Showing posts with label Teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teaching. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 12, 2023

From Competition to Collaboration: Unleashing the Benefits of Cooperative Learning


A few days ago, my children and I walked over to our neighborhood park. They were ready to play woodchips (tag) and began generating a list of rules and protocols for the game. Whoever was it first would start at the park's tallest point, which is difficult for my son to reach. His sisters promised to help him reach the balcony -- even if he would soon be chasing them. Despite the game's competitive nature, they were still ready to support him. Regardless of who was chasing whom, they would ensure they could participate. 


As I watched them begin to play, I was moved by how naturally they collaborated and cheered each other on. The game was more fun when everyone could contribute. How do we replicate this productive and positive rivalry in our own classrooms? How can we encourage students to recognize the value in playfully pushing each other to learn, grow, and in this case, reach the peak of the park? 


Bring positive competition to the classroom. 


"We're all winners when we all learn" is a phrase met with eye-rolling and groans in my classroom, but it's true. I love incorporating friendly, low-stakes competition into my classroom. Sometimes we compete for bragging rights or a chance to choose a desired place in the speaking order. Other times, the winners of these competitive experiences earn stickers or candy. The reward is never significant, but the learning process can be an enjoyable way to practice essential classroom skills. Whether we play a review game such as Kahoot, deliver impromptu speeches, or complete a puzzle, these gamified experiences challenge students to apply content knowledge to an often collaborative activity. The motivation to succeed pushes students to test their skills and measure what they need to improve before a summative assessment. 


Positive competition also encourages students to challenge each other and recognize where they are in mastering a concept or skill related to others. With this knowledge, they can identify what they still need to work on. If we are playing a review game, I share the materials and games for asynchronous play so that students can revisit skills and resources as needed. By establishing that everyone succeeds when we all achieve mastery, students can begin to self-reflect on their own skills and find ways to support others in the learning process.  


Remind students that we achieve more when we work together. 


Collaboration and communication are critical skills employers in any field seek. Soft skills are essential for our academic, professional, and personal success. As instructors, we can facilitate the development of these skills through collaborative games and experiences in which students work together to achieve an end goal - whether it be a presentation, a score on a review game, or a solution to a puzzle. 


When we create a collaborative environment, we also prepare students to navigate real-world challenges. They develop problem-solving skills and recognize the power of leveraging everyone's skillset to innovate and create. When students can value the strengths of their peers, the collaborative spirit extends beyond the classroom into their personal and professional lives. 




  • Problem-solving scenarios can also provide real-world applications. I love challenging students to create public service announcements. PSAs encourage students to formulate a message for a specific audience and narrow the focus of the situation. Students then consider how to craft an impactful message while working together to create a final product. 



  • Creative writing assignments open the door for collaboration. Whether students are writing a short story or generating RAFT assignments, they can work together to build a common narrative that can impact a much wider audience than a single teacher or reader. I love letter writing and using the RAFT writing format to encourage students to assume another person's perspective and use empathy to recognize the experiences of others who differ from them.


 

These assignments are playful in nature. They involve creative thought and engagement with others. While infusing our classroom with these tasks, challenges, and collaborative experiences, we must also encourage them to provide constructive feedback to their peers. This feedback allows them to stretch their thinking and adjust their approach to a given task as needed. While students are collaborating, we need to help them understand that they need to collaborate peacefully and find value in the strengths of others. 


Foster a cheering section. 


On the first day of any course, I use a meme of vegetables holding hands, saying that "We're rooting for you." I remind them that when they enter my classroom, I am rooting for their success and will partner with them to help them master the skills our class will focus on this term. I also remind them that we want to be successful, so we must understand and recognize that we significantly impact each other. Our actions directly lead to the success and growth of the people beside us. 


The best learning occurs when we make mistakes or fall short of our goals. When we collaborate with others, we must shift and redirect our thinking. We won't always win the review game or solve the problem the fastest, but we will develop soft skills that will make us better professionally and personally in ways that we won't recognize immediately. Even when we are competing for first place in a Kahoot, we can take the time to lift each other up. There's room for everyone at the top, especially when we take the time to help each other along the way. 


Saturday, July 8, 2023

From Passive to Active: Transforming Icebreakers into Engaging Experiences



The 4th of July has blasted past with its usual fanfare and sparklers. While most of us still have the month of July to enjoy our summer schedules, the turn of the calendar often leads to preparing for the start of the school year. In search of fresh ideas for the upcoming school year, 

I stumbled on a Twitter post pleading with educators to reconsider using icebreakers to kick off the beginning of the school year. Why are icebreakers often so dreaded? How might we build rapport with our students and new teams without inciting the awkwardness and anxiety among everyone in the room, often associated with icebreakers?


Building rapport is about focusing on relationships and creating a positive environment. Yes, there are inherently bad icebreakers, and typically I have encountered them in graduate courses, in which the entire classroom knows each other, and the instructor is new. We have to go around and awkwardly share the same information we have already shared with each other, and it takes way longer than it should. When an icebreaker calls for one speaker at a time in a room full of 20+ people, the experience becomes passive and nerve-racking as a spotlight is put on one person at a time. 


Instead of asking every person in the room to share one fun thing about their summer break, icebreakers can become powerful and memorable shared experiences that encourage participants to collaborate, share, and learn how to work together. Instead of making people recite information aloud that they could write down a notecard in two minutes and calling it an “icebreaker,” get creative. Ask the group to actively work together to complete a task or solve a problem. These active icebreakers challenge participants to use communication skills for a purpose. They have the ability to thaw out any chilly or preconceived notion about icebreakers. 


For the last decade, I have hosted a summer camp for speech team that is more focused on team building and leadership than competing in high school forensics. During these camps, I have worked with my coaching team to create experiences that forge friendships, promote critical thinking, and build bonds. These activities were experiences that led to powerful learning experiences that positively pushed students out of their comfort zones and into a space in which they could learn and grow. So what makes an icebreaker work? 


Active participation is important. 


The first day of the school year is exhausting. Students (and teachers) are inundated with information, rules, and expectations. If they are sitting and not actively engaged, they will become passive, and the information being shared with them will not be retained. Instead, they will leave the classroom or the meeting tired and anxious, still wondering what the upcoming school year will bring. Talking at people is not an effective communication strategy (although sometimes necessary).



Instead, start with a challenge. Break people into smaller teams and give them a task to accomplish. I love to start with the spaghetti challenge. Recently a teacher shared math and engineering challenges that encourage people to build and create with me. Scavenger hunts and escape rooms also work nicely. Some of my favorites include:


  1. Toxic waste: Students have various materials and have to remove tennis balls from the center of a circle without stepping into the circle. 

  2. Toxic river: Students must figure out how to cross a "hazardous river" with limited supplies and work together to navigate obstacles. 

  3. Puzzle challenge: Students are divided into teams. They have some of their puzzle pieces, and other pieces are hidden throughout the room. Their pieces are mixed in with other teams' pieces. They have to find their pieces and negotiate for others with other teams. 

  4. Magic carpet: Students all stand on a tarp. They have to flip the tarp without stepping off the tarp. 





Note: These activities can be scaled and adjusted to meet any classroom's space and time constraints. Most of these activities can take less than 15 minutes, but the connectivity they foster is an incredible investment in student buy-in and engagement. 


Dave Burgess’s Teach Like a Pirate has a lot of ideas for hooking students with various strategies. I recently led a PD using his book. Check out these slides for more icebreaker ideas and videos that I use with my own students, or check out his book. 


Find a way to encourage students to build something or use creativity to solve problems. In the time they take to create together, they will start talking, laughing, and creating memories. While they may or may not be successful in solving the problem, they will be engaged with others. After connecting with others, they will be more comfortable talking and engaging with a larger group. 



Questions and conversations should extend beyond the surface. 


After working together in smaller groups, participants are more likely to open up and engage in self-disclosure. I still use either a notecard or Google form to gather information from my audience. I want to know the details, and I want to find ways to connect with them individually. 


These icebreakers are often ineffective because the information seems to go nowhere. The information written out by the participants is not revisited or referenced. You must close the communication loop if you ask students to provide information. That information needs to be used. Also, if you ask students to self-disclose information, you have to share information, too. Answer your own questions, show students the depth of information you hope to gain from them, and encourage students to share more. Students want to be seen and valued. They do not want to bear their souls to the whole class on day one, but they will share quite a bit with you in a more individual non-threatening way, like a Google form or even a Pear Deck, where they feel more anonymous. (Here's a resource to spark some question ideas).


Here's a mini PD presentation on Questions of the Day.


Initial experiences promote exploration and spark curiosity. 


An icebreaker doesn't have to only occur on day one. These icebreaker activities can build on each other. They can reveal a clue or allude to a puzzle the next day. I love questions of the day (Here's a template). Theming of the questions or using questions to spark even more curiosity about a topic or theme increases student engagement. They will want to return to find the next answer or finish a project they've already started. Digital escape rooms make great teases for future lessons. Finding ways to keep the mystery going and encourage students to wonder about a lesson or idea brings excitement and makes the icebreaker worth doing. 


Group reflection leads to more authentic connections. 


After completing a challenge, debrief. Talk about the experience and encourage students to consider the lessons learned. These tasks have instructional value and classroom connections, but students will only identify them if we discuss what we learned. These conversations are valuable and can lead to group reflection about the learning process, classroom expectations, and being an active citizen. 



Icebreakers don't have to be passive or designed for extroverts only. They can be meaningful and used to foster rapport. If an icebreaker sounds dreadful or awkward to you, skip it. Instead, find an activity or design an experience in which you can be an active participant too. Students will buy in if a teacher is having fun, being silly, and showing the power of self-disclosure. It's okay to have fun in the classroom, and it is certainly okay to be goofy. If you are willing to have students laugh at you, they are far more likely to listen to you. These types of icebreakers are certainly worth our investment. 


References:

Bonnie, Emily. "Ultimate Guide to Team-Building Activities Your Team Will Actually Like." Wrike, 22 Apr. 2022, Ultimate Guide to Team-Building Activities Your Team Will Actually Like. Accessed 8 July 2023.

"Build a Tower, Build a Team." TED, uploaded by TED Conference, Feb. 2010, www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_build_a_tower_build_a_team. Accessed 8 July 2023.

Burgess, Dave. Teach like a Pirate: Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life as an Educator. San Diego, Dave Burgess Consulting, 2012.

Davies, Rebecca. "50+ Questions to Get Kids Talking and Build Community." Differentiated Teaching, 2023, www.differentiatedteaching.com/discussion-questions-to-build-relationships-with-students/. Accessed 8 July 2023.

Garber, Peter R. 50 Communications Activities, Icebreakers, and Exercises. E-book ed., Amherst, HRD Press, 2008.

Stokes, Katie. "15 Engineering Challenges Kids Love." Gift of Curiosity, www.giftofcuriosity.com/engineering-challenges-for-kids-steam/. Accessed 8 July 2023.

Thursday, June 29, 2023

Rethinking Success: Shifting the Focus from Achievements to Personal Growth and Development (Part 2)



"Why would you want to be an English teacher?" This was an actual question I was asked when I was in high school. Be anything else BUT an English teacher was the message I received. The concern was that English is a popular subject, and I would need help finding a job. Note: Never let someone convince you not to pursue your dreams and passions.

Why English? I come from a family of math and science teachers, and I am the only humanities teacher. My love for literacy derives from my desire to connect and empathize with others. In the early oughts (2000s), the STEM push consumed the conversation around education. While I love and value STEM, my passion has always been empowering all learners to share their stories, create innovative ideas or projects, and collaborate with others. These soft skills, often considered secondary to other disciplines, are the foundation of academic, professional, and personal success. Regardless of the discipline we teach or pursue, how can we help our students find success?

Students must be encouraged to set goals for personal growth.

Both organizations and individuals write SMART goals in the business world (and in education). However, a Harvard Business Study found that of the top MBA students from their program, only 3% had written down their goals. Of course, the study going that the percentage of individuals who had written down their goals earned 10x more money than the 97% combined.

While money does not buy happiness, having a clear direction and purpose can lead to a more fulfilling life. Teaching our students to write goals down physically is crucial. Where we might miss the boat as educators, however, is that we need to teach students to write smaller, more tangible goals. We want our students to dream big and reach for grandiose ideas. When a goal is set too far in the future, it becomes too much of a reach, and the drive to achieve that goal can fizzle.


I love the image above. Shorter goals and small steps toward a grander goal yield better results. We must show our students how to manage, set, and reset their goals so that they feel the energy to accomplish a task. That seemingly micro feeling of success will yield even more success moving forward.

In Atomic Habits, James Clear reminds us that "Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement." If we teach students to become just a little better each day, before they know it, they will feel transformed in their skill sets and will want to continue to grow.

We must foster a culture that maintains a positive mindset.

To succeed, we must also fail. Feeling like a failure can produce frustration and tension. Students look to us to see how we react to our failures. If we become overwhelmed when technology doesn’t work, for example, we demonstrate that it is acceptable to become angry if something doesn't go our way. Of course, we all have moments of anger and frustration, but as educators, we must be aware that our students are always watching (just like our children). They will react to setbacks in the same way that we do. The "do as I say, not as I do" mentality is a generation or two ago. If we want our students to have a positive mindset, we must start by evaluating our own.

How can we foster a positive mindset in our classroom?

  1. Celebrate positive behaviors. Identifying what our students are doing and how those actions are positive can help students to recognize what behaviors will lead to successful outcomes.
  2. Embrace struggles and problem-solve together. Discussing how to problem-solve provides students with a framework to refocus and reset after a failure. It is important to learn, reflect, and grow.
  3. Identify the lessons learned. Talk through what was gained in a situation and use experiences to move forward.
  4. Show gratitude for the people and experiences that have helped us become who we are today and who will continue to support us moving forward.
  5. Focus on the word yet. When unpacking a situation, the word yet allows us all to understand that if something doesn't go our way, it means we are still learning and growing. Even though our desired outcome hasn't happened yet, it is still possible, and we can still see the positives in any situation.
I love Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote, "Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year." I often remind my students and myself that even though not every day is exciting or life-changing, every day provides us with an opportunity to learn, grow, and build relationships with others. When we learn to appreciate and embrace those initial steps joyfully, we become stronger and find meaning in everyday experiences.

Preparation is key.

We must prepare our students for the challenges they will inevitably encounter by helping them take a realistic look at the circumstances while finding the nuggets of hope in the face of adversity. We must prepare our students to hear no, receive a rejection, and handle criticism gracefully. They will face rejection in many ways; we all do. What they choose to do in those moments will determine their success. Failure is a gift, but one needs to learn how to handle the package to reap the rewards of the lessons that this gift can teach.

Part of success is recognizing and understanding how to move forward from loss and rejection. Success is about navigating the obstacles and rethinking, recreating, or redirecting our path. I want to continue to empower my students to find meaning in their lives and experiences, accomplish their goals, and, most importantly, experience the joy of living a life that brings them meaning and purpose.

Someone told me boldly that I'd never find joy as an English teacher. While they may have been well-intentioned, I did not allow them to stop me from pursuing my dream. I understood that I might hear no. I recognized that I might not succeed on the first try, and that belief strengthened me.

NOTE: I was hired very early in the job hunt (before spring break), within 24 hours of my interview. My first principal told me not to interview at a neighboring school in the same district, which I was set to do the next day. Post spring break, I received calls for interviews from over a dozen different school districts. I was definitely going to find a job.

Again, don't ever let anyone discourage you from reaching your goals. While the vision of success in my life has shifted over the years, and that definition might shift for others, we can help our students see the steps they need to take to reach their goals. We can empower our students by helping them to shape their understanding of success and take those first steps.

References:

Acton, Annabel. “How to Set Goals (and Why You Should Write Them Down).” Forbes, 3 Nov. 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/annabelacton/2017/11/03/how-to-set-goals-and-why-you-should-do-it/?sh=104307bd162d.

Clear, James. Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones. Cornerstone Press, 2022.



Wednesday, June 21, 2023

Rethinking Success: Shifting the Focus from Achievements to Personal Growth and Development (Part 1)


My center child profoundly influences the emotional climate of my home. She unapologetically feels her emotions, which is both beautiful and terrifying. She is a powerful force, and I love her fervor for life.

At her first dance recital at age four, she stood on stage cupping her ears, mustering the courage to move only at her favorite part of the routine, which involved jumping. Pas de Bourr - uh-oh. (Mom note - She stood her ground the whole time and didn't run off stage. She even performed the whole dance for us in the living room as soon as we returned home. I loved her won't quit attitude, which has allowed her to continue growing and face her fears.).


At seven years old, she still leaps through life and has shown incredible growth in her confidence and joy of dancing with her friends on stage. Her dance career was not marred by her first performance or even her fifth performance. She continues to gain confidence and is always practicing her skills throughout our house. Watching her discover herself has challenged me to pause and consider how we define success in our schools and how students develop in their journey to achieve benchmarks and goals.

As I watch my children develop as dancers, readers, learners, and people, my understanding of success has been transformed. It is human nature to categorize or label people or experiences, but when we label our students, we inadvertently limit their potential to achieve.



Admittedly, our schools are publicly assessed and ranked based on quantifiable data such as test scores, college readiness criteria, climate and culture surveys, and other measurable factors. While these data points are essential for informing our schools' decision-making practices, they do not provide a roadmap for success. They don't consider personalized learning pathways that help us support every student's understanding of success. As educators, we can utilize this information to guide our next steps, which help students discover their paths to success and foster their growth.

So how might we define success? More importantly, how do we create a space in which students can define success for themselves?

First, we must create a space for students to learn from mistakes.


In Jessica Lahey’s The Gift of Failure, she emphasizes that as parents (and educators), our instinct is to clear away obstacles and provide the most direct path to success. In this process, we rob children of the greatest lesson they could have - failure. Mistakes are inevitable within the learning process and create lasting memories that can shape children’s ability to problem-solve, collaborate, create, and grow.

In a learning environment that is supportive and encouraging, students have many opportunities to practice and apply what they are learning in low-stakes ways. They feel comfortable sharing and showing what they know, even before mastery. Along the way, they might make fail.


What does this look like in a school setting?

  • Frequent formative assessments
  • Game-based learning
  • Small and large group discussions
  • Group challenges and low-stakes presentations
  • Active learning experiences, scenarios, and project-based learning
  • Peer feedback
  • Personalized pathways with choices on how students demonstrate mastery
As a speech coach and teacher, I always encourage my students to “fail big.” Make visible choices and actions that we can all see. Some choices may not work or create the impact students had hoped for. Because their work and learning process is highly visible, we all know what needs improvement. As students perform, they also have an audience. They are not only making mistakes in front of an adult but also being vulnerable in front of their peers. The culture is celebratory and collaborative. Everyone learns from each other’s imperfections, ultimately fostering stronger relationships, greater learning experiences, and more confident performers.

In addition to embracing failure, we need to teach and embrace the development of soft skills.

This summer, one of my college students told me more about her high school experience in which she was never expected to speak in front of others because she was a language learner. As an ELL student, she was excused from practicing and experiencing a skill essential to her daily life academically and socially. She has beautiful writing and is very articulate, and she will definitely find that she is incredibly capable of speaking in a formal setting! I know she’s going to be successful in my class. Her statement was shocking and sad to hear. This Thursday’s speech will be the first time she’s standing in front of the class (aside from the few group challenges we have had already this semester).

Students typically despise public speaking. Let's be honest; most adults openly detest it as well. I teach public speaking at the high school and college level every semester. I even spent 15 years tricking high school kids into thinking that it was fun and cool to get on a bus at 6 AM and compete for 12 hours every Saturday in suit jackets. I have to convince them that this skill is essential and help them overcome their fears to unlock their potential. 


One of the first items on my agenda is to be open and vulnerable with my students. Most are only present because the class is a college requirement. They all simply want to cross the course off the to-do list and are secretly (and sometimes not so secretly) dreading my class. Using my persuasive appeals, I illustrate to them the power of public speaking and how communication is the foundation of EVERYTHING we do. Without the skills to share ideas, LISTEN, and collaborate with others, we cannot maintain quality relationships, are less likely to be hired, and might even just end up feeling lonely.

Communication, collaboration, empathy, and general executive functioning skills are essential to our daily interactions. These are the skills that become underdeveloped during COVID lockdowns and remote learning. During that time, not only did students not practice and develop these skills, but our society as a whole seemed to forget the importance of using these skills to relate to one another and work together to solve significant problems. We must explicitly teach these skills to our students. Society actually depends on it.

Growth takes time and is often a slower process than we would like. As we shift our definition of success and focus more on progress over data points on a page, we can help our students take more ownership of their own development, leading to lifelong changes and realized success. Part two of this blog post will address setting goals for personal growth and fostering a culture that maintains a positive mindset. We can help our students achieve their goals; we simply need to shift the narrative and invest in personalizing their progress. 




Thursday, June 15, 2023

Bouncing Forward: Taking Inspiration from The Bounce Back Book




As educators, we have to roll our eyes at the perceived notion that some hold about our leisure summers off, which are often filled with professional development, meetings, working a second job (I adjunct at two local community colleges and do some side professional development work), prepping for next year, and squeezing in some time to recover from working overtime and attempting to balance family life.

I absolutely love my job. I find joy in walking into a school building, knowing that I will inevitably learn something new every day, make a great connection with another person, and have the opportunity to make an impact. Still, we need to recharge. Our summers are a time to recharge, rest, and prepare for another year of learning. We are bouncing back.

Every few months, the local library has a book sale, and my family excitedly scours the shelves to find new books. This past sale, a little read book entitled The Bounce Back Book by Karen Salmansohn. This book contains 75 tips for recovering from setbacks and adversity, and as I transition into a new role next school year, its premise resonated with me.

Challenges and obstacles are always in our paths and sometimes appear so quickly we become blindsided by their impact. COVID has shifted our perspectives, and the social effects of that period of our lives are still coming to us in waves. We can become debilitated by those waves, or we can bounce back. Whether we are educators in a classroom, administrators supporting teachers, or just people in the world, we can all learn to reframe the narrative and bounce back. So what does that bounce back look like? Here are the tips that resonated with me:

Tip #15: Find your bounceable people.

"Resilient people identify those who are available, trustworthy, and helpful. Then they go toward this light," is a quote cited in the book from Dr. Dina Carbonell of Simmons College. As teachers, we need to find people who will shine a light when we are struggling and seek out the light when they need it. We all need people willing to be present for us when our ball bounces out of bounds. We need people who will push back on the court and help us move forward in the right direction.

As teachers and as humans, we have tough days. Finding the people that will reflect the light back to us when we need it most and always sit in our cheering section regardless of the wins and losses helps us move forward and grow. Who we spend time with will shift our energy and perspective. Being aware of and seeking out the people that will help us become better versions of ourselves is a powerful strategy and makes life more joyful.

Tip #4: Feeling means you're dealing, means you're healing.

In my 20s and throughout my life, I have been told that my emotions are a weakness. I believed that they would hold me back and make me less of a leader. In the last few years, I have actively worked to unlearn that misconception. As an instructional coach, speech coach, and mom, I have used my vulnerability and empathy to lift others up. I now realize that my emotions are a strength that I leverage to help people see the best in themselves and to feel comfortable taking risks. My softness creates an environment that empowers others to grow. Feeling my feelings, especially since my children were born, has allowed me to evolve and find my footing in ways I never thought possible.

So as we all recover and move forward from the last few years, let's all find ways to be more authentic and share our emotions in productive ways to move forward. In the classroom, sharing our feelings with our students demonstrates that we can cope with struggles. We should not hide our imperfections because we would not grow without them.

Tip #19: Walk yourself out of that bad mood.

I struggle with stillness and am happiest on the move. The best part of summer is warm weather and more flexibility to get out for a long walk. My cousin and dear friend find ourselves sneaking in walks all summer. Being able to move, reflect, and be a sounding board for another person is a blessing and can create a space to shift one's mindset. Walking is good for the body but also so restorative for the soul. Even in winter, walking indoors solves most of my problems and allows me time and space to recover from hard times.

Tip #35: Don't just write a "To Do" list. Write a "To Be" list.

This tip struck me. I always carry a notebook in my hand. At school, I am notorious for leaving said notebook, which usually consists of a list of names of people, in random classrooms, the office, and the copy room. When people find it, they return it to me because it's my compass. It guides me to the people and projects that need me. Instead of simply considering it as my to-do list of items I must attend to, shifting the language and creating a to-be list feels more empowering. Life is not about getting through events and meetings but about being present in every moment. This shift in mindset and language gives purpose to a given day and sets an intentionality that fosters growth and relationships with others.

Tip #60: See awful as awe-ful.

Like the shift in language from a to-do list to a to-be list, seeing the best in even the worst situations can help us cope and redirect our trajectory. COVID was awful. During that time, I helped my district learn a new learning management system and was actively creating solutions for teaching and learning remotely. My son's health was a significant weight on my heart that prevented my family from moving past COVID restrictions long after most people returned to a more normal life. Those times were incredibly hard, but I shared incredible memories with my children. We learned to create fun in everyday tasks and find ways to serve others in our community, even from afar.

I am in awe of what we can do when we change the narrative. As educators, our impact is much more significant than we realize, but our actions don't have to be monumental. Sometimes, the smallest gesture or the simplest activity can be incredibly fun and life-giving. We merely have to choose our words wisely and shift our perspectives.

Tip #67: Perform your own research studies on happiness.

Finally, we have to keep learning. What happiness looks like to me is different from others. We need to learn to define happiness in the context of our lives. Happiness can be found in the smallest gesture or simply by expressing gratitude. It's also about letting go and learning to heal from the past. I find happiness is about learning and growing, which I strive to instill in my children and students.

Gretchen Rubin states in The Happiness Project, "It's about living in the moment and appreciating the smallest things. Surrounding yourself with the things that inspire you and letting go of the obsessions that want to take over your mind. It is a daily struggle sometimes and hard work, but happiness begins with your own attitude and how you look at the world." The slightest shifts can help us all bounce back from setbacks, but they can also help us bounce forward with great energy, momentum, and joy.

I highly recommend this quick read. I loved the ideas it sparked and the layout of the text. It's definitely full of ideas that can spark reflection in any person. Let me know if any of my local friends want to borrow it! Sometimes we simply need a little spark to get the flames roaring again.


References:

Rubin, Gretchen. The Happiness Project. New York City, HarperCollins, 2009.

Salmansohn, Karen. The Bounce Back Book. New York City, Workman, 2008.

Saturday, April 29, 2023

Making the Most of Our Time Together: Navigating the Final Days of the School Year



According to a study conducted in 2015 by the Microsoft Corporation, humans have an attention span of eight seconds, roughly the time span of a goldfish. While researchers elaborate that the human mind has much more potential to focus on an idea or action for more than a few seconds, any educator at the end of a school year would undoubtedly argue to the contrary. Student engagement becomes an uphill battle as the calendar pages turn toward warmer months, but we still have work to do. I hear my students lament about "senioritis" and the desire to break free from their K-12 education. How do I maximize my time with them and guide them through our final learning experiences before they run from our halls for the final time?

Storytelling is a powerful way to captivate people.

"Good speakers are great storytellers" is a phrase I say to my students at least once a week. Stories build suspense, foster creativity, and encourage us to connect ideas and each other. Find a way to create anticipation for a lesson or a concept. This past week, we started our final unit - special occasion speaking.

I always begin the unit by sharing stories from weddings I have attended, highlighting the best and worst wedding toasts I have witnessed. Jokes about the thirty-minute best man toast that involved bathroom breaks and a hall full of hungry guests to uncomfortably sit through childhood stories of the groom and his brother remind them that our speaking skills can and will be put to the test in numerous ways throughout our lives. My stories help them to recognize the connection between content and their lives. We can all leverage our stories and experiences to captivate our students and help them understand the greater context of what we are learning together.

Keep students active.

The spring is full of distractions. Alternative schedules, field trips, and end-of-year experiences are at the forefront of students' minds. When students actively engage in the learning process, they are less likely to be consumed by distractions. Collaborative projects that promote creativity and creation can help students master skills while also having fun.

One of my favorite assignments is a nonverbal video project in which students tell a story that relates to high school students without using words. This week students asked if they could incorporate videos into their final special occasion speeches. We went down a rabbit hole of TikToks and Reels that represented their high school experiences and related to the themes of their final speeches. Instead of scolding them for embracing their distractions, I found a way to tie their videos into their speeches by looking for themes and discussing how these videos communicate their values and beliefs.

Utilize technology to amplify their voices.

Distractions can be opportunities to redirect. They can also become part of the curriculum that keeps students engaged and actively using their interests to demonstrate mastery. Having students make videos encourages them to share what they're learning on a larger scale. Using their platforms, they are more inclined to share the fun, which turns lessons into flashbulb memories that they will take with them beyond the classroom walls.

Be ready to change course.

I am *that* teacher who plans the entire semester before it begins. I am comforted by a road map that helps me prepare for heavy grading weekends and allows me to understand my units' interconnectedness. While having a plan is valuable, I acknowledge and am always ready to shift course. Some days are rough, and a lesson needs to be retooled. Certain groups of students move faster or slower depending on their skill sets and strengths. As teachers, having a vision for the journey we want our students to take in our classrooms helps us to adjust our strategies to meet the needs of our students. We must be ready to rethink, retool, and revise to meet those needs.

The final few weeks fly faster than we can blink. While our attention spans may be swimming away during the last few weeks, we can keep our students engaged by inviting our students to be active in the learning process and co-creating powerful stories and memories together.



References:

Stutsman, Lori. “You Have Eight Seconds. Differentiate Your Business through the Art of Storytelling.” You Have Eight Seconds: Differentiate Your Business Through the Art of Storytelling, Microsoft Corporation, 15 Nov. 2021, https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/us-partner-blog/2021/11/15/you-have-eight-seconds-differentiate-your-business-through-the-art-of-storytelling/. 

Saturday, April 22, 2023

Promoting Student Agency and Ownership of Learning


As the semester comes to a close, I have worked to focus my conversations with seniors about life beyond high school. This particular group of seniors had a normal freshman year before the pandemic, but the pandemic and ever-changing schedules and rules disrupted their formative years. They were remote learners and hybrid students who lost some extracurricular experiences. Despite past challenges, we talk about moving forward and being empowered to navigate any challenges they may face. We all experience obstacles; at any age, we must continue to learn and grow from our experiences.

On the first day of every semester, I have students complete a challenge. Everyone is asked to stand up and then tasked with touching the door. The caveat is that they can only walk three steps to the door. Inevitably, the room goes silent, and a few timid students inch toward the door who have a clear path to reach it. For them, it is easy. This task seems insurmountable for students sitting in the back, on crutches, or having other physical restrictions. I wait and then repeat that they only have three STEPS to reach the door. Suddenly, creativity sparks as students hop, roll, cartwheel, and even carry others toward the door. If a student has a physical restriction, I'll push out my chair on wheels to guide them to the door. This experience is simple but powerful. Sometimes our paths are clear, and other times, we have the cards stacked against us.

This experience is why cultivating student agency is so important. Students must be empowered with skills to help them navigate adulthood, understand accountability, and recognize the importance of following through with commitments. To help them survive the pandemic, we took much of the accountability they once had off their plates well-intentioned, but in doing so, we took away some of their agency. They no longer solved their own problems and navigated their commitments with adult intervention. They lost the opportunity to develop their sense of agency because we were so focused on surviving daily. We forgot to help students see the bigger picture.

Regardless, seniors are going off into the world. No matter the path, we must prepare them to navigate life beyond high school. They will be confronted with the great picture of their lives in just three weeks - ready or not.

So how do we use our time wisely to prepare our exiting seniors for the next exciting chapter? How do we revise and improve our practices for students taking the seats of those who just matriculated?


Accountability has to fall on their shoulders.


I remember during the pandemic pleading with "strong students" to turn in their work. The assignment due date no longer mattered; I would grade every assignment that came my way because I wanted to connect with my students. I wanted to give feedback and help them grow, which often meant accepting late work. Social-emotional struggles were real and impacted us all while we were remote. Today, we are no longer remote. Obstacles still exist, but we cannot let past experiences be an excuse.

We need to set hard deadlines and high expectations. Students will rise to the challenge we give them, and when they do not, we must stand firm in allowing natural consequences to impact them. I am an empath who feels the emotions of others deeply. With this personality trait, I tend to extend grace naturally, but I have learned these past few weeks that I can still extend and give grace while standing firm with my expectations. Students won't grow if I justify or allow excuses to be reasons for allowing students to fall short of the bar


Along with maintaining our standards and expectations, we must stop owning their problems.

I am guilty of internalizing others' problems. I am a mom who worries, and those instincts are triggered when I see my "big kids" struggling with time management, organization, and poor decisions. My worry does not help them grow. In conversations with students recently, I have been intentional with the pronouns I choose. Instead of using the inclusive "we," I have reframed my questions to be about the student and the choices the student is making. Some of my common questions recently have been:
  • How does this situation make you feel?
  • How do the consequences of your actions impact you moving forward?
  • How are you going to plan your schedule so that you can complete x, y, and z?
  • And my favorite: What do your choices communicate to others about you?
Being able to look at a situation from an outside perspective is helpful. Asking students to identify their feelings and then objectively look at a situation often helps them take ownership. This practice also helps them recognize what their actions imply. Do they want to be the person their actions are saying they are? How do they reclaim their agency and move forward in both positive and negative situations?
 
We need to continue to talk about career pathways and redefine lifelong learning.


We are all always learning. Learning can be academic, but it is often more holistic than that. Through our experiences, we learn to build better relationships, gain job-related skills, and solve problems. All of us fail, and those failures are powerful lessons -- sometimes difficult ones.

We have to teach our students that life will teach us all important lessons, and if we learn to listen, reflect, and question in those situations, we can and will continue to grow. The school of life never stops. As a 12th-grade teacher, I must infuse those executive-functioning skills into daily conversations with students. I want to provide my students with the ability to think critically and recognize how to use their agency to move forward and make positive changes in their lives when faced with challenges. They will learn those skills at some point. I plan to take a step back, allow them to fail in small ways, and then partner with them to move forward with stronger life skills that enable them to soar outside the high school walls.


References

Ferlazzo, L. (2019, October 19). Student agency is ownership. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-student-agency-is-ownership/2019/10

McKibben, S. (2022, November 1). Anindya Kundu on the difference between grit and agency (and why it matters). ASCD, 80(3). https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/anindya-kundu-on-the-difference-between-grit-and-agency-and-why-it-matters

Zakrezewski, V. (2014, March 20). What's wrong with grit? Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/whats_wrong_with_grit


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