Another school year is upon us! I'm not going to lie, last night I was feeling the Sunday Scaries pretty bigtime. Coming back after a two-month hiatus isn't easy, especially when you've been on beaches with friends and family, at day games at Wrigley, staying up all hours of the night (when I say this, I mean 11pm, ha!) and redecorating your apartment. Even for those of us who have been doing this a long time, that transition can be difficult.
But then I came into Heritage for a team leader meeting this Monday morning, and was flooded with hugs, and catching up, and the excitement amongst the new teachers and I was reminded again WHY i've been doing this for 17 years... and still feeling happy about it. First: Relationships. You guys, it's all about the people. Some of my VERY BEST FRIENDS I've found because of teaching. 17 years worth of students that have crossed my path have made it so much fun to learn as I go. I've had excellent admistrators and our coaching staff is on point. I could never do a job that didn't involve other people, it's all of them that bring so much joy to my day-to-day work. Second: Balance. This one was a little harder to come by; I don't feel like I really started to master this until like year 6, and then in the past few years I think I've gotten really good at it. Teaching can feel kinda hobby-ish for some, myself included. That coupled with the fact that I get OBSESSED with things (reading and writing workshop) can make a teacher live teaching only. It's so importnat to find hobbies and interests outside of education that are really fun, because just like any great relationship, you have to get away from it a bit in order for it to really flourish. Want to chat more about this? Come to the Self-Care Roundtable at iEngage with Gorz and I! Third: Creativity. It's so cool to start fresh every year. You get to try new things out and set new goals. You can modify really great lessons from years prior and create totally new ones. You can work with new people and read new books. This year I have a few goals: to amp up the anecdotal notes on my coaching log, do a little hand-written journaling in my agenda each day, and to coteach with a bunch of teachers in my building. I'm also toying with the idea of a Young Authors club - I am not teaching a section of ELA this year, so I feel like I have to get some kid time that is JUST MINE in some way. If you've ever done this, please let me know! There's obviously so much more to a year of teaching, but we'll just keep it short and simple, which is what I recommend to all the new teachers starting their very first year! As I saw on Twitter the other day, YOU are your classrooms greatest resource, so don't go hard all day every day in your classroom in the week(s) leading up to the kids return. They need you fully rested and refreshed when they get there, so go to the beach instead! What makes back to school best for you? Leave a comment and let's keep the conversation going!
Happy September! Back for another month to see what was new with all my blogging friends. Last month at this time I was writing from a beach, in Florida, on vacation with my boyfriend. This month I'm back at home, back at work, and single. So much can change in a quick month, right? Don't worry, I'm too angry to be sad, and the writing is actually quite therapeutic. So let's get on with it. Thanks to Farley for hosting us again!
Listening to Old Dominion You know, that song, Break Up with Him? Well, funny story. On vacation last month, the ex and I thought it was totally funny that the song started, "Hey girl, what'sup?" and so we listened to it a lot while we were together. Now I'm enjoying it for a completely different reason. #notreallyfunny
Loving Our new school year We've been doing tons at our school to make things fun and positive. We met this week to plan out socials for the whole year, figure out appreciations we can do for our staff, and we even have a super fun idea for Halloween, but it's TOP SECRET! You're going to love it though when you see it! It' so important to build a positive school culture, and we're kicking butt at it this year!
Thinking about the weather 91 degrees on September 1st is too hot. I had to turn on my AC today. But, this is so much better than 91 below zero, so I will zip it! Wanting Tieks I still want them. I think about them all the time, and I've asked friends on my Instagram if they are worth it. Everyone says yes. I need to pay some bills down, but then they will be mine! Only need to decide on the color. I really want red flats, but I think I should get a color that will go with more stuff.... like a ballet pink? Thoughts? Needing to go to Ikea Anyone else want to go this weekend? I need a few things to complete our new classroom. This year, the reading team actually got a classroom space (moved out of the closet we used to reside in) and we are having so much fun putting it together. It's still not ready for the reveal, because we're waiting on a few things that were ordered. But, back to the point about Ikea - I think maybe I'll go this weekend, any takers? Three Goals 1. Empower Staff 2. Read more books 3. Commit to be fit That is all. Make sure you share your Currently with Farley over at her blog!
Hi all! I'm back, coming at you from the end of our first day of school. It was a great day!
I wanted to share about our staff lounge that I've been working on - wanting to turn it into a relaxing place to hang out and have fun with teaching friends at lunch. The first thing I started with was a new bulletin board. At our school, we use Responsive Classroom. One thing that all students are prompted to do each year is to think about and write down their Hopes and Dreams. So, as a staff, we did the same. Inspired by some art I saw in a yoga studio, I created the bulletin board below with our Hopes and Dreams:
The board is just some twine pinned up and the each staff member wrote their hopes and dreams on a white tag:
Here are some of the hopes and dreams our staff shared:
"That my team continues to grow and we become a strong, cohesive team. Also that my room becomes a strong community."
"My hopes and dreams for this year include making considerable gains with my students this year while maintaing a balance within my personal life for relationships, spiritual growth, leisure, and physical/mental health."
"My hope is to create a positive, collaborative environment where all enjoy coming to work each day." and here's mine:
"I hope to empower teachers and staff as we collaborate towards authentic reading and writing lessons." What's cool about this display is that in the winter, we will add on: Let Go and Look Ahead: Blue Tag: Let go - Teachers will give themselves permission to let go of something from the fall Green Tag: Look ahead - Teachers can set a goal for what's coming up And then in the spring, we'll add on another tag, perhaps in reflection of the year. A great display that grows throughout the year!
Another awesome part of our lounge is our Pinterest Board that Jennie put up last year. Stuff on it is funny stuff - our laminator is really broken, and then just some jokes that arise out of lunchtime conversation. I hope to continue to add to it throughout the year, and I hope our staff does as well! And finally...
I've been obsessed with Buddha, and picked up this cheap little statue at TJ Maxx yesteday. Then, the quote that I always keep front and center in my mind so I can keep things positive. Teaching is a lot of work, so taking time around noon to hang out with friends and gossip about The Bachelor and share about new recipes or catch up on personal lives really does improve the school culture.
Do you eat in your lounge? Did you help decorate it? Please share!
Hey out there! I'm back with the Sunday Letters today and every other Sunday until further notice. Make sure you link your letters up below! Dear Emerson Staff, I'm so excited to start another new year with you! I'm looking forward to seeing the kids and the work we will do together this year. I'm also hopeful that we will plan lots of fun stuff to do together so when it gets super overwhelming, we can stay positive. High fives to you all :-) Michelle Dear former students, Thank you for continuing to keep in touch with me. It really is one of the most rewarding parts about our job, that we create spaces for amazing relationships with you. I'm so proud of all your accomplishments, and if you ever need anything, I'm just an email away! Love, Teach Dear Universe, Okay, I get it. Things can always be worse. Case in point: the cracked screen on my iPhone after a pretty rough week. I will remember to practice gratitude for the good things in my life though, even when there's bad stuff, too. Try and watch out for me anyways? Michelle Dear best friends, Thank you for being in my life. I swear, I couldn't go through it without you. Love, Shel Dear Summer Vacation, It's been real. It always goes too fast, doesn't it? Until we meet again, Michelle Dear self, Good job on your running...You've logged 18 runs since the beginning of June! You are really improving, even if just a little at a time. Keep up the great work! Love, Self
Dear Cousin, Thanks for texting me yesterday to check on me and I'm so glad I got to hear all about college! I love that we keep in touch pretty regularly! xo, Cousin Dear Alex and Ani, I love your bracelets! My new fave is the one with the Buddha charm, which is a constant reminder to keep my thoughts in check. Must make a wish list! Sincerely, Online shopping fanatic
Friends, I'm back! I've been thinking about my blog for so many days, but was busy with vacation and visiting my parents and didn't really have much time to be antisocial and sit down and write. But, I'm home now, all by myself (love quiet time!) and am ready to share a back to school post with you! In other (related) news, I just got involved with a new group of amazing educators, the #compelledtribe! I have Allie at The Positive Teacher to thank for connecting me here. What I've gathered is that we write twice a month and then share each other's work and support one another's ideas. I'm. So. In. Thank you for inviting me!
This month we are talking about building relationships (my favorite thing about teaching!) with students and teachers. But seriously though, I love being in education because of the relationships I get to have with kids and their families and teachers. Four of my closest friends are all connected to teaching and I have quite strong relationships with some very special former students. (Side note: One summer I worked for a family member from home. I was alone all day, every day and it was awful. I hope this can shed a little light about how I love to be with people!) Building Relationships with Kids We're Family Especially to my homeroom, I always spoke of our kiddos and our homeroom as family, because it was true: we got along most of the time, we had fun, we annoyed each other, we got in disagreements, but we were there for each other. We were family and worked on building that each day we came to class. I always spoke of the kids on our team, and especially my little homeroom, as family. Circle of Life Named by my last homeroom, the Circle of Life was born. It was just a community meeting at the end of every week on Friday afternoons, except I made the kiddos sit in a circle on the floor. Even in my middle school classroom, I always had a large space in the front and center to meet as a group - to talk, to read, to discuss, to support. So, on Friday afternoons, we would sit in a circle and do appreciations and high/low. Appreciations are easy, and my best friend taught me high/low, where kids just share the high of their week and the low. Here's a video of my last homeroom (it's kinda hard to hear, but you get the idea!)
Watching that makes me totally miss kids and having my own class, so so much!
Some recommendations:
Use something (like that stuffed animal) to pass around so they take turns listening.
In the beginning, have them write something on a notecard so they are prepared and you can get this done in 5-10 minutes.
You can pass the animal around one-by-one so every has an opportunity, too, but allow the right to pass.
Be patient. This video was filmed in April of our second year together....they knew each other so well and were fine to say things they might not have shared early on.
Now that I'm rethinking, this would probably have been better at the beginning of the week to get them in a good place for a week, but either way, this homeroom loved each other!
Community Building Games
Anytime is a great time for games and activities to build community, especially at the start of the school year! There's the classics: Human Knot, Two Truths and a Lie, and Find Someone Who. There's also this really great game called Graduation that I have in one of my books at school - I need to get a copy for you all because I can't find one online!
The point is, you have to go slow to go fast. You have to take time to build trust among your students or they will not take risks in their learning. These activities, when done with the debriefing sessions afterwards, really help build that community that is vital to learning, so please, don't think it's all just silly games!
And when classroom management breaks down (and it will at some point), know it's okay to set the content aside and continue working to build trust with your kiddos. Even in my 10th year in the classroom, I still found myself in moments in the winter when I couldn't get management down, there was too much interrupting, or students weren't being respectful. Know that in those instances, you have to call a time-out, and get the trust and respect put back into your classroom community, or it will be a struggle each day to get the learning done. Even better: Schedule time every other week for some kind of community builder, just to not let it get to that breaking point!
Building Relationships with Staff
I'm about to embark on my third year as a literacy coach! Like everything else, it's been a work in progress, but one thing I wish I had known back then was the 1:1 meeting. The purpose of these meetings (two colleagues together for 1:1 talking time, no agendas) is to build their realationship and build trust. This idea came from Steve Zeleman, author of 13 Steps to Teacher Empowerment, and I just love it. Here's a definition as sited in the book, page 57:
An intentional, face to face, one to one meeting with another person to understand their interests, passions, and story, and to share your own, to explore trust with the other person and the possibility of a public relationship with them.... so you can act together on issues of common concern
He continues, with what a one-on-one meeting is not:
an opportunity to sell your ideas or to ask for help with a task or project
an occasion for chitchat
a search fro someone who agrees with your point of view
a search for friendships (Instead, it helps you build a public relationship, which is not the same as a private, personal friendship.)
Here are some possible questions to begin your conversations:
I'd like to learn more about how you came to teaching in the first place.
What are some goals that are important to you in your work?
I wonder whether any particular experiences led you to these goals?
Why use this strategy? It's a great way to build bridges with the people that you work with. Through these talks, you'll find so much information about each other and, more than likely, find lots of common ground to build on! I'm hoping to give this strategy a try this fall!
Definitely check out the book, too, which has lots of ideas leadership and coaching work!
What about you?
How do you build strong relationships with students and staff?
Leave a comment so we can keep the conversation going!
Feels so good to be back, friends! Happy Monday Tuesday! (Still don't know what day it is!) :-)
HI friends! I'm on vacation and was trying to unplug, but no such luck. I've been better though, just taking some morning time with my online world and then living in books and notebooks most of the rest of the day! So, without waiting anymore, let's get on with Currently!
Listening to the waves We're in Ormond Beach, Florida, on the Atlantic coast. Our condo doesn't directly face the ocean, we're off to the side, but from my chair right now I can see the waves and hear them crashing. Light breeze blowing in, me, the beach, and my blog. I'm in love!
Loving bff bracelets Alex and Ani just started making ASU charm bracelets and so I facebooked it to my friends here in Chicago, and then a few weeks later, Laurie ordered them for all three of us. I can't wait to get them and I'm so excited to have a new tradition - I'm sure we'll wear them to all the game watching parties at Cubby Bear!
Thinking about Block Scheduling I've been reading Atwell's third edition of In the Middle to get prepared to teach a session in my district, "Organizing for ELA on a Block Schedule." My mind is racing with all kinds of ideas to share with our middle school teachers, but I need to keep reading this week while I'm lounging by the water. I'll be sure to share this PD (like all the others I do) on a future blog post and archive it in the PD tab above. Stay tuned! Wanting sunny days Yesterday here was nice-ish - It was sunnyish during the day but then rained and rained and rained. I'm hoping for really sunny all day today and staying in my swim suit for each moment! Needing Can't think of anything at the moment, and I'll take it! B2S RAK Okay so I'm not going to tell you about it till I can show you, but I'm planning on making a bulletin board in our staff lounge. I saw it in a yoga studio I was trying out and loved it! So, probalby by next month you'll get to see! I know you're going to love it, trust me! :-) That's all for me right now, off to take in the waves a little bit closer. Make sure you check out all the Currently posts over on Farley's page!
I can't believe it's been so long since I logged into my blog! After blogging every day in July, and then only once in August, it feels super weird, but I'm glad I'm back! I really should be working on this Online Blackboard course I need to complete so I can teach my very first grad school class beginning later this month. (!!!!) I'm so excited to teach the course - it's Language Arts Methods at Dominican University! The university put together a little course for the instructors to get acquainted with the online component - ours is called Canvas. I'm halfway through and locked out now since I'm waiting to have my last assignment checked. Nothing like waiting until the last minute - it's due on Thursday at 4 and I'm only halfway done! but anyways....back to the title. I was at my sister's this weekend and she had this cute little decorative plaque thing up on her wall with all of these sayings, and one was "live simply." It was something like this:
Anyways, I got to thinking about this instead: teach simply. Obviously, there is nothing simple about teaching. In the very least, it's a constant stream of decision making and multitasking that can wipe out all your energy in just a half day. Rather, I mean, teach simply - don't go overboard with all the stuff that is in the teacher store. You really just don't need it. The teacher I am today and the teacher I was from 2003-2008 are two totally different people. I was that teacher. In my first five years of teaching, my classroom looked like the teacher store. I bought the posters, the job boards, the books of worksheets, the hall passes - everything was super cutesy and none of it was the thinking of the community of learners in my room. Then grad school came around. I learned about so many books that were amazing for kids, and so I began spending tons of money on building my library. Chapter books and graphic novels and picture books, nonfiction and poetry and biographies and text sets. Meanwhile, I was watching, and learning from (one of my now) best friends. She didn't have any of the Ancient Egypt posters or fraction posters up in her room. Instead, she created anchor chart after anchor chart displaying her students' thinking on paper and then posted on the wall. And then I got it. You don't need to buy all that stuff at the teacher store. You don't need books of worksheets and test prep manuals and all the extras that companies like Pearson want you to buy. What do you need? Books. Lots of them. Composition notebooks. Chart paper and good markers. Post-its. If I had a classroom today, you wouldn't see any of that stuff above. You'd just see my kids surrounded by great literature, reading their books next to open notebooks with a pen in their hand. When they were confused, you'd see them reference the thinking of our class that was plastered on all the walls around the room.
What story do the walls of your classroom tell about the learning that is/will be happening there?
Long gone are the days of students sitting individually in rows raising their hands when they want to talk and not collaborating with their peers...how dismal it looks in there!
These days, kids work together in a classroom community where their ideas and learning are just as important as the teachers'. You can think of your classroom environment as an additional teacher to your students:
"In Reggio Emilia, a city in northern Italy where preschools are renowned for their quality of education, the two teachers in each classroom refer to the environment as the 'third teacher.'" (Taberski, p. 19). The way you arrange your classroom will greatly impact the learning that goes on throughout the year. To get the most out of your classroom environment, consider adding the following components to it. The Meeting Area
You should think of the meeting area as the hub of your classroom. In this area, you will gather with your students to begin and end your reading and writing workshops, have shared readings and read-alouds, demonstrate reading strategies, and compose anchor charts to deepen and record student thinking and learning. It might be a good idea to have your meeting area close to your SMART Board in case you need to show a website or model on the document camera. You'll also want an easel close by to compose anchor charts. While the teacher will sit toward the front of the meeting area, children will be seated on rugs or the carpet gathered together. You may want to have some bean bags or small chairs for students to sit on. I had an armchair that was part of this area, which also served as our Author's Chair during Writing Workshop. Some children might be sitting off to the edges of this space, and that's okay. Intimacy is key here, though. Children need to be up close and personal with the teacher so they can see, hear, and participate with what is being discussed. Also, during the workshop time of your Reader's and Writer's Workshop, you kiddos will choose to relax comfortably as their read their Just Right books or compose their writing. Table for Guided-Reading or 1:1 Conferences
You'll need some kind of table in a part of your room to conduct guided-reading groups and 1:1 conferences. In the past when I've done 1:1 conferring, I have moved from student-to-student wherever they were in the classroom, but after rereading about the classroom environment I think it makes much more sense to call over the students who you'd like to work with for the period to this table. You'll be able to make much better use of your time this way! Students who you will be seeing during the workshop part of your literacy block will meet you at this table. You may be conducting a guided-reading group, in which case all four or five of the children who you see will follow one set of directions. Or, you might need to conduct 1:1 conferences with kiddos. In that case, they will spend their time working independently while you meet with the others at the table. It might be a good idea for this space to be away from the meeting area, as students will be reading silently or with whispers. We want to do our best to not disturb them as they are thinking through their independent reading! Classroom Library Your classroom library is another huge part of your classroom. Please see my post The Heartbeat of Your Classroom for more information about setting up your library. Wall Space for Anchor Charts When meeting with your whole group, you will often times be modeling new strategies, skills, or other learning. To make the most of your instruction, teachers compose "Anchor Charts" that will later be put up on the wall for student reference. Anchor charts anchor new learning for children, and serve as a reference to them when they are placed up on the wall.
Above, you can see an example of an anchor chart for theme. While this chart is great with many examples, what would make it even better would be a definition of theme and also stories that the class has shared that show these various themes. That way, later in the year, when a child looks to this anchor chart for theme, they remember that, perhaps, kindness was a theme in the story The 100 Dresses that they had read together earlier that year. Here's another anchor chart for theme:
The key here is to create your anchor charts with your kiddos. As you explain new skills or strategies you can record definitions, but call on the students to provide examples the whole group is aware of to anchor their learning. Then, the chart goes up on the wall. When you begin to run short on space, you can start to stack the posters on top of one another, but they will always be there when you need to revisit a topic with an individual student, small group, or whole class. Word Wall Many teachers use word walls for student reference. In the past, in a middle school classroom, I had put up key vocabulary that we had read for student reference. What's important about the word wall is that it's being referred to often. Students need to know where to look when they get stuck, and by referencing it many times over the course of the school year it will become routine. Playing games with the word wall, devoting a little time to each each week, and natural reference all help students understand that it is there for their use!
How have you done your word wall in the past? Just doing a little research and saw an author who had two different word walls. One was of high-frequency words that they came across in their shared reading or writing texts. The second word wall was for spelling patterns. Around the border of the patterned word wall were the 37 "dependable" spelling patterns with a place in the center to highlight three or four with all the words from that word family. For more on this, you can see On Solid Ground (Taberski, p. 119).
As you think about returning to your classroom to begin getting things put together, how will you help assist students to discovery of new ideas and learning? Will your classroom environment, or your second teacher, be assisting you in their discoveries?
Also, did I miss anything? Please share ideas for other important parts of the classroom set up with us here! Happy Saturday from 35,000 feet! I'm on my way to visit a friend in Seattle. Loving Southwest and the in-cabin wifi!
