Listen!

I'm a talker.  I teach 380+ students per week, direct the school play, facilitate Student Council, and I talk too much.  This week I had the opportunity, dare I say privilege, to stop talking and listen.  Seven students from my 4th grade Student Council group were invited to guest blog for the 12 Days of Dreaming: Student Edition.  They had blogged about their dreams for education on our Student Council blog and submitted proposals for their post which were thoughtful, honest and very, very surprising.

Over the past two days I met with three of the guest bloggers to talk over their ideas.  I quickly realized that my role was not to do the talking but to listen and ask questions.  The conversation was remarkable and the students schooled the teacher.

Listen, these students shared that they want to be heard.  They want the opportunity to share their perspectives and have their thoughts and opinions matter.
Choice was a consistent theme in our discussion.  Choice in topics of study, project guidelines and due dates.  These students value their extracurricular activities (enjoyment, life-long skills, specific interests) and wanted to better balance their schedules to accomplish learning goals and extracurricular. 
Passion was a topic that made them all jump out of their seats!  Maybe they're a passionate bunch to begin with, but these students want and dream of opportunities to pursue their passions- in 4th grade none the less!

We looked at this post of photo prompts together, and this particular slide really got under the skin of these 4th graders.  They could all personally relate to the quote and thought of classmates who also fit this description.  This led to a very heated conversation about grades and report cards- details forthcoming in their future #12DOD blog posts.

I walked away from these meetings reminded again just how important it is to have these discussions with students.  In this day where teacher evaluations and school letter grade ratings are dependant upon student's standardized test scores, we cannot lose focus on student learning and what is important to students.  Many of the ideas, suggestions and dreams these students shared are easily attainable, we just need to stop talking and listen more.

If you are a teacher reading this post, I challenge you to ask your students what are your dreams for education?  They are dreams worth dreaming.

I would like to thank the three students mentioned above who completely inspired a very lethargic teacher/blogger to blog again.  

You don't know what you don't know, do you?

After reading a great post today, How to Connect the Dots, from Brett Clark, I ended up on a post from Tom Whitby which really got me thinking about this question, How do educators get to what they don't know?

This overarching question, how do educators get to what they don't know, is a challenging one.  I think of the phrase "you don't know what you don't know," and wonder how do we move beyond it?  I feel I did move beyond it because I felt stagnant in my trajectory as a teacher and knew there had to be more I could, and should, be doing.  But how is this accomplished when teachers may be complacent, simply because they don't know what they don't know?

The model of Flipped PD that I've implemented within my school has been one way to bring this overarching question to the front of our minds- mine included.  One hour a month of face to face time, with consistent and personalized support in between meetings, has provided the time for teachers to think, to consider, to wonder, to dream-- what don't I know, how else can I do this, what do my students need, how can I cultivate this...

How do we get educators to what they don't know?  I know now it goes slowly, with caution and regard for their experience, comfort level, and personal and pedagogical beliefs.  It's about building relationships and trust so that the unknown doesn't seem so isolated and scary, when impending observations loom.  It takes time, a lot of time, maybe more time than I ever imagined.  Consistency, encouragement, celebration and reflection are so important along this journey. 

I think now, getting to what they don't know is not simply about a piece of technology, or starting a class blog, or using the online features of the science curriculum.  It's about getting to know who we are as educators and truly what we believe about teaching and learning, beyond that philosophical paragraph on the parent welcome letter at the start of school.  It's the shift to not only student centered, but learning centered classrooms.  We're changing our school culture through collegial conversation that is deep, challenging, and meaningful.

I didn't know how this model would work or IF it would work, so for me, getting to what I didn't know meant simply to try, and not give up on my teachers no matter their fears, resistance, or struggles.  Growth, change and progress take time, as does learning.  Looking back over the first few months of this journey, I'm awed and inspired by the goals and projects which have tremendously impacted student learning in my school.  We have momentum and I believe this momentum will continue to inspire teachers to question, wonder and seek out what they don't know.  My calendar and to-do list are there to support them all along the journey.

Mars Rocks!

From the first week of school in our STEM classes, we have been following the Curiosity rover's exciting mission on Mars.  We check the time on Mars using the Mars24 Sunclock, catch up on @MarsCuriosity's latest tweets and tweet a question or two of our own, and usually check in with NASA JPL's Curiosity Week in Review.  Students greet me at the door with excitement, questions, and their stories of looking up Curiosity at home (or building their own rover out of Legos!).

We geeked out over Martian rocks this week with the discovery of an ancient streambed.  I was so proud when one 4th grade class erupted into applause over smooth, round rocks on Mars!!  But it's emails like this one below that literally bring tears to my eyes, because this is why I teach.

This email was sent to myself and a 3rd grade teacher whose class had read a great Time for Kids article about the Mars rovers.  Check out Renzulli Learning for more information about this unique platform for student directed learning.

Caught in a Web

Today was one of those days that affirmed my choice to leave the self-contained 3rd grade classroom and take a leap into the world of being a grades 1-4 STEM teacher.  My first week, I didn't think I would survive 1st graders, but over the past few weeks 1st graders have won me over.  Today was the icing on the cake.

We were exploring the engineering design process and thinking about nature's engineers, like spiders.  After looking at how spiders carefully craft their webs, we decided to make our own web design as a class.

These kiddos were proud of their final design and noticed the different shapes and lines they had created.  Suddenly, one student called out to me to be the "fly" in their web.  Being an enthusiastic educator, I happily crawled into their web.  Standing in the middle of their intricate design, I heard one little voice shout "Dinner time!" and was promptly bombarded with hugs from 20 awesome 1st graders.  Their excitement in that moment was a reminder to me that we teach kids, not subjects, and building community- even in a "specials" class - is vitally important.  

I eventually untangled myself from a mass of red yarn and am eagerly awaiting my next class of 1st graders.

First Week Reflections: Full STEM Ahead

Two months of planning, moving classrooms, reorganizing a science lab into a STEM lab, all led up to Wednesday: the first day of school.  This year I have stepped away from 8 years as a classroom teacher into a role as a grades 1-4 STEM teacher and coach.  I was feeling incredibly excited, a little nervous, and a little wistful since I would not have "my own" class.  Class after class proved to be an extraordinary week in many ways.

3rd and 4th graders took The Marshmallow Challenge.  We had innovative design of those spaghetti structures and great reflections on how to build a stable structure.  During one class I overheard a 3rd grader reassure her frantic group, "Don't worry, stay calm and relaxed!  We're in this together!"  That was a pivotal moment for this group of students where they regrouped with focus and went on to meet the challenge successfully.  What a smart kid.  What a lucky teacher.

1st and 2nd grade participated in a simple, but very cool density (lava lamp) demonstration.  Setting up for the first of the first grade classes, I was feeling a little more nervous than I thought reasonable.  But, I'll be very honest here, my last experience one-on-one with a 1st grade class was summer of 2003...  So, the class stampeded came in to the lab and sat down on the carpet to bombard me with questions and bathroom requests.  They were darling, inquisitive, squirmy, and eager to learn.  Our demonstration went just okay, but they enjoyed the end result and we shared lots of high-fives at the end of our time together.  My son is a first grader this year (his class will visit me on Monday!), but I was not prepared for a class full of first graders.  Lesson learned.  I will be better prepared next week!!!

I ended my Friday with an amazing class of 2nd graders.  They were more enthusiastic about STEM than any other class this week, and that enthusiasm was contagious!  We had a ball going through the lava lamp demonstration, but they were a little disappointed that there wasn't a grand explosion finale.  As I reflected on my day - 1st grade fail and 2nd grade win - I was feeling a little ho-hum.  Then tonight I received this email from a 2nd grade parent:

I've been given a gift with this opportunity to cultivate curiosity in roughly 380 students.  While I know it will have its challenges, I know this is where I'm supposed to be and I do believe this is going to be one of the greatest adventures of my career.

And now for the grand explosion finale!