License to Blog

One of my favorite sessions from RSCON3 this summer featured blogging with students by Pernille Ripp.  Having only joined the blogosphere a few short months ago, I am by no means an expert, but I am enthusiastic and completely enamored with the conversation of blogging.  It didn't take much to convince me and by the end of Pernille's session, I was committed to blogging with my students.

Anticipation does wonders for motivation.  My students have been learning about blogs, commenting, reading other student blogs, and posting to our class blog all in the efforts of earning their (drumroll please)... License to Blog.  For a third grader, this is a big deal.

The big reveal was pretty low-key, my post to our class blog congratulating them on earning their license, was displayed on the screen.  But their reaction was priceless with shouts of joy, big smiles, jumping up and down, and the "yes!" fist-punches in the air.  I just about had tears of joy in my eyes.  It is elementary school, so I did make them an actual paper license (link to template coming soon!) which only added to their excitement.

I had my own moment of excitement tonight about my budding blog authors when I tweeted their first posts with #comments4kids and we had comments in a matter of minutes.  Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to those of you who take the time to comment on kids' blogs.  And yes, I fist-punched the air and did my "this is why I love Twitter" dance of joy.

Enthusiasm is contagious.  See for yourself in these new blog authors.

A Gratitude Celebration

This weekend I am celebrating.  There are so many things to be thankful for in my life, my career, my classroom.  In the spirit of gratitude, affirmation, and general "YIPPEE!" I am celebrating.

• Why yes, I will be Expanding my Horizons at ISTE 2012 in San Diego because I have been awarded a grant to attend!  
• My students have taken to blogging like bees to honey!  They are anxiously awaiting their official license to blog.  I am so inspired by their enthusiasm!
• The Global Read Aloud officially begins tomorrow and I'm just thrilled to have connected with another school to connect on a virtual level through this very cool project.  
• I completed a huge, time consuming, but very creative project this week, which ultimately was very fulfilling to my soul.  

As a new week begins, I am committed to reframing stress into gratitude, being open and active to change, trying a new way to integrate tech, beginning my presentation proposal for ISTE, and going to bed earlier (teachers really can't live on caffeine, unfortunately...).  

Food for thought: How could gratitude affect our classroom environments?

What if?

In my quest to transform my instructional practices, I made a commitment to take my class for a walk around our school grounds at least once a week.  This inspiration came from an article featured in "The Big Fresh" newsletter from Choice Literacy, The Benefits of Taking Students Outside to Inspire Writing.  Following in Stephen Hurley's footsteps, my 3rd graders and I set out on our "Wednesday Walk" each Wednesday morning.

Our first walk, we set a few expectations like focusing on our senses for observation, keeping up with the class, and leaving nature as we find it (or better!).  Last week, having our inaugural walk under our belts, we tromped in the opposite direction with a focus of observation to put our "think like a scientist" skills to work.  We stopped along the way to focus our senses and try to notice something new or interesting about our school setting.  The observations shared were great observations, but I really felt like there was an overall lack of enthusiasm for the Wednesday Walk.

This week, after a reading of Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street, the focus for our walk struck me like Eva's ideas struck her: I wondered, "What if?"  What if we took our Writer's Notebooks with us on our walk?  After several minutes of an internal struggle about purpose of notebooks, control of what goes in the notebooks, and when the notebooks have been scheduled to go outside...  I finally realized I was waaaaaay too concerned about this decision, so with Writer's Notebooks in tow, we began our walk today, pausing here and there and wondering, "What if?"  

It was pure magic.  The ideas were practically tangible, scattered everywhere like treat filled Easter eggs there for the taking.  I watched in awe the imagination and wondering unleashed with a fury of pencils to notebooks.  A few of my students who might typically struggle with ideas were so engaged in their creativity and excited to share their ideas.

I learned a few valuable lessons today.  First, let go and let learning happen.  I had to get over my control to let this magical moment occur.  Second, there is time.  It is so easy to become overwhelmed with all there is to do and let the clock be a driving force.  No more!  I will fiercely guard the Wednesday Walk time each week.  The value in this experience has already become immeasurable and teacher and students alike can't wait for next week.  Third, it's a good thing to stop and wonder, "What if?"  Innovation, design, learning, and change are born out of wondering "What if?"  My students wondered, "what if it rained doughnuts?" "What if that plane landed on the soccer field and our whole class got on board and went to Florida?"  "What if there was a road right there [through the middle of the playground]?"  Suddenly they saw a whole new world of possibilities and ideas.  

What if we wondered "what if?" more often?  What if I teach with transparency, sharing openly and honestly with my colleagues, building and world-wide?  What if I challenge my students to see beyond the leaves of the trees, the mulch on the playground, the four walls of our classroom?   I wonder what innovation, design, change, and learning will be born out of wondering "what if?" this year.  

How do you wonder "what if?" with your students or about your teaching?

Share Like a Family

This morning in our Community Circle, we each shared something that made our week fabulous.  I couldn't help but grin from ear to ear as I listened to their comments about making new friends, getting to choose books from the classroom library, and being in this class.  This fall, I have a student teacher working me and when it was her turn to share, as deemed by the passing of the Koosh ball (many thanks to my dear hubby who uncovered this treasure), she commented that after only one week this class is already like a family.  

This idea of family stuck with my students as we put the finishing touches on our class contract.  While brainstorming buzz words to describe the kind of learning environment we want, one student wanted to add, "sharing and trusting" to our list.  This is the kind of thinking that makes teachers go weak in the knees!  I asked the student to explain what was meant by "sharing and trusting."  The explanation was that we should share if someone needed to borrow a pencil and share if someone had a good idea about something.  "Does trust go along with sharing, or is it its own category?" I asked.  The class felt that "sharing and trusting" should stay together because we needed to trust each other if we were going to share our thinking, writing, and ideas.  They worked in triads using the buzz words to write a phrase or statement about our learning environment.   As I moved from group to group, I was struck with how their statements were very serious, intentional, inspiring, and honest.  

So, what made my week fabulous?

"Sharing and Trusting: Where we share like a family, take risks with our learning, and trust each other with new ideas."  20 amazing, thoughtful, curious, innocent 3rd graders who completely humbled their teacher.

Inspiration has a Sense of Humor

Sometimes inspiration strikes in the oddest ways.  Music has a powerful effect on my creativity, and in this case, it became the vehicle of my latest inspiration strike.

Teachers Back to School Music Video

Yes, the school counselor and I wrote a parody song and made a music video, which we shared with the staff at our school on the first teacher day.  

Why take the time to do this the week before school starts?  Why dress so ridiculously?  Why post it to Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, and this blog?  Why would an educator so passionate about learning, integrating technology, and educational reform do something so silly?

As the video played in a room full of teachers and school staff, each one of them could connect to some part of our goofy (yet fabulous) lyrics.  Together, we laughed, and laughed, and laughed with one another, a positive affirmation of what it takes to prepare for the start of school this year.  That four minutes brought our staff together in a shared experience that we will carry with us throughout the school year.   We were also reminded that through all the drastic changes and stresses, we have each other to lean on and laugh with.

At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.
Jean Houston 

When you laugh, "you're changing your brain chemistry, which causes the brain to produce a variety of chemicals that naturally make you feel better. It also stops producing the chemicals that make you feel anxious and tense," said Paul Antokolsky of a laughter therapy group.  Like a "brain break" for our students, this funny music video for teachers was the perfect release and recharge for the start of school.

With all of my collective new learning from the summer, I truly want to "be the change." To me, this means I must be transparent in my practices, ideas, resources, successes, and failures. I have to be willing to take risks and do what others may not be ready to do or try. This holds true with my students as well. I strive to create a safe and creative environment for students to be open to taking risks, and I feel compelled to live that model myself.

Making this video was completely hilarious and fun.  We laughed so hard that now there is a "kaleidoscope of new possibilities."  As it says in the credits, suggestions for future parodies welcome.

Have a dynamite year,

ShFresh (aka @ICETeacherSara)