What do I believe about how students learn?

     So yep, another challenge.  Reflecting on my teaching and pushing my willingness to share inner thoughts even further.  
     How do children learn? Well, my philosophy is that children learn by doing. They learn by getting in and getting their hands dirty in the process of discovery.  There are certainly times where we must tell them explicitly what we are doing, and why- but often times we can have them come to those answers on their through inquiry.
     Inquiry based teaching and learning is the most fun, yet a challenging way for me to approach the curriculum.  It can be challenging to find ways to bring inquiry into the curriculum, but once you find a rhythm the lessons come naturally to both you and the students.  I have seen over the years as my knowledge of inquiry based teaching develops so has my students ability to use questioning to guide their learning. They are more apt to take on their own projects and wonders.
   I love that this year I have been able to squeeze out some time for the students to tackle their passion projects.  These are student driven, based on their own wonders and ideas.  I have had kids present on everything from making tutus, finding bigfoot, and explaining how the heart works. It was amazing to see their desire to learn and apply what they have been taught to their own passions.  I hope this is something that I can continue in addition to curriculum constraints.
   If you're looking for resources on how to start with inquiry based teaching and learning, or the additional component problem based learning, check out the list below!

Now this book, though geared for middle school, definitely has some good ideas about how to make the connection between science and math through inquiry.   Have you ever seen 3 Act Math? Check that out- I love using it during engagement. It does need some modification at the elementary level.  

Not gonna lie- science is my passion.  It is the easiest place to fit inquiry into on a daily basis.  

This book is just a general overview of inquiry at the K-5 level.  

Sharing the Planet

     Today we launched our first UOI, Sharing the Planet.  This is one of my favorite UOIs of the year.  Why? Well, the science link of course.  Our children are examining the central ideas of how natural disasters affect people and the environment. 
    Yesterday I started by giving the children post it flags with the magnitude of earthquakes written on them.  I did not tell them what the numbers meant- only the number and where it happened. They were to place their flag on our classroom map of the location they were given. There was a great deal of speculation yesterday as to what they were plotting.  Nobody guessed!  I love that they were thinking and completely engaged in the mystery of the numbers.
     Today we continued plotting data, which can be found here.  After we plotted more you could really see a pattern!  I then showed them this prezi that I made and afterwards returned to our map.  Voila!! The light bulbs came on and they now saw what the relationship was between the numbers- it was awesome!! They were suddenly so enthralled- even my child who told me he "hated science" was excited. 
    This was a great provocation to start the conversation about natural disasters.  They began to formulate questions which will later guide some of our inquiries and their genius hour projects.  It was also an excellent way for me to see the gaps in their knowledge and get an idea of where I needed to start in the teaching of earth system and processes. 
    I cannot wait for tomorrow as we start to look closer at the natural disasters and their impact on humans and the environment!!

Technology Integration

     Day two the reflective teaching and I am thinking about technology.  What would I like to integrate? How will I integrate? 
    I have to say that being 1:1 this year, so far, is amazing!  I am using Google Classroom each and everyday. I love that I can post an assignment for my students and the minute they come in the classroom they are connecting to our classroom and getting right to work.  It is a great tool to use and makes sharing of assignments and other resources a breeze!
    My students love the fact that they can work on assignments at home, or modify according to my comments and critique.  The use of classroom opens up so many possibilities for differentiation. I can easily modify any document and share with all my students or just a few without them feeling left out or anyone else knowing that their assignment is just a little bit different. 
  The one piece of technology that I would like to use more is a student blog. I have set up Kidblog for my class as we connect with other classrooms in the Global Read Aloud.  This is new to me so it comes with a learning curve for both me and my class.  Teaching blogging to children is something that I hope they will continue to use in the future. Blogs are great for reflecting and sharing a piece of ourselves with the world. I hope they can see, through our use in the classroom, the benefit of blogging.  I am always on the lookout for ways to engage children, especially in the area of writing.  This medium is different than what they are used to and so far as really hit home with some of my reluctant writers.  Let's hope the interest continues!!

Time to Return

     Summer is winding down- I have just a few days left to soak in the last few days with my children and try (most likely not complete) to organize my house before returning.  I love the first few days of school, the smell of new pencils- the nervous anticipation of both the teachers and their new students, and the tearful goodbyes from parents as they entrust us to care and teach their children.
     There is a lot of pressure on teachers to perform and perform well under any circumstance. This year our school was moved the the SINA list (Schools in Need of Improvement). We were not able to make the expected growth and reach the goal of 100% proficient in the areas of reading.  Let's look at that number again- 100% ... Is that even realistic? I know it's not mathematically possible to have 100% proficient.  We needed 85%  to reach safe harbor we had 80%.  5%= about 15 children of all tested.  Well, what now?
We can beat ourselves up, we can ask what we did "wrong", we can make excuses (legit or not) or we can move on and ask what can we do to improve.  The tests aren't going to get easier, the expectations will not lessen, and we cannot control the environments in which our children come from. So what can we do?
   Well this summer I read more about ways to improve my instruction.  Ways that are supported by research, years of research and authentic evidence gained in a classroom.  I've gone back to my favorite authors and reread what they see as best practice in order to see where I can improve.  Anyone who thinks teachers just take the summer off are kidding themselves- this is the time we can refocus, regroup, and find ways to improve our craft.
     I started with Patrick Allen's Conferring.  Now some people may not like the flow of the book or find it dry, I on the other hand love his approach to conferring and how he starts the year setting the tone for respect that fosters communication within and between himself and his students.
                                                     
Then I went back to my other favorite author Kylene Beers in Notice & Note.  If there is one regret from last year it was not getting my hands on this book sooner!  I read and implemented her strategies in February- it would have been great to have started that at the begininning of the year (which is my plan for this year).  This text looks at having kids notice "signposts" within the text and evaluating them to gain a deeper understanding of the characters and story development.  Love. Love. Love this book!
                                                     
Lastly, to dive more into writing instruction and conferring in workshop I turned to Mr. Carl Anderson.  You cannot go wrong with his books! He has great practical ideas and lessons that help you confidently teach and confer in the writer's workshop.

                                                

Whew! Long and lengthy post about a summer of what some might call "boring" reading.  But, no matter what anyone says teaching is not simple- you should NEVER pull out the same exact old lessons you've done for the past however many years and never take time to reflect on whether they are actually meaningful, and purposeful.  That is exactly what I do each summer and all throughout the school year.  Is it work? Heck yeah- but it's my job, I'm good at it, and I want to continue to be good at it.