Okay, I can't end without mentioning how every bit of this book drips with style. The cover is gorgeous, the chapter titles are some of the best I've ever heard, and as I was finishing it up on the way to our field trip today a student leaned in to check out the illustration at the top of the chapter. That attention to detail clearly shows the amount of respect both the author and the publisher have for their readers.
Notes from Room 145
Life and times in a fourth grade classroom.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Fantastic Peter Nimble
Okay, I can't end without mentioning how every bit of this book drips with style. The cover is gorgeous, the chapter titles are some of the best I've ever heard, and as I was finishing it up on the way to our field trip today a student leaned in to check out the illustration at the top of the chapter. That attention to detail clearly shows the amount of respect both the author and the publisher have for their readers.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Video Station: How to Clone Yourself
Perspective and Mood from mlewis@cohassetk12.org on Vimeo.
Thanks to Salman Kahn for the excellent inspiration he shared with the world via TED Talks. Of course it makes sense to video record lessons. I was enamored with the idea that students watch lessons at home to provide for workshop time in class with teachers.
The Classroom
While I'm meeting with those groups, I'm simultaneously teaching an extension lesson to 5 students on the back computers. In the second block, those students post the activity to our writing wiki. Another group worked on a reflection discussing the importance of a writer's notebook, to be video taped in the following block. The final group watched a TED Talk, audio recorded a discussion about it before writing a reflection in their daybook.
The Other Shoe
The kids loved it. They seemed to enjoy the different stations, were able to work independently, enabling me to focus on the small groups. Their products were high quality and the kids stayed focused for the majority of the week.
About mid-week, as everybody worked away, over the loud speaker in the school, "If anybody is streaming video in the building, could you please turn them off, it's interfering with Galileo Testing." (Galileo tests are standardized tests to predict how our students will perform on the standardized tests).
One of the girls looked at me and asked if we should go apologize. My response, "We will happily honor their request but do you feel we have anything to apologize for?"
When I went to check on the group filming their Writer's Notebook tour, the camera was put away in its case but they were still sharing... They thought the call about streaming video applied to their recording as well.
We've got some work to do here. I just hope there are other classrooms that can use it!
Monday, February 28, 2011
A Book-Banning Discussion
Monday, February 21, 2011
Read Your Heart Out Day 2011
I don't have a single picture from the day. It blew by so quickly, I didn't have a second to even catch my breath long enough to grab the camera.
RYHOD
New England winters can be long and dreary, especially with the feet of snow on the ground this year. Instead of letting the weather suck the energy out of our school, winter is the perfect vehicle for an all-out, no-holds-barred, winner-take-all Read-a-Thon. Yep, Read-a-thon. We're stuck inside, daylight's in short supply, why capitalize on this opportunity and get everyone jazzed about literacy?
And, at Deer Hill School, we go all out. The thon kicked off with an all-school Are You Smarter Than A Book Character?, a take off on the game show, Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? Mrs. Clark and Mrs. Parrell, put all of their charisma on display while the battled off over general knowledge against, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Poseidon, and Greg Heffley, and many other popular characters.
This year we've added a very special event to the Read-a-Thon family. Our first ever school-wide Read Your Heart Out Day celebration. Valentine's Day is so close to February Vacation, what better way to transition than with an entire day devoted to the love of reading?
Nothing, if you ask me.
Students come to school in comfortable attire, bring sleeping bags, pillows, their independent reading and a collection of their favorite picture story books. In the morning, parents are invited to bring the newspaper, a magazine, or the book they're reading to join in the celebration. Younger siblings are welcome as students volunteer to read their favorite books to them.
The Evolution:
RYHOD began as a self-contained activity in my classroom. Over the past few years, it's caught on and taken flight throughout the building. This year it was celebrated school wide. As we began planning it in the fourth grade, teachers suggested a classroom rotation. This spawned the creation of themes. It added a whole other dimension to the day. Ms. Mosher's classroom was set up like Hollywood Blvd, complete with red carpet and walk of "book character" fame.
Mrs. Corkhum's room erected a temporary tent city where every student could find a quiet nook for reading. There was the beach with Playa de Parrell, Ms. O'Hara's Red Sox theme to remind us that spring is just around the corner and, of course, Mrs. Clark's recreation of Disney World.
My class had just finished up a major writing unit that we were putting together in ebook format. It was the perfect merging of literacy and technology, a great premier for RYHOD.
That got me thinking. What about video of teachers reading at home? Wouldn't that be cool for the kids to see where their teachers read? We had it, technology and literacy.
The Theme:
It was a little last minute but there were a few teachers who were happy to help out. My good friend and mentor, Dr. Susannah Richards, was kind enough to lend her colleagues and undergraduates to the cause. I was even able to pester some writers into participating. (A very heartfelt thank you to Barbara O'Connor, Gareth Hinds, Audrey Vernick, and Jonathan Auxier).
The kids were floored. The loved the videos of their teachers and that would have been good enough. The best part about the reaction to the authors; you would have thought they were movie stars or athletes. I do a "Book News" Wednesday at snack each week and it's seemed to have payed off. The students recognized the authors and their cultural status in the classroom matched that of any celebrity. It was exciting to be a part of.
With dropped jaws, all the kids asked how and, that itself, turned into a nice little mini-lesson: What is the responsible way to go about pestering people for favors? I explained to them that I asked Barbara O'Connor only because she was visiting the school after vacation. I asked Gareth Hinds because we've met on several occasions.
Jonathan's story was a little different. We had only recently connected through Twitter, but his first book is due out this fall. I went out on a limb and asked for a favor from a relative stranger. The reason being; I thought we could be helpful and generate some buzz around the book. Oh, it worked. The day before I showed the video, I showed the students Jonathan's website, The Scop, (they loved the "dress Jonathan up" feature in the about me. Then, Bam!, I hit them with the delightful video he put together for us. One student responded, "His book has to be good," referring to his comical nature.
The final part to the lesson was where I showed the students Chris Barton's comment on a previous post. I explained to them that just because somebody left a comment, it doesn't give me the right to ask for their time. Author's are extremely busy folks and it's not very respectful to solicit favors from people you don't know very well.
However, I do that exact thing to Audrey Vernick. Audrey was kind enough to leave a comment and I hit her up. I had to. I have this lovely little girl my classroom who plays tackle football on an all-boy-except-her team and I thought The Effa Manley would resonate with her in particular, especially because her turning-point narrative was about how she discovered a lot about herself through playing football. Sorry Audrey!
How Wonderful It Was
It was really wonderful, that's how wonderful it was. The day flew by so quickly I didn't pick up my camera once. Which I always have attached to me. So you know I must have been having a blast. It was a RYHOD for the ages. Thank you to everybody who kindly lent their their time, it was truly a success.
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Monday, February 7, 2011
If you're going to take a book out of the hands of a reader...
Here’s what is new. Today’s juvenile non-fiction treats the reader with much more respect that was expected in 1988.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
The Time My Favorite Teacher Gave Up On Me...
Monday, December 20, 2010
Reform Inform
The Cohasset School District will soon be gearing up the search for a new superintendent. Over the next few weeks I'd like to open up some of the current issues for discussion. Let's jump right in and lead off with education reform. Might as well, it seems to be taking a front and center spotlight throughout the media and the nation. While Cohasset's demographics may be contrastive to the districts getting the most attention, education reform should looked at as we commence the interviewing process.
The following post begins with my thoughts surrounding Michelle Rhee and the current reform ideas taking center stage in the media. Below that are links to various articles, reports and posts about education reform. Following that are resources discussing how to measure teacher effectiveness beyond test scores. The resources range from researched based to case studies to opinion pieces. The articles and posts are a sampling of many ideas and viewpoints from around the country examining what school reform should look like.
I'm leading off with the most current articles from this week's Newsweek, where again Michelle Rhee graces the cover. Below you'll find the original Newsweek article from last year along with "The Manifesto" put together by 16 superintendents regarding education reform. Both Rhee and her ideas sparked a considerable amount of outrage and I've included those responses, not to dismiss Rhee's call for change but, to bring to the table as many ideas as possible about school reform. I realize there are a tremendous amounts of reading in this post but if you see an article that interests you, just post a comment about it and let's start the dialogue.
Here Goes...
The media is making it next to impossible to ignore Michelle Rhee and her ideas for reform. While I don't doubt that her motives are well intentioned, her statements inaccurately characterize many public school systems including Cohasset. But since her view is taking center stage right now let's look at what we can learn from Ms. Rhee's very public workings.
Again this week Rhee graced the cover of Newsweek. While it was nice to hear the positive steps she has taken to clarifying her beliefs of educators in this week's essay, she comes off as very caviler about her regrets. In the video below and in the article Ms. Rhee concedes that she wished she had done a better job of communicating,
"I did a particularly bad job letting the many good teachers know that I considered them to be the most important part of the equation."
Thoughts of this nature have been noticeably absent from her previous publications and as a result Rhee ended up alienating enough people to vote out Mayor Adrian Frenty and resigning from her post as Chancellor of the DC school district.
Michelle Rhee's situation has provided us with a few teachable moments. Fruitful, positive communication facilitates collaboration. It engenders hard work and willingness to improve. I look to my classroom and the revision process in writing to exemplify this. For years I've been modeling and training my students to begin with positive feedback. Yet, my students and I still slip, needing reminders to begin with positive feedback before focusing on areas of weakness. It's in our nature to want to jump in, fix and improve. In organizations just as in writing revisions, the revisionist must first believe that their work is worthy enough to improve. Secondly, they must be committed to rework writing they previously didn't see any problems with. We mustn't take our eyes off the pieces in need of growth but positive feedback is the essential first step in cultivating a desire to change and grow.
If you dig a bit deeper into this week's magazine you'll find a fantastic piece from a district where administration and the teacher's union have worked collaboratively towards reform. Chester Finn of the Fordham Institute notes,
“Sure, there are a handful of such folks. But sighting a few swallows doesn’t mean it’s spring.”
Referring to cases like Hillsborough as the exception and not the rule.
I have a tremendous amount of confidence that the talent in our district could enable us to be an exception as well. But in doing so, we must engage in a respectful and authentic dialogue about reform. And not just reform in the sense of large sweeping changes but reform as it pertains to small step that can lead to manageable improvements that can then take place everyday.
Respectful communication goes deeper that just voicing our opinions pleasantly. Respectful communication means we all have a shared understanding and a shared voice as professionals. Doing so would further cultivate an environment where school personnel see themselves as respected members of a team. Ownership is the biggest step towards reform. But as Ms. Rhee says,
"I read a quote where a woman said it seemed like I was listening, but I didn’t do what she told me to do. There’s a big difference there. It’s not that I wasn't listening; I just didn't agree and went in a different direction."
We too must be respectful and understand that not all of our ideas will be acted upon. But as we see in the case of Michelle Rhee and others well intentioned ideas go a lot further with honey than with vinegar.
Centering the discussion around somebody I disagree with is not the most opportune situation. But I felt it was necessary to address this very public discussion. While I don't agree with Ms. Rhee's style, we can't ignore the results. I just remain hopeful that there is a more graceful way to go about education reform. And it begins by understanding both sides of the argument. I'll leave you with one question that I hope will elicit some productive and positive ideas:
What ways could our district's future superintendent facilitate a respectful dialogue between teachers and administrators?
The following resources provide a overview of the discussion to date.
- An Unlikely Gambler: The article in which Ms. Rhee allowed herself to be photographed in school building with a broom. It's clear her heart is in the right place, but it's an unfair characterization to assert that public education is more concerned with the interest of adults. Especially, to the people who dedicate their careers to educating our youth.
- The "manifesto" Michelle Rhee and 16 other superintendents published in the Washington Post: I understand the frustration behind not being able to get rid of unsatisfactory teachers. But it's a shame their rhetoric is solely focused on this one deterrent to reform. The conversation should begin with a fair ways to determine what unsatisfactory looks like, how that call is made and finally, who is involved in that decision. Keep in mind, tenure doesn't mean a job for life. The Hillsborough district from Give Peace a Chance seems headed down the path to devising a pretty just system.
Responses to the "manifesto"
- Valerie Strauss: Washington Post
- With Kevin G. Welner: Once you get through beginning where Welner plays the blame game and turns it right back on the authors of the manifesto, he points out some excellent factors to take into consideration to further a productive reform discussion.
- Anthony Cody: Ed Week
- Furious Debate Ensues: NEA Cynthia McCabe
- Justin Baeder: Ed Week
- Anne Geiger: Orange County School Board
- Johnathan Raymond: Superintendent of School, Sacramento CA
- Randi Weingarden: Head of American Federation of Teachers
- Richard Rothstein: Washington Post
Next week's post will examine ways to measure teacher effectiveness. Regardless of whether we agree with tying teacher effectiveness to student performance, it seems to be an imminent reality and we might as well be prepared for the discussion.
The debate over school reform acknowledges that there is a "value added" aspect of teachers and teaching that can not be addressed by standardized tests alone. The question is, how do we assess value added?
Here are a list of resources that discuss the ways in which we can take a closer look at teacher evaluation.
- The controversial article the LA times published linking teacher effectiveness to standardized scores.
- What teachers can do to fix our schools
- Looking Beyond the Simple School Fix: Larry Ferlazzo for Teacher Magazine
- Getting Teacher Assessment Right: National Education Policy Center
- Putting Teachers to the Test: Wall Street Journal: A good explanation of how teachers are evaluated based on their students' test scores
- Problems with the use of student test scores to evaluate teachers: Economic Policy Institute
- A study out of Chicago using trained teacher to give feedback