communication

How about a Round of Empathy: In 2 Parts

~ mrsprairie ~ Leave a comment

Background: My husband is a high school Social Studies teacher. I am a Curriculum Coordinator at the same school. We have 2 high school children (a sophomore and a senior), who attend this school.

Part 1: Empathy for Teachers

This past Friday morning, I was pouring a cup of coffee in the kitchen. My husband was holding a virtual synchronous class with one of his AP World History classes in the same room (his workspace is in our kitchen). I could tell he was getting frustrated. 

Who am I kidding, we are all beyond getting frustrated.

Earlier in the week, he shared a discussion post using Parlay to ask students to choose which option they preferred as a way forward to prepare for the AP exam as a class and to comment on one other student’s post. 

Parlay Discussion Post

Goal: Try to decide how we look at AP World History Review from April 12th – March 21st 

Option 1: Start to use the review videos released by the College Board. The videos typically are created by AP readers/teachers who approach the review unit by unit. The units are divided into subunits with lots of instructions about how/why the content could be incorporated into writing for the Modified, 2020 APWH test.

Option 2: Continue to use a variety of resources to review the content of each APWH unit. The activities include a variety of shorter videos and vocabulary activities. 

Discussion Question

Which option do you like the best? Give a rationale as to why you think this option would work best for you and/or the class.

Peer Feedback Instructions

You are expected to respond to at least one other student’s discussion answer. You can politely disagree with them (give a rationale for your disagreement) or concur with them (give a rationale for your agreement).

Some students did not complete this simple task. Others completed it with seemingly little care. Maybe the students were thinking that the teacher knows best and they will review in whatever way he thinks is best for them. For many of them, this is their first AP course. They don’t know what they don’t know.

However, let’s look at it from the teacher’s point-of-view. 

As a school, we are pretty deep into our COVID-19 Distance Learning experience. Not China-deep, but Asia-deep. We are in the second phase of our thinking now that we know this will be our reality for the remainder of the school year. Here’s what that looks like:

Phase II Focus:

  • Essential learning and assessing
  • Letting go of the “nice to know” curriculum
  • Engaging and motivating projects/activities/performance assessments
  • Not burning out (teachers or students)

So, with this in mind, I know the teacher from this story was considering these aspects as well as other relevant data. For instance, students have made it clear in surveys that they appreciate any chance to collaborate with their peers, take part in discussions, and have some choice/ownership of their learning. Parlay was a new tool that he thought would be fun for kids, let them interact with each other, and give them a voice in the decision about how to review and prepare for the AP exam.

What the students didn’t know was how much time it took to learn the tool, set it up, create the post, try it out, revise it, and publish it for each class.

The discussion was posted on Monday. There was a reminder on Wednesday, and by Friday morning’s synchronous class, well, let’s just say that my husband had to use his teacher voice.

He was honest. He was vulnerable. He let the kids know that he was frustrated and working a heck of a lot harder than they were. He actually listed the steps he took to create the discussion board and the time it took from his weekend. 

Remember earlier when I said they don’t know what they don’t know? This is the empathy part. 

In class, teachers have the toolbox that they have been digging into for years. In Distance Learning, it’s a whole new toolbox. Students don’t know that. Students don’t realize that teachers are learning new tech tools, new ways to communicate and collaborate, rethinking units, and completely redesigning assessments.

I think it’s more than okay to be honest and vulnerable with our students. I also think that students who understand exactly how hard their teachers are working to create meaningful learning experiences at home will be more engaged and more motivated. 

During your check-ins with students this week, open up to them about how hard this is and what you have learned. Show them. It’s not about gaining sympathy or making them feel guilty. We are all human. When they see just how much you are doing for them, I hope some of them might try a little harder, give a little more.

How do you share your own learning and your own struggles with students? Let me know!

Ginny

Hoping to post Part 2: Empathy for Seniors soon!

Analyzing Authentic Assessments

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As we continue to practice aligning assessments to standards, it’s important to not only reflect on student data but to plan for improving results for all learners. Framing our conversation (aka using a protocol) about student data will help us focus on the learning targets and how the assessment actually provided evidence of mastery of the targeted standards.

Steps for Framing a Team Conversation

Within one week of giving a common assessment, set aside 30 minutes of your team’s common planning time (teachers will need to mark their class’s assessments before the team meeting). If you are a one-person team, then ask a critical friend, an administrator, or an instructional coach to join you for some analysis fun!

Screen Shot 2017-09-03 at 12.11.32 PM.png
I hope that my colleagues know that I am always eager to join a conversation about learning!

As a team, consider the following questions, from In Praise of American Educators, to determine the validity of the assessment, its alignment to the standards, and how the data will be used to improve results for all students. Your team may decide that other questions should be added to frame the conversation. Add those, too.

 

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The reproducible below is found in the book above.

 

Possible questions to consider, from DuFour’s book:

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Once the team feels that they have a better understanding of the students’ current learning of the targeted standards, then consider what these results mean to the next unit of study as well as how this unit will be revised for next year. Those reflective notes should be added to the unit documentation as well as the assessment. The ATLAS UbD template is a perfect spot to add strategies for differentiation and notes about the unit.

 

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This is our template for Stage 3 in ATLAS. Some teams also use Google Docs for Stage 3.

 

Finally, check out Solution Tree’s free resources for tools to help your team work collaboratively and with purpose, information about upcoming webinars, and a video library from the experts in learning.

Have a great week!

Ginny

Learning Walks Grow Learning

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Are Learning Walks part of your school’s culture? What do you look for on a Learning Walk? How can Learning Walks improve every school’s climate?

These were some of the questions asked of our team (several years ago) when Martin Skelton came in and got us “Looking for Learning!” His advice allowed me to step back and notice the learning environment, as well as my routines and daily objectives. Fast-forward a few years and in comes another wise consultant who deepened my understanding of looking for learning through Learning Walks. It was clear that teachers could make small tweaks to what they already do to encourage visiting students, parents, administrators, and the community to see what their students were learning, not just what they were doing.

What Do You Look For on a Learning Walk?

On Learning Walks, you look for learning. What does learning look like? That’s the harder question. There are a few simple ways that I look for learning in our school’s hallways.

  • I look for authentic student work displayed along the corridors.
  • I look for the process of the work, not just the final product. Where did their learning begin and where are they now?
  • I also look for the purpose of the learning (the objective or “I Can” statement).
  • I also look for reflections of the learning, either written by each student or a shared class reflection.

Within the classroom, I look for learning in many different ways. It’s important to first get a feel for each individual classroom’s environment. If each classroom was expected to have the exact same set-up and the exact same routines, then teachers’ creativity and passion would be stifled- we don’t want that. However, if you were a new student and this was your first visit, what would you need to look for to know that you could learn in this room? There are a few simple ways that I look for learning in classrooms.

  • I look for today’s schedule.
  • I look for what we are learning today (and hopefully why and how).
  • I look for instructions of routines (How do kids choose books from the library? What are the steps of the writing process? How do we solve problems? What to do if you’re absent?).
  • I look for varied learning spaces. (Can some students stand or sit on the carpet? Does learning happen in different places in the classroom?).

Learning Walks can also be focused on a specific initiative. Emily DeLiddo of languageisliving.com, is a literacy consultant who narrowed my focus of Learning Walks to Literacy-Rich Environments. Emily drafted a Learning Walk that focused on 7 sub-topics: environment, halls, word walls, materials, charts, library, and environmental print. She recommended that we should share the Learning Walk document with teachers, revise it if needed, then chunk the sub-topics into doable actions. Since most of the teachers already had their classrooms set up for the workshop model, we could celebrate the positive documentation of ENVIRONMENTS.

Environ

This quarter, our elementary teachers are going to implement Learning Walks as part of their professional learning.

learning walk 3

Teams can decide when they’re ready for other teams to visit their team for a Learning Walk. Hopefully, this will allow teachers to be confident in their work, while also giving praise to colleagues.

learning walk 2

Each grade level has an Apple Tree (I know it’s corny; I can’t help it). They simply stick the apple (possibly the Word Walls apple) to their tree and the other grade levels know that they are ready to show off their Word Walls. Everyone has a different take on Word Walls and how to use them, so teachers can get lots of ideas from their colleagues that may help them learn a different way.

WW

Learning Walk1

Teachers will have a chance to share what they’ve learned from visiting other classrooms during staff meetings. It’s a great chance to take a few minutes from the agenda to celebrate learning.

How Can Learning Walks Improve Every School’s Climate?

Learning Walks, when used as a learning tool and never as an evaluation, will focus the entire staff on learning and feedback. They allow teachers and students to be more comfortable and confident with what is happening in the classroom. When the school community can easily look for learning in the hallways and classrooms, the school becomes a museum of learning and an art gallery of understanding.

Teams with Poor Coaching Don’t Win the Big Game- in learning, every day is the Big Game

~ mrsprairie ~ 1 Comment

Some people work better on their own; I am not one of those people. I like being part of a team. I like everything that being on a team means… building a plan together, stretching together, practicing together, playing together, succeeding together, failing together, reflecting together, and improving together.

As a teacher, I was so blessed to work on some amazing teams of teachers and students. A few that come to mind are the grade 6 team at ACS Beirut (2001-2003)- we were energetic, passionate about learning, and made learning fun! The Dream Team of Seven Springs Middle School (2003-2005)- we took interdisciplinary learning to a whole new level, looping allowed us to really bond, and I worked with master teachers. DEMS (2007-2011)- I found my philosophical twin, and we team taught the heck out of grade 8- always keeping the students’ emotional well-being ahead of everything else!

Sometimes I was being mentored; other times I was the mentor. That’s what teams do- everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, and everyone helps their team improve. No one is better than anyone else. PS- I am including students in my definition of team, so should you.

Being part of a team was what made teaching and learning so meaningful, but here I was, an administrator- with no team. I was lonely.

Then something happened… Something significant… Something that gave me goose bumps. I realized that being an administrator meant taking on the role as the coach of a team. A coach’s job is to inspire as a team, set goals as a team, learn as a team, communicate and model effectively as a team, play-succeed-fail as a team, reflect and improve as a team. Every team needs good coaching or the players are just playing for themselves.

This realization came last week during a professional development day. Grades K-5 team leaders assembled with their principal and me to develop division-wide Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions for the writing units of study. Here is how we worked as an effective (and totally awesome) team:

  • We built a plan together- What are the lifelong learning goals of writing?
  • We stretched our thinking together- What do we already know, and what do we need to know, about the significance of being lifelong writers?
  • We practiced and played together- What work have we done that is meaningful and should be honored?
  • We succeeded together- What are we doing well and is worth continuing?
  • We failed together- What should we stop doing, and why?
  • We reflected together- What did we used to think and what do we now know?
  • We improved together- When can we do this with other subjects? This was powerful!
K-5 Teamwork! Photo credit: Krista Roll
K-5 Teamwork! Photo credit: Krista Roll
K-5 Teamwork- Succeeding Together! Photo credit: Krista Roll
K-5 Teamwork- Succeeding Together! Photo credit: Krista Roll

Think about the inspiring coaches and teammates that you’ve had over the years. If you don’t have that same inspiration and passion to win the Big Game, then make some changes. Your team, whether they are colleagues or students, need a quality coach. Don’t let them down!

A Shout Out to Teachers with Teacher Kids in their Class – I Feel Your Pain and Appreciate YOU

~ mrsprairie ~ 2 Comments
     It’s not easy, I know. My first year teaching, I had the daughter of my principal in my 8th grade English class. I think that is when I first broke out in hives. I knew that everything I said and did was being discussed at their dinner table each evening. It made me very conscientious about my lessons, my homework, my feedback, and my grading. I was a GREAT teacher that year.
     The next year, I did not have any children of colleagues- to be perfectly honest, my teaching practices were not nearly as polished or exciting as that first year. I relaxed, my teaching relaxed, I did not become better- I became lazier. I am so ashamed to admit this, but I am sure there are others like me out there. Right?
     Once I began teaching internationally, teachers’ kids were everywhere- in every class. I stepped up my game, but this time, for the RIGHT REASONS. I made sure that there was no room for error, no matter who was in my class. I worked really hard to build strong relationships with my students; I needed their trust, their respect, and their love – families were counting on me. Of course, I’m human, I had my fair share of struggles and “off” days- I learned and grew from them.
     In the back of my mind, I began considering these 3 questions:
If my child was in this class…
  • would they get it (purpose, instructions, feedback, assessments)?
  • would they feel liked, loved, challenged, and happy?
  • would they be getting the best effort from their teacher?
Teachers,
I am asking you to ask yourself these questions as often as possible,
if not every day of every year.
And to the teachers of my outspoken children- past, present, and future…
owl-chalkboard-thank-you
for putting up with us,
for putting up with them,
for giving your heart and soul to teaching and learning.
I would like to leave you with my favorite TED Talk from a truly inspiring teacher. Every day should be Teacher Appreciation Day 🙂

Stay Human, Teachers

~ mrsprairie ~ 1 Comment

As I was packing up and deciding what is worth saving or chucking, I came across some letters that were written to me by former students- 10 years ago. They reminded me of my favorite part of teaching- building relationships with kids. It was easy to teach curriculum when students felt loved, respected, and equal. They were as eager to be passionate about learning, because we were all in it together. We laughed together, cried together, and taught each other- I miss that.

As years have passed, and teachers rely more on technology to get information to students (Let’s face it, technology is pretty cool, and we want to use it!), I am afraid that the valuable relationship that is so necessary between students and teachers is deteriorating. We need to step back, teachers, and examine why and how technology should enhance our relationship with students, not separate us. Technology should be making us better, right?

Virtual classrooms can be amazing! Virtual classrooms can also be confusing, frustrating, and needless. These are the types of questions we must ask ourselves:
1. Is my virtual classroom simple and easy to navigate?
2. Is it aesthetically pleasing and friendly?
3. Is everything that students can see relevant to this unit or current learning?
4. When was the last time a colleague looked at YOUR virtual classroom and helped make suggestions to make it more student-friendly?

I am also concerned about other types of communication between teachers and students, and how technology can take away from our purpose of teaching and further separate us from our students. If students must rely on looking at virtual classrooms to know when assignments or projects are due, understand instructions and expectations, and figure out how they will be assessed- then what are we teaching? This is not the way to support and encourage independent learning. Teachers must guide students to be independent learners by…
– Creating a basic framework- objectives to be learned, purpose, timeline
– Getting student input- project design and process, checklists, rubrics
– Modeling expectations- throughout the process, in class, with your own work/writing
– Giving effective feedback- at each step, personalized, compliment + teaching point
– Opportunity for reflection- of purpose, of their own work (and team), of the process, of learning.

The relationship between teachers and students is so important, and we need to figure out how to keep that personalized relationship while using technology to enhance our classroom. Kids want to be loved, respected, and equal. Let’s not forget that at the end of the day, it’s about them. Not what we’ve taught them, but who they are, who they become. What will the letters from students say about you as a teacher?