When someone comes to my room to observe, I want them to walk away knowing that my students were doing rigorous work, thinking deeply about material in such a way as to make it their own, and communicating ideas comfortably with their classmates. I am working this year to increase the frequency and depth of my student-centered activities -- trying to stay away from lecture/notes in exchange for exploration in small groups/partners and structured reflection/processing of these explorations.
As I write this, it occurs to me that an observer will really need to be up and moving around the room to appreciate a truly student-centered lesson. In addition to developing and implementing the exploration lesson, I will need to invite observers to move around the room and talk to students about their work. I have not typically done this. Usually I take the position that I should pretend that the observer is not there.
I have a lot of growing to do in this area. With certain topics in math it is certainly easier to give notes and work practice problems. I have always done student exploration lessons but they have been less frequent than the lectures. I would like to flip this -- to have exploration and student discussion be the norm and lectures/notes be rare. It takes a different kind of preparation, and a lot more anticipation of student response. Yet already, even in these barely three weeks of school, I can see that the exploratory work we are doing, the modeling, the partner work, is allowing me to move around the room even more, to offer more one-on-one help, and to develop a better understanding of where each of my students are. What I want to improve on is my ability to anticipate student road blocks or speed bumps in these types of lessons and to be more prepared at offering the different supports they may need to move through the exploration.
I think it will also be helpful to get students used to talking to others, from outside the classroom, about the work they are doing. I can provide opportunities for this by inviting various faculty/staff into my room to see what we are doing and asking them to walk around and ask questions. Providing additional structured opportunities for students to teach other students will be helpful for them as well. I love the idea that Alan November shared at ISTE about the math teacher (sorry I do not remember his name!) who has his students create instructional videos that are added to a digital/online library that is viewed by tens of thousands of people. This is definitely something that is in my plans for the year, especially once our chromebooks arrive!
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Day 2: Integrating New Technology
I am very excited - and very fortunate - that our school will soon be a 1-to-1 Chromebook school. The Chromebooks, combined with the district's adoption of Google Apps for Education, open up so many opportunities! After two years of using Google drive myself and wishing the students could access it, we will finally be able to have student accounts, collaborate on documents and use the many apps available in the chrome web store!
To date, my use of Google drive has been very one-sided. I've been able to make resources available to students, collaborate with my colleagues and share professional resources, but my students have not been able to take part in this. I am eager for students to be able to collaborate on writing, revising, helping each other, to work together to create instructional videos in WeVideo, and to save graphs and share graphs in desmos.com. There are so many creative tools that we will have access to once the student GAFE accounts are rolled out.
With Chromebooks, GAFE and Google Classroom, it seems like all of the digital pieces are finally coming together so that less time can be spent finding work-arounds to students not being old enough to create accounts, to sharing and collaborating on files, to revision. My hope is that with this technology and these digital tools combined, I can continue to build a stronger learning community in my classroom while at the same time building student ownership in their own learning and their proficiency with technology in a classroom environment.
A side note... I am trying not to be discouraged by today's notification that Chromebooks are being delayed due to parts availability. ETA is early November. Hope they don't delay any longer!
To date, my use of Google drive has been very one-sided. I've been able to make resources available to students, collaborate with my colleagues and share professional resources, but my students have not been able to take part in this. I am eager for students to be able to collaborate on writing, revising, helping each other, to work together to create instructional videos in WeVideo, and to save graphs and share graphs in desmos.com. There are so many creative tools that we will have access to once the student GAFE accounts are rolled out.
With Chromebooks, GAFE and Google Classroom, it seems like all of the digital pieces are finally coming together so that less time can be spent finding work-arounds to students not being old enough to create accounts, to sharing and collaborating on files, to revision. My hope is that with this technology and these digital tools combined, I can continue to build a stronger learning community in my classroom while at the same time building student ownership in their own learning and their proficiency with technology in a classroom environment.
A side note... I am trying not to be discouraged by today's notification that Chromebooks are being delayed due to parts availability. ETA is early November. Hope they don't delay any longer!
Monday, September 1, 2014
Day 1: Goals for the School Year
I have wanted to build a habit with blogging for a long time... hoping this blogging challenge will get me there.
Create a More Student-Centered Classroom
I started off the year by removing my teacher desk and creating an iteration station at the center of the room. The iteration station is a place for students to come if they need help from me or from other students. It is a place to try something new and see if it works, rather than feel "stuck." Beyond this physical redesign, I want my lesson plans to become more student centered as well, progressing through developing a need to know, exploring and experimenting, and finally students making their own math understandings.
Develop Students' Communication Skills
Last year I feel like I developed a greater awareness of what conversation and communication ought to look like in the classroom. This year, I want to bring these ideas into my classroom by including specific prompts and structures in my lesson plans as well as posting sentence prompts and question prompts around the room. I want to teach and allow time for practice for students to talk with each other about their ideas, whether they are about math or something else that is important to them.
Develop Students' Questioning
Over my door, I have a poster that says "Have you asked a good question today?" I wish I could remember where I found that... I would love to cite it. I suppose Dan Meyer (math rockstar!) and 101questions brought to my attention the need for students to be asking and answering their own questions. I would like to focus on this more this year, developing a need to know so that students are seeking rather than receiving information and understanding.
Focus More on the Mathematical Practice Standards (CCSS)
I tend to focus on the content standards more than the practice standards. This year, I want to develop students' ideas about what the habits of mathematicians are. I have a WWMD? poster on my wall above the child-friendly mathematical practice posters. Yes, it's short for "What would mathematicians do?" Maybe it's cheesy, but... it's middle school! In the nine days of school we've had, I've done a better job than last year -- just have to keep it up.
Provide More Differentiation in My Classroom!
Whether it is through technology or other meaningful assignments, I want to improve in this area.
Continue to Build My Professional Learning Network
I have to say this has grown quite a bit in the last year as I have had a more regular presence on twitter and have gotten more involved in ed tech training.
Lastly, I have a goal to practice patience and kindness every day. We are off and running already with this school year -- hoping for lots of learning!
Create a More Student-Centered Classroom
I started off the year by removing my teacher desk and creating an iteration station at the center of the room. The iteration station is a place for students to come if they need help from me or from other students. It is a place to try something new and see if it works, rather than feel "stuck." Beyond this physical redesign, I want my lesson plans to become more student centered as well, progressing through developing a need to know, exploring and experimenting, and finally students making their own math understandings.
Develop Students' Communication Skills
Last year I feel like I developed a greater awareness of what conversation and communication ought to look like in the classroom. This year, I want to bring these ideas into my classroom by including specific prompts and structures in my lesson plans as well as posting sentence prompts and question prompts around the room. I want to teach and allow time for practice for students to talk with each other about their ideas, whether they are about math or something else that is important to them.
Develop Students' Questioning
Over my door, I have a poster that says "Have you asked a good question today?" I wish I could remember where I found that... I would love to cite it. I suppose Dan Meyer (math rockstar!) and 101questions brought to my attention the need for students to be asking and answering their own questions. I would like to focus on this more this year, developing a need to know so that students are seeking rather than receiving information and understanding.
Focus More on the Mathematical Practice Standards (CCSS)
I tend to focus on the content standards more than the practice standards. This year, I want to develop students' ideas about what the habits of mathematicians are. I have a WWMD? poster on my wall above the child-friendly mathematical practice posters. Yes, it's short for "What would mathematicians do?" Maybe it's cheesy, but... it's middle school! In the nine days of school we've had, I've done a better job than last year -- just have to keep it up.
Provide More Differentiation in My Classroom!
Whether it is through technology or other meaningful assignments, I want to improve in this area.
Continue to Build My Professional Learning Network
I have to say this has grown quite a bit in the last year as I have had a more regular presence on twitter and have gotten more involved in ed tech training.
Lastly, I have a goal to practice patience and kindness every day. We are off and running already with this school year -- hoping for lots of learning!
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