Quiet Inspiration

Behind every successful person there's a champion behind the scenes encouraging that person to be the best that they can be.  Some of those champions are parents and teachers.  Or they can often be coaches, youth ministers, scout leaders, or other adult leaders.  Sometimes they are your parents friends whom you just saw every once in awhile and their seeds of wisdom encouraged you take that first step to becoming who you were meant to be.  Those people are often not even aware of their importance which was the case with one such friend's mother.

Now it's not that I didn't have great teachers or wasn't encouraged lovingly by my parents or didn't have extracurricular activities because I had all these adults who encouraged me and helped me become who I am today.  I had teachers that taught me to love learning and become a life-long learner.  I had parents who sacrificed so that I could become the first person in my family to graduate from college.  I had coaches who taught me the many benefits of being a good team member and the skill of winning and losing gracefully.  And I had scout leaders who brought me on many outings and taught me the beauty of outdoors and fostered the joy of being a nature lover.  It's just that this one friend's mother who I rarely saw because she was working full-time as well as studying part-time to obtain her own degree stands out as being the person who quietly taught me confidence.

Her daughter and I participated in the middle school scouting program and would often spend time together at one or the other's houses.  Doing what many middle school girls do--listen to music, dance, talk about boys, do homework, hang out, etc.  It was during the times we were at her house that I would have these intermittent interactions with her mother that would change my life profoundly.  I'll forever be grateful to Mrs. H. for helping me gain confidence.  

With my close friends I was very outgoing and chatty however with others, especially adults, I would become shy, my voice would be lower, and I would look at the ground.  Mrs. H would ask me to look at her when I spoke and noticed right away how uncomfortable I was in talking with and looking at her. Mrs. H listened to me, I mean really listened.  She would often say to me, "You have great ideas, don't be afraid to share them with the world".  

One particular time, I recall her complimenting me on my outfit to which I responded, "Oh this is old..." and she stopped me mid sentence, asked me to look at her and very firmly and kindly said, "Michelle, you sound so apologetic, you don't owe anyone an explanation for a compliment, merely look at them and say 'Thank you'."  That one small conversation helped me gain confidence in myself.  Once I let go of explaining my way through a compliment it became easier and easier to simply say "thank you" and the compliments felt more sincere.  Sincere not because they were said any differently but because I thought differently when I received them.  I felt more confident and shed my "explain it away" self.  

I have no idea if Mrs. H knows how much she affected me.  Somehow I think she would prefer, in her own humble way, to not know her profound affect on my life.  Regardless, I still think of her often and the simple act of listening and encouraging was enough for her.  In addition, I think about how powerfully we affect children.  Teachers have great power.  The power to encourage and inspire.  The power to crush and destroy.  Which power will you choose?  I choose inspiration.  It might lead to confidence building in another child.  Maybe I'll never know, too and I'm okay with that.

Seeing is Believing

Envisioning my Success

Now that I know what I want to do in my classroom by resetting my purpose I need to create a vision, literally see it in action.  First I'll start with the purpose statement as discussed in my prior blog:

"To inspire students to explore the world through reading various literary genres and media types to discover and develop their passion in life"

What do I see myself doing to put this into action?  What do I see my students doing?  

It's time for a mind movie {insert harp music and fade to alternate universe, what I call "Michelle's Perfect World"}:

I see a peaceful classroom with all students having access to the books, magazines, and online reading materials of their choice.  Some students are working independently reading books, magazines, or scouring online for articles or using reading apps.  Others are sitting in a small book club group discussing their latest reading selection.  Perhaps I'm in one of the small groups or conferring one-on-one either discussing a book we both read or guiding a student through a selection in the classroom library.  Maybe a student is even giving me a book recommendation and I am taking their challenge seriously.  I see a classroom library overflowing with offerings both classical and contemporary with both books and magazines.  The students iPads have applications geared towards increasing their reading skills, applications for online magazine subscriptions.  Students are free to choose between what hard text offerings are in the classroom or the applications on their iPads or simply browsing book lists and searching online articles to read.  Sounds idyllic.

{FLASHBACK}  How do I even begin to accomplish this?  I've had this dream for years but have lacked the courage to move outside the comfort zone of teacher directed everything.  After all, can I trust the students to be doing what they're supposed to be doing?  Aren't I supposed to be using the curriculum to guide my instruction?  That reality left a lifeless, robotic reading of bored students.  Students who are capable readers and might enjoy their reading.  Then enters The Book Whisperer.

Reading this book opened my eyes to what made me a reader, reading books, lots of books.  Just like in my previous posting moving from first to fourth grade gave me the opportunity to reset my teaching purpose which, in turn, meant I KNEW THE KIDS!  Many of the students I have this year I taught three years ago.  That thought comforted me and gave me the courage to begin to move away from 100% teacher directed reading groups to a reader's workshop format using many of the ideas and suggestions Donalyn Miller outlined in her book.  There, done, vision created:

I envision myself implementing daily reader's workshop with both teacher selected and student selected reading in electronic, book, and magazine format.

This vision is a small step towards letting go and letting children become immersed in a story, so captivated by what they're reading that they don't even realize it's time for lunch.  Now, all I need to do is get the materials and put this into action.

What's my purpose now that I'm changing grade levels?

For the past nine years I have taught first grade with the purpose of teaching students to read through breaking the code of an alphabet through comprehending the text.  This purpose served me well until I found myself suddenly reassigned unexpectedly to fourth grade.  Hmmm...these kids know the alphabet and most are comprehending.  Looks like my purpose needs to change to meet the students where they are in their development as students.  So...I did first what most teachers do.  Put that project on the back-burner until I could successfully navigate myself through the finer points of teaching...updating my classroom management, navigating the curriculum, basically launching a classroom.

Now it's a few months into the school year and we're off and learning.  That's all good and well however I still need to reset my purpose so that it fits the new grade level.  Think, think, think...

what makes me a life-long learner?  Why do I want to learn?  How do I discover more about myself and my place in the world?  Through the love of reading and reading many different types of text both in traditional print and electronic form.  I read every day, sometimes for pleasure, sometimes to learn something new both personally and professionally.  That is what I want my students to do!  Read!  So, here goes:

My purpose as a fourth grade teacher is...

to inspire students to explore the world through reading various literary genres and media types to discover and develop their passion in life.

Now how do I do this?  More to come in my next post!

Flip your Attitude to one of Gratitude...How I use a negative learning experience in my teaching

It is often stated that we teach how we learned meaning that teachers take pieces from their positive learning experiences and use them to meld into their teaching style.  What about the negative experiences?  In light of the season of Thanksgiving, I am sharing how a negative learning experience  was "flipped" into an attitude of gratitude.

I remember clearly one negative learning experience, so clearly that it probably is the most negative experience I had as a student.  It was in the fifth grade with Mr. B.  Mr. B has the distinction of not only being my fifth grade teacher but also being my first male teacher.  He had a very firm hand and his management style was reactive, often in a very condescending negative way.  For example, he often assigned lines as punishment such as "I will not forget my library book at home" for 100 or 200 repetitions.  Now I was and still am an a reader.  The day I forgot my library book was a huge disappointment because that meant I couldn't check out a new book.  For an avid reader such as myself that was worse than the lines assigned to me by Mr. B.

The lines were a humiliation and total waste of my time.  So, I didn't do them in my free time at school, instead I enjoyed my recess and lunch periods.  At home after my homework was finished I guilted myself into starting my lines, it was, after all, an expected assignment not matter how I felt.  I don't recall how far into the work I was when my mom poked her head into my room.  Far enough for the paper to show that something repetitious was upon it.  She asked, "What are you doing?"  I quckly covered my paper, ashamed, and said quickly, "Homework!  I'm doing homework!"  Of course my suspicious mannerism got her attention.  "Really?" she said, "Let me see."  "I don't want to show you." I mumbled ashamed.  She replied, "Michelle, show me your work."  I was stuck, I had to show her, there was no way I was going to disobey and get into more trouble than I already was.
Now my mother, also an avid reader, was shocked that A) I was writing lines and B) that they were for a forgotten library book.  She frowned, took my paper, and forbid me to finish the punishment.  She told me she would be calling my teacher and that he was not to assign me lines as punishment.

Now I don't recall if it was the next day, week, or month; but I do recall Mr. B being quite angry with me.  He never asked for the lines but he did ask me a question during science that I couldn't answer.  I told him I didn't know the answer.  He proceeded to have me stand up in front of my desk to answer the question, I still didn't know.  The class was silent, I was silent.  I wanted to become a statue because I was mortified.  I stood at my desk looking down pondering how I could possible crawl underneath and hide.  He demanded that I pick up the text book as if by merely holding the book the answer would jump out at this newly created statue that I had become.  I slowly picked up my textbook and with everlasting horror found myself slamming the book onto the desk and yelling "I DON'T KNOW!!"  And that is how I got suspended...for the first...and the last time.

For those of you who read my memory and sympathize, thank you.  For others who support Mr. B, thank you.  I recanted this experience not for empathy nor even to start a movement of followers who are pro or con Mr. B.  It was, after all, the 1970's and Mr. B was an older, experienced teacher who was probably using what he felt were best practices at the time.  Also, rest assured that I went on to have many male teachers and had wonderful, positive experiences.  What I want to focus on is how this experience formed part of my teaching style and philosophy.

I am thankful to Mr. B.  Of course, as a ten-year old I would have never seen this experience as a gift. I couldn't even say it was a gift during my teacher preparation courses nor in my first few years of teaching.  Today, I see it as a gift and I am grateful.  I am grateful for this experience because it showed me how natural consequences reign over punishment and how humiliation doesn't positively affect learning.

Today, in my classroom, I use natural consquences like when a student of mine began forging notes to get out of PE with the PE Coach.  I could have reacted by condemning the girl, humiliating the girl, and giving her a punishment immediately.  Instead, I state my disappointment, told her we would discuss it and most importantly, followed through and actually did meet with her the next day.  Not always an easy thing to do.  Prior to our meeting, I gave the situation a lot of thought noting that she doens't like PE, probably doesn't have success in PE, and was willing to do anything to get out of PE. I contacted the principal and asked about our after school enrichment program to empower girls through sports with caring coaches whose motivation is to inspire girls to enjoy an active lifestyle.  Through a phone call with the principal and her parent we put her on the wait list for the program and I have noted to myself to regularly check on that wait list to see if space has opened up for her.  Then I talked with the girl personally and privately, she has not brought a PE note since the incident which was over 30 days ago.

Yes this example isn't in an academic subject but rest assured that I use the same approach in all areas such as taking the time to watch a student write down their homework, pack their homework, and wish them a wonderful afternoon and evening encouraging them to feel good about their ability to complete and return an assignment.  I could go on with more examples, but back to Mr B.

Because of Mr. B, I believe that the best way to improve student behavior is through encouragement and helping them feel good about themselves and their place in the world and once that is in place they will rise to the high expectations I have for them.

None of that would be possible without Mr. B.  So, thank you, Mr. B for showing me how to focus on a child's precious self esteem and use that as catalyst to success in the classroom.

How I convinced myself to try Whole Brain Teaching...

Ok, ok....I'll come clean.  I'm not the most up-to-date teacher in my school, I mean, district, I mean, state, I mean country.   I wasn't always this way.  There was a time when I was up-to-date on the latest buzz, strategy, style of teaching and education there was.  I participated and enjoyed being part of a district level literacy team and looked forward to the times that I spent working on the "academia" of teaching within these monthly sessions.  Then "IT" happened...I started to feel the burn out that so many of us feel that work in any field of administering to others.  And that's how I became the behind-the-times teacher that I am today.

I spent the last two years working with a group of teachers to reconnect, find time for myself, learn how to balance the professional life with my personal life and I have to say I've come a long way.  I no longer "live for my class" and have been able to separate myself from feeling that my students were my children and started to make time for my own two teenage children--you know, the ones to whom I gave birth.

Where was I?  Oh, yeah...how I convinced myself to start reading about teaching and trying new things in my classroom again.  It started like this:  I am blessed to work with some of the best teachers and a community of teachers who care about each other both professionally and personally and that in itself is a pretty special thing. Some of my teacher friends have been buzzing about Whole Brain Teaching for a couple of years.  They talk about how fun it is for both them and their students, about how much more engaged their students are.  BUT...the talk was never enough for me to do anything other than nod my head and smile...until this summer.

This summer I had purposely scheduled NOTHING for the month of July.  I had done this purposely to give myself plenty of time to recover from an oral surgery that had a one month recovery time.  My husband and children are all working and I find myself in the unusual circumstance of being the only one home and in the third week of my recovery, pain is managed, and I...began...to...get...bored.
Don't get me wrong, boredom is not a bad thing and everyone should have the luxury of getting truly bored.  Now I'm not talking about laissez faire kinda bored.  I mean the kind of bored where I feel better but still need to heal, caught up on my TV shows, tired of the movie choices on demand, there's only so much gardening and cleaning I want to do, I've been sitting around for 3 weeks kind of bored.  That's a good bored.  That's a bored that sparks creative juices.  Some of us were lucky enough as kids to experience this kind of creative bored mid to late summer and I am lucky enough to re-experience it now.

So..what to do?  I started to browse the internet looking for something inspiring and ordered a couple of books from the internet, one of which is WHOLE BRAIN TEACHING for Challenging Kids.  It sat on the table for a few days while I looked over some other books.  I picked it up this morning knowing fully that I ordered the book out of boredom and wasn't really all that interested in reading it but had nothing else to do.  I read the first chapter and realized that HEY this book isn't all that different from what I was already doing!  The biggest difference is that the book has the brain science behind it as well as a couple of different fine tuned strategies.  Also, since it wasn't all that different from what I was already doing it wouldn't be that difficult to implement.  So, that's how it happened that's how I pulled myself out of the dump of burn out and started to update myself but this time I will not lose myself again.  This time I feel more grounded in determining what's best for ME so that I can be a better teacher.  Stay tuned to find out more...

School Supplies? But it's July!!!

Well it's the middle of July and it's back to school time!  What?  Some collective groans?  Yes, I have to admit that there are summers that I, too, am not ready to think about school starting when I could use my time to enjoy what precious few weeks I have off for gardening, swimming, and meeting up with friends and family in a more relaxed environment.  However there is one reason why I am out eagerly scouring the back to school sales in July--the students, and not necessarily every student but just that one, special student that I may never meet.

Let me tell you more, some children see the "Back to School" sales in the stores which creates ANXIETY.  Anxiety of knowing they will not have the means to purchase all the necessary (and unnecessary albeit cool) supplies for school.  Those students see the displays just as you and I do however they may be thinking, "I wish I could have that", "What if I don't fit in?", or "What will the other kids or teachers think?".  For these families sometimes putting food on the table and a roof over the head is such a difficulty that any frivolous school supplies can't be even considered.  When in reality the ticket out of poverty is their child's education and having school supplies for the first day of school is a positive reinforcement that education is both valued and necessary thus creating a priority in a student's life.

What's that?  School's should provide all the necessary supplies for students?  Well, you couldn't find a person more in agreement with that statement than I.   I won't even go into how teachers spend personal monies to buy supplies for their classrooms.  It's all been said before which is true but... consider this--when a teacher purchases supplies for a needy student and pulls the student aside (no matter how privately) the student KNOWS that the the teacher KNOWS they don't have materials at home for homework.  Then the student's anxiety level goes up AGAIN because they feel like they stand out and are labeled by the teacher or the school.  Now what do we do?

Many churches, synagogues, temples, and other volunteer organizations hold a school supply drive during the summer months, usually in July.  They then spend the beginning of August putting together backpacks full of pencils, crayons, erasers, paper, and even calculators to give to needy children who are just as deserving of an education as the next child.

You may be thinking, "How does this change things?"  The child is still getting a donation of supplies.  Does it matter if it comes from the teacher or another organization?  Well I would say that it DOES matter for a couple of reasons.  First, maybe the parent was able to pick up the supplies without the child's knowledge and now it's a beautiful gift.  Or even if the child was present when the supplies were picked up they have a boost of confidence knowing that the teacher doesn't know they received a donation and they feel more like the other kids in their school.  Either way it boosts the child's self esteem and readiness for school which as previously said, education is their ticket out of poverty.

Well, I think I've said enough and even if I haven't it's time for me to get back out there and pick out that perfect backpack full of supplies and lift a child's anxiety and ready them for school.  I hope you do the same thing.  Now isn't this a better definition for "no child left behind"?

Will seeds from a store bought pumpkin grow? An inquiry lesson

Oh, how I wish I had started my blog last October!  I would have been able to capture all the steps in this process with more clarity.  But alas, time is the culprit and now that it is summer I have time to share my tale...

Last October I had purchased a small, ordinary, non-organic pumpkin for my first grade classroom.  I did the usual estimation math lessons--how much did it weigh, how many seeds, etc.  Then in November we were working on our Social Studies unit of Long Ago and Today so we were baking down the pumpkin to make pumpkin muffins for our Thanksgiving Friendship Feast.  I posed my usual question about eating seeds and roasting the pumpkin seeds, something I've done for the past few years.  Well, this year I was blessed with a very inquisitive group of students who begged me to save some seeds to plant in the spring.  Thus, this project was born.

In May I was reminded of the seeds by the students (which I had forgotten about) which is another testament of their inquiring minds.  So...we discussed all the questions I had about the experiment about seeds from a non-organic pumpkin which as a member of the squash family cross germinate in fields possibly with other members of the squash family:

• Will the seeds germinate?
• Will the seedlings grow?
• Will the plant flower?
• Will the flower go to fruit?
• Will the fruit be a pumpkin?

Well...we had a successful germination  21 out of 22 seed cups sprouted!   Great!  First question answered but that left 4 more questions and it was the end of the school year.  So...I asked if anyone would be willing to donate their seedling to my garden in the name of science and 9 brave first grade scientists agreed.  

Here are the seedlings that I took home for the summer and continuation of our science lab.  The high heat combined with my being on bed rest post oral surgery wasn't a good combination and unfortunately only 5 seedlings remained to be planted into the garden.  Now that I am sufficiently recovered I have transplanted the seedlings into a garden bed saved for this purpose and now we wait to see what will happen next...to be continued.