Battling Self Doubt

We have reached Christmas break! It is a wonderful time. There are many things that this two week block is good for. One of those things is reflecting. So, as I take this opportunity to write some new posts, the first thing I want to touch on is being unsure about yourself. Quick history lesson: I have failed before. Like, in a job, fallen flat on my face and needed to change/find a new job. It was rough. It hurt. It impacted me a lot. This has created, at times, doubt in myself. That same self doubt will then push me to seek the approval of peers. Calling it what it is, this is pride, and frankly, it usually makes me feel stupid.

Students using Fruit Loops to identify ratios...that's a good idea, right?

I am not the only person out there who struggles with this. There are a lot of people that we affect in and through our classrooms. I think that because of this we want to do our absolute best, and for varying reasons, some of us don’t know that our best is good enough. Whether we are new, trying something different, struggling to find a way to communicate a concept, or feeling the weight of data, there are a lot of reasons to feel unsure of oneself. 

Here is the thing, we don’t need to feel this way. We need to understand that we are gifted at this. There is something in you that made you want to do this job, that is an area of strength for you. It may be the content and how well you know it and LOVE it (I am looking at you English buffs and History nuts). You might just be really good at communicating with the age group you work with. Like the Kindergarten whispers out there who get five year olds to go from no knowledge of the concept of words to stringing them together to create sentences with meaning. You might know how to harness creativity; your own or those around you. You can turn something mundane into a frenzy that pushes your kids into the halls to sing the wonders of snowmen dying as matter changes from one form to the next. Whatever it is, in these three, you have a foundation. Trust that about yourself and build from there. 

Next, we, the unsure, must trust the response of our target. This can through assessment, student reflection, or just plain seeming enjoyment of an activity or class period. On my best weeks, I use any combination of the 2. Enjoyment is easy with most kids. Smiles, intensity, or just flat out engaged in what we are doing. It is anecdotal. Conclusions lend themselves to reflection. With new concepts I usually give a…

3 things you learned

2 questions you have

1 thing you think I should know

Something that simple can be the difference maker.

That leaves assessment, which can be a question sample at closure, morning/bell work the next day, or waiting for the test depending on your time frame. Look at the data, folks. Don’t obsess over what it says about you, but use it as a tool for what your kids need. Last I checked, education is still over testing kids. There are signs of improvement, but that is where we are. So take the cracked eggs and make a delicious omelet, where you know what the class needs and you adjust to meet those needs.

Finally, trust or adjust. If the response you elicit is good, you can trust that you did well. If not, then make the adjustment that is best for your room based on the need of your students. Unsurity is a tricky beast, but you got this. I’ve got this. We’ve got this. And trusting that will make ourselves, our rooms, and schools better.

Molding an Understanding of the Properties

Eye's went wide.

"What?! Playdoh!"

"No way!"

There was a sense of joy. A swapping of colors. I looked at each of my four groups of students and said, "You got four minutes to build whatever you want." It was a great warm up for what was to come. Anything from pancakes to elephants. Kids spelling out their names or making sculptures of themselves.  Creativity abound. In hindsight, the pancakes were probably failed something elses.

When the four minutes was up, I gave the kids a few examples of the Identity Property of Addition (3 + 0 = 3 and h + 0 = h). "What does identity mean?" Hands shot up to tell me it is who you are. "How does that relate here?" Hands again, the number wants to stay the same. Yes! 

"Great, now I want you to make your own version of the identity property using whatever you can create as your variable. Go!"

There was a moment of blinking as the wheels turned. Every class struggled for a few seconds to grasp exactly what I meant. Then, BOOM, magic. Again, amazing amounts of creativity, only this time it was being filtered through math. It was awesome.

We repeated this process with the Identity Property of Multiplication (8 x 1 = 8 and t x 1 = t). Now there was a bit more confidence. The students made some amazing things (displayed below). Then we compared the two different properties identifying similarities and differences. Students discussed it at their tables, wrote out an answer, and then shared what they came up with. It was a great lesson. A couple weeks removed, I can also say that it had a lasting effect. Students have taken two assessments since then and have done very well with the properties questions. Score one for creativity. Enjoy the pictures.

OOOOOOHHHH!

Bowties are cool.

No buddy suspects a thing. Can't pass up an OctoDad reference.

Slowly, slowly, slowly says the snail.

In eye popping 3D!

And last, do you wanna build a snowman?

Classflow Tuesday's

I will never forget what my father told me when I was 16 years old. I was learning to drive, and though he may not remember it, these words have held true  to me and been applicable in many facets of life that do not involve cars. "Son," he said, "you have to realize that the car is an extension of who you are, but you still control it."  This is how I feel about Classflow.

Classflow is the Promethean people's new-ish product. I always describe it as what would happen if Active Inspire and Google Docs had a kid. In November of 2014, my Elementary principle sent me to a training session and I never looked back. That may be a bit of hyperbole, I am constrained by the limits of technological availability, but you work with what you have. 

Using Classflow adds an air of excitement to the room. Today, I used it to introduce key words about integers to my students. They would copy down a definition, discuss it with their neighbor, then provide examples of what they thought it might mean through the iPads or laptops. Here is the catch, I was then able to populate the screen with their examples. This allowed us, as a class, to discuss each example and correct it if necessary. Because of the way I took the feed back, the students remained anonymous and were therefore less afraid of making mistakes.

Later in the lesson, I had students come up with a situation that could be represented by a positive or negative integer. This time the students names were displayed proudly. I drew Popsicle sticks from my Bag of Fairness (an amazing Legend of Zelda satchel), and had that student read it and provide the answer. If something was off about their example, we discussed it, allowing students to make suggestions about how to improve it.

To close the lesson, I had students complete a small, very basic, four question quiz that I put together in the presentation. The data is saved on the website for me to pull up and see what I need to review tomorrow before we begin talking about comparing and ordering integers. Super nice in this data driven world we call home. 

What does this all have to do with my Dad's story about the car being an extension of who you are? It is simple. Classflow, and all edtech really, is best utilized when we do so as an extension of who we are in the classroom. I would have done most of this in more basic forms of interaction today with or without Classflow's help. However, the program let me reach more kids. It gave more of my students a voice. It allowed us, as a class, to grow together and help one another. It is the vehicle, but I am still driving...with the windows open...rocking out...to Meat Loaf...And I would do anything for love! Oh, I would do anything for love! Oh, I would do anything for love! But I won't do that!

Anywho, if you are interested in Classflow, check them out at Classflow.com. It is pretty amazing. Just remember to get into the pool at your own pace. I recommend starting slowly with a basic chart and getting some student responses. You will be surprised how much excitement something so simple will add to your room.

Wait Till They Get a Load of Me.

Do you ever get the urge to do something that no one sees coming?

This morning, I got to school early, snuck into the bathroom, and applied a layer of paint to my eyes to create a mask. Why? Well, it was Batman day in my math class. It garnered me some looks and laughs from coworkers. Students weren't quite sure what to make of it, but it came together beautifully.

I began by setting the tone. The face paint mixed with the theme from Batman Begins, lights out, and a board that said, "Riddle me this, when does eight 8's add up to 1,000?" all did the trick. Sadly, I only had one student who pushed hard to come up with the answer. Most of the students were stumped by the riddle.

From there I did our normal whole brain intro, going over the rules, procedures, and objectives...while doing my best Batman the Animated Series Joker impression. The kids caught on really fast and particularly seemed to like when I dropped into a lower register of my voice for my call to attention. One child remarked out loud, "I knew he was going to do that, so cool."

To transition into the main activity I showed the title sequence of Batman the Animated Series, then flipped back to the flipchart to present the students with the problem at hand. "I, the Riddler, have planted one of Mr. Freeze's old freeze bombs in one of these rooms. Your job is to follow my clues and try to disarm it in the next 50 or so minutes (I adjusted for each class based on time). The hotel only has 100 rooms. So if you work out a clue I have given you and find the answer to be more than 100, it means you received a red herring. Go back to your previous problem and find your mistake. Don't forget your P. E. MD. AS." I revealed the first clue and started the timer. 

Students worked with a partner and had to approach me together and in agreement. They presented me with their answers, and I handed them a new problem. If their previous work was correct, they moved closer to the finish of the activity. If not, I gave them one of two red herring problems. As I did this I would tell them a story about them entering the room to find another clue. I love differentiation, so I had a regular list and a more challenging list, which I used for my honors class. 

As time ticked away I would prod them with lines like, "Tick Tock, Batsy." and "Look at that, another minute closer to Gotham's demise." 

Ultimately, students would complete 8 or 9 problems, depending on which list I used for their class. If they managed to complete the activity in the time allotted, they earned a pencil for themselves and a point for their class on the scoreboard. By the end of the day, I only had 3 pairs that did not finish or at least make it to the last problem, my students were all over this activity from bell to bell.

If/when I do something like this again, I will prep cards or strips of paper with the next expressions, ready to go. Writing their next expressions was not a major issue in my two smaller classes or my co-taught class. However, my last block is my largest and it was tough to keep up with that group. 

At the end of the day, however, that didn't matter too much. Between the awesome feeling of seeing a few boys that brought their own capes with them, just for my class, and the girl who thanked me for doing something "much cooler than a worksheet." it was all worth it. Great day, couldn't recommend taking chances like that enough. Now get out there and be awesome.

How Engaging: It's your happy fun time!

*Note: this, my second post, is actually my third. My second was lost in a tragic app closing accident propagated by my 3 year old son. Sorry you missed it, I may come back to it.

In my 9 years of teaching I have learned a lot about classroom engagement. How to hook kids, gain attention, keep attention, send them to small group discussion and then retrieve them to make small discussions big again. This year, I have leaned very heavily into the concepts of Whole Brain teaching. We start of with our hair on fire and ride the wave in the direction we must go.

In Whole Brain Teaching there are five rule...

#1 Follow directions quickly

#2 Raise your hand to speak

#3 Raise your hand to get out of your seat

#4 Make smart choices and

#5 Keep your dear teacher happy

On Friday, I tried something with a student in one of my classes. This student is bright, but does not seem committed to learning. He' often makes comments about being tired. Knowing that we just needed to get a feel for working through order of operations problems that contained exponents. I decided to hand over a bit of "power" to this young man. I renamed the page that contained our problems on the board (insert student name)'s Happy Fun Friday Math!! There was some immediate low level laughter and the student shot me a few uncomfortable glances.


"Don't worry, my friend! Today is your day. For the rest of class, rule 2 does not apply to you. You have my permission to answer any question as you please. But, if you don't want to answer, feel free to pick someone else in the class to share."

It worked like a charm! The whole period he was either calling out answers as he completed his work, or he would finish and call on another student. Kids would raise their hands as soon as they had answers, hoping he would call them. What was really interesting is that he spread out who he called on around the room. I was watching very closely to make sure no one with their hand up would be left out, totally prepared to swoop in and declare that his next 4 people must be girls. However, I never had too.

So my encouragement to you is be willing to share a bit of the "power". It is still your classroom, but you might just be able to rope in a student or two who is typically avoiding work. Have a great week, everybody!

Yes! Yes, I want to be great.

I sat there Friday and told one of my best teacher friends, "I am done pretending like I don't want to be great at this. I am close, and I want it." I don't remember if the second part was exactly what I said, but it is what I meant. So as I sat there Saturday afternoon and read the words of Dave Burgess in the final section of his book Teach Like a Pirate, I was blown away. 'Do you want to be great?' 

Yes!

 

My entire career I have wanted to be great, but since moving to my current district I have been moving closer and closer. I have learned a ton and worked hard.  In the last year, opportunities have led to an unquenchable appetite for methodology. I listen to podcasts, lurk in Twitter chats,  write ideas in Google docs on my phone, and find a wonderful sense of joy in creating and sharing activities. I have been completely sucked in. Burgess, Teamann, Provenzano, Sackstein, and Wettrick; names that meant nothing to me months ago are now my go to source on the web for encouragement and inspiration. They aren't it, but they have pushed the barrel into the water just before the falls, and I am ready. Adrenalin's pumping. I am going over the falls, and there isn't any looking back. 

The thing about being great is that it isn't about my ego or your ego. It is different than saying I want to be the best. The word great implies that I am really, really good at what I do. The word best implies that I am better than you. Everyone in the building can be great! Imagine that for a second. Going to a school where every teacher is truly great.  Every teacher being passionate about what and how they teach. It would overflow on to the kids like a tidal wave. But, it starts with you (and me) looking into the mirror and deciding greatness is our goal.

I am going for it and I am going to share this quest with you, whoever you are...even if it is just me rereading. Join me on this quest to be great. I will do my best to be all Neil Patrick Harris and share more than once a week (I have just dated myself), we will see how it goes.