Scaffolding for Student Readiness

Scaffolding for Student Readiness

Sometimes a picture says a thousand words! Scroll through these images to explore ideas on how to scaffold for student readiness.  If you see a megaphone that says "click here" this will take you to one of my resources!

     

   

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Gone Are the Days of the Teacher Desk

If gone are the days of industrial age education, then it is time to part ways with one of the most prevalent symbols from that time period, the teacher desk.  The teacher desk represents a place of power in the classroom.  After all, this is the place where decisions are made!  Papers are graded! Stickers awarded!  Serious conversations are had between student and teacher!  This is the space where a teacher can make a hasty retreat to create the illusion of distance from students.  

Made during the industrial era, most teacher desks are bulky, made of drab painted metal and topped off with faux wood.  Due to never ending budget cuts these desks are still in most classrooms across the United States today.  Said desks are heavily fortified with items such as office supplies, aspirin, random items collected from students, cough drops and the ever essential stash of chocolates/candies all shoved into one drawer (as the other drawers no longer function). The tops of the teacher desks are covered with personal memorabilia, caffeinated beverages and various piles of paper.

By the time students reach high school, the teacher desk is one of the most avoided spaces in the classroom.  Why?  Let’s circle back to power.  The teacher desk is to the classroom as the Berlin Wall was to Germany; a place of power that is heavily guarded, unapproachable and a void between two entities.  Dramatic? Maybe.  The point being, just as the Berlin Wall eventually came down, it is past time for the teacher desk to be removed from the classroom.  

You may ask, but where do you put everything?  

I use a bookshelf with baskets to hold my belongings.  I also have three drawer rolling carts for classroom supplies, manipulatives and various other items.  For those that worry about securing confidential assessments or records, this is easily rectified by cabinets or closets that lock.

You may ask, but where do you sit?  

First and foremost, sitting is a luxury I simply do not have.  I am on my feet and moving about from student to student to keep my fingers on the pulse of their learning needs.  Students need to know that they are learning with you, they are not learning separate from you nor are they learning for you.  If and when I do sit, it is with the students.  Yes, with students.  Even if I just need a moment to sit and take attendance, send a quick email or if my feet just need a break, I pull up a chair to student desks and sit with students. There is something that happens in these small moments of sitting with kids.  They begin to realize that I can exist alongside them without requiring anything of them except for simply wanting to be with them.  

You may ask, what is in the space where your desk used to be?

In the space where my teacher desk once resided, now sits a small round table with multiple chairs.  I chose a round table as the shape of a circle suggests unity and thus is more inviting than the traditional teacher’s desk.  This is a community space where anyone can sit.  On occasion, I will use the small table for student-led conferences or presentation space.  The choices of what to fill in this space are limitless.  However, if this space does not become a community space then one is missing the point entirely.  

 

Levels of Understanding: Learning That Fits All | Edutopia

Check out my latest article for practical ideas on tiering for levels of understanding

Levels of Understanding: Learning That Fits All | Edutopia

Twitter for Educators: Accounts & Hashtags

*All ideas shared in this blog post are neither endorsed nor deemed Twitter official rules in any way! Simply ideas shared by a real teacher figuring things out as I go.

If you have stumbled upon this blog post it is likely because you already have a Twitter account, but still have a few questions. Here is an email I received recently from a colleague that likely has questions similar to yours:

As I composed an email response to this person I found others might want to know these answers too!  So, if you are thinking of diving further into Twitter, here are some things to consider that work for me...

Goal:

What is your professional goal for using Twitter? Is it to sell an educational product? Is it to network for employment? Is it to network for professional growth? Is it to learn, use, share and grow? Is it some or all of the above? Knowing your professional goal(s) for Twitter will help guide you in who you follow, what hashtags are of interest to you and what chats to engage in.

One Account or More:

Should you have one personal account and one professional account? Here is the hard and fast truth, Twitter is not private, both of your accounts will be found and seen by all.  If you are worried about someone seeing a post that you may not want them to see then you should not use Twitter to post it.  Remember that goal you created for being on Twitter? Stick to that goal, if you are posting more unrelated than related content, then you need to reevaluate your goal for using Twitter.  

Now this is not to say that you cannot post, retweet or favorite an occasional something unrelated to your goal! Actually, if you want others to find interest in you it is important to let them glimpse who you are as a person.  You simply must have a balance in what you choose to post. (P.S. I use a private Facebook account to post only things for my family and friends. However, even that is not 100% private as someone could share what they saw on my account by taking a screenshot of what I posted.  Again, if you fear others seeing it could possibly shed light on you in an unlawful way then don’t post it!) However, I do know of folks that have more than one Twitter account so do not let me stop you! Maybe it is easier to use one to post for your profession versus one for personal, just know that nothing is private on Twitter.

Hashtags:

Why use hashtags…

Why would you use a hashtag for your profession? Simply put, to learn, use, share and grow! You can grow as an educator by searching for pedagogical or content knowledge!  Not only can you add to your toolbox, but you can add to others toolboxes by sharing what you have tried or something that you know! Be intentional with your hashtags and avoid going crazy with them such as posting only using hashtags with no content. Check out this blog post on how to have engage in Twitter chats...How To Fly with Twitter Basics. 

How to make a hashtag…

The secret to having one account for multiple uses is connecting via hashtags.  You can create your own hashtags for others to follow! For example, say you teach 2 different subjects and you want your students to post or see posts related to your classes.  You can create your own hashtag for each content you teach and then use the search feature to see if those hashtags are “taken” (this means when you search you are hoping to discover no one, or close to no one, has tweeted using your made up hashtag).  For example, I searched for this made up hashtag and discovered…

In the search area I typed “#spanish1_stephens” and then discovered “no results” which means this is a good hashtag to use for my Spanish I classes.  Let’s say I teach Spanish 2, I can simply look for “#spanish2_stephens” and likely find that it is available to use.  Let’s say I coach, I can create one for my athletes too! You get the idea.  

Hashtag feeds are not private…

Once you create your hashtags it is important to remember that they are not private.  This means an occasional person might tweet using your hashtag, but this rarely occurs. For the most part the only people using hashtags are those interested in what you are tweeting about or those that “have to” use it (such as your students).

How do others find my hashtags...

Once you have landed on the hashtags you want others to use, you can place them in your bio line. Here is a look at my bio...

Notice the hashtags are a different color, this is because they are hyperlinked.  So others can either search for my hashtag using the search feature OR they can click on the hyperlinks in my bio and it will take them directly to the hashtag feed.

A word on bios...1) don't be an "egghead" replace that generic egg with a picture, preferably one that let's others see you as a real person and 2) make certain your bio tells a little about you/your profession in order to relay to others your goal for Twitter. By letting others know you are a real person with real interests you will increase your followers thus increase meaningful connections.

Inappropriate student tweets to my hashtag…

What if a student tweets something that is inappropriate to my hashtag? Yep, it’s going to happen at least once during the school year and it is your responsibility as the adult to help our youth learn from their mistakes.  I had it happen in one of my classes early in the year. Two students wrote something inappropriate on a whiteboard, took a picture of it and tweeted it.  The students left my class before I discovered it.  Here is what I did...I simply took a screenshot of the tweet and contacted an administrator. I explained I did not want the students to have “a punishment” (ISS or detention) but I did want them to 1) remove their tweet, 2) have a conversation about the negative impact such posts have on their digital footprints and 3) as a result of their actions students unfollowed them as they did not want to be associated with students that were seemingly unkind.  In addition, the administrator had those students call home and explain what happened, then they had a follow up conversation with me.  It was important to me that the incident became remembered as a moment of learning instead of a moment of punishment.  I made a point to tell these students, “We can choose to let our mistakes define us or we can choose to define our mistakes in how we move forward.”  In short, be prepared to have a response plan for when this happens as odds are it will.

These are just a few tips I have learned since I joined the Twitter playground in 2012. Almost all of the information shared in this post has come from personal experience.  On the occasion I did not know how to do something on Twitter, I Googled it or I simply asked my Twitter friends and they helped! If you want someone to join Twitter, here is a blog post to help them get started...Twitter Basics: Hash-Brown Selfie!

The First Few Days: Before You Differentiate Instruction

A differentiated class will be most effective if at first you focus on creating a culture of learning. I teach high school 9-12, the bulk of my students are 9th-10th graders.  By this point in their school career they have undoubtedly developed beliefs about themselves and school.  This is why it is so imperative to spend the first few days of school (more days really as it is an ongoing effort) to lay the foundation of trust in the classroom.  

I begin by asking my students to define the word "respect" in small groups.  

In my 18 years of teaching I have learned that I cannot simply throw the word "respect" out as a coverall for a classroom expectation without first discussing what it means. Students come to us with different backgrounds and cultural beliefs.  What is respectful to one person may be seen as disrespectful to another.  It is important for each class to define what respect will represent when referenced in class.  

Students then continue working in small groups to discuss/define these phrases:

• point chasing v *knowledge seeking 

• fair is not always equal

*Note to self, if you are going to ask students what knowledge seeking looks like you better be pretty darn prepared to show them what they will be able to know and do for various levels of readiness while in your class (this is a blog post for another day). 

After groups discuss these phrase, I ask each small group to share out the group definitions.  During the class discussion I ask kids questions such as:  

• "By this point in your life you have likely experienced what it is like to be given an assignment you are not ready for...how does this make you feel? 

• "And certainly some of you have been given an assignment that is so easy you wonder why you even have to do it....how does that make you feel?"  

I also ensure I tell students:

• "Fair is not always equal. Therefore what we do in this class will always be fair but what is fair to you may look different for the person next to you."

Undoubtedly, when I first give assignments that are different I will hear:

•  "So this is the dumb assignment?" That soon goes away as my response is, 
• "When someone has the ability to learn something new does this make them dumb?" 
• They almost always answer "No" or something that equates to "no" and I reply with, 
• "Then if you are learning by working through this assignment, then that must make you smart, right?" 

At this point I usually get raised eye brows or a shoulder shrug because struggling students have not thought of themselves this way before.  These conversations help foster growth mindsets and build trust between the teacher and student.

It takes time, patience and fairness to earn the trust of students...however, I ask the same of them for me:)  Keep your eye out for upcoming blog posts on how to build your framework for a differentiate class.  For resources to help you with the start of the school year, see below.

RESOURCES FOR YOU 

TO KICK START YOUR SCHOOL YEAR

• For my lesson, What's Your Definition of Fair: Out of the Mouthes of Babes, click HERE.

• For access to my Google student survey, Who are you as a student and a learner?, click HERE for the Google form.  MAKE A COPY FOR YOURSELF BEFORE EDITING
• IMPORTANT STEPS TO ACCESS THE FORM SEEN BELOW
• CLICK ON THE HYPERLINK
• MAKE A COPY FOR YOURSELF
• THEN GO TO THE FORM TAB AND VIEW THE LIVE FORM
• THIS WILL ALLOW YOU TO TWEAK THE FORM FOR YOUR CLASS

Differentiated Instruction & Learning Menus

Learning menus are a great way to differentiate instruction for all levels of student readiness.  They offer students voice and choice in showing off what they know and can do with the content.  While learning menus take a little bit of time to create, keep in mind they usually require anywhere from 2-5 days for students to complete.  Here are a few helpful tips:

Learning Menus for ALL Learners:  Learning menus should embed activities to meet each student and his or her own level of readiness by providing a variety of levels from Depth of Knowledge or Bloom's Taxonomy.  Try to offer at least 3 levels of learning choices for students to choose from such as:

• basic (lower level DOK/taxonomy)
• proficient (mid level DOK/taxonomy)
• mastery (upper level DOK/taxonomy)
• advanced (upper levels that challenge advanced learners)

Learning Menus for Learning Styles:  Learning menus should provide activities that embrace a variety of learning styles from auditory to visual to kinesthetic.  Digital activities/projects are a great way to incorporate multiple learning styles.  Also consider offering a space within your classroom that allows students to work with manipulatives to reinforce learning objectives.  Maker spaces are another fun way for students to show off what they know and can do with the content.

Learning Menus FOR Learning:  Learning menus should be FOR learning, NOT for the accumulation of points

• Are you encouraging point chasing?
• Are you fostering knowledge seeking?
• Are you providing feedback for impact?

*If you feel compelled to make a learning menu worth points that is OK!  However, these points should not be about assigning more points for the more challenging activities.  It should be about each student choosing activities to guide their learning thus evening the point playing field for all learners.  Consider each student's Zone of Proximal Development.  Did each student show growth for his/her own ZPD?  If this is the focus then learning, regardless the level of taxonomy, becomes an appropriate challenge for each learner.

Learning Menus for Student Voice & Choice:  Learning menus foster student voice and choice in how they learn and in showing what they know and can do.  In addition, they offer opportunities for the student and teacher to dialogue about student choice FOR learning.  With the removal of points and encouragement from student/teacher dialogues, students feel empowered to choose learning that will appropriately challenge them.  While learning menus offer multiple pathways for student learning, the teacher should remain open to other ideas students my have for showing off what they know and can do.

Types of Learning Menus:  Remember regardless the learning menu you choose, the menu should be structured in such a way for students to experience learning from basic to advanced.

• Tic Tac Toe 
• Think Tac Toe offers 9 activities for students to choose 3 in a row
• Stoplight 
• Red, Yellow & Green Zones expose students to various levels of learning
• Sample Platter 
• Students piece together activities to build foundational knowledge
• Main Course 
• Value Meal v Supersize Meal
• Sides 
• Dollar Menu v Premium Menu
• Desserts 
• Don't forget to add some fun while learning

The presentation below offers visuals of each type of learning menu from above. Please join #DI4all chats the 1st and 3rd Monday of every month at 7CDT for topics on Differentiated Instruction!

Cooperative Learning in a Digital Sandbox

The "Sandbox" = STORMBOARD

• Stormboard is an online collaboration board that allows up to 5 free participants on each Stormboard that you create.  Things to keep in mind:
• Groupings: pre-arrange student groupings of 3-4 allowing space for you (the teacher) to be invited to the Stormboard (otherwise, you cannot play in the sandbox with students)
• Ideas for Use: 
• Peer to Peer Feedback on Digital Projects
• Project Based Learning Units
• Goal Setting
• Character Maps, Conflict Map, KWL, RAFT, Reading & Analyzing Fiction, Word Walls

The "Tools" = Student Choice & Voice

• Differentiate by allowing students to bring their ideas to the "sandbox" by inserting URLs, Youtube Videos, or their original ideas on Sticky Notes, Notes Cards or Drawings related to your lesson (provide some Guiding/Driving Questions...see below in the Rules of Play)
• Students can add Digital Projects by posting project URLs to the Stormboard 
• Students can comment on all ideas or links shared on the Stormboard

The "Rules of Play" = Life Skills

• No Throwing Sand: Students need modeled and taught that online collaboration must be helpful and not hurtful.  Do not assume students will come to you knowing these skills.  
• Teach How to Play: Before tasking students to work in cooperative groups online, allow them to explore the idea of teamwork and constructive/descriptive feedback
• Click HERE for a copy of guiding/driving questions for students to explore collaboration and feedback prior to giving peer feedback on learning standards
• Remember: You are in the sandbox too! Provide students questions for them to dig deeper in regards to giving peer feedback!

Below is an example of teaching students how to give feedback:

Edcamp: Wheel Decide When We Get There!

I attended my very first Edcamp this weekend with #edcampkc  at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. The day was packed full of fun with engaging sessions to attend! The organizers of the event were absolutely amazing (Kyle Pace, Laura Gilchrist, Mimi Jones Lachi are just a few that stand out along countless others)!

As a first time Edcamper, here's what I did...I jumped right into the action and signed up to moderate a session! Seriously, I had no idea what the expectations were of a moderator, but I figured someone attending my session would guide me if need be!

Session Title:  Wheel Decide When We Get There! (Topics on Differentiating Instruction)

Wheel Topics:

I made catchy (cheesy) titles for the wheel to capture audience interest.  Here are what the topics stood for:

1. Tiers in Your Bucket = Tiered Assignments
2. Horton Hears = Student Voice
3. Eeny Meeny Miny Mo = Student Choice
4. Reality Checks = Formative Assessments
5. A Magic Wand = Descriptive Feedback
6. To the Retest & Beyond = Reassessing Student Understanding

Session Format:

The wheel was projected for audience members to see.  The audience also joined a back channel via Today's Meet to share questions, comments and/or ideas for each topic.  Since there were close to 40 members in the audience we quickly created small groups for topic discussions.  I ran a timer for 5 minutes and then audience members shared out questions or ideas.  At one point Steven Shaw requested we spend more time on Student Voice by talking about Genius Hour ideas!

I loved how easily the conversations flowed from one topic to the next.  I also was impressed by the groups willingness to take off in another direction and come back full circle to the topic at hand.  The Wheel Decide When We Get There format can easily be applied to any number of topics.  If you like what you see, please feel free to add the Wheel to your next Edcamp or PD experience and insert your own topics!

Voting With Your Feet:

What is empowering about Edcamp is that individuals can hop from session to session.  This means that during my session individuals came and went as they chose.  I learned that, as the moderator, it is important to know you can't take it personal when people come and go from your session. Instead, honor and celebrate the organic learning occurring for each individual.  This is only possible due to the open Edcamp format!

If you have yet to attend an Edcamp. What are you waiting for? Get in there! Try it out! It almost feels like camp from childhood with everyone supporting one another and having fun!  I promise you will grow leaps and bounds by jumping in to the Edcamp pool, not to mention you will meet amazing individuals to help keep you a float!

Anchor Activities via the Digital Playground

An anchor activity is a differentiated learning tool available to students once the intended class lesson is complete.  These activities are meant to tie to the curriculum and support the learning goals for the unit.  Anchor activities offer students extended learning opportunities to reinforce what they should Know, Understand and be able to Do (KUD).

Back in the day, anchor activities may have been displayed on a classroom bulletin board in folders housing worksheet practice and (if the students were lucky) tactile learning games.  Fortunately, the 1:1 classroom now offers a whole new look.  While pencil paper activities have their place and tactile games can still spike interest, game based learning, gamification and digital or online textbook resources also offer a vast array of options for anchor activities.

Here are a few ideas to welcome your anchor activities to the digital playground:

Digital Playlists

Consider having a "Digital Playlist" that houses the anchor activities for the learning goals.  You can arrange them any way you choose!  Here are some platforms great for creating your digital playlists:

• Create hyperlinks and/or games and activities via any of the following platforms.  
• Google docs and/or Google Spreadsheets
• Wikispaces (Create a space by units for anchor activities)
• Livebinder (Create a binder with folders for each unit)
• Symbaloo (Create a Symbaloo board of urls)
• Padlet (Create a Padlet wall for each unit)
• Blendspace (Create a Blendspace of activities by unit)
• Socrative (Create your own activities for students to access)
• Quia (Search for teacher made activities and/or make your own)
• Quizlet, StudyBlue (Search for already made flashcards or make your own, but both site turns cards into practice with games/activities)
• Memrise (A shoutout for my fellow world language teachers. This site is great! You can create a course, find a course and/or have students create their own courses by units!)
• Embed a table of your hyperlinked playlist into class blog and/or website. Below is an example:

Social Media & Back Channels for KUDs
Many social media sites can serve as a dual role for back channels.  First here are a few social media sites that are perfect

• Edmodo, Google Communities (Share playlists and/or pose questions for students to show off KUDs by posting to the community)
• Twitter (Let students show what they KUD in 140 characters or less! Add this to a playlist)
• Tagboard (Create a class hashtag that students can show off their KUD via any social media platform using your class hashtag. This site then collects all responses using that hashtag and collects them onto one online Tagboard)

Back channels are an interesting way to let students extend their learning time.  Consider having a parking lot of questions to get the students thinking about the learning goals for the unit.  This would be ideal for several students or more ready for extended learning time as the more the merrier in this platform.  When creating questions for the back channel you may want to offer questions that push students beyond simple yes/no responses and encourages conversations about the learning targets. Here are a few sites to use:

• Backchannel (While this does cost money, it is relatively cheap at $15 per month.)
• Today's Meet (Pose questions for each unit for students to respond to throughout the unit)
• Tweetdeck (Use the scheduling feature to push out questions, videos or links for students to comment on)

These are just a few ideas for you to toss your anchor activities into the digital playground!  At the front of a unit, let your students know where to find the anchor activities.  Every minute counts! It is up to you, the teacher, to encourage students to stay "anchored" in learning from bell to bell. Help students find the value in filling every minute of class with activities that support their learning! When you see a student wrap up a lesson direct him/her to your digital playlist for the unit.  Student voice and choice makes all the difference in students guiding their own learning. Let them choose which activities to play and/or work on.  Let them offer new activities to add to the digital playlist or even allow them to develop their own games to support the learning goals!  The more activities and encouragement you provide your students the more you will begin to see them guide their own learning using anchor activities.

The Learning Lab: Tiered Learning

This week I had an amazing opportunity to participate in our school's first ever Learning Lab.  A couple of week's prior to this, our building instructional coach, Sara Wickham, was invited to observe a lesson in my classroom.  After the observation, she said, "You know, I've been kicking around this idea in my head about a learning lab.  Would you be interested in working with me on this?"

Here is the basic idea:

• Invite teachers to sign up for the Learning Lab experience (to occur during their planning)
• Teachers will meet with the instructional coach at the start of the hour
• The Instructional Coach will introduce the concept of the learning lab experience
• Teachers will watch a 2-3 minute video created by the classroom teacher briefly explaining the lesson and discuss any look fors that should occur while observing
• Teachers will then enter the Learning Lab (the classroom) and observe the lesson for 10-15 minutes
• Teachers are encouraged to ask students questions
• Teachers will then leave the Learning Lab and debrief with the instructional coach
• Teachers will discuss ah-ha moments, comment, ask questions and share ideas they saw that can be immediately used in their own classrooms

I am writing from the perspective of the classroom teacher hosting the Learning Lab.  Over 4 class periods, 9 classroom teachers, 2 administrators and the instructional coach visited my class. Sara wrote a post from the perspective of the coach.  You can read about it HERE.

Here is an overview of what they saw in a 45 minute class:

Video Introduction

Class Lesson

• Students will discover the process for conjugating -ar verbs
• Students will watch the teacher created PowToon video
• Students will choose to take virtual notes or notes on paper
• Students will self-direct their learning and practice through tiered and scaffolded activities housed on a Tackk Board

Post Observation Comments & Questions

My Responses to Post Observation Questions

• How do you grade tiered assignments? I rarely “grade” practice for a grade as it is practice. Instead I use descriptive feedback to help kids stretch and grow (most of the feedback is oral, but when using google docs I use the comment feature).  When I do grade tiered assignments I have a grade break down (Basic = C; Proficient = B; Mastery = 90-95; Advanced = 95%+)….even then it is for minimal points and/or is recorded but exempt from the grade book   Today’s lesson was not for a grade.  My students know that the practice we do is to help them improve; reach proficiency.  Because I share the levels of understanding at the start of the school year students realize that they will have to stretch to reach the upper levels of understanding.  The practice we do is scaffolded so that students may move forward and back as needed.

• How long does it take to create tiered assignments? Tiering can be simple, like today’s lesson…all students were essentially doing the same activity(NOT multiple different activities), they simply chose when to move on to the next level of understanding.  I think sometimes we get overwhelmed as teachers by thinking that differentiated instruction = creation of several activities.  Most days my students are working on the same activity and I tier it using levels of taxonomy:  recall/application/creation/creation+ (+extending what we learned and connecting it to a new process/concept and/or tie it to a previously learned concept)  Tiering can also be a compilation of multiple activities such as: learning menus and thinktactoe.  These can take a bit of time to create HOWEVER there is a pay off for time spent…1 thinktactoe = 2-3 days of activities/lessons.

• Are students that continually choose the basic level ready for the next level of Spanish? The majority of my students try for at least proficiency, not all students reach proficiency, but at least try proficiency.  Are BASIC kiddos ready?  If a child has a desire to move on in the language we have a professional responsibility to support that child’s choice.  I do not believe all students will be proficient in the language (when teaching within restricted timelines).  Some kiddos may work very hard and remain basic or proficient low AND still enjoy the language.  I want our students to know that if they have a desire to learn and work hard at it, then continuing in the language is the right choice for them.  Will there be basic kids that move on that lacked motivation? Yes. Are they ready for the next level? Who knows…maybe they matured over the summer and they return ready to learn.  

• How do you motivate kids that seem to always choose the basic level? I think it is absolutely okay to start with the basic level and to stay there until the practice begins to feel easy.  It is my role, as the teacher, to be up and around the room, to facilitate conversations about learning and encourage students to try the next level(s).  How do I motivate? Enthusiasm and positivity is contagious.  Kids at the basic level need A LOT of KUDOS…they need to know that you believe it is possible for them to excel.  I know this sounds very “ra-ra” cheerleader…but many of our kids rarely have someone cheering them on…you may be the only person in their day that believes in their ability to be successful.  It is human nature to want to do well at what we try.  It is also human nature to feel defeated when at first we don’t succeed.  “Failing forward” is a pretty popular edu term these days.  There is a lot to be said for teaching students resilience…we can teach it by offering multiple opportunities and multiple pathways for success.

My Insights

While a certain level of anxiety can come from observations I felt relatively relaxed.  I think this is in part to wanting to be authentic with my colleagues.  This was not meant to be a horse and pony show of perfect practices.  It was meant to offer a real glimpse at what happens in the classroom every day. Some days we are rockin' it, other days we are not.  I honestly had no idea how this lesson would go as I had never used Tackk as a self-directed platform prior to this lesson.

Students were told in advance that other teachers would visit the classroom for a small amount of time.  They were further encouraged to not be afraid to answer questions that may be asked of them and to simply interact professionally and honestly.  I thought multiple classroom visitors might be distracting for students.  However, the students didn't skip a beat when the observers entered the room.  They simply kept on working and asking questions as if it were business as usual.

In first hour, there was a moment in which over half the class had their hands raised. I could sense their anxieties from lack of understanding the new learning objective.  My vision for "self-directed" learning was quickly falling apart.  I simply stopped the class, regrouped with some whole instruction and released learning again.  (My principal calls this CAR...catch and release).  It was awesome to have that moment of vulnerability in front of my peers. Why? Because the Learning Lab should be an authentic experience that spurs conversations and allows ALL participants to stretch and grow.

This experience allowed me to stretch and grow in the following ways:

• The collaboration and conversations that resulted from the Learning Lab created connections between colleagues that might not have otherwise occurred.
• The feedback and comments from the observers fanned by flame for teaching and learning 
• Knowing this was the first Learning Lab experience in our school, I was inspired to blend the tiered instruction with multiple media platforms so that observers would be able to walk away with a several ideas they could immediately implement in their classrooms

This leads me to share with you the ultimate goal of the Learning Lab experience, two days later, Kari S., a science teacher in our building, shared a tiered lesson she created as a result of the lab (scroll to the end of her Tackk and look at her wording on student tiering/choice...it's simply awesome).  I love that this addresses the thought that this can't be done in core classes! This in itself made the Learning Lab a success!

Differentiation & Autism

Before I begin this post I should say, I am not a special education teacher.  I am simply a "regular ed" high school Spanish teacher of 17 years.  So, why am I, a Spanish teacher, sharing this post about differentiation and autism? Because...

Here are just a few ideas that have worked for my students, with (and without) autism, in addition to special education modifications and accommodations:

• Personally connect every day.
• Pull up a chair next to the student or simply kneel down to his/her level.  It doesn't need to be a long conversation every day, simply a two way interaction to start off the class.  Ask how they are doing or what they did the night before...any question that will elicit a response (verbally or even a head nod) will help a student with autism make a connection with your class.
• Discover their passions and connect.
• One student loves candy, another loves puppies - sometimes all it takes is having a basket of candy in eye sight or a packet of puppy stickers to encourage participation.  Sound silly? I think not. If you have a student with a sweet tooth and candy is the reward for participation, you suddenly have a resistant child with autism participating.   
• Embrace technology.
• In class, most students are connecting with other students throughout a lesson.  A student with autism can find it difficult to make face to face interactions.  One day, I saw a girl with autism on Twitter, so I dug a little deeper and asked her to tell me why she liked Twitter.  She said she feels less judged online and has lots of online friends, but not so many at school.  Isn't that interesting...for those of you that thought social media was minimizing our personal interactions with others, think again.  For a child with autism, on line communication can be an easier way for a student to express his/her thoughts.  Consider having an online platform for students to comment and/or answer questions.  Here are just a few:
•  a class hashtag 
• Google Community
• Edmodo
• a back channel such as Today's Meet
• student blogs
• Assist Inquiring Minds. 
• Have you ever had a student that asks question after question?  One year I had a girl that kept beating me to the punch.  I would begin an explanation and she would ask a question before I could finish the explanation.  Wait time is very difficult for some students, it can be twice as difficult for a student with autism.  What seemed to finally work, for this girl in particular, was an index card.  At the start of class I would give her an index card.  If I were speaking to the whole class, she was instructed to write her questions on the card.  Once I was finished speaking, if I had not answered all of her questions on the card, she could then ask me her remaining questions.  Other ideas to assist inquiring minds might be:
• using technology for the student to ask questions
• reward wait time with something they love (candy, stickers, computer time...)
• Student Choice.
• Allow students to choose their learning path/activity by scaffolding for levels of readiness.  Offering choices to a student with autism can help him/her feel and actually be in control of his/her learning.  Abandon the one size fits all approach.  In order to avoid a student being overwhelmed, limit the number of choices to just a couple and use concrete language for the directions.

While one strategy may work for one child, the same strategy may not work for another.  I've found, regardless of the child, there are three essential keys to differentiating for students with special needs in your classroom: pacing, patience and persistence.

• Pacing.  You must keep your fingers on the pulse of student learning needs.  It is up to you to know when to stretch a student and when to slow down.  Students, especially those with autism spectrum disorder, may not always have the words to express his/her learning needs.  You must offer frequent check ins for understanding and adjust activities according to mood and/or ability of the student.
• Patience.  If you think you are exhausted from your efforts, think again.  My best friend of 30+ years has 3 boys with autism. Yes 3.  The 45 minutes of patience I give in a one class pales in comparison to the love and patience she offers her 3 boys, 24 hours a day.  
• Persistence.  There will be days when you exhaust your bag of tricks. There will be days in which a student tries to shut down.  On these days, consider giving the student some space.  Simply check in with the student throughout the class by kneeling to his/her level, speak in a soft voice and offer words of encouragement. If the student can break through long enough to interact with you, consider this a win for the day and begin again the next day.  Finally, do not allow defeat to reside in your classroom.  Create a culture of persistence and start anew every day.  
  
  
  

I dedicate this post to my soul sister, Melanie, who gives her unconditional love, devotion and energy to her 3 autistic sons. If you were to look up strength in the dictionary, her picture would be there...well it should be anyways.  Love you Mel-O-Wheat!

Jedi Mind Tricks in the Classroom

Lower the force field 

Standing over a student can cause anxieties to rise and/or leave a student feeling defensive. Instead sit next to the student or kneel at the same level as the student.  This will help foster a feeling of togetherness.

Sitting behind the teacher desk separates yourself from students thus creating an invisible barrier between you and the students. Start tracking how often you sit behind your desk versus how often you are up and about and/or seated with students.  The more time spent with students, the lower the force field will be. 

Feed the senses

Students will respond to cues in their environment.  For example, every day for SSR (sustained silent reading) I would turn the lights off in my room and turn on only the lamps.  Students would quietly enter the room for reading.  If I forgot to turn off the overhead lights, students would loudly enter the room and choose socializing over reading. Ignite the 5 senses! How does your room look, sound, smell, feel and yes, taste...do you offer the occasional snack? From lighting and seating to plug-ins and snacks, the subtle changes in environment can shift the feel of your classroom for students.

Avoid the dark side

When a student says, "OMG I hate this activity, I don't even want to do it"...whatever thought you may have and however offended you may be...do not go to the dark side.  Instead offer new light.

1. I spent a lot of time on a truly awesome activity that integrate technology (taking pictures with cell phones), manipulatives and tweeting final picture products.  Students were having fun! But then it happened...a student uttered the words, "This activity is so stupid!"  I admit my first thought was, "Just do the stinking activity! Can't you see everyone else is having fun?!" I rallied quickly, swallowed my pride, knelt down to the same level as the student and said with sincerity, "I am so sorry this activity is upsetting.  Is there another way you would like to do this?" She let out a sigh of relief and said, "Yes, please. Instead of using these manipulatives can I just write out the sentences and I tweet those?"  I said, "Absolutely!"  If a student can offer another way to demonstrate understanding that does not water down the rigor/relevancy of the content then by all means let them!

Be one

We are neither more than the students, nor are we less than the students. We must be one with the students in order to truly have our fingers on the pulse of their learning needs.  We cannot be one with the students if we are not having conversations with the students about their struggle and/or successes.  We cannot be one with the students if we choose to sit behind our teacher desk. We cannot be one with the students if we are unwillingly to listen to them.  We can only be one with students when we choose to feel their struggles and work through their struggles with them.  We can only be one with the students when we choose to celebrate their successes and in turn push them to go beyond what they thought possible. We can only be one with students once remove the barrier of the teacher desk and choose to be with the students. We can only be one with students once we focus less on the idea of an orderly classroom and instead pour our energies into creating a culture of learning in order to grow together.

Beyond the Retest

Teacher names come and go.  There are some that make me cringe at the thought of their names, others I have no memory of at all and a select few that landed a special place in my heart.  In 1985, my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Downing, was one of those rare teachers that made such a profound impact on my life that 30 years later I feel inspired by her to write this post.

It was a social studies test and I failed it miserably.  However, it wasn't the failing of the test that makes me recall this memory, it was what Mrs. Downing did after I failed that made the impact.  You see,  Mrs. Downing was 30 years ahead of her time, she encouraged me to take the test again.  She studied with me after school.  She also sent home a review for my mom to study with me.  In the midst of the retake she recognized that it was not my lack of understanding the content, but self-doubt that sabotaged my learning.  I truly believed that for every obvious answer there was that it was a trick being played on me.  I believed that I could not possibly know the answer so, for every answer that seemed like the right answer, I would then choose a different answer.

I used this absurd thought process again on my retake.  As I stood on the other side of the her desk, I watched her grade my retake.  I could see that I missed the same answers again.  I remember hanging my head in defeat.  Mrs. Downing turned my test face down and asked me to look at her.  She then gave me words of encouragement.  She told me she believed I knew the correct answers and that she thought I was letting my brain get in the way.

She told me to stop overthinking and to go with the first answer that came to mind.  Mrs. Downing then asked me the test questions aloud and I answered all but two of them correctly.  She flipped my test over and changed the grade to reflect what we did out loud.

That oral assessment with Mrs. Downing was more revealing than any paper pencil test.  I think of that moment today as I reassess student understanding.  There is not only great power in releasing the "one and done" mentality for testing, but also in embracing multiple ways to assess understanding.

You see, like Mrs. Downing, we each have the choice to move beyond the retest. When we look at student data, we sure as heck better be looking at our instructional strategies.  We need to be open to talking with colleagues about what works, abandoning what doesn't work and embracing new ideas.

If you are a teacher that retests, consider branching out beyond the paper pencil test to embrace conversations and/or try quick whiteboard assessments.  If you are a teacher that does not believe in retests, consider the value in student teacher conversations about the assessments.  Even if you do not retest, you have the ability to connect with a struggling student through the conversations you have together.  Perhaps, through these conversations you will help students break through their fixed mindsets of self-doubt and turn their beliefs into growth mindsets.

Who knows, maybe you will be someone's Mrs. Downing some day.