooges marathon. Not that exciting, and this "tradition" is definitely is starting to feel tired.I don't know if it's the light deprivation, the glum overcast that seems to be our normal weather, the cold (and anticipation of the utility bills), whatever... winter just gets to both of us.On a whim yesterday - before we even ate breakfast - I suggested we drive in to Boston to see the ice sculptures left from First Night.  And so we did.New Year's morning, as it turns out, is the perfect time to drive in to Boston. First of all, there was barely any traffic - even at 9 am. We found on street parking at Clarendon and Comm and could even be picky about where to put the car. And (bonus), no feeding the meters on Sundays and Holidays - both applied to this day.Yesterday was one of those anomalies of New England winter: it was 40 in the city and sunny. Hardly a person was out and about yet - just a few runners - it felt good to be walking around Back Bay.Starting at Copley, where Trinity Church services were just getting underway, we strolled around the Square, down Boylston - stopping for coffee of course - through the Public Garden and on to the Common.By the time we reached the Public Garden, families were beginning to come out to enjoy the morning. The Frog Pond wasn't open for skaters - yet - but the Zamboni was making the final sweep to clean up the ice, Children were enjoying the playground nearby.Boston is definitely a city for walking. And on this first day of 2012, I think we've discovered a new way to celebrate the advent of a new year.

Assumptions that aren't always bad

I subscribe to Responsive Classroom's newsletters and blogs. They usually help to ground me, help me to see and understand my students better.  This week's entry was about Questioning Assumptions. And as a teacher, I know there are too many times when I've jumped to a conclusion about a student's behavior or motivation. And then been surprised by the wrongness of my assumptions.But I'm here to say that making assumptions in an educational setting is not always a bad thing.I assume my students are smart - brilliant mostly. And given the chance, I know they can achieve everything in life that any other student can achieve. I assume they want to do this. Of course, my third graders come with lots less baggage than middle- or high-schoolers and a fraction of the peer pressure to not look too nerdy. That makes this assumption a lot more easy to keep.I assume that when I believe in my students, the expectation that they can and will succeed becomes a cornerstone for learning - one that both of us are responsible for.Angela Maiers tells us that two words - you matter - make a world of difference. I believe that. Through my thoughts and actions toward my students I believe that they will also believe it and come to find their inner strength, their core.And I assume that when students believe they matter, they can achieve whatever they want in spite of or because of things that happen outside of school.I assume, that given a chance to become involved in their child's learning life, a parent will do just that. Each September, I ask parents to tell me what their goals are for their child. Those goals are not that different from more affluent families. Just sometimes there are unique challenges that need a little work.I agree that stereotypical assumptions block us from helping our students to be all that they are destined to become. But the next time someone tells you to re-examine your assumptions about students, don't throw it all away. Keep on assuming those things that make expectations high. 

Vacation is a time to.... THINK!

This is a *short* vacation week as school holiday weeks go. I know that thought doesn't elicit much sympathy from the dreaded private sector :-)Usually I spend a lot of time being my compulsive self and trying to do all the school work I think I need to do while I have some time away from kids. I plan, I research, I read..... I obsess.This year, however, it has been different. I did not actually pick up a teacherly activity until this morning. This morning I worked on long-range Writing Workshop plans and short range weekly lessons for our return to class next week. I suppose I could obsess about some reports or research, but I'm going to play against my instinct and try to be less freakish about anticipating every nuance.I think I've got a game plan to last me for a bit. What got written seems reasonable. Instead of reacting or working quickly, I have a chance to consider and be more reflective and thoughtful about how to teach this, that, or the other.This week away is passing quickly; there are many projects to be completed around our house before the routine of school takes over again. And even in doing those mundane chores that I've put off since the Fall, I can spend some time in thinking.... about school, about learning, about being less nudge-y.Vacation for me, is a time to think. 

Faces of poverty and trauma

This time of year - this time of year when commercial excess is encouraged and expected. A time when non-stop advertisement reminds us that in order for it to truly be the "most wonderful time" of the year, we need to open those wallets and warm up the charge cards. This time of year is filled with sadness and lost hope.It is a time of year that is filled with resentment and sometimes anger for some of my students. It is a time when life is just not fair.I can generally gauge the economy by the numbers of children in my classroom who seem hungry. This year, there's not much guesswork or hypothesis involved. They don't just seem hungry, they clearly are hungry.While these students are generally beneath the radar - free and reduced lunch status is not commonly known among teaching staff - there is no hot list of who pays for lunch and who doesn't. This year, on several occasions, I have been struck by the matter-of-fact, almost accepting manner of parents who have run out of money and who are falling through the social safety net. And who, in desperation, approach me - the teacher of their child - to see if I have any resources they can tap in to.If this year is any indication, the economy is really bad.For these children living in poverty, there is no "most wonderful time of the year". There is only the reality that there will be nothing under the tree - in fact, there won't be a tree.In the last week, I have had children acting out and then melting in to tears because they are hungry (I ask now, no sense in hinting around). For several children, whenever a classmate is absent, we tuck the extra bagel, or cereal or graham cracker package into their backpacks.My mother knits mittens for my students - I have given out every pair, about 10 so far this year. One child came to school so cold he needed to keep his winter coat on (a gift from a generous school benefactor) for more than an hour to ward of the shivers.These are not the pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps families that some disparage. They were the working poor, have seen their jobs disappear, and now watch helplessly as their family begins a descent through the cracks in our safety net.And the children? These are children for whom the "most wonderful time of the year" is a cruel joke.

Whose Expertise Is It Anyway?

Recently I heard the most incredulous piece of a conversation that makes me wonder.One of my developmentally delayed students - a child who has a very low frustration point, low self esteem, and the ability to either poke himself in the arm with a pencil or bite himself when that low threshold has been reached is slated to be assessed using an alternative assessment (a portfolio-based work called the ALT).Believe me when I tell you that the special education teachers who put these things together work extremely hard to match goals on students' ed plans (IEPs) to demonstrated achievement. However, someone higher on the Special Education chain of command recently commented that this child should be taken off the ALT assessment and be allowed to "experience MCAS" - our standardized test here in Massachusetts.Now I will admit that I was not present during this conversation; it was relayed to me.  If there is a shred of truth to it, I have to wonder "what is the point?" Actually the comment I made when I first heard it was more like, "are you freaking kidding me?"For I can tell you - I, the teacher working with this student 6+ hours each day - that this student a) is unable to read aa texts, b) is significantly delayed so that behaviors are similar to a 2- or 3-year-old, and c) already self-injures when frustration level is reached. This child is already frustrated with life, himself, and learning in general and doesn't need a grueling standardized test to confirm that he/she learns differently and at a different pace.I do not understand this at all. I am frustrated by it. And as the child's advocate for what he needs academically, I will fight this tooth and nail.Sadly, I think it will be for naught.

Third Grade Giggles

Anyone who has ever taught a third grader knows it's true: there are certain words that just send these kiddos into hysterics. Think of it as a Seven Words You Can't Say on TV for 8 year olds.For example: toilet paper. As in, "If we don't get some tissues boxes in class soon, you'll have to blow your nose of toilet paper."  Bird poop is another prime example. Recently one of my students wrote a personal narrative about a bird pooping on her at the beach. Definitely the highlight of the sharing celebration. Forget irony; 8 year olds love butt humor.Yesterday - one of my less stellar academically driven days - with a week full of interruptions, a full moon, Christmas-on-the-brain, and a very tired teacher (parent conferences!) - the kids were as silly as could be. Unfortunately we were close to being out of tissues so I asked for some donations before we.... well you know what I had to say.After that laughter died down, one of my more impish students asked me if I knew buttocks was a compound word. Hey, I'm game for anything when I'm tired. So I confessed I did not know that particular piece of information.He repeated it again.  And finally in exasperation said, "You know.... butt-talks."Even teacher couldn't hold a straight face on that one.  I think they're rubbing off on me.  

Revisiting Critical Friends

This year I have a group of students who, most of the time, try to work together.  So far they don't seem to get on each others nerves very often. Mykids range from highly independent, self-motivated students to those with pervasive developmental challenges.  Some days we exhaust each other.I made a decision to revisit narrative writing again this month to see if we could improve on our first attempt in this writing genre.  One of those improvements is that I have assigned each student a "critical friend", a writing partner.  This afternoon we used the 10 steps toward independence (thanks Gail and Joan!) modeling what a conference with a critical friend should look and sound like - and how it should not.  I guess we've done this routine enough times with other parts of the Daily Five that it was no big deal to follow a good model with a poor model with a good model.And then I asked the newly formed writing partnerships to go off and talk about their ideas for this new narrative writing project and offer encouragement and suggestions.I  often like to step away from the children  and become an observer. Oftentimes I am amazed at how things roll and today was no exception. I could hear each author explain the five narrative ideas they had thought of, why the idea was important to him or her, and then listen as the partner either encouraged or gently offered a suggestion or clarification of the idea.  The partners were so sincere in their responsibilities to their writing partners; how powerful it must have felt to get some feedback from a peer, not only from the teacher!When I think about making sure my student writers have peers to support them, I sometimes find myself hesitating - wondering if the students have the skills (social) and judgement to offer constructive criticism to a peer. I wonder if I am asking too much of them.  But today, I observed I have very much underestimated my students. They are most definitely up to the task of working with a writing partner, a critical friend.I won't under-estimate them again. Critical friends are here to stay.

Adventures in Technology

It was a chance discussion that brought it on. My sister, a newly minted teacher from Oregon, pointed me to a blog written by one of her instructional technology professors, Barry Jahn. It was the post on an $80 SmartBoard that caught my interest.Working in cash-strapped urban school districts generally means technology is way down on the list of priorities.  I have two iMacs in my classroom - 1 is nearly 10 years old and no longer can be updated; the other newer model (3 years old) is shared by my students and me and now has been given over entirely to the students. Getting a picture here?So I am always on the look-out for some technology applications that I can a) afford and b) use meaningfully. As a former instructional technology specialist I firmly stand on the side of tech teachers who think technology should be one of the tools students use -- not some stand-alone flash-in-the-pan.So when the idea of making a SmartBoard out of a Wii-mote appeared, I was intrigued. I already had the Wii-mote -- gathering dust as those things are apt to do. I had my old Dell XPS laptop that I was in the process of designating for use in school as "my" computer.  I had a projector already in the classroom. So all I needed was a bluetooth dongle, the software, and an infrared pen.  Sounds easy - right.Well not so fast. There is Murphy's Law to consider here - if anything can possibly go wrong it does (and did).  First I needed to get past the hurdle of getting my Dell to connect to the school's network. Can I tell you that Fort Knox does not have such stringent security?Then the bluetooth was not plug-and-play technology; that took about a week to figure out the ONE WAY it would recognize my Dell and the Wii-mote. The projector and Dell had a little tussle with each other and wouldn't "talk". And finally, it turns out WHERE you place the Wii-mote has a lot to do with whether or not the pen gets seen by the system and can be calibrated.Oh and the software, no longer free - but a free-trial, didn't much care for working either. It felt like every hurdle that was overcome had another one waiting to take its place in the line of "technology prevention". It probably didn't help that I truly was trying to do this on the cheap by using my 8-year-old laptop.However, persistence paid off and 2 months later I have a SmartBoard. I rolled it out with my students this week when we introduced the concept of similes with the students, using an already made SmartBoard file from Smart Exchange. Even though the calibration on the pen still needs a tweak, the silly thing worked. And honestly, I don't think I've ever had an easier time getting kids to understand the concept of figurative language.A perfect reason to use technology in the classroom! Can't wait to find some others.

Seeds of Science

A few weeks ago, the District trained all 3rd and 4th grade teachers on a new science program that is being initiated here in Lowell. The logistics of revising an already tight schedule to include a new program with some pretty hefty time requirements has been nightmarish to say the least. It hasn't helped much that the administrator who successfully advocated for this program is no longer part of the Central Office administration.  It also has been received less-than-enthusiastically because of timing: adding in a new program when we have major curriculum overhauls in English Language Arts and Mathematics (Common Core!) while we straddle the former frameworks makes everyone cranky.However, yesterday my students were involved in a soil experiment that has made all the angst over getting this off the ground feel worth it.As typically happens when implementing a new program, you read it once, read it again, and still miss something. At least I had remembered to gather leaf matter from my backyard for the student observation. But as it was 6:30 and I was on my way to school, I just picked up what I could from the side of my driveway. To me, it just looked like a bunch of dead red maple leaves - nothing too interesting to observe and record.Well, were we all in for a surprise.  Table by table, each group discovered not only leaves (and a few sticks), but BUGS! Spiders, beetles, bug casings -- the whole gamut. And were the kids ever excited! "This is the best day of my whole life," one of my less-academically inclined students yelled.  I think I would agree.I never know just how valuable, exciting, and wonderful a lesson is until it gets rolled out in front of the students. All that hand wringing? Worth it.

Downtime

The weather has been unseasonably warm for the last several days. Yesterday was no exception. Even though yesterday was the City of Lights Parade and Holiday Stroll here in Lowell, no one seemed to mind that temperatures were in the 60s -- people were dressed in flipflops and shorts while waiting for their moment with Santa.When asked, Adrien shoots for Cultural Organization of Lowell, the organizer of this and other wonderful events in the City.  Yesterday while he was on assignment, I walked around too, making a record of the Mill City on an unusual late-November afternoon:

Boarding House Park, Lowell MA

Boarding Houses, Lowell MA

Boott Mill Trolley Tracks, Lowell MA

Gatehouse Reflection, Lowell MA

What Job?

I am in agreement that we need to give students real responsibility for their environment in school. Kids need to be responsible for picking up after themselves, for noticing when papers are on the floor, for taking care of their commonly shared spaces. I get that.However, I read something in several news sources that made me cringe. Here's a link to  a proposal from republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich. In short, Newt wants students to replace union janitors/custodians in school and get paid for doing so.Now if you want to earn a popularity contest with the conservative wing just mention "union" and come up with a replacement (or don't come up with one). Also use the buzzword "bootstrap", which apparently Gingrich did:

Currently child-labor laws and unions keep poor students from bootstrapping their way into middle class, Mr. Gingrich said.

Let's cut to the chase here: no amount of  money paid to a child (as opposed to negotiated pay earned by adults) to keep the school clean is going to result in a move up the economic ladder. And, P.S.,  those child labor laws are there for a reason.  Mr. Gingrich may wish to revisit a history book - or even Wikipedia.Correct me if I have misunderstood, isn't a child's "job" in school to learn? At least that is what I have always told my own child and the students I have taught for over 25 years.When there is blood or vomit involved, no one should have to call an underage child to clean up. Universal precautions with fluids are serious.Students should pick up after themselves - yes - just like they should help out at home. They shouldn't expect to be paid for taking care of their own spaces; they should learn to be responsible because it is the right thing to do.A student's job in school is to learn.

Lessons from my grandfather

Today marks my materal grandfather's birthday. His name was Palmer Chester Flournoy and he was born in 1889 in Albany, New York. When he was still a baby, his father, a railroad conductor, was killed in a tragic railway accident. My great-grandmother moved her family - my grandfather and his older sister, back to Stanbery, Missouri to live  with my great-grandmother's family - the Palmers.My Grandfather only attended school until he was in about 8th grade; after that he went to work. He was well-spoken and a fabulous story-teller. And from family stories, we know he was a trickster and strong-willed. And intelligent - he was respected as honest and fair.One of the things I most remember him telling me was that I could "catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." He always spoke respectfully - how I wish I could remember that more often. Once when his butter pecan ice cream came without pecans, he respectfully wrote to the corporate headquarters and in a short time not only  received a replacement half-gallon of butter pecan, but also received a second half-gallon. I try to remember that when write a letter of complaint. My grandfather was an amazing expert in respectfully expressing that something was amiss.The most important lesson my grandfather taught me was to live in dignity, even when life is throwing you curve balls. Macular degeneration and cataracts took my grandfather's sight. Even though low-vision robbed him of reading, or driving I don't think I ever heard him complain. He had an outgoing nature, and if he couldn't figure out which coins to use when paying for something, he simply asked the clerk to help pick out the coins. When I was in my twenties, he rode buses or walked everywhere in Daytona Beach; whenever one of us came to visit in Daytona, he could be counted on to meet us at the airport. And to see us off. Life may have robbed him of vision, but it took nothing else from his great enjoyment of life.I think a lot about my Grandfather's great capacity for enjoying life despite what hardships are encountered. And hope that as I grow older, I will always remember lessons learned from a real gentleman - in all senses of the word.

I Am Not A Nudge..... Really

When you have pretty strong convictions about something, they are not always understood or shared by others.For me, one of my thoughts is that creating an environment of order and welcome is of high importance to my students' frames of mind. With many of my students coming from existences that are not always orderly, I have felt that the ambiance created in the classroom can go a long way toward settling students, toward allowing students to focus and learn.My colleagues and I are reading Charles Appelstein's No Such Thing As a Bad Kid, as part of a teachers' book club this fall.  I was struck by the importance of cleanliness, warmth, and color in a classroom toward creating a safe environment for my students. Appelstein specifically calls out attending to classroom design - as do the Sisters. It is something I have been dabbling in for the last 4 months and now, armed with both Appelstein's and Gail and Joan's thinking, I may be ready to do something drastic.I hate clutter. There seems to be no end of it in an inclusion classroom, so the first thing I need to address is the collection of materials that do not appear to have a use. Countertops get covered with materials - surely there has got to be a neater way to store what materials are needed for a day or week. This is tricky when you are sharing your space with other adults - I don't want to be bossy about it, but some of the materials I see tucked away has no real purpose in the everyday learning of my students.The next step will be to somehow find a way to create a more welcoming space - adding curtains/valances (whatever the fire code allows), changing that God-awful turquoise to something more calming, putting away or weeding out materials that aren't in use, creating spaces that are welcoming for children to read, write and think.So really, I am not a nudge, but I am convinced that the changes I can make -- and the clearing of clutter -- will impact the learning environment in this classroom. And they must be done.

Show Don't Tell

Recently, Northern Nevada Writing Projects WritingFix website featured the book Show Don't Tell by Josephne Nobisso. It caught my eye as this is exactly what I ask my Third Grade Authors to do: use your words to SHOW what happens in your writing. In fact, Googling those words, this seems to be a pretty universal thought for teachers of writers.As my students have worked through the past weeks to create a Small Moment Narrative - our featured writing product for November - one strategy I've introduced/reviewed is that by adding conversation to writing, an authors shows what is happening in the story.  Oh how my Third Graders love to use quotation marks! Sometimes those marks appear in the darndest placed :-)In preparing for conferencing, I try to read each students narrative ahead of time. It gives me an opportunity to consider the most important next step we need to take in a student's writing. And sometimes it is just plain fun to pre-read their ideas and thoughts.Before I packed up some of the students' writing for my "homework" yesterday, one of my ELLs approached me with a warning: "I've written some Spanish" she told me in a whisper.  I assured her that wouldn't be a huge problem - armed with false cognates and an online translator, I was pretty sure I could problem solve the gist of her writing.But what she had done was not just add randomly placed Spanish words in her narrative. She had written conversations in Spanish! Why? Because that is her home language and that was the language her mother speaks with her. So when Mom spoke in her Small Moment, the conversation was authentic.Absolutely brilliant - don't you think?! 

Using Daily Five Math to Support Common Core

This summer was partially spent in aligning Common Core Mathematics curriculum (Massachusetts-style) with the district's universally available materials and laying out a scope and sequence that makes sense vertically and horizontally. As anyone who has looked at the Common Core in depth can attest, it's an on-going process full of starts and stops.A particular challenge to 3rd and 4th grade teachers in this transition year - this year our students will be MCAS-tested on 2004 Curriculum Frameworks - is, while we work to transition there is a great  need to keep a close watch on those standards that have been moved from our grade level. Particularly the standards for which our students will be accountable but were not previously taught to mastery.To my thinking, this is where using the Daily Five in Mathematics makes perfect sense. I can still launch my core lesson - the Common Core-based lesson, have my students work for a period of time on the activity (notice I'm not saying worksheet!), reconvene for a summary discussion and refocus students on continued work using one of four categories: Strategy Games, Facts-Clocks-Money, Problem Solving, or Math Tools.Yes, I know that the Sisters don't use this terminology.  These are the terms that I use because of the mind-blowing task of straddling two curricula while transitioning to full Common Core implementation.As a third grade teacher, I know the bulk of my mathematics intervention - the dance to catch kids up on things that are now receiving more emphasis - will be on number sense and operations (CCM: NBT, OA) . Prior to this year, there was no explicitly spelled out requirement that students master addition and subtraction to 18s in second grade.  We've got some wood-shedding to do here.To keep things sane, and to allow me to meet several small groups, I have a few strategy games that I call "landmarks". In our current multiplication unit, those games include array cards, Marilyn Burn's Circle and Star game, as well as Close to 100 (or 1000) and Collection Card games (Investigations in Number Data and Space) we used to introduce 3-digit addition/subtraction. The teaching challenge is to pick out universal games where "rules" stay the same, but the ante is pushed to make it challenging for all students no matter what their level of mastery.As most students use the four choices to continue to build mathematical concepts and skills, I can meet with small groups of students needing intervention support  in place value, or understanding of addition/subtraction or some other yet undiscovered area of need.How can I do that? Because my students are Independent Learners, I know that when I attend to the small group, the rest of the class is engaged in some meaningful practice and learning. The same Daily Five expectations for Literacy - get started right away, do math the whole time, work quietly, work on stamina - are applied to independent explorations in mathematics.For me, the Daily Five principles applied to the mathematics class make this differentiation possible. My implementation certainly is not perfect, but knowing my students are getting what they need without the teacher being pulled away by monitoring what is going on in other areas of the classroom makes the work ahead possible. And definitely more enjoyable.

Lost Week(end)

In case you didn't hear all the hype we had a bit of a weather event here in the Northeast. When one of my colleagues relayed that the weather prediction for Saturday was 6+ inches of snow, well, naturally I went into high "French Toast Alert" mode. Even bought a special loaf of cinnamon bread just for the occasion.When Saturday broke and we still had no precipitation falling, I rushed to my neighboring town for additional provisions. Beer, milk, eggs, ground coffee, toilet paper. You know... the essentials. The store wasn't too crazy so I thought perhaps the weather dudes had made a mistake. Usually when a storm is predicted, everyone shops as if there is no tomorrow. Which as it turns out, would have been just about right.You see, it is still Autumn here in New England. In fact, it wasn't even Halloween yet. So when the first flakes finally started coming down around dinnertime, those trees full of leaves were quite stressed. At one point, I ventured outside - as I am the only one in my family currently with a winter coat - to shake the ton of snow off of my red maple, whose branches were bent over so far as to touch the driveway.As I stood outside in the driving snow, I noticed that the sky would periodically light up with an ominous green flash - on both front and back sides of the house - which was accompanied by an even more ominous hum.  This happened several times and finally... darkness.When you first lose electrical power, you almost expect it to come right back on. Then reality sets in and you start looking for a) where that flashlight may have gotten to and b) candles and matches. And the phone number for the power company - which of course, you attempt to dial in the dark along with about a million other customers whose Saturday television viewing has been interrupted.We are among the lucky power consumers. When we lose electrical power, we do not lose heat or hot water. Having grown up in New Hampshire where even the hint of a power outage sent people running to fill bathtubs with water (no power and the well doesn't pump which means, the toilet also does not work). We did lose our woodstove as the glass insert chose last Saturday to shatter into a gazillion pieces, but at least we did have heat. Many of my neighbors did not have heat -- or a gas cooktop (no oven, a minor inconvenience).The snow amounted to about 8 inches, much of which is still covering my yard 5 days later. The snowblower worked and we found the shovels. All good. We made that French Toast in honor of the storm and thanks to the ground coffee, brewed French press. And waited for the power to return.And waited. And waited. And waited.We have finally and thankfully had our electrical power restored; but 58% of the town still sits in darkness. I have a new appreciation for life before electrical conveniences. And an appreciation for cellphone car chargers.It's only the beginning of November and already I'm sick of winter.