I Was Too Shy

Five years ago, we welcomed our first grandchild.  In an attempt to make more time for family, I made the choice to stop blogging. Today, I decided to write one last blog post.

That sweet grandchild we welcomed to our family five years ago started Kindergarten this year, and he just finished his second week of school.  He absolutely loves to read.  For the last year, he has been progressing from an emerging reader to an early reader.  He has a good repertoire of sight words and a strong phonics foundation. He has learned to segment words with his little hands and try to decode them.  Most importantly, he loves to read.  I mean he really loves it!  He burst through his Kindergarten classroom door ready to roll.  

He loves his teacher.  He speaks very highly of her. The time and attention she has given to her students is apparent.  He says she never stops smiling.  As a teacher, I am in awe of that statement alone!

Today, as he was proudly showing me his poetry notebook and sight words book his teacher sent home, I commented to him how proud he must be to read with his teacher.  He looked down and said, "She doesn't know."  I asked him what he meant.  He told me she has shown him papers with lists of letters on them and has asked him what each letter was.  He confided that when she pointed to each letter he said "I don't know."  When I asked him why he didn't just tell her the name of the letter, he said, "I was too shy."

I almost burst into tears.  Here is a child who can identify every letter in the alphabet and is too shy to tell his teacher.  It was a huge wake up call for me as an educator.

It helps me understand the danger of jumping into assessments before building strong relationships with kids.  

It helps me understand the importance of investing time observing our kids to let them show us what they know.

It helps me understand that standardized assessments will never, ever, ever capture all that our students know.

It helps me understand the difference between assessments OF learning and assessments FOR learning and how we might shift our focus.

It helps me understand that the labels we so quickly apply to students may be doing more harm than good.

Lastly, it helps me understand that the time to innovate assessment is now.  

So today, we practiced what to do when the teacher asks him what a letter was.  We talked with his mommy and daddy to tell them how he was feeling.  We spent time reading...just for fun.  

Today, I am thankful for a little boy who was too shy to tell his teacher that he can read.  He has taught me more than he will ever know.

Defining Beliefs

This year will mark my return to the classroom after three years away as I served my district as an instructional coach.  I will not be returning to the classroom the same teacher that I was three years ago.  I have spent the last three years learning alongside some pretty amazing educators.  Every teacher I have collaborated with over the past three years has had an impact on me and helped me stretch my thinking.  I will be eternally grateful for their influence as I begin my new adventure.  

As I begin this year, one of my first opportunities is designing a classroom in which I will learn alongside my students.  Early in my career, I would have hit up the teacher stores, Teachers Pay Teachers, and Pinterest and would have my classroom completely set up before the first day of school.   I decided to approach this year as both a coach and a teacher.  The first question I always asked teachers as they began to consider making changes in their classrooms was:

What are your basic beliefs as an educator--those non-negotiables you have set for yourself that define who you are and what you believe?

About five years ago, I read the book Teaching with Intention by Debbie Miller. It was one of the most influential books I have ever read and had a profound impact on me.  In it, she builds the case for aligning practices in our classrooms with our philosophical beliefs about education.  One of my favorite quotes from this book is: 

"I'm convinced that success in the classroom depends less on which beliefs we hold and more on simply having a set of beliefs that guides us in our day-to-day work with children. Once we know who we are and what we're about in the classroom, we become intentional in our teaching; we do what we do on purpose, with good reason." -Debbie Miller

I am blessed to work with a district that collaborated with the community to establish core set of beliefs that guide our work. 

I am a huge fan of these beliefs and as you will see they have influenced my personal beliefs.  Over the years I have compiled a fluid set of beliefs.  I say fluid because as I learn and grow, my beliefs change as well.  

• Learning is a lifelong journey.  Each person you encounter on your journey has something they can teach you. Seize every opportunity to learn.
• Learning environments are most effective when they reflect the thinking of the learners and are collaborative, safe, flexible, and responsive to the needs of all learners.  Our classrooms is the real world.
• Learning is maximized when it is meaningful, relevant, purposeful, interactive, and extends outside of the classroom.
• Formative, ongoing assessment for learning informs our work on a daily basis.  
•  An inquiry-based workshop approach to instruction built on the design qualities of choice, affirmation, protection from adverse consequences, and affiliation is the foundation for higher level thinking. 

As I begin a new school year, I know that it might be tempting to let go of some of my beliefs in order to "fit" everything I am expected to teach in; however, I will have to keep one of my favorite quotes in mind "TEA does not have any rule that requires us to bore kids to death"  -Jeff Turner, superintendent of Coppell ISD.  

What beliefs are you taking into this new school year?  How will they shape your practices?

  

Don't Stop Believing

This is video of a flashmob celebration of Principal Roget Boddie who recently retired from Hingham Middle School after 36 years in education.    I learned about it from Vicki Davis (@coolcatteacher) who wrote a blog about it.  I love what the staff and kids did for Mr Boddie.

After seeing it, this tweet came across my feed.  

As wonderful as the celebration of Mr. Boddie's service is, I cannot help but wonder what the impact might have been if this would have happened five, ten, fifteen years before he retired.  Did Mr. Boddie know how much his service mattered to his colleagues and his community?  

In my opinion, education is one of the most rewarding careers one can have; however, it can be one of the most emotionally draining careers as well. At times, even the most positive, upbeat among us need to hear that they matter.

While one certainly does not need a flashmob every day to know they matter, it does have an impact when we know what we do matters.  When I was a math coach, I had decided to handwrite teachers and classes notes when I saw great things going on in their classrooms or math related work hanging in the hall.  Last year, I visited a classroom and noticed the teacher had two notes that I had written to her a couple of years ago on a bulletin board.  This teacher is an absolute rockstar who goes above and beyond not only for her kids and parents, but for her colleagues every day.  I commented how nice it was that she saved the notes I had written.  She said that she saves every note she has ever received and posts them on her bulletin board.  My notes were the only ones on her board.  When I asked her about that, she said "Because they are the only notes I have ever received."  Wow!  That was a wake up call for me. 

I love Todd's challenge.  What impact might it have on our schools if we took just a minute every day to encourage a colleague?  I would wager that very few teachers got into education because they wanted accolades; however, a note or simple word of praise can have a profound impact.  

How do you let your colleagues know that they matter and to encourage them to "Don't Stop Believing?"  I would love to hear from you.

#cyberPD Who Owns the Learning

This summer, one of my colleagues on Twitter Cathy Mere @CathyMere, invited me to participate in an online book study through #cyberPD.  We are reading Who Owns the Learning by Alan November @gloabalearner. I had actually read the book last year, but am excited to reread it and have the opportunity to gain valuable insights from colleagues.

Below is a video blog entry I made for our first share over chapters 1 and 2.  November does an excellent job embedding future ready skills into a vision for classrooms in which relevant and meaningful work engages students in profound learning.  

In this book, November quotes Dr. Tony Wagner  who states "The essential skill of the 21st century is knowing how to ask the most interesting questions."  I decided to focus my first #cyberPD post by asking myself questions.  

I created my entry using VideoScribe. 
If you have difficulty viewing the embedded video, please visit YouTube.

As you reflect upon the practices in your school, what questions do you have? How are you currently supporting future readiness in your classrooms today?

We Are Having a Baby!

This morning George Couros, a member of my PLN, tweeted out about a collection of videos which captured a variety of "firsts."  

One video that caught my attention was a collection of reactions when parents and grandparents learn for the first time that they will be adding to their family.  

The thought that kept going through my mind as I watched this collection of videos was how excited each person is to learn the news and how important this child will become in their lives.  I have to admit I got a bit teary-eyed.  

Then I realized within just a few short years, these parents and grandparents will be entrusting these precious children to us.  They will want to partner with us to help ensure their child is educated, inspired, and prepared to for their future--wherever that may take them. 

When school starts in the fall and students, new and returning, enter our buildings, I will be replaying this video in my mind.  It is humbling to realize how precious these children are to their families and what a blessing it is to be a part of their journey.  

Mindset

Ealier this summer, I received a tweet from Justin Staub, a member of my PLN inviting me to participate in an online book study.  

I had never read Mindset, but it was definitely on my radar to do so. We will be reading and discussing a chapter each week.  I am also going to stretch myself to use a new tech tool for each chapter reflection.  I will continue to update this blog post as we read the book.  

Chapter 1-Reflections

Chapter 2--Connections  

Yellow--Quotes that stood out to me.

Red--Connections to other articles/videos made during reading

                   

                  This book is part of my Book a Month Challenge. 

Small Things Can Have a Huge Impact

While hiking to Vernal Falls in Yosemite during a recent visit to northern California, I snapped these pictures.  

What was amazing to me was the impact this smaller rock had on its environment.  It was holding back about half a dozen medium-sized boulders.  If that smaller rock was removed, the result would be significant.  The boulders would surely fall down the mountain at the very least causing damage to the trail and surely resulting in physical injury to anyone in their path.

Sometimes as educators, we get so caught up in the big picture that we forget to celebrate the "small things."  For example, during a RtI meeting, a colleague expressed concern that a student was still reading below grade level.  As we looked at the data the teacher meticulously collected over the year, significant growth could be seen.  While there was still more work to be done, this child had clearly made progress.

Another colleague had invited me into her room at the start of the year.  She had a particularly lively class and she needed some ideas to help support her learners.  As we collaborated during the year, she confided she was feeling ineffective.  Each time we met, I suggested we start with a celebration of something that went well--or at least not terribly--since our last meeting.  Throughout the year, she found she had much to celebrate.  
  

When we focus on deficits, we can easily get discouraged.  I have had to remind myself on numerous occasions this year to celebrate small wins.  The academic year has ended  for many of us.  When you reflect on your year what small things can you celebrate?