REFLECTION ZONE: Social Justice in Children's Literature



I read Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco.  It is a story about a girl who struggles in school because she has dyslexia and can't read.  She would look at the tops of students' heads while they read to see what was happening to theirs that wasn't happening to hers. She found coping strategies to actually fool her teachers to think she could read, but she could not.  Because of this kids picked on her and called her dumb and other names.  It wasn't until her 5th grade teacher, Mr. Falker,  figured out she couldn't read that she got the extra help she needed.  He stayed after school to work with her, and he eventually taught her to read.
There are parts of this book that give me goose bumps, and one part is the last page, when she explains that the little girl in the book was her.  She writes that 30 years later she ran into her 5th grade teacher and he asked her what she did for a living, and she responded, " Why, Mr. Falker, I make books for children... Thank you, Mr. Falker.  Thank you."

Most of my students enjoyed listening to the story, are are some of the messages they took away from the book.
Don't be mean to people just because they are different.  Anything is possible with determination.  Have faith in yourself.  No one is perfect. You shouldn't tease someone when they are trying to learn something new.  Everyone can be smart if they try hard. Maybe you can't do one thing, but you're really good at another.
These were all great things to take away, and I am glad I took time to read it.

REFLECTION ZONE: Voki

Technology Share

Create a free, customized, speaking avatar at www.voki.com

Create

Choose a character - male, female, animal…

Customize it – head, clothing, bling

Give it a voice–record by phone, text (choose accent)  microphone, or upload an audio file

Choose a background

Publish your avatar to your website, email, blogspot, or livebinder

REFLECTION ZONE: Teacher Leadership

Teacher Leadership

"Teacher leaders assume a wide range of roles to support school and student success.  Whether these roles are assigned formally or shared informally, they build the entire school's capacity to improve. Because teachers can lead in a variety of ways, many teachers can serve as leaders among their peers" (Harrison and Killion, 2007).

ü    Resource Provider – Share Instructional Resources

o       Websites

§        Classroom website

§        Shares websites with others

o       Materials

§        Best Practices 

·Everyday Advisory

·Developmental Designs (Tab Out, UAS, Social Contract)

·Teacher Language

·UbD Lesson Planning

§        Interventions 

·Rocket Math

·Do the Math

·Compass Learning

·MAP website

·Help Signal

§        Technology Tools

·        Google Docs

·        LIVE@EDU

·        Activ Boards, Active Slate, Activ Expressions

·        Ipods/Ipads

·        Classroom Tablets

o       Professional Journals

§        Teaching Tolerance

§        Educational Leadership

§        Technology Horizons in Education

o       Action Research

§        Learning Targets

§        Growth Mindset

o       Educational Reads

§        The Energy Bus

§        Six Thinking Hats

§        The Essential Enneagram

§        Ubuntu

§        Teaching With Poverty in Mind

§        The Alchemist

o       Learns new things and SHARE with team, co-workers, principals  - Share grant opportunities

o       Communicates with Parents- Share resources, make phone calls, send emails, update webpages, message center, homework hotline

ü    Mentor/Coach

o       Works well in a PLC

o       Mentors new teachers about curriculum, instruction, and others

o       Help long-term sub and daily substitute teachers

o       Offers support to other teachers

o       Demonstrates a lesson – for Literacy Coaches

o       Observes a lesson

o       Provides non-judgmental feedback

o       Co-teaching – Team Taught Math

ü    Data Coach

o       Analyzes data from test scores – WKCE & Math Data Days – Create working chart of MAP Data

o       Backwards Planning - Understanding By Design

o       Analyzes data from action research

o       Uses data to drive instruction & select students for interventions

ü    Curriculum and Instructional Specialist

o       Implements Differentiated Instruction

o       Research-based strategies

o       Plans instruction tied to assessment

o       Understands Common Core – researching math materials

o       Understands Response to Intervention – Problem Solving Comittee

o       Works with others to create shared assessments

o      Collaborates and shares knowledge and new learning with colleagues and principal.

o      Communicates with Parents

o      Creates School and Classroom Community

§       Responsive Classroom

§       Developmental Design

ü    Catalyst for Change

o      Visionaries 

o      Always look for an improved way of doing things 

o      Strong commitment to continual changes

o      Asks questions and challenge co-workers

o      Willing to learn and try new ideas in the classroom

·Promethean board

·Tablets

·Math Duty

ü    School Leader

o      Participates in committees

o      Aligns professional goals with school and district goals

o      Extracurricular Activities

·Coach – basketball, volleyball, track

·Mix It Up Day Leader

·Math Masters Coach

o      Familiar with the Seven Norms - Share with teams

o      Completes tasks with integrity

o      Supports school initiatives

o      Shares in the vision of the school 

o      Has a Professional Vision Statement

o      Conducts action research

o      Maintains Professionalism

ü    Continual Learner

o      Reflective Practice

o      Demonstrates Life Long Learning – take classes, Masters Program

o      Models continual improvement

o      Applies their learning to help all students learn

o      Communicates and build relationships with other districts – CESA days, Math Meets

o      Stays current on educational topics

o      Reflects/journals on teaching practices  - Blogspot

o      Takes risks & tries new things

o      Works to further education - Professional development, Continuing Education Courses, Master Degree

Harrison, C., & Killion J.(2007). Ten roles for teacher leaders. Educational Leadership, 65(1), 74-77.

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept07/vol65/num01/Ten-Roles-for-Teacher-Leaders.aspx

 

 

REFLECTION ZONE: Weighing In





I read "Weighing In" by Camille Jackson in the Spring 2012 issue of Teaching Tolerance.

This article stated that as childhood obesity grows, so does size bias.  According to this article, studies show that teachers tend to call on lean children over obese students.  It also stated that obese students are less likely to be accepted to college, despite having equivalent academic achievement.

Experts say that some children interpret the "War on Childhood Obesity" as a war on their bodies and on them.  While some schools care about the health of their students, they might be going about it the wrong way as they are focusing on weight.  Arkansas became the first state to record and send home students' body mass index results with report cards.  Other states then followed. Critics believe that there are other ways for schools to handle the issue such as:

•   helping parents learn how to design healthier meals
•   getting students to participate in afterschool activities
•   focusing on overall health of children, not just body size
•   helping students realize they are not in the healthy zone and they need to make  positive changes
• paying attention to behaviors, not numbers

I worry about the overall health of our students as phy ed time is getting shortened.  I heard that UW-Madison is eliminating the 1 credit phy ed courses!  I recently talked with a teacher who is planning to retire this year, and she said we just need to wait for the pendulum to swing back...it will come.  I hope the damage is not too high. What do your schools do to promote healthy choices?

REFLECTION ZONE: Big Changes for Voting Laws



I read the article "Big Changes for Voting Laws" in the March 2012 edition of WEACinPrint.
Wisconsin's new voter id laws will be in effect for the recall election JUNE 5. 

• You will need photo identification to vote.  This can be a Wisconsin DOT-issued driver's license, identification card, military ID card issued by a U.S. uniformed service, or a U.S. passport. 

• You need to be registered to vote.  You may still register on election day, but you cannot register the Saturday, Sunday, or Monday before an election. You need proof or residence to register such as a driver's license, utility bill, bank statement, or paycheck.

• In person early voting has been reduced from one month before the election to two weeks prior.  It begins 15 days before the election and ends the Friday before the election.

• Absentee ballot requests need a photocopy of an acceptable form of voter ID.  Absentee ballots may not be picked up the Friday-Monday before an election.   I learned this last summer as I wanted to pick up an absentee ballot for my husband. (Shelia Harsdorf vs. Shelly Moore election) At the time, he left for work at 5am, and he was on a Tuesday night golf league in the cities and wouldn't get home before the polls closed at 8pm.  I called the Monday before and was notified that our governor had changed this, and I had missed the window of opportunity to obtain an absentee ballot. 

I don't think these are huge changes, but I don't want anyone to be surprised about a change and not be able to vote, since it is a very important election.



FEFLECTION ZONE: Changing Education Paradigms



I thought this video clip was interesting.  I agreed that students or people should not be classified into academic (smart people) and non-academic people based on one's attending college.  The longer I live and the more people I meet, I find highly intelligent, incredibly gifted, and successful people who never attended college.  It is sad to think these people wouldn't view themselves as anything less than brilliant. 
The piece that surprised me the most was that 98% of students in kindergarten scored at the genius level for divergent thinking.  The same students were re-tested years later and the percentages decreased. (I actually didn't see or hear the exact percentages, but I could tell they decreased from the rest of the conversation.  Maybe it was my computer, so if you heard them, let me know.)  One would think that these percentages would get better as students learned more and got older.  It is sad that small children are good at something so valuable, but they lose it because somewhere along the way they learn that there should only be one right answer.
My question is similar to Rick's.  How can we show value or even cultivate important things such as divergent thinking, creativity, real-world problem solving, and other "gifts" that aren't measured on a standardized test (that only has one right answer per question) when so much pressure and focus is on test scores?

REFLECTION ZONE: Possible New Math Materials Aligned with Common Core

Last week I attended a meeting for all middle school math teachers and special ed teachers as we took a closer look at a possible math program for next year.  The program was called digits.  It is aligned with the new Common Core Math Standards as one of the writers of the standards helped create this program.  It is an interactive math program.  I liked that it had great visuals to help teach students concepts.  It was created with the Understanding by Design thinking in mind as well.  Each lesson there is an essential question that the students are presented, and by the end of the lesson students are held accountable to answer that question in writing.  I like that part of the exit ticket for the day has the students write and explain what they know.  It is within their writing where I can determine if each student understands the topic.  One piece that was new with this program was that students are encouraged to complete their daily work online.  A positive would be that we would not use classtime to evaluate the work as the computer would record how many questions each student answered correctly.  All of these questions are multiple choice or fill in the number.  I do wonder about students (and parents) making this transition.  I would predict that this would be a huge learning curve as this would be very new to many.  I worry about students logging on to a computer, trouble shooting technology, AND trying to get homework done.  There could be some struggles as well as some valid excuses for not being able to complete the work. Also, not all our students have internet access, or the necessary access for this program. Another positive was that the work could be differentiated for each student.  Some could have deeper level thinking problems that call for application or synthesizing while others could be working on the exact same concept, but at a more basic level.  The program also includes interventions if a student is having difficulty with any of the topics.  While there could be a lot of curveballs to starting a math program like this, and there would be a great deal of time and energy needed to explore and implement something so new, I am still interested in trying digits. I will be interested to see what our district decides.