Technology Balance

It is interesting to stand back and see how teaching beliefs emerge, are shaped, and refined. In my first years of teaching, technology did not play a huge role. However, throughout the last couple of years I wove in a lot more. Right now I find myself reflecting and reconsidering to think about how much technology is ideal and how it varies by grade level.

If it was back at the start of the school year and I knew know what I knew then, I would have held off on the technology with 6th graders until I had a chance to really launch writing workshop and given my students ample opportunity to explore and experiment in their writer's notebooks, as well as building our sense of community as readers and writers. Though my 6th graders love utilizing the various tools in their Google Accounts, at times it seems like the technology has slowed down components of the classroom.

It is hard to know exactly when would be ideal to start layering in technology and to what extent, but I would focus first on building community and confidence in writing, as well instilling a passion for reading. I would focus on book letters and in class book talks vs. books read posts on their blogs. Then about mid-way through the year or toward the end of 6th grade I would start weaving in technology components. I would progressively weave in more as they transition to 7th and then to 8th grade.

With teaching it is natural to think about the concept of wishing for the return of the start of a school year in order to improve based on new learnings and understandings, but that would happen repeatedly even if re-starts were possible. Instead, we have to start sifting through long term thoughts for fresh starts for new years and improvements to implement in current school years. Thus, for the second half of this school year, I am still thinking through what would be an ideal balance, but for now I am backing off of the technology a bit.

I will still have my students type their final drafts on Google Docs (they get to choose whether to draft on the computer or paper) and we are doing some on-line multi-age book club discussions, so it is not like I am completely throwing out technology. The concept of balance, development and growth in the 6th-8th grade span will continue to be a main topic to ponder throughout the rest of the school year. With a strong focus on my top priorities, I will reflect on what is in the students' best interest in order to develop a life-long love of reading and writing, as well as the capabilities that will provide a strong foundation for future high school and college success.

The Lost Saint Giveaway

Right now I am hosting a giveaway for Bree Despain's The Lost Saint on my Middle Grades/YA Lit review blog. For those of you who love to read teen paranormal romances (or have students who do), you can sign up on my form below. I always love adding beautiful glossy hardcovers to my bookshelves at home and at school! As long as you are at least 13 years old and have a US address, you can enter. I will mail out the books to two winners on January 31st, and then I will delete the Google Doc with the addresses.

Drawing From Personal Experience to Think Aloud Approaching Texts

This semester I am taking my first statistics course. Though I have been nervous for the class for quite some time because it is so far out of my comfort zone, I felt fortunate to have a professor who lowered my affective filter on our first class this Tuesday. It also helped that my classmates also seemed to feel insecurities when it comes to statistics when compared to other classes in our program.

Gearing up to read and reading through my first readings for the class, I was thinking about how it is always beneficial to stretch ourselves as readers in order to put ourselves in the shoes of our students to then share how we approach texts with them. While before I had texts that were challenging, I think this is one of the first texts in a long time where I truly knew that no matter how many times I read it, I would not start to really understand it until I go to class next week. These will definitely be texts where I need scaffolding from my professor. Luckily, he mentioned to the class that we would feel this way at the start of the semester. We'll see if by the end of the semester I am able to be more independent following the gradual release of responsibility model or if the content is still too new to feel that sense of ease with the texts.

Last year I wrote about a writing to a prompt as a genre unit that I am doing again right now with my students. This year I am also going to do a short test reading genre study as well. It is still coming together in my mind exactly how I will map it out, but I know that I will focus on the importance of reader's/writer's purpose, making the connections between what we are highlighting for our writing to a prompt genre study and our test reading genre study. I will also be talking about how reader's adjust depending on the type of reading they will be doing.

While reading my statistics this week, I realized or had some thoughts reaffirmed that I can share with my students about difficult texts:

• It is important to think about level of familiarity with the content of a text before beginning in order to think about how to approach it. With my statistics readings, I know that I have very little background knowledge. That means that I will always need to read it (or at least ideally): when I am well rested, when there are no or very few distractions, and when I do not feel under pressure (such as a time crunch). I also need to go into it realizing that I will need to slow down, but at times, speed up when I realize that I am at sections that are still beyond my comprehension.
• Realistically with this text I was able to get some of the big ideas. Classmates who took the introductory statistics course said that even with high levels of confusion with the readings, it was still helpful to "prime the pump" for class instruction. Knowing that was the expectation, I was able to relax and clearly identify where I had some understanding and where I felt completely lost and knew that I would need to listen very closely to class discussions in order to fill in those gaps. 
• It was also essential to try to sift through the information to try to categorize the priority level of the information. I watched for key words that pointed toward what would be major take-away points. For example, it talked about the purpose of certain distributions. I know that one of the program goals for students is to at minimum be able to understand the statistics that we read in research, even if we are not going to conduct quantitative research. Thus, knowing the purpose of each distribution will be key in being a strong consumer of research, so when I saw those key words, I knew to slow down and grasp on to anything I could. 

I am glad that through statistics I will not only learn a whole new content area, but it will also provide me an opportunity to reflect on what I do as a reader, how I can piece together information as I navigate unfamiliar texts, and have to work hard to build background knowledge and then apply it to future readings. It is also valuable to share with students my own vulnerabilities as a reader and that it is more important to recognize confusion and seek strategies to patch up gaps in comprehension (either independently or with the assistance of someone else, depending on the situation), rather than being too proud to express confusion.

Educational Advantages of Kindles

I recently got my first Kindle, and so far I have been loving it. Last night I was reading Lorraine Zago Rosenthal's debut novel Other Words for Love. Though I have no qualms with underlining and making notes in the margins of my professional books, I would never make notes in novels, and post-it notes can get cumbersome as well. Last night part way through the novel I started highlighting with my Kindle and making brief notes about different teaching points as I went along. Mentions of plot technique, writer's craft, and literary devices, as well as my own reader response to show insights into the way that I thought as I read along.

In the future, it will be easy to do searches for specific types of teaching points and have authentic excerpts within my reach. Just as keeping a blog recording the books I read has been an invaluable resource in order to recommend books to students and refresh my memory of the different books I have read, my Kindle notations will add another level of benefits for teaching.

Another example advantage of being able to capture my thoughts long term is with different grade levels. This particular book is probably better suited for high school readers, rather than my current middle school age. Yet, who knows what the future will bring. Now I have my thoughts documented so that when I am working with high schoolers or college students, my thoughts on various points of the book will still be fresh.

I am excited to continue unlocking the potential that having a Kindle implies for enhancing my teaching.

2nd Quarter Wrap-Up

Another quarter has come and gone, and I have reached the half-point of the school year even though it is hard to believe. I remember how the time after Christmas break typically seems to go exceptionally fast, so I am gearing up for the end of the school year to suddenly sneak up on me.

With all three grades it was a relaxing last day of the quarter. All of the assessments/assignments for the quarter were due yesterday or before, so today we were able to have some independent reading and a writing celebration for students to share their imaginative writing from the quarter and provide positive feedback for each other.

My co-worker and I were also pleased with the way the new system that we set up to organize and document our conferring with students has been working. We have found a better balance of prioritizing check-ins, as well as weighing the importance of record keeping vs. the time it takes to do so depending on the student.

Next quarter the first two weeks I will be doing a writing to a prompt genre study, and then in the third week my 7th graders will do their state writing assessment, while the other two grade levels complete a writing work sample. This year the 7th graders will do their assessment on the computers for the first time (I was able to choose between paper/pencil or computer versions), so I will include focus lessons about computer formatting in my genre study.

With my 8th graders a lot of the second half of the year will focus on their long-term goals, gearing up mentally for high school, and reflecting on their experiences at our k-8 school. I also want to try out having some 8th graders host book clubs on their Google Sites for the younger grades for the first time. I will probably pilot it with no more than three eighth graders.

With sixth graders, I want to step back with writing and dedicate more time to writer's notebooks - gathering ideas and documenting everyday life, as well as focusing on details that catch and maintain readers' attentions.

Now until the end of the year will also be busy with a lot of state testing. Some of my students have already taken their first round of the reading assessment, but the rest of the students will do their first attempt the week after writing assessments. Then students who do not meet in the first round will have two more opportunities, as well as having three opportunities in math. Then there is the English Language Proficiency Assessment and science for the eighth graders. Even though all of the testing does not directly impact my classroom, the other teachers and I do coordinate so that students are not doing multiple tests at the same time so that they do not get burnt out of testing.

Let's see what the rest of the year will bring!