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On-Demand

Writing is a subject that is important to students–to everyone, really–and the teaching and assessing of it are ever-changing.  I LOVE the topic of writing (wait–you knew that already didn’t you?): I love doing it, reading about it, teaching about it, everything.  And above all, one of my favorite things about writing is helping kiddos get to love it, too.

So…this year our district is implementing a new writing curriculum, one that I have had the privilege of spending the last year rewriting to better match the Common Core State Standards and better help every student become college and career ready.

In some ways, writing in our school district was already aligned with CCSS, and we have always had really high standards for what students should be able to do.  But there are also some things that have (and will) changed in response to the new standards:

  • Students will now be required to learn about and then demonstrate their knowledge of argumentive writing.  This is much different than the opinion pieces we’ve done for years–the heart of the argument is staking a claim, anticipating counterarguments (and answering them) and using valid evidence to support the claim.
  • The ability to write in every content area, while included for years, is more highly expected now.  Writing is expected to be thought of as something you do every day, in many ways and in many places.  It is not just something you do at school for an hour a day.  Students should be writing in reading, writing in math, writing in science and writing in social studies.
  • New listening and speaking standards have been introduced, and are emphasized in all areas of student learning, not just in writing.
  • Students are expected to be writing for a larger audience and making global connections via the internet.  Thank you KidBlog for your help with this one!  Luckily I started this one years ago. 🙂
  • Students are expected to be able to produce an entire piece of writing in one sitting.  Yep, go all the way through the cycle in 45 minutes. 🙂

And so that’s why this post is called On-Demand (glad I finally got to that explanation, huh?).  We did our second on-demand writing piece today.  And boy is there a story to tell. 🙂

This year, as a part of our new curriculum, we have access to Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study.  The newest version of them is aligned with CCSS expectations, and gives teachers many ideas of how to help kiddos achieve these more rigorous standards.  Included in each unit is an on-demand writing assessment (well actually there are two–one as a pretest and one at the end of the unit).

We just finished up a narrative unit, and today was the day we sat to do our on-demand piece, in 45 minutes.  Here were the directions I gave:

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Now, we have done this before.  Only once, though, at the beginning of the year before we started this unit.  I wish I had pictures of their faces when I first told them what we were going to do and how long they had to do it.  I don’t.  Boo. 😦

But I do have pictures of what it looked like today.

Some friends sat with me at my table to work on their pieces.

Some friends sat with me at my table to work on their pieces.

Max needed to stretch out on the floor to get the juices flowing. Totally how it rolls in our room! Love how he looks like he's really thinking!

Max needed to stretch out on the floor to get the juices flowing. Totally how it rolls in our room! Love how he looks like he’s really thinking!

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There are definitely many friends with their heads in their hands for at least part of the session. Again--lots of deep thinking happening here!

There are definitely many friends with their heads in their hands for at least part of the session. Again–lots of deep thinking happening here!

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I set a timer for friends who needed to monitor how much more time they had. Although, not surprisingly, this really stressed some people out more than it helped them. :(

I set a timer for friends who needed to monitor how much more time they had. Although, not surprisingly, this really stressed some people out more than it helped them. 😦

For as hard as it was, though, I was so glad that in a very short time, everyone was busy and writing.  Everyone got a piece written and everyone turned something in!  It was very cool to see what they are now able to accomplish in such a short amount of time!  I think they’re amazed, too.  And the best part is that the more we do this, the easier it will get!

Mathematics in the City (in Kirkwood)

Mathematics in the City is an organization I learned about this summer when the fabulous Kara Imm came to Robinson to teach us about how to better teach addition/subtraction and multiplication/division of fractions using new units from Cathy Fosnot (another amazing math mind!).

Fast-forward to now: yesterday we (several 5th and 6th grade teachers and math specialists) were lucky to have Kara back again to continue to learn from her (and each other!) as we taught one of those units in our own classrooms!  We spent the morning planning our lesson, digging into the mathematics, talking about how we’d introduce the scenario, anticipating what kiddos would do and say, and brainstorming questions we’d ask our mathematicians to help “lift their thinking.”  Then our group (oh, did I mention there were like 15 teachers??) watched as Mrs. Hong taught the lesson in her room with her friends.  We got to “kid-watch” and take notes on what thinking they used, how they explained their work and also practice what we’d planned during our earlier session.

At lunch we debriefed on how the morning had gone, planning for how we’d change things based on the information we gathered.  Then it was time to plan for what would happen in my classroom later that day.

We decided that Kara would lead a number string with my students, focusing on fractions, but using the context of money.  Her string looked like this:

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See the red parts?  Those are the problems she gave students to solve (remember when we did number strings together at our Curriculum Night?  Same idea, only with a different concept).  The black is documenting kiddos’ thinking, and the blue is how she was modelling their thinking.  The story she told here (that gave kiddos an entry point and helped them make connections to what they know) was about how she’d found some money as she walked along this morning.  What a great way to talk about fractions huh?  TOTALLY made it less scary, and who doesn’t know at least SOMETHING about money?  The thinking they were able to share was fabulous, and the kiddos who felt confident to share their thinking was great, too; some kids who don’t normally share during number strings were more than willing to do so with this one!

 

 

I know that pictures of this totally don’t do the fabulous thinking justice, but here are some shots I captured during our work yesterday.  Check them out!

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What a fabulous (man, I say that alot, but it’s true!) opportunity to learn with such great minds!  Can’t wait to see how this helps our math thinking progress as we begin a new investigation and more number strings!

If you’re a parent, be sure to share what your kiddos said about this experience.  If you’re a teacher, have you used number strings in your room?  Do you know Kara or Mathematics in the City?  Do you use Cathy Fosnot units with your learners?  What do you think of them??  I’D LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT IT!!

 

Cahokia Mounds Trip 2013

Last year we went to Cahokia Mounds as a 5th grade field trip that connected to our study of Native Americans.  We had a great time, and were able to connect many things we had learned to what we saw there.  But last year we went AFTER our study.

And this year, we (well, Mrs. Hong really) had the idea that we go BEFORE our study, as a way to build background knowledge.  GENIUS idea!

So we planned our journey for early in September instead of later, and also figured out a way to make the trip better in another way: kids had a job to do.  And they got to take their iPads with them to do it!

Here was the message waiting for them in their inbox that morning:

Screen Shot 2013-09-18 at 9.18.39 PMSo we packed up ourselves and our iPads and headed out.

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What a fun day we had learning, walking and climbing mounds together. 🙂  And wow–I’ve already seen friends making connections between what they saw on that day and what we’re reading about in class.  SO glad we decided to go there first.

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The project we gave them to do worked out really well to keep everyone engaged in learning, even in an unstructured setting like a field trip!  AND everyone’s iPad came back in one piece. 🙂  Here are some highlights from the Pic Collage projects they made to show their answer to the EQ “What is a community?”.

Screen Shot 2013-09-18 at 9.39.05 PM Screen Shot 2013-09-18 at 9.39.26 PM Screen Shot 2013-09-18 at 9.39.44 PM Screen Shot 2013-09-18 at 9.39.59 PM Screen Shot 2013-09-18 at 9.40.21 PM Screen Shot 2013-09-18 at 9.40.35 PM Screen Shot 2013-09-18 at 9.40.45 PM Screen Shot 2013-09-18 at 9.41.09 PMWhat’s even better, is that this was an assessment for what our friends had learned during all of our work on building community in our classroom.  And here I thought it was a pre-assessment/schema building activity for Cahokia!  Don’t you love two-birds-one-stone kinds of assignments? 🙂

 

If It’s Not Good Enough

I’m sure this is just going to seem like an incredibly indulgent post by a proud mom, because it starts with this picture:

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But I don’t post this picture just because I want you to see my pink-cheeked, blue-eyed princess, Allison.  It’s because it’s pictures like this that help me be the best teacher I can be each day at school.

It’s pictures like this that remind me of the saying, “If it’s not good enough for Allie or Riley, then it’s not good enough for anyone.”  A couple of years ago, that phrase was shared with us at a staff meeting as a charge to be present and do our best work with the kids in our class.  After all, wouldn’t we want that very same best for our own children? 🙂

 

Technically…

I accepted a blogging challenge about a week ago, and I am very serious about keeping up with it as long as I can.  So far I am 10/10 in September with posting here!  YAY, me!

And, so even though I was at school tonight for conferences (which were GREAT, by the way–thanks to those of you who came to share great info with me about your kiddos!), I am posting today.

Yep, here’s my post.  That counts, right?  It’s technically a blog post…..:)

I know–not fair, but hey–I promise tomorrow will be better!  I’ve got LOTS of great material from this week.  AND tomorrow is a field trip, so watch out on Friday!

Thanks for reading and being kind in accepting my definition of blogging tonight. 🙂

 

Ever Wondered….

…what teachers do on their plan time? If you’re a teacher then probably not (unless you wondered what other teachers do on their plan times), but if you’re a student or a parent–I’m about to let you in on a little secret.  Ready?  We plan things.  Ok, that’s not fair (and it’s a little snarky.  Sorry. 🙂 ).  But really, we do.  And often (as with my fabulous team this year!) we do it together.

Sometimes we get the luxury of double plan-times (which is really just a fancy way of saying we have a big 2-hour chunk to work with instead of just 50 minutes), and it’s during those that BIG things happen.  Like just last week when we were doing this together:

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See the work there?  Can you figure out what we were doing?  Those pictures, my friends, are our notes from time spent chewing on a volume pre-assessment.  We were trying to create something that was engaging, real-life and challenging all in one.  We even had the idea of creating two separate scenarios to interest different kiddos (one was Legos and the other was related to cupcakes).  I LOVED how well we worked together in this session, how we each brought something different to the table (and to the whiteboard!), and how we ended up with a great pre-assessment to use that is equal parts us and equal part awesome.

Have I mentioned before that MY TEAM ROCKS?  If you haven’t been to their blogs lately to see what’s going on in Rm. 201 and Rm. 203, do it! Now. 🙂 Please? 🙂

Did You Hear?

We got our iPads today!  I have to share this picture first because it pretty much sums up how excited we all were for this day to come:

IMG_1234I had to finally stop and take a picture of my dear friend Landry, because it said more to explain the feelings than my words could.  🙂

I was SO IMPRESSED by how well everyone did today.  We had LOTS of directions to listen to during the setup process for our iPads, and the class followed every one of them.  They helped each other, worked efficiently and got the job done.  They definitely brought the GRIT and self-control I told them they’d need today!

Check out some pics of us during setup:

Thank you Mr. Strecker for your tech support today!

Thank you Mr. Strecker for your tech support today!

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Mr. Shelton lending an iPad hand today!

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Mrs. Jeon was a big help, too, as she answered questions and gave directions

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Rollouts like these are only possible because of all of the district people who show up to help! Mr. Strecker, Mrs. Covert, and Ms. Rima--who was such a busy bee she didn't end up in any of my photos!--made this process painless, even with 23 5th graders!

Rollouts like these are only possible because of all of the district people who show up to help! Mr. Strecker, Mrs. Covert, and Ms. Rima–who was such a busy bee she didn’t end up in any of my photos!–made this process painless, even with 23 5th graders!

We ended up having a mostly iPad-filled day, but were able to set up our Gmail accounts, setup and verify Apple IDs and iCloud accounts, and log in to the App Store (including account verification and security questions–that was time consuming!).  After lunch we downloaded Cut the Rope (it’s the FREE APP of the week!), as well as Pic Collage.  Our first iPad project was to use Pic Collage to create home and lock screens to personalize our iPads and help us tell them apart from others.  We’ll use this app (along with many others) in creative ways throughout the year to show what we’ve learned and demonstrate our understanding.  The last part of the day was a hoot!  I wish I had video of all of the funny pictures people were taking of each other to add to their collages.  WHAT FUN!

I mentioned it before, but I have to say again–ROBINSON 5TH GRADE ROCKED IPAD DAY TODAY!  I am so impressed with all that was achieved today, with little to no hiccups.  Here’s to a great year of learning and growing with a fabulous tech tool in our hands!  Oh, and of course, THANK YOU TO THE KIRKWOOD SCHOOL BOARD FOR MAKING IT HAPPEN!  As a teacher I appreciate all that you do to help me help my kiddos achieve great things and work to their highest potential.

Did I mention I LOVE MY JOB?!

Ropes Course (or “Getting Gritty With It”)

Remember how we’ve been talking about grit? Well shortly after we first talked about it, 5th grade had a perfect situation where they had to dig down deep and find some: the Ropes Course!

Every year, 5th graders spend some time in the Westchester Woods working together on team building exercises.  And this year we did it in 100 degree weather!  YAY!  Just that is gritty in itself, right?

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There were many stations, but I was in charge of the most fabulous station: the swinging log. Wanna guess why they call it that?

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The goal of the swinging log was to get the team from one end of the log to the other (one at a time) in whatever way makes sense, without touching the log, the person on the log, or the ground.  Go, team!

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And then, on the way home, I was wondering what a teacher looks like after they’ve been standing out in the heat cheering on 5th graders at the Swinging Log.  Here’s the answer:

IMG736Not horrible, right? HA!  Just had to throw this one at ya to make you laugh. 🙂

WAY TO GO 5TH GRADERS FOR BEING GRITTY AND WORKING TOGETHER, EVEN WHEN IT WAS HARD! 🙂

 

Opening Day!

Today was officially the end of summer–Opening Day in Kirkwood School District!  I don’t know what it’s like in other places, but our Opening Day festivities are something I look forward to every year.  I remember the first Opening Day I went to 13 years ago very vividly, and they’ve somehow gotten even better since then!

We are small enough that we can put everyone who works in our district in one room–a rare thing, I know–but it definitely adds to the family connections that we feel with other teachers.  Generally, the agenda is the same every year: speeches by administration, videos made to kick off the district theme for the year, introductions of all the new teachers and staff for the upcoming year, announcement of support staff of the year awards, presentations of the Teachers of the Year, an address by the district Teacher of the Year, and then a staff-directed skit again tying to this year’s theme.  All of that is great fun (really!), but perhaps everyone’s favorite part is the last part of the morning: a performance by the KHS Marching Pioneers!  They give us a sneak peek of their halftime show, then end with the alma mater and the fight song.  There is so much energy in that room and we end on such a high note–literally (ha ha)!  Here’s a highlight from this morning:

I mean, come on–how can you NOT be excited after that?  🙂

I don’t know if I’ve said before how much I LOVE where I work, but I definitely think that Kirkwood School District is one of the very best places to teach–pretty much anywhere.  I am lucky to be a part of such a fabulous group of people!  Go Pioneers and here’s to a SUPER 2013-2014 school year!

If you’re a teacher, what does your Opening Day look like? 

My Brain Hurts!

Today was one of those days that made my brain hurt.  Don’t worry, though, it was that good kind of hurt.  The kind of hurt that comes from chewing on really big topics with really smart people as you try to solve really meaty problems.  But it’s on days like these that I am reminded that I am a ssssllllooowww processor, that I need time to continue to chew and contemplate before I can give you my full opinion or take on the issue, before I can commit to what my part will be in addressing the issue.  And when you’re in a room full of quick-thinking, fast-moving people, that can make you feel like you’re being left WAY behind!  Oh well, somehow I feel better since I know this about myself, and I am also glad to know that that kind of thinking is valued by the group of people I was working with, too.  So now is when I can sit down to think.  To make plans.  To decide on what I’m willing to commit to for this upcoming year.  To figure out how I can be a contributing member of the AMAZING community of learners that I teach with.  Wish me luck, friends! I’ll get there eventually! 🙂