Hacking the Common Core: Hack 9 - One Size Fits None

Hello and welcome to the next #D100BloggerPD of Michael Fisher's Hacking the Common Core!

If you are just now jumping in, feel free to start with Kristin's kick-off at  Reading_and_Owl_of_the_Above!

This post will cover the 9th Hack:

All Size Fits None

Adapt to fit every learner

The chapter begins with this quote by our First Lady, Michelle Obama:

It is the perfect quote for this chapter because as we know, assessments are only a screenshot of the whole child. To quote my literacy coach, "A child is not a letter, or a number." There is so much more to a student that is not captured in any type of assessment. Michael Fisher offers some great ideas on how to go about this issue. 

The Problem: New assessments aren't giving us good data

Fisher begins by explaining that as education changes, some changes are not necessarily for the better. Education reform has moved towards adopting a business model - which loves to quantify data. Because of this, we've had a large push for assessments to give us that data. Some assessments can help teachers to make instructional decisions, but there are others that do not serve that purpose. There are certain assessments whose results do not come back until the following school year. Yet, there is a huge amount of pressure on teachers to ensure student success in these assessments. 

The Hack: Go beyond one-size-fits-all

Raising test scores is not our objective.

Teaching children is our objective.

Michael Fisher's hack: extraordinary teaching. We have no control over these state mandated assessments, but we do have control over what we do in our classroom. The Common Core does not advocate for standardized testing. When we unpack the standards, we find the exact opposite. The Standards want students doing deep, critical thinking.

As teachers we must focus on this deep, critical thinking by frequently ask students 'Why?" and listen to their answers. 

What You Can Do Tomorrow

(I LOVE this, by the way, it has #HiawathaPride written all over it)

• Stop the test prep- Don't stop the real teaching and learning to prepare for tests. Fisher suggests embedding these skills throughout the year. 
• Build Relationships- Students wont learn from you if they don't know you, or feel like you care. Period. Know your kiddos.
• Stop having students pulled out of class during learning time- Kids shouldn't miss mini-lessons and new instruction. Schedule pull-outs at times of independent practice times.

My biggest take away from this chapter was Fisher's clear encouragement to teach students in the most authentic way possible. Test prep is not authentic. He also encourages teachers to embed literacy, all domains of literacy, throughout the day - speaking, listening, reading and writing. ALL. THE. TIME. These are valuable skills they'll need to succeed throughout their lives. 

Thanks for joining me today and remember to check back on October 25th with Colleen at Literacy Loving Gals for the final hack: Involve Parents. 

Hacking the Common Core: Hack 9 - One Size Fits None

Hello and welcome to the next #D100BloggerPD of Michael Fisher's Hacking the Common Core!

If you are just now jumping in, feel free to start with Kristin's kick-off at  Reading_and_Owl_of_the_Above!

This post will cover the 9th Hack:

All Size Fits None

Adapt to fit every learning

The chapter begins with this quote by our First Lady, Michelle Obama:

It is the perfect quote for this chapter because as we know, assessments are only a screenshot of the whole child. To quote my literacy coach, "A child is not a letter, or a number." There is so much more to a student that is not captured in any type of assessment. Michael Fisher offers some great ideas on how to go about this issue. 

The Problem: New assessments aren't giving us good data

Fisher begins by explaining that as education changes, some changes are not necessarily for the better. Education reform has moved towards adopting a business model - which loves to quantify data. Because of this, we've had a large push for assessments to give us that data. Some assessments can help teachers to make instructional decisions, but there are others that do not serve that purpose. There are certain assessments whose results do not come back until the following school year. Yet, there is a huge amount of pressure on teachers to ensure student success in these assessments. 

The Hack: Go beyond one-size-fits-all

Raising test scores is not our objective.

Teaching children is our objective.

Michael Fisher's hack: extraordinary teaching. We have no control over these state mandated assessments, but we do have control over what we do in our classroom. The Common Core does not advocate for standardized testing. When we unpack the standards, we find the exact opposite. The Standards want students doing deep, critical thinking.

As teachers we must focus on this deep, critical thinking by frequently ask students 'Why?" and listen to their answers. Fisher writes "Get back to risk taking and making learning magic."

What You Can Do Tomorrow

(I LOVE this, by the way, it has #HiawathaPride written all over it)

• Stop the test prep- Don't stop the real teaching and learning to prepare for tests. Fisher suggests embedding these skills throughout the year. 
• Build Relationships- Students wont learn from you if they don't know you, or feel like you care. Period. Know your kiddos.
• Stop having students pulled out of class during learning time- Kids shouldn't miss mini-lessons and new instruction. Schedule pull-outs at times of independent practice times.

My biggest take away from this chapter was Fisher's clear encouragement to teach students in the most authentic way possible. Test prep is not authentic. He also encourages teachers to embed literacy, all domains of literacy, throughout the day - speaking, listening, reading and writing. ALL. THE. TIME. These are valuable skills they'll need to succeed throughout their lives. 

Thanks for joining me today and remember to check back on October 25th with Colleen at Literacy Loving Gals for the final hack: Involve Parents. 

#D100BloggerPD, What Teachers Make

Welcome back to another week of #D100BloggerPD.
If you're just joining us, we are focusing in on Taylor Mali's book What Teachers Make. Catch up from the beginning on Colleen's blog Literacy Loving Gals!

I have to say, I was so excited when I heard we were focusing on this book. I am a huge fan of spoken word poetry and Taylor Mali's poem What Teachers Make was always one of my favorites, years before college.

So now that I'm done mentally fangirl-ing - on to my vignettes: The Student Becomes the Teacher, My Best Day as a Teacher, and E-Mail, Islam, and Enlightenment (Insha'Allah)

The Student Becomes the Teacher

This vignette takes us back to a time where Taylor Mali was doing a residency in London. He was working with 8th grade students and poetry. He went through various types of poetry, then the students wrote their own poems.

In one activity, he asked the third grade teachers to meet the eight graders in the library. They paired up an eight grader with one or two third graders. Their task was for the eight grader to teach the third graders one type of poem, then have the third grader write one.

This activity was completely student-centered, Taylor writes:

This reminds me so much of the work we do in D100. We do such a great job in keeping teacher-talk at a minimum and allowing the students to do the work. There are so many benefits to having the students become teachers. The sense of ownership, obviously, ensures engagement, the students' ability to choose their favorite poem to teach, all mixed together to form a perfect storm of an activity. 

At the end of the lesson, they had their own poetry reading. I can imagine how proud those students were sharing their work- eight graders and third graders alike. 

Mali remembers this day fondly, he wrote...

 

My Best Day as a Teacher

Mali now takes us down to Kansas, in the early 90s. He describes himself as a "ponytailed liberal from New York City" to contrast the experiences of the eight grade students he was working with at the time whose assignment was to write a persuasive essay. He writes about Lilly Wilson, whose topic was to persuade her readers that it should be illegal for gay couples to adopt children. Something Mali didn't agree with, but as a teacher, he only reminded her that she needed to come up with reliable sources to defend her opinion. 

After a few days, Lilly Wilson walked into his office saying she wanted to switch her topic - that it should not be illegal for gay couples to adopt children. She said none of the evidence she was finding supported her original decision. 

Mali was so impressed. Listen to the poem he wrote about this moment. No words I write can do it justice. 

E-mail, Islam, and Enlightenment

(Insha'allah)

This vignette takes us back to New York City, where Mali was teaching seventh-grade medieval history. One of the chapters focused on the founding and growth of Islam. Even though this was before 9/11, Mali still noticed negative attitudes towards Muslim. 

He developed a project where he collected emails from as many Muslims he knew. After they learned about the religion, he gave each student an email for them to ask questions about the faith. A few days later, when they checked their email, they were pleasantly surprised that almost all pen-pals wrote back. They were also surprised to find that while all were Muslim, their religion was not the most important part of them. They asked about Michael Jordan and the Bulls, they talked about pop culture, wrote back and forth about American TV. 

 

His students never again made jokes or held negative attitudes about Muslims. 

What Mali did was humanise the unknown, and that's something those students will never forget.

And this is something that is even more relevant to our world today. 

------------

In all three vignettes, students were learning whatever standards they needed for the class. At the same time, Mali created these opportunities for students to do more than just what was expected of them. His students opened their minds up to new worlds and experiences. 

I want to highlight an excerpt from What Teachers Make - the poem, that I think really encompasses what good teachers do for their students.

"I make kids wonder,

I make them question. 

I make them criticise.

I make them apologise and mean it."

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Thank you so much for joining me today! Tune in tomorrow August 3rd for the next three vignettes with Miss Bazz at The Bazz Blog!

Great Wolconakog and other super animals: CCSS meets NGSS (part1)

My first post this summer (yay!)!
 The end of the year is always so crazy, and I've been meaning to post about some of the things I've done this school year. Better late then ever, huh?
This post will cover my Animal Thematic Unit(part 1) which ended with a Super Animal Battle (part 2)!

----------------

As the school years come to a close, it becomes quite difficult keeping our students engaged -forget engaged - having them enjoy being inside working while the sunshine and birds are just calling us to go play. I think 3rd grade at Hiawatha School discovered the secret to that: Super Animals.

We use the Lucy Calkins curriculum, and this year, she presented us with brand new units. I actually love them. They are so much clearer and mapped out for third grade than the last units were. However, new reading units mean new thematic units. And this year, we embarked on a new journey with Lucy's Unit 3 - Research Clubs: Elephants, Penguins, and Frogs, Oh My! 

Because of this animal theme, with the help of my literacy coach, Leah O'Donnel, and one of our districts iCoaches, Jenny Lehotsky, we merged our NGSS standards with our CCSS standards.
We combined CCSS:
RI.3.2 Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea
RI3.9 Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic
NGSS: Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

Students research an animals physical traits. They then created a nonfiction expert book highlighting 3-5 of the animals most important physical traits. These traits needed to be so essential, that without them, the animal would not be able to survive in its habitat.

For the sake of variety, I separated the class into 4 groups: mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds. Within these groups, the students researched their animal, compared traits with other animals in its classification, and brainstormed with their group - a research club.

Here is an example of one of the students' expert books.

Once their animal books were complete, I mixed the groups up to allow for an animal of each classification to be represented in every group. The groups' first task was to highlight their animals' most essential physical trait, and explain it to their group. They then had to come up the traits they wanted to include in order to "build" their super animal.

Mrs. Lehotsky came in at this point and had the students make a Google Doc in order to keep their information organized. As students began to draw their animal, we met and conferred with teams in order to ensure that students using content vocabulary, and reasoning from their research as to why they were choosing those traits.

Columns: Physical Traits, Animal, Reasoning

Students took complete control of their animals creative design. They delegated responsibilities between themselves, and truly took pride in their work. Here are their designs.

Greatwolconakog

Detonelo

Caweley

Showlbearanha Mander

We uploaded these to Thinglink.com and students were able to write their reasoning from the Google Doc in the physical trait. Visit out Super Animal Channel here! 

So now we have 4 Super Animals, all with amazing physical traits to allow it to survive in its habitat... now what can we do with them? Make them battle in search for the ultimate 3rd grade Super Animal!

More about the Super Animal Battle will be coming up soon. Stay tuned for part 2!

Our first STUDENT led EdCamp!

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to attend EdCamp Chicago in Elmhurst with a group of fantastic educators in my district. I had done EdCamps before, but only the ones my district held during teacher institute days. I was excited, and a little bit nervous not knowing what to expect. It was an amazing opportunity for me to learn things I was interested in, and be a part of important conversations. I left that day inspired, refreshed and motivated.

While all the sessions I attended were seriously fantastic, I left one especially eager to try IMMEDIATELY in my classroom - EdCamp in the Classroom.

In this conversation, we talked about the benefits of EdCamp. What drives so many educators to wake up early on a weekend, not get paid, drive far away, for professional development? Answer: Magic. 

Like Ben Hartman said at EdCamp, "The magic is not that it's EdCamp. The magic is you all."
The people who attend and are passionate is what makes the experience, as one of my students would say, majestic.

Teachers decide what they want to learn, what they want to talk about, and literally drive the way they talk about it. It's a building full of people who's goals are the same as yours - do better for the kids. Teachers have voice and choice.

VOICE and CHOICE. 

Sounds familiar? I think so! These are currently huge buzz words in education. In order to highly engage our littles, we have to let them take responsibility for their learning. We not only want this as teachers, we want this as humans. 

So after being in a room with a group of about 10 educators and not really coming up with a *perfect* plan to running SLEdCamps, we decided that it was best to just try it and let each other know how it went. So that's exactly what I did this week.

I started the day by telling them about how amazing my conference was. To which they responded "Why didn't you take us!?" So they were super excited when I told them we were having out OWN EdCamp. EdCamp 3CA.

As soon as we got back from lunch/recess it started.

I explained the rules:

• Everyone participates
• Only 5 people per "class"
• Vote with you feet 
• Choose your session based on what you need, not based on where your friends are. (I had to add this, because, they're 9)

On our white board (I should have done it on the Apple TV with cute font, but oh well, next time) I made boxes for 4 "classes" and 2 sessions. Then, I asked students what they wanted to learn. To my surprise, two hands shot up immediately. After that the ideas kept coming!

Here is what my board looked like when all classes were filled up.

Translation :)

I did not give the kids input on what the sessions should be. I really wanted them to take ownership. Coming up with the sessions was not hard for them because these are things we had already been working on for the past few weeks. And because of all the formative assessments and conversations we've had, they knew exactly what they needed to practice.

Note Session 1, Class 1 - The Whole. This consists of drawing the whole with a given fraction. This is the skill they consider to be the hardest. I was so proud when it was the first suggestion.

I gave each session 15 minutes, which was perfect for this short unit. I went around and labeled each of my tables according to the class number. I had two tables in use, and my two rug areas. I provided each student with a dry erase markers and laid out white boards in the rug areas. Then, I called up students by table to walk to their first session.

Students did a really good job of separating themselves evenly, then begin to work right away. I did have to help a few groups get started with a problem, then they were able to make their own for the rest of the time.

Class 1- The Whole

Class 2 - Fractions on a number line

Class 3 - Drawing Fractions

Class 4 - Coloring and making your own fractions 

At the end of the 15 minutes, it was time to switch. This caused some issues because I had half the class wanting to play the "I have, who has" fraction game. It worked out fine, since I have two sets of the game, I had two groups playing that. Only two students decided to use Khan. 

In the second session, I had a few of my friend begin to lose interest, and start to goof off. And while I gave them all the option to "vote with their feet" they decided to stay where they were. I did have to sit with a student in order to coach him to use his kind words with peers. He gets really excited sometimes. :)

Class 1 - One of the "I have, who has" groups.
(And Class 4 - Fraction word problems all the way in the back there)

Class 2 - IXL 

Class 3 - Khan Academy

We ended with a little reflection. Students answered 3 questions on an index card:

Did you learn something? Why or why not?

What about EdCamp did you like? What can we change?

What other EdCamp themes would you like to try out next?

Overall, my students enjoyed the experience. They liked that all students were participating and helping each other. I heard a lot of math vocabulary being used, a lot of accountable talk stems being used. We loved it, and they want to do it every day now! They truly made this experience majestic for each other. 

Using EdCamp as a review before an assessment is a great way for students to self-assess and then practice what they need. I highly recommend it. However, I am always looking for other ways to incorporate this model in the classroom! Please share your experiences with Student Led EdCamps!

#D100BloggerPD Book Study - Hacking Education Hack 7

Welcome back to the next post for March's #D100BloggerPD book study!

If you have not been following #D100BloggerPD, welcome! We are a group of Berwyn South School District educators who are passionate about growing our craft through book studies. It gives us the opportunity not only to learn from the book, but also to share ideas and collaborate with each other. This month our book is Hacking Education: 10 Quick Fixes For Every School by Mark Barnes and Jennifer Gonzalez.

If you have not read the posts for the previous hacks, you absolutely need to. Check out the amazing Kristin Richey's take aways from the Introduction which includes a list with links of all the posts to date!

This post is focused on --

Hack 7: The In-Class Flip

This is a topic I was really excited to read about. Being a 1:1 district, flipping the classroom is not as difficult as it may be in schools where devices may not be as readily available. I know there are many teachers in the district who flip their classrooms. However, a complete flip, in its purest form, does come with difficulties, even in a 1:1 district. This is why this hack is a game changer. 

The chapter begins with a quote that I know my students would absolutely love. One of our very own influential Chicagoan: 

"If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."  - Michael Jordan 

(Also fits seamlessly into our growth mindset initiative!) 

Flipping the classroom is difficult! But there are ways to get through it!

The Problem: Flipped Learning Can Fall Apart at Home

Essentially, flipping the classroom consists of teachers assigning the content delivery- usually in the form of a video - as homework. This way, the students come to school having learned the content and ready to apply and practice their learning.

"The thinking behind this arrangement is that teachers' expertise is much more valuable during that application stage; when content is delivered in an automated format, this frees up the teacher to really interact with students as they engage with the content through discussion, practice, role-play and simulation, inquiry, and hands-on projects." Barnes & Gonzalez

The problem lies here: there is never a guarantee that 100% of the students will have seen the content at home. As Barnes and Gonzalez wrote, students may not have devices, a reliable internet connection, or a stable environment in which they can engage with the content without any distractions.

The Hack: "Flip" Your Class . . . In Class

The in-class flip is the perfect fix for this issue. This requires setting up a way for students to watch the video(s) in the classroom. 

This could be done in a variety of ways. In a 1:1 classroom, we can simply send the link of the video to the students, allow them to watch it then begin the application. 

For classrooms with just a few devices, Mark and Gonzalez suggest setting up stations. They have clearly outlined what the classroom would look like for this scenario: 

5 Stations - 4  groups of students

Video - new content

Application of New Content -no students for the first round, since they have not yet watched the video

Warm-Up Writing Activity 

Review of Prior Learning

Hands-On Activity - (games, reviews, skill practices)

Students could rotate through these stations while the teacher is walking around monitoring for questions, or seeing a group. This "in-class flip" is called blended learning. 

_________________________

I am a huge fan of blended learning.  Thanks to my very talented marigold, Ginny, I implemented it in my own classroom a few months into the school year. I love it. The kids love it. It makes sense for us! However, planning it may take a while to get used to. I link the videos on to my Blendspace account, add in some independent work, partner work,  links to practice websites, exit slips, and vamooosh - the kids fly with it! I watch for their exit slips and meet with groups of students who may need extra help. Not only does it allow me to interact with individual students, but it gives the students a feeling of independence. They are in charge of their learning. Linking everything together on BlendSpace allows students go easily go back and re-watch the video if they need to. 

Barnes and Gonzalez suggest looking at YouTube, Vimeo, Ted-Ed or TeacherTube for videos. I've found that Khan Academy has great videos for math (and they are available in Spanish! yay!)

Our Pearson Envision curriculum also comes with videos for each of the lessons. I have had to make my own videos at times, using Smart Notebook or Keynote/PowerPoint then making a screencast. This may take longer, but like Barnes and Gonzalez say, making videos is a 1 time thing - I have them now to use for years if I need to! 

It takes a lot of preparation to get the in-class flip going. But it is totally worth it! I've seen it first hand in my classroom, and all over the district!

Thanks for stopping by for my part in this month's #D100bloggerPD. Next up will be Michelle Brezek over at Big Time Literacy. She will be covering Hack 8: The Book Nook - Create a Culture of Readers at Your School with Free Books for Everyone!

#D100BloggerPD: Move Your Bus - Accept Criticism & Clean the Windshield

Happy Wednesday! So excited to be writing today about this topic!

If you have not been following, my very inspiring, innovative district has formed a group of educators who blog about various topics using the hashtag #D100BloggerPD. This month, we are doing a jigsaw book study on Ron Clark's Move Your Bus!

Colleen wrote the very first kick-off post, she is posting the links to the entire book study as they come! Take a quick peek!!

This post is covering:

Chapter 11 - Accept Criticism

Chapter 12 - Clean the Windshield

This is a continuance to Part 2 of the book: How to Accelerate. Here, Clark is very clearly laying out what it takes to be a Runner. 

Chapter 11: Accept Criticism

Clark begins the chapter with this quote. Makes sense, right!? In order to keep progressing, there is always work to be done. There is always something that needs to be adapted, modified, created, or replaced. They may not be large scale every single time, but there is always something. I completely agree with this! As educators, we know that one year can be completely different than the one before. Really, what works one day for one lesson may not necessarily work for the next. Therefore, we are always looking for new ways to engage the students. This quote really resonated with me in that aspect. However, the way Clark explained it was a little bit different. 

He writes that as a leader and principal, he is constantly giving his staff suggestions on how they could have done things, or do things more efficiently. He notes the difference in the way Runners might take the suggestions, to Walkers or even Joggers. When Runners are given criticism and suggestions they answer "Oh, good idea. I'll remember that next time!" While others might take offense to the criticism. He went on to say that the generation of 24-35 year old's were brought up to think they were "so smart and gifted and special that they take offense when someone points out that what they did was not good enough." Ron Clark himself was the same way at 24 years old, unable to understand that he wasn't always right. 

Now, I do not necessarily agree with this. I know many educators between the ages of 24-35 who are very open minded, and especially reflective, and receptive to suggestions and criticisms. I think this is one of the most important characteristics to have which make you a Runner. And perhaps this is one of the reasons why D100 is so great. We are all willing to learn from each other!

Nevertheless, nobody is perfect. Mistakes are made and sometimes, we teachers get called into the principals' office. When this happens, there are 9 magic words that should be said according to Clark:

 

Nothing makes the situation easier than to accept you were wrong, fix it, and most importantly grow from it.

 

Chapter 12: Clean the Windshield

Chapter 12 begins with an anecdote. 

"The team has been pulling the bus at top speed all morning and, inevitably, the windshield is now covered with bug splatter."

Runners are always the first to volunteer for tasks, no matter how big or small. However, Ron Clark  suggests that with menial tasks such as cleaning the windshield, walkers or joggers should be the ones volunteering. Runners have been working endlessly to move the bus, it is only fair for Walkers and Joggers to carry smaller tasks out. 

This may seem a little harsh but it absolutely makes sense. Runners are constantly going, going and going. Runners come up with the big ideas AND implement them. Sometimes carrying out several projects at a time. And while Runners will never admit it, or ask for it, they need help. This is where the rest of the team should step up and support them with these smaller tasks. 

While reading this book, it's easy to see that Runners are Ron Clark's favorite. However, I do believe that everybody can have something to contribute to any team - as support. Everyone needs it. 

Clark then goes on to explain that when you are new to an organization, there is no way you can be a Runner right off the bat. The school is new, curriculum is new, kids are new, everything is new. It takes time to get used to the culture of the school. The best way to move yourself up to a be a Runner is by volunteering for as many things as possible. Take the load off of the Runners. This saves so much time time for them, but also allows you to get to know more about the organization.  Start with what interests you, then you can take off running. 

Isn't that what it's all about? ...we all want our busses to fly. 

Thank you so much for spending some time with me! This book is SO motivational. Definitely a must-have.

Join us on Friday for Chapters 13 and 14: Take The Hint and Listen More Than You Talk, with Amy Gorzkowski at Grammar Mamma!