A Letter to My Child's Teacher Regarding Homework

Ever since a picture of 2nd-grade teacher, Brandy Young's homework policy went viral this week on Facebook, the anti-homework movement for young students has attracted more and more attention. Resharing a Facebook post is a great start, but I believe we can do more to move the needle on this important issue.

Rather than relying on social media to spread a message that I am passionate about, I decided to take my own advice from my recent blog post and actually speak up about my concerns with homework. Below, I am sharing a version of a letter that I recently sent to my child's teacher regarding my perspective on homework and the ways I hope to support my child's learning this year. (Feel free to borrow it, by the way.)

Thankfully, my child's teacher immediately responded to my letter, saying that she was happy to see that we share very similar ideas about homework. I knew we struck gold with this teacher when my daughter came home from school saying, "Homework can be anything this year, Mom! Playing Monopoly or even making a YouTube video can be our homework!"

Here's hoping that many other educators in my child's future have her mindset.

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To My Child’s Teacher,

I want to begin by thanking you for playing a role in my child’s education. Without your support and guidance, my child could not reach her full potential, and I am grateful to have you as a partner in her education this year.

I am writing to share my perspective on homework and to respectfully ask that you avoid sending home homework assignments or incomplete work from the school day. Much of the research on the topic of homework suggests that there is little to no proven benefit, and I worry that homework is negatively impacting my child’s view of school.

One of my primary goals for my child is to ensure that her after-school hours are spent in a meaningful, productive way to foster responsibility and a love of learning. Rather than encourage the completion of traditional homework assignments, I hope to support her growth and development by pledging to do the following:

1. I will talk to her about what she is learning about in school on a daily basis.
2. I will establish a routine for her that supports nightly reading.
3. I will foster authentic learning experiences in our home (cooking together, sharing household responsibilities, problem-solving through life’s challenges)
4. I will encourage her to be active outside of school by either playing outdoors or participating in an activity that promotes physical health.
5. I will support the development of her talents and interests by giving her time for experimentation and practice.
6. I will respect that she is still a kid who deserves downtime and free-time to keep her feeling revived and enthusiastic about school.

By removing the nightly obligation of homework completion, I believe that my child will have an opportunity to develop her character, talents, and interests. My hope is for her to be excited to go to a place of learning each day and equally as excited to come home to a stress-free, loving home environment for continued learning each night.

Thank you for your support in protecting our family’s quality time together.

Speaking Up about Homework

Thirteen years ago, I began my teaching career as a fourth-grade teacher. I was young and idealistic, believing that I could make a difference, not just in the lives of my students, but in the profession of education. I distinctly remember presenting to a room filled with skeptical faces at my very first Open House. As I welcomed my students’ parents to what would be an exciting school year for their children, I proclaimed that I would not be giving very much homework to my students because I wanted kids to be kids. I explained that after spending nearly seven hours a day learning in school, homework would be limited to nightly reading and nothing more.

I thought the parents of my students were going to be relieved since fourth grade was known as the grade level where teachers really ramped up the homework. A funny thing happened, though. The parents were not relieved. They were disappointed; some even angry. As the first few weeks of school passed, my students’ parents questioned whether or not I was cut out to be a teacher in a high performing school district.

“Doesn’t she realize that she has to prepare our kids for the next grade level? How will she teach them responsibility without nightly homework? Our kids are going to fall behind if she does not increase the amount of homework she assigns!”

My principal at the time, hearing the complaints, called me into his office to explain that I needed to align myself with the other teachers on my grade level team. He also suggested that I abide by the 10-minute rule and assign 40 minutes of homework each night. (10 minutes of nightly homework multiplied by the grade level I taught.) Being new, inexperienced, and afraid of losing my first teaching job, I complied.

John Hattie
(Image Credit: Wikipedia)

Today, over a decade later, we know so much more about homework. John Hattie, a renowned education researcher who spent more than fifteen years studying the influences of achievement in school-age students, suggests that five to ten minutes of homework can have the same effect as one to two hours of homework. While Hattie does not recommend getting rid of homework altogether, since it does have an effect on students at the high school level, he proposes that primary schools (grades K-8) consider whether or not the homework assigned is truly making a difference in student learning, especially when his research indicates that that homework in grades K-3 has no effect at all.

Yet even without knowing about Hattie’s research, as a young educator, my gut told me that homework was not entirely necessary, especially the amount of homework I was pressured to assign. Still, I let the practice of homework continue because it’s what everyone else was doing and it’s what the parents were expecting me to do, too. It seemed to my students’ parents that I was teaching their children responsibility, even though the responsibility fell on them to ensure that the homework was completed each night. Parents reported that they were glad their children were becoming better conditioned to complete larger amounts of homework in preparation for the next grade level, nevermind the amount of stress that I was inflicting upon them on a nightly basis. And since our test scores remained high compared to much of the state, it seemed that the homework must be contributing to student learning, even though the low-level skills practiced at home were hardly ever assessed on the state tests. Because parents believed that homework was improving their child’s education, I found it difficult to challenge the status quo on nightly homework.

Fast forward to today, and now I find myself cast in a new role. As a parent of a 2nd-grade and a 4th-grade child, I am anxious that my child’s teacher will assign homework due to pressures from other parents or longstanding traditions in their school. I want to respect each teacher's professional judgment about the work assigned outside of school, but in my experience, even the best teachers seem to fall victim to this antiquated practice. I worry that the assignments will be mindless and time-consuming, stripping my children of their curiosity and sense of wonder. I worry that the amount of stress added to our household over homework completion will affect my relationship with my children

when I have so few hours that I get to spend at home with them each day. I worry that the homework will be too difficult, and while I may be able to help my children overcome challenging assignments, what about children whose parents are not able to help? I worry that bedtime reading, which arguably fosters the most important set of skills in young children, will often be neglected because lengthy homework assignments that are due the very next day will take precedence.

Life is short, so rather than continue to worry, I have decided that I must continue speaking out by sharing my concerns in an effort to challenge all educators to rethink homework. Last fall, I co-authored a blog post with my colleague, Jeff Zoul, about giving homework purpose or eliminating it altogether. While I continue to support everything in that original post, I hope educators will also consider reducing the time students are spending on homework, because even purposeful assignments can become too time-consuming for young learners.

If this post resonated with you and you are a parent with concerns about homework, speak up! If you are a teacher catering to parent expectations, speak up! If you are a student stressed out by homework, speak up! If you are an administrator caught in between all of these stakeholder groups, speak up! Though I am not quite as young as I once was when I first began my teaching career, I am still an idealistic educator who believes that she can make a difference, which is why I will continue to speak up about homework and its effect on all of us.

Doing Things DiFfeReNtLy

I love to do things differently. Sometimes it is because I truly believe there is a better way. Sometimes it is to make a point. Mostly, it's because doing things differently keeps me energized and engaged with life. I notice that I do things differently after trying them out in spurts, and then just as I have gotten into a nice rhythm, I depart for something else. Luckily for my husband, he is an exception to this rule. But he will tell you that it is very much a part of who I am. For example, my Starbucks order will be consistent for several months (right now it's a grande blonde roast with a splash of coconut milk + 1 Splenda) and then it completely changes for several months more. My exercise routine, eating habits, leisure activities, and even career will stay consistent for awhile and then suddenly, I seek a change.

In my role as a school district administrator, I notice the same trend. I find that I don't do the same things for too long before I break away to try doing something else. Perhaps, this is why I am able to adapt to new ideas so easily. I anticipate change and welcome it wholeheartedly. I lean into the fear of the unknown and accept that it will be different for awhile. Until it's not anymore. 

When I work with teachers, I notice that they often hold onto something old as we make shifts toward trying something new. It's their security blanket protecting them against something they are not quite sure about.

"I'm excited to teach the new curriculum, but I want to find a place for some of my old lessons, too."

"I want to start using Google Docs, but first let me upload all of my old Word documents into Google Drive." 

"I want to begin implementing standards-based grading into my teaching, but I still plan to give a midterm exam."

Holding on to what we have always done is comfortable and familiar. Even when change is knocking down our door, we hold onto what we know. But somehow, as a community of educators, we need to work on letting go. Just like when you are cleaning out your closet or your email inbox, sometimes you have to just purge much of the old to make room for the new. When we open our minds up to change and let go, we have the freedom to be creative, innovative thinkers. The more we hold on to doing things the same, the harder we find it is to move forward.

So, my challenge to those who are reading this post is to think about what you might start doing differently. As 2015 draws to a close, think about ways to change something about yourself, your work, or your life. Maybe you will find that doing things differently leads to small changes. And small changes, I have come to realize, can make a very big difference.

Reflections from a First Year Administrator

A year ago, I left my classroom. In my career in education, this was not the first time I chose to leave. A number of years earlier, I left my 5th grade classroom to become a technology coach for several years, but eventually I began feeling rusty and knew it was time to revisit my roots so that I could refine my skills as a practitioner.

When I returned to the classroom this most recent time, I felt vulnerable and afraid. So much had changed in such a short period of time...could I keep up with the demands of the classroom? Common Core Standards, Standards Based Grading, 1:1 Technology...all of this was foreign to me, yet I had been an educator for nearly a decade. Surprisingly, muddling through the experience of starting over and teaching something completely new taught me more than I ever expected. These lessons have become even more apparent now that I have been gone from my classroom for a full year, and I can reflect back on what that last year as a classroom teacher taught me. I hope that my lessons can be shared with other educators who are questioning their own journey in the ever-changing, constantly evolving field of education.

Never Say Never

There seems to be an unwritten rule in education that once you take a role in administration, you don't go back into the classroom. I suppose this is true the majority of the time, but I will never say that I'll never go back. Maybe it's because I believe that my heart will always be in the classroom. Or maybe it's because ever since I was very young, my mother always told me to "never say never." While my next classroom may look a little different, with different learners or a different environment, I often find myself thinking about what it might be like to teach again in some capacity. So, in the spirit of my mother's wisdom, I say to all educators: never say never. Be open to possibilities. Be open to change. Change makes you better - even when you are already pretty darn great!

It's Not About You
Our job as educators is to teach kids to be engaged in their learning and inspired to do great things with their lives. Our job is not about grading fewer papers or having more plan time. It is not about finding a shortcut to make our lives easier. Granted, I loved finding ways to work smarter not harder, but I always kept those students at the center of my craft. Sure, a multiple choice quiz would have been much faster to grade, but those extended response questions gave me much more information about what my students knew and were able to do! Yes, stepping away from the front of the room and letting each student work on a different project at the same time was a management nightmare, but it was not about what would be more manageable for me. It was about making the learning rich and meaningful to my students. Let's make an effort to focus on what really matters in education. It's not about us; it's about our students. 

So What if the Kids are Smarter Than You
Teachers don't need to be the keeper of all knowledge anymore. We have Google for that. Instead, teachers must view themselves as a facilitator of learning to equip all kids with the skills to communicate, collaborate, think critically, and create. A student may have access to incalculable amounts of information in the palm of his hand, but his chances of becoming a successful human being depend on the support of the adults around him. Kids still need teachers, so don't worry if your students are smarter than you! They may be smart, but teachers have wisdom and experience, and that's something that can't be Googled.

Love it or Leave it
Teacher tenure is a blessing and a curse in the field of education. For teachers, it provides job security and financial stability, but it can also keep teachers feeling trapped in a job that they don't want to be doing anymore. I'm not interested in starting a tenure debate, but I do wish more teachers took the "love it or leave it" approach to their careers. If you love it, then by all means, teach as long as you can so that you continue making a difference in the lives of children. But if you don't love it, it's okay to leave it behind and find something new to do. Life is short. We should all do what we love and love what we do...especially when we have the potential to touch the lives of children.



It's amazing what you learn from deep reflection of past experiences, and the summertime is a natural time for reflection for educators. If you are winding down from one school year and preparing for another, take the time to look back, to pause, to reflect. Looking back brings clarity to the future.

Reflections from the Leyden 1:1 Symposium

I was lucky enough to be one of the 400 participants at the Leyden High School District 212 1:1 Symposium from July 30-August 1. Honestly, this was hands-down, the best PD I have received in years. From the moment I arrived and was greeted by the exceptional Leyden students, I could sense that this event would be special. You cannot help but feel #LeydenPride just by walking through the hallways. The leadership team behind the 1:1 Symposium truly tailored this event to every individual in attendance from teachers to administrators. The entire experience left me feeling motivated and inspired, which is exactly what you need on August 1st when the upcoming school year is staring you dead in the face.

Since the event was capped at only 400 participants, I feel a responsibility to share my major takeaways with others. (Seriously, if Jason Markey, Bryan Weinert or Mikkel Storaasli are reading, you guys are going to have to open this up to more people next year!)

So, here are my four favorite takeaways that I am borrowing from the brilliant minds that came together to share their passion about 1:1 learning in today's classrooms.

1. Start Small

This idea was really well stated by Jennie Magiera who suggested to start with one focus for the school year instead of trying to do everything all at once. Jennie also reminded participants not to "put the technology ahead of the pedagogical horse." In other words, the way we teach is more important than the device alone. If we start small with only one focus that is about teaching rather than the technology, we will be more successful in our classrooms.

2. New is not always Better

This was another idea by the inspiring Jennie Magiera, who shared that just because you have all of those shiny new devices in your classroom does not necessarily mean that you need to use all of that technology 100% of the time. Sometimes the old tech-free way you teach students is even more effective than with tech in hand. I think this is very poignant for any teacher who is about to begin the school year teaching in a 1:1 Learning Environment. 

3. Listen to the Students

At Leyden, the students have a voice. Whether it be through Twitter, blogging, or by asking students to share their thoughts during the Leyden student panel at the closing session, those students have an opportunity to share what's on their minds. Naturally, when you give students a voice, those voices are heard. This is an important reminder to all educators that students want to be heard and we have a responsibility to listen!

4. Find Joy

The opening keynote speaker at the Leyden 1:1 Symposium, Dean Shareski, shared how important it is that we all cultivate a more joyful experience in our schools. One of the ways for us to make this condition possible is for all of us to be a little more grateful. I think we need to keep this in mind as we all prepare for a new school year. Let's be grateful and remember to say thank you to acknowledge the greatness within one another. 

Getting started on a 1:1 journey will surely be filled with roadblocks and speed bumps along the way, but after spending three days at Leyden and hearing of their successes, I am certain that anyone going 1:1 in their school district is on the right track!

A New Beginning...

Twelve years ago, I was hired to teach fourth grade at an elementary school in the northern suburbs outside of Chicago with barely any teaching experience whatsoever. The principal at the time told me that he saw something in me that would make a great teacher. It was a ridiculously rocky first year. I was young, idealistic and an outside-the-box thinker. As the year went on, I made lots of mistakes, but I learned many lessons about how to hone my teaching skills, communicate effectively, and build relationships with those around me.

After five years in the elementary classroom, I found myself craving a leadership role and wound up as a technology coordinator in my building. When I applied for the position, I imagined this role to be a dream job for me. My passion for technology and instruction would blend into a perfect role, one where I could help teachers integrate technology into their teaching and still have interactions with students. Unfortunately, the structure of the position and the culture of the district were not quite ready for my vision for what I believed the job could be. Instead of coaching teachers and sharing how technology could be used as a tool to elevate student learning and engagement, I was called upon to fix interactive whiteboards and teach cyber safety classes that were completely scripted. While I loved my school as well as the many relationships I had cultivated throughout my years in the building, I was completely deflated each night when I would come home from school and reflect on how my education and classroom teaching experience felt wasted. After giving it four years and considering a career change, I decided to do the unthinkable in the eyes of my colleagues...return to the classroom.

Thanks to a few administrators who recognized my passion for teaching and desire for change, I was granted a job transfer over to the neighboring middle school to teach 6th grade ELA. Even though I had nine years of experience in the same school district, I felt like a brand new teacher. I had to learn about the middle school model, common core standards, MAP testing and standards-based grading. Overwhelmed does not begin to describe my emotional state, so as soon as I stepped foot back into the classroom, I called upon my building's literacy coach as well as my building administrators to help me learn as much as possible. I was constantly challenging myself to learn, grow, and redefine the classroom experience for my students. My goal was to make learning meaningful for my students, and I made it my mission to serve as a model classroom where technology was a vehicle to assist in student engagement and academic growth. By my second year back in the classroom, I participated in a 1:1 Chromebook pilot, took on the role of team leader, and did whatever I could to become better at my craft. My two years as a middle school teacher have been the best years of my teaching career, and I am grateful every day that I took the risk of leaving my comfortable position at a school that I desperately loved for a position that would uproot me, challenge me beyond my wildest expectations, and work me to the bone. 

Yet just two years into teaching 6th grade ELA, after I had fallen in love with my new school and built wonderful relationships with my new colleagues, an opportunity came knocking. This time it was an administrative role, and my heart told me I was ready to take on this new challenge. Today, after serving my district for eleven incredible years as a teacher, I began my first day as a district administrator, charged with the responsibility of leading teachers toward innovative teaching practices in 1:1 learning environments. My experience as an elementary and middle school teacher along with my background as a technology coordinator will provide an invaluable perspective as I take on this new role, and I am eager to share my passion with such incredible teachers and leaders in my district as we embark on this exciting journey together.

If you have been following my blog (all three of you), I hope you will visit me over at directorforinnovativelearning.edublogs.org. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers!

Technology for Technology's Sake?

Are we using technology for technology's sake?

I ask myself this question often, especially as a teacher in a 1:1 learning environment. Striking the balance of using the technology in a meaningful way while teaching and guiding students effectively can be a challenge. I often stop to ask myself if the technology is truly necessary to enhance the learning experience for my students.

This past week, my students wrote a short research paper. (In case you were wondering, this covers common core standard W.6.7: Conduct short research projects to answer a question drawing on several sources.) To help students organize their research, we used tabbed folders with library pockets stuck inside to hold their research that was written on good old-fashioned index cards.

(Our pretty green research folders.)

"I can't believe you are not using technology for this project," one of my colleagues commented.

But my students were using technology. They were using their Chromebooks to access a webquest, which was guiding the research process. Students were accessing different web resources and taking notes on their findings. Students were also using technology to publish their final paper, which they shared with their classmates. Finally, students will be using all of this wonderful research to collaborate on a multimedia project that answers our guiding question.

Here's the thing. It's not about the technology. It's about teaching students to think, to ask questions, to organize their thoughts, to make revisions, to write. Could we have found a way to do all of the pre-writing, planning and note-taking using some web tools? Definitely. Would that make the experience any better for my students? I am not so sure.

When I asked students if they liked using the note card system for their research, the majority of my students said that they preferred doing research this way. One student even told me she thought it was fun and that she felt "more organized and prepared."

As many school districts embark on their own 1:1 journey, I think it is important for teachers to ask themselves, "Am I using technology for technology's sake?" We need to remember that it is not always necessary to use technology 100% of the time. A hybrid approach to using technology along with effective pedagogy is our ultimate goal as teachers, facilitators and guides in a 1:1 learning environment.

Stationary Stations

Literacy centers (or literacy stations, as I like to call them) are a fantastic way for students to practice various reading and writing skills as they rotate through different activities. In many elementary school classrooms, students can often be seen moving in and out of literacy centers when they are not meeting with their teacher for guided reading instruction.  Students themselves recognize how fun it is to participate in the different activities, which also provide important opportunities for students to work collaboratively with each other. Even though I teach middle school students, I decided that literacy stations had wonderful potential with my sixth grade students. Because of our 1:1 Chromebook pilot, however, my bigger challenge was finding a way for students to utilize the power of the technology while still experiencing the different literacy activities.

This week, I set up a handful of stations for my students to practice various reading and writing skills, using a shared Google doc as a guiding document that would encourage collaboration between students. One keenly aware student pointed out that even though I set up "stations," she did not technically need to rotate or move throughout the classroom anymore since all the activities were either web-based or recorded using Google Docs. She declared them "Stationary Stations." 

The more I watched students participate in the Stationary Stations, the more enthusiastic I became about the possibilities of these types of activities in a 1:1 learning environment. The stations were all challenging and meaningful, which kept students engaged throughout class time. Even more exciting to me was the quality of work that the students were producing since they were able to collaborate with each other and practice the skills that we have been focusing on in class. Maybe even more importantly, I was able to provide immediate feedback to my students as I kept tabs on their Google Docs and circulated the room to check in with each group of students frequently. 

Below are the activities and web applications that I used with my students, each of them aligned to the Common Core State Standards. 

1. Timeline Creator

Task: Create a timeline to analyze chronologically structured text. (RI.6.3)

Review: Students were able to create a timeline without any trouble and save it as a PDF to their Google drive. The saved timeline will be used as a reference when students are asked to analyze the events within the text. This site is very user-friendly and students can easily save whatever timeline they create. I highly recommend it!

2. Draw.io

Task: Create a flowchart to analyze a section of text to see how it fits into the overall structure of a text. (RI.6.5)

Review: Draw.io builds very simple diagrams online that can automatically be saved to Google Drive. Two big thumbs up!

3. Rory's Story Cubes

Task: Write a narrative while incorporating figurative language into the story. (RL.6.3, L.6.5)

Review: Story Cubes were loaned to me by a student who was just dying to try them out in class! The students loved the challenge of writing a story collaboratively on Google Docs using all nine story cubes and then incorporating the types figurative language that we've been studying this year. These awesome sets of story cubes are perfect for classrooms, road trips or moms who may need to entertain a family before mealtime!

I am always looking for suggestions. If you have any ideas for literacy stations for middle school students, please comment below! Thanks for checking in. 

It's Not about the Device

As a culminating project for my students' self-selected lit circles, they all made book trailers using iMovie on the iPads that we borrowed from our LMC. Someone asked me, "Why didn't you have the students use their Chromebooks for the final project?" Interesting question. While yes, we are in the midst of a 1:1 Chromebook pilot, that does not mean that Chromebooks will work for us 100% of the time.

Think about yourself for a minute. How many devices do you use on a weekly, daily, maybe even hourly basis? For me, I use a laptop or Chromebook for lots of web-based applications, an iPad for larger projects that require multimedia apps, and an iPhone for just about everything else. If I were limited to using just a Chromebook, I'd be without a camera, photo album, day planner, ...the list could go on! So, how can we limit our kids to just one device?

The fact is that 1:1 is not about which device. It's about having a device. In today's classroom environment, the chosen device, whichever it is for the moment, should foster the four C's of 21st century learning: creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration. For my students' book trailer projects, they worked creatively and collaboratively using iPads, yet a lot of their planning and critical thinking was done using a Chromebook. And when it came time to communicate their final projects with each other, the device was obsolete, thanks to Google Drive and YouTube.

As you can see below, iPads are a powerful tool for the students to create their own book trailers. I think you will be impressed by the performances of these sixth grade students!

Handing Over the Reins

Several weeks ago, I blogged about the magic of lit circles and how motivating this strategy can be for middle school readers. To stay faithful to the lit circle model, my students have selected their own books for our next round of lit circles.  With the help of my school librarian, my students learned about six different books from which to choose. Students filled out a Google form with their book preference, and then I was able to sort my trusty spreadsheet to create the lit circle groups.

Because the books were student-selected, I decided that the students also needed to pace out the reading for themselves. We need to hand over the reins to the kids in our classrooms more often anyway, and I figured this was a perfect opportunity for students to practice their self-directed learning skills. I provided a pacing calendar with designated lit circle meeting days, but my students had to work together in their groups to reach a consensus on their pacing schedule. The activity of going through a book and pacing out the reading was, by far, the BEST problem-solving and team-building activity for kids that I have ever witnessed!

Here is a short video of a group of students discussing how much they planned to read in between lit circle meetings:

Here is a link to the document that the students were all using to pace out their reading between each lit circle. (I used Doctopus to share the pacing calendar with each group.)

I love the ownership that this experience has given the students. After they finished pacing, the students also began a group blog to post their reflections and lit circle jobs instead of using a folder with paper handouts. Students are eager to get started and I am equally as excited to watch the process!

Reshaping the Language Arts Classroom

With all of the crazy weather we've been having this winter, my students have practically forgotten what it feels like to be in school for a full week! As I reflect on the teaching and learning that has been taking place in my classroom, I see more and more how the 1:1 devices can truly elevate the learning experience for students. Most of my current lessons and activities in the areas of reading, writing and language study were impossible before going 1:1. To capture these shifts, here is a little taste of how the Chromebooks have reshaped my language arts classroom.

Reading

This week, students read a passage and came to class ready for a discussion, but the 1:1 devices played a large role in how I incorporated each student into the activity. I used a discussion strategy known as Socratic Circle, where students in an inner circle discussed the text, while the outside circle observed the discussion. Instead of students passively watching the discussion, all participants in the outside circles held their own discussion using a real-time backchanneling site called Todaysmeet.com. Todaysmeet also provides a transcript, so after the discussion, students could reflect on what ideas were discussed and how actively each student participated. Today's students cannot take a back seat in class; the technology gives a voice to all.


Writing
A recent writing assignment asked students to create a graphic narrative either by hand or on a comic-creator website of their choosing. After students reviewed the CCSS for narrative writing, we worked together to develop a set of criteria to include in their creation. In just one assignment, students reviewed narrative writing elements, found a way to produce the assignment, and then began publishing their work to their blogs for feedback from peers and outside observers. Take a look at Emma's blog for an example of her graphic narrative. Today's students write for a greater audience and they want their work to be worthy of the public's eye.

Grammar 
My days of teaching grammar at the board and handing out worksheets are over. Thanks to 1:1 Chromebooks and a website called NoRedInk.com, students practice grammar skills at their own pace and then take quizzes which are graded immediately to provide instant feedback to the students. My favorite features of this program include a student customized profile so that sentences are tailored to the individual interests of each student, a color-coded progress screen that shows areas requiring the most practice, and most importantly, it is absolutely free! Students love the program and many keep practicing just to try to beat their score. Today's students see the relationship between practice and performance, finding motivation from within.

This is such an exciting time in education as we transform teaching and learning in our classrooms!  Ever since putting devices into the hands of each learner, the level of engagement and motivation is unparalleled. If we continue to push the bar and reshape the way in which we teach our students, today's students will be ready for an unknown future that is full of possibilities.

Reflecting on Then and Now

My students have had their Chromebooks for nine days. Although they were already accustomed to using the Chromebooks in my classroom, somehow it has become an entirely different experience since going 1:1. Now the device is theirs.

In the first couple of days, all students wanted to do on the Chromebooks were the same two activities: customize the wallpaper and play online games. So, after a little bit of thought, I decided to let them. I figured they needed to get it out of their system.

After a few more days had passed, the Chromebooks were no longer viewed as a shiny new toy. Students started coming to my class asking if I would post homework through a site called Teacher.io, which integrates with an app appropriately name "myhomeworkapp." Usually teachers beg students to use an assignment notebook, so I got a kick out of listening to the students beg me to use the app with them. I love how organically this all occurred, but I knew my students needed to begin viewing their device as more than just a homework organizer.

By the end of this week, something changed. The learning began outshining the device, because the device was helping students participate in activities that were previously impossible. I've even overheard students recall the days before we went 1:1, and they recognize how different their learning experience has become.

As I reflect on today's classroom as compared to my years of teaching before 1:1, it fascinates me to see how much has changed.

My students used to write in journals with a one-person audience, today they blog for the world.
My students used to collaborate by crowding around one computer screen, today they collaborate using online tools such as Diigo and Google docs.
My students used to brainstorm by raising their hands until I called on them and wrote their ideas on the board, today they collaborate in real-time on sites like Padlet and everyone is involved.
My students used to take paper and pencil assessments that sat in a filing cabinet once they were graded, today every assessment is given online so that I access student data at any time.
My students used to watch videos as a full class while furiously scribbling notes, today they watch videos online at their own pace, stopping whenever necessary to take down something of importance.

Amazing how much can change with one little device and this is only the beginning. If you are using 1:1 devices with your students, what changes are you noticing in your classroom?

How Should We Grade Our Students?

As the grading period comes to a close, I am faced with the challenge of entering grades into report cards. What makes this process particularly challenging for me has a lot to do with the fact that we are still using a traditional grading tool in my district, where we assign letter grades to students to demonstrate their performance in each class. While this grading tool works well for many teachers, it is not very meaningful once educators begin delivering a standards-based education to students.

I have a couple of choices when it comes to student grades:

• Option A: I can give a grade showing whether or not students have mastered the learning targets being taught.  Keep in mind that mastery of most of these targets is not expected until the end of the school year, so earlier in the year, the grades may look alarmingly low to students and parents.
• Option B: I can give students higher grades, and then explain that the grade is a reflection of student performance at that particular point in the school year, and expectations for students will continue to rise. Essentially, Optional B is saying that earning an A later in the school year is harder to do than earning an A earlier in the school year.

Here's the problem with both options...what do these grades even mean!?  So, Johnny got an A and Susie got a B this quarter. Great. What can Johnny do that Susie can't do? 

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer about how this should be handled. I want to accurately report what my students can or cannot do at a particular point in the school year, but right now, I am stuck assigning a series of point values that are automatically calculated into a percentage value which then gets converted into a letter grade of A, B, C, D or F.  

So, when Susie gets 8 points on a 10-point rubric showing mastery of certain skills while others still need development, Susie's grade gets calculated into an 80%, which is a B- to most people. Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could just report that "Susie is progressing at an appropriate rate for a 6th grade student and is still developing the skills taught in class. She has shown mastery of  __________ and will continue to work on __________ as the year progresses." 

As I wait for a standards-based grading tool to make its appearance in my district (which I suspect will happen in the very near future), I have decided to pilot a standards-based report card in addition to using the report card already in place.  Although it is a lot of extra work, I want to be as transparent as possible about student performance in my class.  

What do you think? Are you in favor of keeping traditional grades or ditching them? Share your thoughts!

The Magic of Lit Circles

Years ago, I was brainwashed into believing that whole class novel study could not effectively teach literature to a group of students at various reading levels. I distinctly remember being told by a trusted colleague that I would never reach all of my learners by teaching the same book to an entire class of students. Even though I was skeptical of her words, I chose to believe her.

As I became a more seasoned teacher, I used short stories and passages from our grade level anthology to teach reading skills to my students.  I added poems, song lyrics, and nonfiction articles into the mix while differentiating instruction for the various learners in my classroom. Still, I refused to read an actual novel with my class. "They are reading books independently outside of class," I would convince myself. "Surely that is enough reading practice." But deep down, I knew that it was impossible to guarantee that all of my students were actually reading literature on their own.

Then one day, I had an interesting conversation with a mother or three children, all of whom graduated from my school. I told her about my views on why I do not teach novels in class and she said, "I loved it when my children read books in school because sometimes it was the only way to get them to read."

I often remember that parent, and I am grateful for her honesty. She truly helped me see the forest through the trees.

Once I was finally ready to attempt a novel study with my students, I decided to use a strategy known as literature circles. Lit circles are essentially mini book clubs where students are responsible for reading a book and meeting in small groups on a regular basis to discuss the reading.  In addition, students take turns completing specific lit circle roles which are shared during lit circle meetings to enhance the discussions about the book. Typically literature circles are not composed of teacher-selected groups of students all reading the same title, but since my intention of lit circles was purely to motivate all of my student to read the selected book, I did it anyway.

It did not take long for me to see how powerful lit circles can be in the classroom, even when students are all reading the same teacher-selected book. Maybe it was the book I chose. Maybe it was peer-pressure. Whatever the reason, lit circles got all of my students to read the book. How could I tell? Just listening to the depth of discussion taking place in the lit circles throughout my classroom was evidence enough to prove that everyone had been reading the book. Hallelujah!

Reading can be a very social experience, and lit circles truly helped me get all of my students to enjoy reading and discussing literature. Moving forward, I would like to redesign some of the lit circles roles to support the literature skills outlined by the Common Core State Standards. Next quarter, my students will also be participating in a 1:1 Chromebook pilot program, and they are very eager to use the new devices to complete all lit circle roles in a paperless fashion. Please check back soon to hear about our progress!

Image Credit

Chromebooks are Coming

Guess what I just got today???

Chromebooks are coming to our team the first week in January. All students will have a device to use in and outside of school. There is so much in store for our students during second semester. We cannot wait!

The ART of Teaching?

Just this week, I stumbled upon a quote in an article that did not sit well with me.

"I . . . believe that teaching is a skill, not an art, and that, as with any skill, people get better at it with analysis and practice."

I have never thought of teaching as a skill.  In fact, I believe my credentials actually say "Master of Art in Education" and not "Master of Skill in Education." 

Whenever I describe my profession, I tell people that teaching is an art. We often think of art as the work produced by an artist to express thought and beauty, but art is also a "skill acquired by experience, study, or observation." (Merriam-Webster) 

I do not disagree that teaching is built upon skill, but in my opinion, it is not one single skill. Teaching is a set of many, many skills, with so many facets and angles that a teacher will spend her entire career practicing, examining and transforming her craft. Teachers must be creative, inventive, and imaginative - carefully cultivating individual human lives. Is that not as beautiful as the work of an artist that hangs upon a wall? Charged with the preeminent responsibility of engaging and inspiring dozens of young, developing minds, how can teaching NOT be considered an art? 

What do you think? Is teaching a skill? An art? Both? 

Discuss.

1:1 Chromebooks Coming this January

I am very excited to announce that my students will be participating in a 1:1 Chromebook pilot this January! Teachers from all over my district submitted Innovation Grants to bring the 1:1 pilot into their classrooms. Thanks to our incredibly supportive Board of Education, along with the leadership of our administration who truly values transformational learning and teaching, the grants will become a reality to all who submitted. There are not enough words for me to express how privileged, honored, and inspired I feel to be part of this important initiative.

Below is the video that my team submitted as a part of our Innovation Grant.  We look forward to sharing our experiences with others as we learn how 1:1 implementation impacts the learning taking place in our classrooms. Feel free to stop by to follow our journey right here at FaustFacts!

The Backchannel Debate

My class is in the midst of narrative writing. As they embark on the writing process, I felt a responsibility to expose my students to actual authors who write fiction on a regular basis. The professionals would be a wonderful resource for my budding authors!

I called upon some local talent in our community to share their expertise with my class.  I found three authors who agreed to come to my classroom to share their experiences with students and answer their questions. As I prepared for our visiting authors, I began thinking about ways to get each of my students engaged during their visits. I wanted to ensure that each student was an active participant, rather than a passive listener.

Thinking about my own experiences at workshops and conferences, I started considering the power of a tool like Twitter and how backchanneling is a way to encourage participating from the audience. A format such as TodaysMeet was my first choice to use with students, but that website is currently blocked in my district. Twitter was my second choice, but my students are under the age of 13, so that wasn't an option either. I was faced with a situation that required some creative problem-solving.

What I ultimately came up with turned out to be the perfect solution for my 6th grade students. I decided to create a "Tweet Form" using Google Forms, which had data validation enabled to restrict the number of characters students entered to 140 characters or less. I embedded the form onto my Google Site in one column, while the form's responses were embedded into the opposite column. This created a "chat room" feel for my class. Using individual Chromebooks, students participated by sharing their thoughts, questions and feedback about what they were learning during the authors' presentations. Before we began, I reminded students that all of the "tweets" were permanently documented since student usernames were collected each time the Google Form was submitted. Sneaky, right?

Critics will say that the students are not necessarily paying attention if they are on a computer throughout a presentation. This may be true. But who's to say that they are paying attention throughout an entire presentation when they're not on a computer. I'll tell you this much...I am really good at looking like I'm paying attention while my brain is on a mental vacation, and guess what? So are our kids! The one thing I can say is that the evidence on my Google Tweet Form showed engagement, enthusiasm and participation. Everyone was involved! Yes, they may have missed a few things while typing out their "Tweet," but so do adults. With practice, the students will improve at quickly developing concise Tweets during presentations, and their participation will take the learning to an entirely new level.

What do you think? Would you consider letting your students backchannel during a class presentation?

Tasting Our Way to Descriptive Writing

One of the Common Core sub-standards for sixth grade narrative writing states, "Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to convey experiences and events." (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.3d) Teaching descriptive writing can be challenging, but giving students a meaningful experience can help them find their creative voice.

To help my students practice using sensory language, I decided to give them a hands-on experience that would elicit their senses and allow them to practice writing descriptively. I picked up a tub of these "Soft Puffs" at my local drug store, which was a perfect treat for all of my students with allergies since the candy is nut/dairy/gluten-free. The product boasts, "a surprise whenever you grab one!" I liked the idea that students did not know which flavor they were getting for our sensory experiment. This forced students to slow down and call upon all of their senses to help their brains determine what it was that they were actually experiencing.

As students began selecting their piece of candy, I encouraged them to carefully observe the candy's color and smell of the aroma, before they ultimately tasted the flavor. Such a creative learning activity deserved an equally as creative format to demonstrate understanding, so students were given the task of showcasing their sensory language in the form of a Glog using Glogster.

From our Mystery Candy Experiment, students connected their experience to their writing in the form of sensory language using strong adjectives, metaphors, similes, and analogies. What a fun and delicious way to get kids writing descriptively!

Thanks to Lexie for allowing me to share her beautiful Glog!

A True Student-Led Discussion

Last week, I spent some time getting to know the Charlotte Danielson Framework for Teaching, which is the default model for evaluating teachers in the state in which I teach.  Beginning this year, my district will be using the Danielson Framework to evaluate teachers, and even though I am not on the evaluation cycle this year, I still feel that it is my responsibility to get comfortable with this valuable tool.

The Danielson's framework has four domains of teaching responsibilities including planning and preparation, classroom environment, instruction and professional responsibilities. I dove right into Domain 3 (Instruction) to see where I felt I could make some improvements in my teaching practice.  I had an "Aha!" moment when I investigated component 3b which is "Questioning and Discussion," and read what the Danielson Framework suggests.

"Some teachers confuse discussion with explanation of content; as important as that is, it’s not discussion. Rather, in a true discussion, a teacher poses a question and invites all students’ views to be heard, enabling students to engage in discussion directly with one another, not always mediated by the teacher." - The Framework for Teaching Evaluation Instrument 2011 Edition by Charlotte Danielson

That first part was me. I often said those exact words: "Yesterday we discussed..." But the truth is that we never discussed anything. I would talk, my students would respond, and that was that.  After reading the critical attributes of a distinguished teacher in this particular component of the Danielson Framework, I realized that my students were not having discussions at all, and I needed to make a change immediately.

I decided to begin with one of my classes that was already participating in literature circles.  The students had been practicing their discussion skills in a small group setting, so I simply asked students to apply their experience from the discussions in their literature circles and bring it to the large group.

"Today, let's try to have a discussion about how to improve our literature circles," I explained. "Don't worry about raising your hands. You know what is expected in order to have a meaningful discussion. Listen to each other. Take turns talking. Respond thoughtfully. Let's see how it goes."

What I witnessed was amazing. The students truly discussed how to have effective literature circles. They talked about what works and what doesn't. They shared strategies, gave suggestions, and offered ideas for improvement.  They listed to each other and responded back respectfully, and I was not mediating at all. It was exactly what my students had been missing.

After observing a true student-led discussion, I am eager to find more opportunities like this one where I can hand over the reins to my students, letting them lead discussions and make decisions about their own learning. Danielson's model shows teachers that to be a truly student-centered classroom, it is the students who must own the learning and not the teacher.

If you are familiar with Danielson's model, please share what are you doing to help students take a central role in the discussions being held in your classroom. How are you putting the learning in your students' hands?