Sorting It All Out...

Of Butterflies and Interventions...

2012-02-11T08:49:00.007-07:00

The most amazing thing happened recently in our classroom! In the fall we studied the life cycle of butterflies by observing the actual transformation from monarch caterpillar to butterfly. Excited students brought in other caterpillars they found and we watched them change as well. One swallowtail caterpillar, captured on an apple tree, made a chrysalis, but did not emerge as expected within the usual 10 - 14 day period. Assuming it had died, we left it in the container and placed it on a windowsill along with various moth cocoons that we knew would remain until spring.

Imagine our surprise when five months later the most beautiful butterfly we had ever seen appeared in the container! Our surprise quickly turned to concern as we realized that February in Colorado is not a time to release a butterfly outside. We prepared a suitable cage and equipped it with fresh flowers and sliced oranges, trying to make a habitat that would support the survival of our beautiful new friend.

As expected, the butterfly lived only a little more than a week. Its passing was a sad moment for the students, but a real lesson about life for all. I learned another lesson as I reflected on the experience.

Children, like butterflies, come in all shapes and sizes. Most develop as expected, "emerging" from their chrysalises at expected ages and stages of their lives. Some do not. The butterfly that appeared five months late in our classroom was no less magnificent than if it had made its entrance to life in September. It was, in fact, even more special because it surprised us by achieving its potential when we had lost all hope. There was nothing wrong with our butterfly, it only needed more time than others like it. Children are like that sometimes. Each individual child will develop in his or her own time. We must not give up on a child that seems to fall behind.

In this time of high stakes testing, the need to make sure all students achieve within the expected timeframe can cause us to push a bit too hard at times as well. Awhile back, a friend of mine in another city posted a video on Facebook of a butterfly pupa that had not hatched as expected in her classroom. She dissected the pupa for her students, only to discover, much to her surprise, that it was still alive and not fully formed. Although the "teachable moment" was amusing to watch, it was also a bit horrifying and tragic as the tiny creature was pushed into the next stage of life way too soon. It did not survive. Perhaps our students can be pushed too quickly as well. That is not to say we should not provide extra support to help them on their developmental journey, but we need, as educators, to also respect their unique and individual timelines and allow them to develop. To push too hard for results they are not ready to achieve may result in failures they cannot overcome.

One of the most difficult decisions concerning our recent butterfly was whether it would be better to release it outside on a warm afternoon for a few hours of freedom, knowing it would die that night, or to create a safe place where it had the opportunity to live longer in captivity. I don't know which was the correct choice as I have never been a butterfly, but we chose what we thought was best for our tiny friend.

So it is with students at times. We have to make choices about how we will guide their lives at school. Hopefully, we make choices that provide them with opportunities to flourish and grow. As a teacher, the most joyous moments are those in which a struggling student makes a surprise appearance from his or her chrysalis, to achieve something previously thought too difficult. That is why I teach.

Let's Go to Disneyland!

2012-01-05T19:03:00.003-07:00

As my first grade students left for their holiday break, I told one of the children to have a wonderful vacation. He sadly looked at me and said, "I'm not going on vacation. I am just staying home." I explained to him that by vacation I meant not coming to school. His reaction made me think about how many students never get to travel and experience the joy of visiting popular vacation destinations. It seems, however, that the answer to that problem was sitting in my room waiting to be unwrapped!

I had recently been given a copy of Kinect Disneyland Adventure. I took it home for my grandchildren to play while visiting for Christmas. The game is an authentic trip to the Magic Kingdom. Players enter Main Street USA, collect autographs from Disney characters in an autograph book, and use a map to select the lands to visit in the park. Pirates of the Caribbean, It's A Small World, and all of the other favorite rides from the actual park are part of the game. It is as close as you can come to an actual visit without traveling there.

My teacher mind kicked into high gear and I am planning a unit around the game for my students! As I looked through the common core standards, I found that there are plenty of language arts, math, and geography skills we can work on as the class takes on the task of vacation planning! Working in small groups, the students will use the internet, brochures, and local travel agents to research the many aspects of going on a vacation to Disneyland:

which park to visit
transportation options and costs
time of year considerations
lodging options and costs
food expenses
admissions
what to pack
how long to stay
what to do while they are there

The students will have the opportunity to research, develop a plan, and collaborate with their peers as they learn to read informational text, evaluate information, and make informed decisions.

Geography and map reading skills will grow as they discover that Disney has parks around the world to chose from. In addition, they will need to read the park map as they plan their days and select attractions to experience.

Math and personal financial literacy skills will grow as the kids learn to use calculators to work with large numbers and realize that vacations require long term goal setting and saving.

When all the plans have been made we will take a field trip to the local airport to check out one transportation option first hand. Then our vacation will be underway as we travel virtually, thanks to Kinect, to Disneyland. Of course, there will be time spent waiting for a turn, not unlike the lines at the actual park! The game will give the kids a chance to experience the joy of a vacation as they move their bodies through the engaging activities and attractions. Of course, the learning will continue as they each keep a diary describing the people, places, and events with relevant details, expressing their ideas and feelings clearly :) Using technology they will create postcards to mail to friends at home.

There are many possibilities for learning from such a project. The Kinect game will be the amazing reward for all of the required hard work for which I will be asking. I have no doubt that the students will be motivated, engaged, and learning! I can't wait to get started!

Why Kinect?

2011-11-18T18:18:00.002-07:00

Earlier this week I attended a presentation by the Colorado Department of Education supporting the transition to the new Colorado Academic Standards. The presenters outlined working toward "deep change" in education as we gradually achieve transformation, changing teaching and learning. The transformation will require new ways of thinking and acting. I was particularly interested in the definition given for mastery. To truly achieve mastery, students must be able to apply and transfer knowledge to new and different situations. Those are lofty and worthwhile goals for the state and I hope to teach long enough to see that transformation take place for our children. In the meantime I am exploring new ways for young children, in the first and second grade, to build knowledge and demonstrate mastery. One extremely engaging tool I am trying is Xbox 360 Kinect. At first glance it may appear that using the system in a classroom is simply playing games, but if you observe young children closely when playing, it becomes quickly apparent that the games often require children to think critically and use problem solving skills. Gaining mastery over their motor skills while making decisions and following directions is a complicated task for six and seven year olds. The games provide many excellent situations for the application and transfer of knowledge. Check out the lesson ideas at Kinect in Education for ideas and watch for many more activities to be posted soon. Simply learning and feeding back information will not be enough in the years ahead. Students will need to make connections and demonstrate the ability to apply what they learn in the real world. Little kids can venture into virtual worlds easily through the use of Kinect games providing delightful and safe environments to try out their learning and growing thinking skills. Even better, the games allow the children to experience collaboration as they work together to play the games and achieve success. Our world is changing at a rapid pace and keeping up with that change in a classroom is challenging. Kinect is an affordable and easily used tool to transform the learning experiences of children. Why Kinect? Why not?

How time changes everything...

2011-11-12T09:51:00.007-07:00

Imagine being a teacher sitting at a table with five other passionate educators from around the globe that you have just met, some of whom do not speak English, and being given the task of developing a learning project for students about the global issue of water. That is an opportunity for collaboration and knowledge building at its best and exactly the situation I found myself in over the past week.
Two years ago I began this blog to reflect on the use of changing technology in the classroom. I was "sorting it all out" and looking for direction. Today as I reflect on the experiences of attending the Microsoft Partners In Learning Global Forum in Washington, DC, I realize that I have moved in a new direction entirely. Technology has found its place in my teaching, not as the focus and purpose for lessons, but as the tool set that enables learning not otherwise available to my students. My new focus is the need to provide my students with rich opportunities to build knowledge from student directed, globally connected, meaningful learning activities. Without technology, that would be nearly impossible, but at the center of such learning there will always be people.

Living in a rural area far from a big city, there are few chances for my students to meet face to face with people from other regions of the globe. Although they will likely never meet the educators I planned with last week, they will definitely meet their students online as they share learning that I cannot alone provide. I found myself in situations this week that opened my eyes to the power of allowing students to build knowledge from experiences and reflection rather than lecture and feedback of facts.

Yesterday I had a chance to reflect on the powerful information I had gathered in eventful days at the forum. I had a few hours to fill before my flight and could have gone to Arlington Cemetery to observe the Veteran's Day Ceremony, but instead I chose to walk across the National Mall to the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. It was in that museum that all the pieces began to fall into place for me. As I listened to the peaceful flute

music playing in the exhibits and read the beautiful thought provoking quotes in the displays I suddenly found meaning in all that was pounding in my head.

The topic of water was intensely important to all of the people I was working with. We revealed vast differences, not in the way water is used by each of us in our regions of the earth, but in how it is obtained. The teachers from Brazil told of water from the Amazon River and an abundance of rain. In Taiwan we learned of rainwater collection. Our friend from Saudi Arabia told of great factories desalinating water from the sea as there are no rivers and little rain. In India we learned of a shortage of freshwater for drinking. I, of course, told of water from our river that we often take for granted. We heard about the growing concern for water shortages that may lead to war as a lack of clean water becomes life threatening.

It was on the flight home that I began to make sense of all that I heard and learned from my new friends. I was looking out the window at the darkness and lights dotting the land of my country below when I recalled the daytime visions from my flight to the forum days earlier. It had been one of those beautifully clear days with few clouds. For several hours I flew over land that looked like a patchwork quilt. Each block of the quilt belongs to someone. I thought of the land so long ago that was inhabited by our native people. Their words of honor, respect, and gratitude to the earth came back to me. It is my sense that long ago they did not think of owning the land, but rather considered themselves to be part of nature and understood their place in the great balance that kept them alive, providing for their needs as they shared with all living creatures. The earth today is visibly divided. Every inch belongs to someone. We have claimed our places and built our fences to protect what belongs to us. Our needs are no longer met by nature around us, but by goods and services that are brought to us from far away places. Rather than sharing the responsibility and recognizing the needs of all, it would seem to me that we are more concerned with making sure that we protect our property and that we get what we need from others. We have lost the reality of being part of nature and protecting the delicate balance. We have become so wrapped up in maintaining our fences that we lose sight of our responsibility to all the people and creatures of this great planet. Meeting them in person, however, made me realize that we all have the same hopes and dreams. I made friends that I am certain I will have for the rest of my life. I am missing them today. I listened to teachers from Europe tell of change in their nations as people from other regions are immigrating to make new homes in their countries. They talked of losing the sense of nation that once existed as they become more diverse in populations. We can all be friends and should be. We can share the land and resources once again.

Time has changed the earth, time has changed my understanding and teaching, and time will hopefully change our world for the better as we become a global nation of friends.

I have twenty small children in my classroom that deserve a chance to learn in the way I did this week. I could go back to class and simply tell them what I learned, but few would actually internalize and find meaning in that. I will instead use technology to connect them to children in faraway places so that they might also find friendship, respect, and understanding. I will pose questions to them and allow them time to find their own answers and build knowledge that will undoubtedly stick with them for life. I am so excited to begin the project planned with my new friends from around the world and I can't wait to share that excitement with my kids! We will truly become partners in learning!

Kinect Reflections After 30 Days

2011-10-09T08:30:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow will be our 30th day of school. My first graders are engaged in learning and growing. One of the highlights so far has been the inclusion of Xbox 360 Kinect games in our lessons. The children loved that from the minute they saw it, but, for me, it has been a learning process for the teacher. Using new technology tools in the classroom involves extra time and thought during implementation. The payoffs, however, can be quite rewarding. That has been the case with using Kinect.

Equipped with the TV, Xbox360, Kinect sensor, and a wide selection of games, I began the year with many ideas and expectations for inspiring learning in my students. Two obstacles presented themselves right away. The first was, and always is in the classroom, time. The second was how to manage 21 students and one gaming system. Loving a challenge, I jumped in and began to experiment.

The time issue dissolved as I moved past the need to use the games just because they were there. When any technology tool becomes a natural part of the learning process (no different than using a pencil and paper), it becomes powerful and incorporated where it will do the most good. Rather than planning times for Kinect, I am now considering the wide variety of possibilities (check out the growing list of ideas from Kinect in Education) to enhance our lessons. As with all learning tools, you start with the learning objective, then select the methods, tools, and materials that best achieve the desired results. Used in that way, Xbox 360 Kinect, or any video gaming system can become a part of learning without creating a time problem.

Management is another common issue in the classroom. Engagement has never been a problem as my students are mesmerized by the Kinect games. I could tell right away that if I could direct their enthusiasm, we were sitting on a gold mine of learning possibilities. The difficulty was that only one student could actually "play" the game at a time. The other students were cheering and enjoying the process, but there was not enough active learning participation to suit me. The game Body and Brain Connections helped me solve the problem. That particular game is full of activities that reinforce math concepts I teach. We are working on addition to 10 and learning a variety of ways to make each number. One game is called Perfect Tens (facts for 10 are an important skill to master). The player has to use his or her hands to mark two numbers with a sum of 10 before the timer runs out. We discovered that the Kinect sensor focuses in on a narrow enough area, that while one student was actually controlling the game, all the other students could participate from behind and beside the player. The results were delightful and obviously productive:

I added to the lesson, recording sheets for each child to keep track of his or her score. The children can see their own growth and are motivated to improve their score as in any video game setting. They are learning the facts for 10 more quickly than I could have imagined and they think they are playing!! (The scores will soon become another lesson as we use arrow cards to learn about place value and how to read big numbers.)

Of course, learning the facts for 10 is just one of the many skills we will inspire with our gaming system. The possibilities are endless. Patience is the key. Rather than forcing the games into lessons, I will find the natural applications as they arise. Group participation is the next key as managing the use of the tool becomes no different than passing out paper for spelling practice.

The final advantage and payoff for using Kinect in the classroom is the addition of activity to stimulate both the body and the brain! The first brain rule (Brain Rules by John Medina) is that exercise boosts brain power. Children naturally want to move so why not channel that movement into the learning process! Everyone wins!

After just 30 days of learning with Xbox 360 Kinect, I am convinced that it holds tremendous potential for education. A little time spent working out the bugs and exploring the possibilities will reap great benefits for children!

Making Kinect-tions in the Classroom

2011-08-27T10:24:00.006-06:00

I awoke to the most marvelous message on Facebook this morning. Two of my friends, one in Beirut, Lebanon, and the other in Kandy, Sri Lanka, (it is actually incredible that I even have friends in those faraway places) had connected as a result of a project I had invited each of them to join. Friendships are formed so easily and quickly thanks to social networking. The world is an amazingly different place than it was when I was a child, and I am determined to make sure my classroom is an amazingly different place than the classroom of my childhood.

A new addition to the tools in my first grade room this year is an Xbox 360 Kinect gaming system. That, in and of itself, is pretty remarkable as I would have argued not too long ago that kids spend way too much time playing video games and that they have no place in education. An open mind, however, and exploring shared links on Twitter, have resulted in a complete "360" degree change in my thinking. I can't wait to put the ideas to the test with my young students.

The first game we will use is called Kinectimals. The delightful virtual pet game will undoubtedly be engaging for children, but it can be so much more than that when incorporated into a classroom. We will use the game as a basis for exploring a wide variety of Colorado State Standards for first grade. The characters in the game include various feline cubs such as lions, tigers, leopards, and panthers. Those cubs will be the basis for first grade research and reasoning as the students use a variety of resources to locate information about each type of cat. As they research, they will explore first grade science standards including learning that offspring have characteristics that are similar to their parents' and that living things have physical characteristics to help them survive. Locating the geographical homes of each cub will be an engaging way to satisfy the social studies standard exploring maps and globes as they represent places. The game itself will present a number of opportunities for the kids to write as they describe the cubs and write about the experience. Deeper connections can be made if we explore the type of cat that would be included in the game for our geographical home and create new elements for the game based on their discoveries. Students can compare and contrast the habitats of the cubs in the game to the habitat of our local wild cats. Mathematics skills are easily reinforced using the game. First graders learn about the whole number system and place value relationships to 100 as well as how to solve addition and subtraction problems. The game offers frequent opportunities for students to play games that result in scores. The scores can be compared and graphed. While watching one student play, the rest of the class can reinforce the counting back strategy of subtraction while they count along with the countdown timer! The "kinect-tions" are endless and I am certain the engagement will be high.

I am just beginning my own learning in this area and I'm so excited to see where this takes the children in the coming year. There are many resources online to explore the possibilities. Check out this one: KinectEDucation. Of course, there are many ways to teach, but connecting the standards with physical movement and highly engaging fun seems to me to be a kinect-tion for made for success!

The Most Important Thing...

2011-08-17T07:46:00.003-06:00

It is now just one week before school starts for the 2011-2012 school year and there is so much to do. A room to decorate, lessons to prepare, changes to implement, collaborations in which to engage, new technologies to try, and the names and faces of new little people to learn. All of this comes at the end of a summer filled with not only relaxing and spending time with family, but also of learning and preparing for teaching. I find as I go through life that often timing is everything, and once again that has happened in my life. Two summer experiences have overlapped this week that will influence my teaching in the coming days. The first is reading Brain Rules, by John Medina. The second is creating a Facebook group for people who grew up in the same small town where I spent my childhood. As my friends and I are all in our 50's and 60's it is interesting to read the memories that our brains recall from those long ago days in that small community. The first recollections posted were all about school. The best and the worst were on the list. Teachers and classroom experiences recalled were all so strikingly similar. That in itself is not so unusual as we all had the same teachers and spent so many years together in classrooms, but out of all those years only certain memories remain for all of us. The common thread to all the memories is emotion.

Beginning a new school year with a classroom full of small children is such a tremendous responsibility. My reading and active recollection of memories from my own childhood and those of my childhood friends just reinforce the importance of taking time in my preparation to realize that each child who enters my room will be an individual person worthy of the best experiences I can provide. Each individual child is the light of someone's life. They all deserve to be treated as such. No two are alike and no two have exactly the same needs. They all learn in different ways and at different rates, but each will grow to be an adult with memories of school. Will I create memories that will last for decades? Our world is changing at a rapid rate as technology evolves to change how we do things, but the needs of people remain the same.

So as I prepare to do my best in presenting curriculum, assessments, and classroom management, incorporating new 21st century methods and technologies, I will slow down and take time to reflect about each child and remember to keep those young lives at the top of the list in priority. They deserve the best and we will, hopefully, build memories to last a lifetime.

The wrong lesson learned the hard way...

2011-05-15T14:05:00.005-06:00

A month ago, my class began the most wonderful lesson. We put special bands on 12 trees in our school arboretum to measure tree growth over the next few years. Children in schools all around the world are participating. The project is part of a world-wide program sponsored by Shout Learning and the Smithsonian Institute, to measure the effects of climate change on tree growth around the world. We had to wait a month from the banding to take the first measurement to send to the Smithsonian. A wonderful employee of the BLM helped us identify the trees and is returning tomorrow to teach the students more about each tree as they use the special tool sent by Shout to take the initial reading. What a marvelous opportunity... or so it seemed.

I returned to the arboretum today to take a few photos and make sure everything was ready to go smoothly for our lesson only to discover that most of the tree bands had been removed. Many were destroyed and found in pieces. Some were missing altogether. The arboretum is a fenced area attached to our playground. It is locked from the school side and has a gate on the other side that leads into the yard of a senior housing complex. One of the residents of the complex was walking this morning when I made my sad discovery. She said they frequently watch older kids in the arboretum breaking branches and destroying projects placed there by scout troops and students. They have called the police, but no has ever been caught.

Several years ago, my class participated in a project to place informational signs on a nature trail in a local park. The night before the kids were to take a field trip to enjoy their finished work, we took the signs to the trail. By morning, one was missing, one was in the river, and many others were smashed and broken. I swore never to try another project like that one again.

I am saddened, angry, and disappointed. My students will be devastated. We will still have our tree lesson, but instead of taking measurements with our dendrometer, we will talk about vandalism and respect. A sad day...

Why I Teach...

2011-04-26T18:32:00.003-06:00

Today I read the story Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney to my second graders. The beautiful story encourages readers to find a way to make the world more beautiful. Miss Rumphius does so by planting lupines everywhere. As we finished the story, I told my students that I hope each of them will find a way in their own life to make the world more beautiful. "We've already started, Mrs. Arnett," stated one of my children. I asked what he meant. "We are helping the orangutans and helping make less trash in the lunchroom. All of our projects this year..." His comment gave me the shivers and I felt a lump in my throat as another child said, "You planted the seed."
I could have scooped them all up and hugged them at that moment. This is why I teach...

The Most Powerful Teaching Site on the Internet

2011-04-16T11:41:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was an AH-HA day like no other in my second grade classroom. If you will read through my ramblings about that day, you will discover at the end of my blog, a resource to create many days like this one in any classroom!

We began the day discovering that after only five students returned orders for our DVD called LearningFrom the Past - The Elder Project, we had already raised $175 in donations for the local charity called Christmas for Seniors. The students interviewed their grandparents and great-grandparents over the past months. We made videos of the interviews and added student created digital stories of tales from their grandparents to create the DVD.

A trip to our school arboretum followed. The kids worked along with a visitor from the Bureau of Land Management to identify and band trees for the Shout Learning project. They will take measurements of tree growth to add to a data base from students around the world to study the impact of climate change on trees for the next three years. The local expert was so pleased with the project that she asked to return in four weeks to join us when we take the first measurements. She wants to teach the kids more about each tree.

After lunch we discussed our current class project inspired by Interrobang . After studying the problem of school lunchroom trash all week, the kids finalized their plans for making next week a trash free lunch week for our class. There were a couple of obstacles to overcome for the kids having hot lunch at school and the answer came in an email. Earlier in the day the kids emailed the head of food service for our district with concerns about the use of disposable styrofoam trays and the many prepackaged foods served. She responded quickly and positively. The old plastic trays will be delivered to our school this weekend for use next week. She also told the kids she would work toward making that happen for next year as well! She also gave them an update on an issue of palm oil in Uncrustable PBJ sandwiches they have been serving. She is in contact with Smuckers concerning that ingredient and is working on changing lunch choices in the future to make sure no palm oil is served in our school. The reaction to the email: "We did it!!!"

The discussion of palm oil reminded one of my students that he had something in his backpack to share. He had been reading a magazine when he found an article about orangutans. He shared the picture and map from the article and recapped the content for the other kids.

When we finally got ready to complete some more typical schoolwork (math papers) the kids reminded me that we actually had already done math for the day. "Yeah, remember, Mrs. Arnett? We did lots of math in the arbortetum!" And in fact they had as they measured and marked the trees for the bands.

As the kids spent the rest of the afternoon completing unfinished writing, grammar, and math for the week (we call it finish up Friday), I saw something remarkable happening. They were so uplifted by the successes of their day. They had raised more money on the first day of DVD sales than they had anticipated making in all and could see the potential for that project helping many more local elders than they dreamed possible. They felt so important and connected to the world as they participated in a project for the Smithsonian and realized their work would have a global impact. The quick positive response to their request for help from the food service department in reducing trash in our lunchroom was unbelievable and empowering to them. The reaction from the kids for all of the success of the day was total engagement in their work. They sat straighter, worked harder, celebrated personal success in their assignments, and smiled. I did not have to ask a single student to work harder or get back on task.

We MUST make learning real for our students. All of the text book reading and testing in the world cannot inspire the motivation in students that a real project about a real life issue can. With the online connections available to our students right in our classrooms there is no reason not to involve them and empower them in the world. My ah-ha was how doing so engages and builds confidence and motivation. We ended our day singing along with a song written by our friend, John Farrell. It is called "It's the Little Things" and sums up perfectly the projects we have been doing in class.

I have had a year filled with personal and professional successes. The result of that for me has been an increase in my motivation and effort to improve my teaching. I am engaged and constantly learning to better myself. My students are equally motivated by meaningful successes. It is my job to present them with opportunities.

I titled this blog "The Most Powerful Teaching Site on the Internet" because I have discovered a wonderful site that will help me continue involving my students in real learning. Any teacher can go to the site to find ideas for project and problem based learning. Making changes in the way we teach is not easy, but this site will help any teacher at any grade level get things moving in the right direction. The site? Interrobang . It is filled with opportunities and possibilities. Check it out and engage your kids!

Assessing the Gingerbread Village....

2011-04-03T14:40:00.003-06:00

The Gingerbread Village stands complete in my classroom. The children did it their way, working together and totally engaged for about 45 minutes a day throughout the week. The next step is time to simply "play" (although they would tell you that is what they did all week). Before I turn them loose to enjoy their creation for the sake of simple play, however, I want to assess their learning to see if the time spent on the project was worthwhile.

As I reflected on their dialogue during the assessment I had only one thought for the next time I do this activity. Rather than limiting my students to boxes, construction paper, and a city on the floor, I hope that the next time I am able to allow them to create the town in the way they choose. Perhaps it will be a virtual town on the computer that they can all access and interact with. Who knows? I'm learning new things along with my students everyday.

Lessons From the Gingerbread Man...

2011-03-27T10:21:00.002-06:00

For the past two weeks I have been encouraging my students to bring empty half gallon milk cartons to school for a project that I have always done during our fairy tale unit. They have not brought in nearly enough cartons for our project. In fact, they have brought in only four or five total. The 15 or so that I had saved made enough for us to begin the project last week, but we are faced with the inability to complete it at all if they do not show up with quite a few on Monday. The fact that I am still in the process of changing my teaching is probably the reason the solution to this problem was slow in coming, but today while reading blog posts from Twitter, I had another ah-ha moment!

The project I am using comes from a wonderful book of what were at one time innovative ways to teach math. It is spelled out in specific steps and even has "The Rules of the Kingdom". Guess who the ruler is? Why me, of course! I don't know how many times I will have to learn this lesson before it becomes instinctive, but I don't have to be the ruler and I don't have to set the rules for my students to learn something worthwhile!

Our project is based on the story of The Gingerbread Man. With a simple change to the ending of the story, he escapes from the fox and finds himself on the other side of the river where he meets other Gingerbread people who are building a village in the forest. The project is a set of activities that incorporate math skills and social studies. Everything is based on half gallon cartons so that the pieces of the village fit together as planned. Well.... we can learn a great deal by venturing away from the prescribed lesson and turning the kingdom over to the Gingerbread people rather than the "king"!

The Gingerbread families have been created. Each family has an elaborately designed milk carton home. Now all they need is floor space and an opportunity to work together to create a village that will meet their needs. They don't need me to tell them what to do or how to do it. I only need to pose a question that will guide their learning. "How can the Gingerbread people build a village that will meet their basic needs and provide a safe environment in which to live?" It occurs to me that they will learn so much more by working together and figuring that out as a class. I plan to show up at school with a variety of boxes and materials for them to use and to see where our project goes when led by the students rather than a book. Will it involve math? Maybe. Will it involve social studies? Definitely! Will the kids be engaged and learning? Certainly!

I can't wait to see what happens!

Lessons From Palm Oil

2011-03-05T10:20:00.003-07:00

My second grade students watched a live broadcast from Borneo via TakingItGlobal earlier this week. They learned about the destruction of the rainforest and the orangutan habitat for the production of palm oil. A reflective discussion following the event generated a list of ideas for how seven and eight year old children can help with the problem. "We can speak for the trees!" suggested one student. They went on to suggest writing letters to the companies that are responsible, writing a blog about the issue, and starting a campaign against the use of palm oil. The kids were not, however, exactly sure what products contained palm oil. In an effort to transfer the responsibility for gathering information from myself to my students, I suggested that they go home that night and begin searching labels to find out. A wonderful lesson for children! But... the lesson had a twist I had not foreseen...

The next morning the children arrived ready for a new day. One of the first little girls through the door enthusiastically exclaimed that she had found a product containing palm oil! As she announced her finding, sugar wafer cookies, my eyes traveled quickly to a Walmart bag sitting on the table. With a sinking heart, I opened the bag which contained brownies I had purchased for a reward I owed the kids. They squealed with delight as I lifted them from the bag, only to dissolve in dismay as I turned them over and read from the ingredient label: palm oil! A tiny voice rose from the class asking the question they were all thinking, "Do we still get to eat them?" There was a collective sigh of relief as I said, "Of course you can, but I just learned a huge lesson from you! Next time I will look at the label before I buy things! Even better, perhaps baking from scratch rather than buying ready made would be best!" I don't think a single child in my class will ever forget the lesson I learned that day.

As we lined up to go home, I reminded them that over the weekend they should look for more products that contain palm oil to report back to the class. My favorite question of the day was, "Would it be cheating to look on the internet?"

We are learning together, keeping it real, and making a difference!

Right in our backyards....

2011-02-28T20:31:00.003-07:00

One of the changes I've tried in my teaching this year is sharing the stage. Stepping back and allowing my students to learn from experts, family, and even each other has reaped tremendous rewards. The level of engagement and achievement could not be higher! As with anything new, it seems to get easier as the months go by. Our next project has uncovered treasure right in our backyard! The last Shout event, Study the Land, provided ideas for learning about the effects of climate change on the trees. I also came across a lesson plan from the Smithsonian that I was given last summer in Washington, D.C. about plant fossils found in nearby Wyoming. It contains photos of leaf fossils and a graph of the climate change that took place during the time in which they were formed. The Epals website had a link to information about a coal mine and rain forest fossils. Things began to connect and I made a few calls. It turns out that the husband of our physical education teacher is an environmentalist at the coal mine that we can see from our school playground. A call to him confirmed that there have been plant fossils found right here where we live. Some are large fern fossils, too large for him to bring to school, but he is going to gather what he can and pay us a visit. I can't think of a more engaging way for the kids to learn that there used to be a rain forest right where we live! Even better, he is the uncle of one of my students. Equally important, all the kids are aware that our pine forests are dying. You can't drive into the mountains in Colorado without noticing vast areas of reddish orange pine trees. Pine beetles are killing them. We are inviting someone from the National Forest Service to pay us a visit as well, to help us understand what is happening. Apparently the pine beetle problem is also related to global climate change. A lesson from the rain forest of the past, a lesson from the pine forests of the present, and questions about the future of forests here where we live will undoubtedly be interesting and meaningful to my second graders. I won't be teaching any of those lessons. I will facilitate the learning by inviting those who know much more than I. We will all learn together. The focus will be on learning, not on my teaching. The lessons will not be found in a text book or teacher's manual, but I have no doubt that the learning will be powerful and the reflections of the students will last a lifetime.

Full circle...

2011-02-27T09:39:00.001-07:00

It was in August of 2009. I had just attended blog and wiki training for the technology team in my district. I had heard of blogs, not of wikis, and had never tried either one. It was all foreign to me and I had no sense of how it would benefit my teaching. I'm sitting here today, reflecting on how that one simple meeting changed my teaching in dramatic ways. In the 19 months that have passed since the meeting, I have created this blog for myself, one for my class , one for individual student use , and a new one for our school . I have created three wikis. One is for my class and two are collaborative wikis for pen pals around the world ( http://wearepals.wikispaces.com/ and http://joinhands.wikispaces.com/ ) . Along with my dear friend and pen pal partner, Rawya Shatila of Beirut, Lebanon, I became one of the 2010 Epal Ambassadors, won the 2010 Microsoft US Innovative Education Forum, and traveled to Capetown, South Africa to represent my country at the Microsoft Worldwide Innovative Education Forum. The learning that has taken place in my professional life since has been like an explosion. My classroom is not, and never will be the same again. All because of a simple technology training session that inspired me to investigate and explore new communication and collaboration possibilities.

This morning I read a wonderful blog by WhatEdSaid called Change isn't easy.... As I read the simple explanation of what we all face in the transformation taking place in education, I couldn't help but look back 19 months to myself before I became aware of what was happening around me. I, in August of 2009, had no idea that I even needed to make changes in my teaching. There are many, many teachers who are still at that place in their profession. Teaching can be an isolated occupation, spent day after day in a classroom with students. There is often little opportunity for contact with other teachers in the building, let alone a chance to build relationships with teachers in other places. Without social networking and high quality staff development no change is even likely to take place! We can't make changes we don't know about and aren't encouraged to make! Last night I found a charming example on Twitter. For 18 years I have been teaching first and second graders in snowy Craig, Colorado. Although I love snow, the thought of months getting a classroom of small children ready for recess in the snow, still makes me shudder. If you have never experience that, just watch this video posted by Mary Ellen Lynch: Dressing in Snow Clothes. The amazing part of the video for me was that for 18 years I have dealt with small children asking me to pull the cuffs of their jackets over the ends of their gloves after they dress. I have continued to tell them that if I took time to pull every cuff over every glove in the class, we would miss recess entirely. It took Twitter, and a very creative small person to show me that there is, indeed, a better way to do it!

Although the initial training that led me on a journey of change in my classroom took place in professional development provided by my district, most of my learning has taken place through interactions outside of work. There is never enough time or money for all the staff development teachers need. Self-directed learning and exploration are key to professional development. Teachers need to take advantage of the multitude of professional learning communities available on the internet. A great book to read is Teaching Digital Natives: Partnering for Real Learning by Marc Prensky.

I called this post "Full Circle...." for a reason. On Thursday, I will be making a presentation to the NW Colorado BOCES. One of the people I will be talking to is the very person who led the training I attended in August of 2009. I can't wait to share with her the result of her efforts that day. It will be an opportunity for me to inspire at least one of the people in that group to embark on the journey I have taken since. Change isn't easy, but the first step has to be awareness that change is taking place.

Hanging out with digital natives...

2011-01-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

When my seven year old granddaughter was two, I used to keep a supply of Dum Dum suckers in my purse. When she was overly tired, hungry, or fussy and we were out of the house doing those inevitable things that didn't allow her needed nap or meal, a tiny sucker would keep her content until we could take her home and meet her needs. Well, in just five years, the need for a sucker in my purse has been eliminated. Today I found myself in a vehicle with my grandson, who was at the moment a very fussy two year old. He and I were waiting while his mother and sister ran a quick errand. Luckily, his sister had left behind her ipod touch. Guess what I found waiting for him there? A Dum Dum sucker app!!! His tears ended instantly when I handed him the ipod and he began tapping the tiny sucker on the screen while smiling from ear to ear. As he tapped, the sucker disappeared before our eyes, and when only the stick was left, he knowingly gave the ipod a shake causing a new sucker to appear so he could begin the process all over again. He was totally engaged in "devouring" suckers until his mother returned a few minutes later. The best part was, no sugar entered his mouth! There is truly an app for everything!!!

My three grandchildren, ages 11, 7, and 2, are true digital natives. While at their house last night, my oldest granddaughter, who was in her room, called urgently for her little sister, who was busy reading to me. (A book, by the way. Yes, they still love to read real books!) Reese, ran to see what Kenzie wanted. She was gone for quite awhile and I could hear voices coming from their room. When she returned, I asked her what they were doing. Very matter of factly, as she snuggled up beside me to return to the book she had been reading, she informed me that they had been skyping on Kenzie's netbook with their cousin... in Cambodia. This morning, Kain was sitting beside Reese at the kitchen table where his sister was busy playing Moshi Monsters on my laptop. Two year old Kain kept reaching over and tapping the screen. As I watched him, I realized he was trying to interact with the game! You see his two older sisters both have ipod touches, his dad has an ipad, and his mom an iphone! He didn't understand why my simple MacBook Pro didn't respond to his touch!

What a different world children are growing up in today! Technology is a routine part of their lives. I am old enough, of course, to remember when all of the miraculous gadgets did not exist and I don't think I will ever stop being amazed by what we can do with technology today. What is next? What will be in store for the children of my grandchildren? Stay tuned... it's bound to be incredible!

How will they learn... not how will I teach...

2011-01-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

One of the best parts of teaching is the learning. The learning by the students, of course, but also the learning by the teacher. There are always tales of teachers who have file cabinets full of lesson plans organized by week, that they pull out year after year, believing that what worked yesterday will work today as well. I don't think I actually know any of those teachers, at least I hope not! That would never work for me, and that is perhaps why I loop. Moving back and forth between first and second grade every other year keeps my mind fresh and forces me to think about my teaching. With two years between lessons, there are many changes to consider. Who are the children sitting in front of me now? What are their interests? Where are they in their learning? What do they need next to move on? What new strategies and teaching ideas have I acquired? The last question is so important. Teachers must never allow themselves to become stale. The world around us is changing constantly and those changes are obvious in our students. To ignore that and pull out a 20 year old lesson plan would serve to frustrate both the students and the teacher. Even more importantly, it would probably not result in the learning that the teacher had envisioned. Although I began my teaching career late in life (at 40), I have now been teaching long enough to have memories of "the way we used to teach". I am not unlike the students, however, in my need to keep learning fresh and relevant. I crave the creative challenge of exploring new things and seeing where they lead.

In the past two weeks, I reached a new understanding of a thought I read recently. We need to focus not so much on the teaching, as on the learning. The internet is full of lesson plan sites. Think of a topic and you can find an almost unlimited number of ways to teach it. How do you go about selecting the perfect lesson plan to add, perhaps, to your file cabinet of lessons for the first week of January? (Sorry, I couldn't resist!) What if instead of looking for a way to teach, you spent time thinking of ways a child would learn? It took me some time to sort out the difference and really understand that concept. It became pretty clear in the last two weeks as I approached something I have taught many times from a new direction.

Teaching students to become effective writers can be challenging. There are many programs available to guide teachers through the process and our district has a program as well. The program has excellent skills, goals, samples, and rubrics to assist a teacher in developing writing skills in students. it certainly is a way to teach writing. But something is missing for me in following a commercial program day after day. I shouldn't use what we call the "b" word in class, but simply teaching the same way day after day has a tendency to become "boring" for both the students and the teacher. I am constantly on the lookout for new ways to approach the topics to keep my teaching alive as well as the students awake. It was in that spirit that I realized the difference between thinking of "how they will learn" rather than "how I will teach". We had been working on descriptive writing and the kids had reached a plateau. I wanted them to move on and continue to develop more skillful writing. In the past I have used poetry to inspire more creative description, so I decided to do that again. Now there are many ways to approach poetry and I have tried a variety of things in the past. This time, however, I tried something new. I recently acquired a set of wireless mice and several hubs for connection to a PC. Using a free Microsoft download called Mouse Mischief and PowerPoint 2007, I created a lesson to teach my second graders about poetic devices. The writing devices were not new. I taught them about alliteration, simile, personification, and onomatopoeia as I have often done in the past. The difference was in the approach. I have never taught all of those at one time before. That is quite a lot for a seven or eight year old to grasp in one sitting. Especially when a teacher is lecturing and explaining while a child is expected to listen and learn. But... when I put them into a power point lesson that allowed the students to interact by moving and clicking their own personal mouse from their seat, they were suddenly playing a game, not hearing a lesson. They were engaged, noisy, and actively involved in learning. It took exactly one lesson for mastery of the poetic concepts. After we put the mice away, I covered a table with photographs I had taken in my backyard of winter animals and snow covered plants. The kids selected pictures and put their new learning to work in a magnificent way as they wrote poems filled with our new poetic devices. There was not a single child off task or unsuccessful. In fact, it was one of my struggling writers who became the star of our poetry writing. We uncovered her creative side as she easily saw similes and connections to apply personification.

The magic of the lesson was the "game" approach. In 2011 much of the play our students engage in involves technology. That is reality. Ask them what they like to play. Most will say video games. If we want them to learn, we need to engage them in ways that captivate their attention. The student that had the most striking success for me was the one who would have shut down if asked to watch and listen. She would never have gained the understanding of the lesson without the active involvement that putting the mouse in her hand created. It invited her to listen and participate and discover a success that she will not soon forget. You can lead a kid to a lesson but you can't make them listen... but just try to get them to keep their mouse still for a second!!! It wasn't the lesson I was teaching that made the difference, it was approaching it in a way that kids learn.

Here are some of the poems my students created after one lesson: http://secondgradejoy.posterous.com/39345000

Building the future, one memory at a time...

2010-12-30T06:45:00.000-07:00

I just spent three days doing what I love most! I ate mac and cheese with chicken nuggets, played numerous games that I never won, watched as clutter and crumbs spread throughout my house, and slept barely hanging onto the edge of my bed while feet and arms thrashed me throughout the night. While that may not sound terribly appealing at first glance, add to the picture two charming granddaughters and suddenly you have a recipe for happiness! Our quiet, tidy home was transformed for a few days into a noisy, messy scene full of giggles and joy. They live 150 miles from me, so the opportunities to pamper and spoil them do not come often enough, especially during the school months when we are all so busy. But it is Christmas vacation, so we took advantage of the opportunity! We went to the store and selected their favorite foods for our meals, filled our days with games (Farkle, Find it, and Sorry) and sledding, watched movies together each evening (The Sound of Music, Ramona and Beezus, and A Christmas Carol), and (my personal favorite) snuggled in bed with books to read together before sleeping each night.

Early the morning we were to take them home, I found myself reflecting on a much earlier time in my life. I was drawn back in my memories to childhood days in my grandparent's home on the Oregon coast. I remembered playing endless card games as my grandmother taught my brother and I how to play pinochle and cribbage. There were always yummy foods like gumdrop bars (I still have the green cookie jar she kept them in) and lemon chiffon ice cream, as well as fresh strawberries from my grandfather's garden. In the evenings we watched television together. Our favorite programs were Candid Camera and Gunsmoke. Grandma always slept with us, and I remember reading comic books together before we slept. Living by the Pacific Ocean, there was no snow, of course, but Grandma always took time to take us to the beach to climb the rocks and search for treasures in the sand. It struck me that those memories were the lessons that taught me how to be a grandmother. I live by her example, passing on to my grandchildren the loving care that was shown to me.

Taking time for a child is a greater investment than one could possibly imagine. Each memory and experience is a building block for the future. My grandparents, my parents, my teachers, and other significant adults in my past all influenced the life I would eventually lead. The days spent playing with my granddaughters were not only fun times together, they were the creation of memories that will help shape the future of two children that mean the world to me. The time I spend as a teacher, as well, is time that has the potential to impact the future of the children I teach. I hope my teaching is meaningful enough so that students will reflect on lessons learned in my classroom as they grow to be adults. I hope one day many years from now my grandkids will find themselves playing with their own grandchildren and think of the times they spent with me, building the future, one memory at a time...

Let it snow!!!

2010-12-20T08:21:00.000-07:00

It goes without saying that we need snow in Colorado. Without snow we will face drought and wildfires in the summer. Our economy will suffer as well, as we depend on snow seeking visitors to spend in our state. as much as we need it, however, the arrival of snow is not always a positive experience! Roads are slick, dangerous, and sometimes closed. Travel is restricted, delayed, or cancelled for a time. Accumulations require shoveling, plowing, and the sanding of roads. During the storms we live with inconvenience, hard physical labor, and unpredictable outcomes for our plans.

In spite of that, we love snow! It has been late in arriving this year and everyone was complaining, hoping it would arrive before Christmas! Why would anyone wish for the inconvenience, work, and unpredictability of life that snow brings??? Because it is beautiful, of course! Snow transforms the drab late fall landscape into a peaceful world of snowmen, sledding, skiing, and winter energy! Snow provides an excuse to sit inside sipping cocoa while reading a good book by the fire. Snow brings the promise of renewal and green in the months ahead as it will ultimately melt and reveal spring flowers and grass. We need snow.

It goes without saying that we need change in education. Without change we will face drought in success stories and wildfires to put out in our schools as test scores continue to decline. Our children will suffer as well, as they depend on us to provide what they need for the future. As much as we need it, however, the arrival of change is not always a positive experience! Change requires hard work and hours of planning. During the change process we live with inconvenience, hard physical labor, and unpredictable outcomes for our plans.

In spite of that, we need change in education! It is late in arriving as the world is transforming all around us while most schools are stuck in the drab late 20th Century model of learning. Why would anyone wish for the inconvenience, work, and unpredictability of life that educational change will bring??? Because it is exciting and inevitable, of course! Educational change will transform learners into curious, motivated beings, full of renewed energy! As teachers learn to facilitate student inquiry and global projects, students will learn that the world outside the walls of the school is an amazing place to be discovered and experienced! They will learn to be global citizens, communicating and collaborating as they create the future. Educational change will bring the promise of renewal, growth, and success in the years ahead as it will ultimately allow schools to catch up with the transformation of the world. We need change.

(There will be those days when the rain melts the accumulating snow, but the snow will fall again. In Colorado, as in education, it is inevitable.)

It just takes one...

2010-12-19T10:18:00.001-07:00

Inspiring a school district to transform is a big undertaking to say the least. There are many obstacles to change. Is the effort worthwhile? To answer that question, one would have to ask a few others: Are our children worth the time and trouble? Does their future matter?

Our school adopted a children's book as a theme this year. The book is One by Kathryn Otoshi ( http://amzn.to/hdg0pm ). The book demonstrates how it only takes "one" to make a difference. Our halls are lined with ideas from our students about the things that "one" can do. I would like to add a few.

It only takes one to be an agent of change in education and set transformation in motion.
It only takes one administrator to stop that change.
It only takes one mandated standardized test to suck the life out of teaching.

We do an activity in first and second grade called Making Words. The children are given a set of letters. By moving the letters around they change from word to word. I discovered an interesting possibility with the letters a,e,e,i,c,r,t,v. You can make the word "creative" and with one quick change, have the word "reactive". I would ask which is the more positive word? Which word would you choose to describe the future life of our children? Which is your choice for the future of education?

I took a walk this morning and enjoyed the peaceful, muffled quiet of a walk in the snow. Then it started to rain...

A Tale of Two Lessons (and a bigger one for me...)

2010-12-04T06:36:00.000-07:00

On Friday morning I facilitated two lesson during literacy time in my second grade classroom. The first had been planned for awhile, the second arose rather spontaneously. Interestingly enough, a third lesson evolved... extending my own learning. For years I have devoted December to teaching my second graders about Christmas traditions around the world. We explore where our holiday decorations and customs originated, learn more about geography, and enjoy traditional legends and stories. Friday was our day to learn about Gingerbread houses from Germany, so, of course, we would be reading the story of The Gingerbread Man! My lesson was tied to skills complete with comprehension questions that required the children to write complete sentence answers using story words, capital letters, and ending punctuation. A typical, rather tedious reading assignment for second grade. (We would be creating gingerbread houses with our kindergarten buddies later in the day, however, so the fun was not entirely missing!)

The second lesson came to me the night before as I was reading the local newspaper. Our town is in the midst of great controversy concerning a growing herd of mule deer that reside within our city limits. Although there are many of our residents that delight in seeing the magnificent antlered creatures roaming our streets and resting beneath trees in neighbor's yards, there are also a number of citizens that would choose to rid the town of the beasts that eat our landscaping, possibly carry diseases, and, at times, attack our pets. As I read the most recent letters to the editor of our local paper, I decided to address this problem with my students.

The lesson took no planning or preparation on my part. Everything I needed to facilitate the investigation by my students was already available on the internet. As our morning began, the children were expected to complete any unfinished assignments from the week ("finish up Friday"). As student work was completed, I handed out the original Gingerbread Man story and questions, directing them to independently read and complete the questions using the skills we had been learning for answering comprehension questions. Within a short time, I had a group of students who were finished and ready for a challenge.

I asked the kids if they would like to work on solving a problem for our town. They enthusiastically responded that they would be quite interested in doing that. A short discussion revealed that they were all highly aware of the deer issue and ready to learn. We set up chairs in front of a large computer screen and brought up the shoutlearning.org website. The site is a new partnership between the Smithsonian, Microsoft Partners in Learning, and TakingITGlobal. I knew there was a recording of a recent webcast on the site that would extend the background of my students. The program was called "Deer in the Forest: Can There Be Too Much of a Good Thing?" with Dr. Bill McShea, Wildlife Ecologist, from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. As the program began, I was, to say the least, surprised at the level of engagement the seven and eight year old children displayed. They were looking at charts, maps, and graphs and listening to a speaker that was addressing many adult listeners. We stopped the recording periodically to make sure the kids were understanding. They were...

"There are 50 kinds of deer in the world." "Some are endangered and there are others that there are too many of." "Herds of deer are growing because there is plenty of food and few predators." "When there are too many deer, some kinds of plants disappear." "When the plants disappear, so do the insects that birds eat, so there are less birds." "People got rid of wolves so people are the biggest predator for deer here." My students were making connections to science lessons from the past. They were discussing habitats, food chains, food webs, predator-prey relationships, and openly applying what they knew to the problem in our town. Most importantly, they were interested and engaged.

We moved to the board where we wrote the problem and listed the facts we had just discovered. Next would come the search for a solution. The students partnered up and began to search the internet for ideas. Their search revealed that this problem is not limited to Craig, Colorado. They found articles about the same exact situation in towns in Oregon, New Jersey, Michigan, and Connecticut. The people in those towns were struggling with the same issues we are facing today. After reading, we came together again to discuss what we learned. The students had many ideas of how to solve the problem. One suggested building a large fence around our town (like the Woodland Indian stockades they had learned about). Another suggested locking up all the livestock, pets, and people, then turning lose wolves in our town to kill the deer. Yet another student suggested hunting the deer and giving the meat to poor people.

We did not solve the problem, but the children learned facts about it that they will take home and share. They thought critically and applied their thinking. They listened, discussed, read, comprehended, applied their thinking in creative ways. They learned.

The lesson for me? That happened at the end of the day. After lunch, we moved on to math, emailing Santa, and making gingerbread houses with our kindergarten buddies. Great fun and a marvelous end to another week of school. As we lined up to go home and the children licked the last bits of frosting from their fingers, guess what they wanted to talk about? "Mrs. Arnett, I have another idea for what to do about the deer..." and the discussion began again. I have no doubt that when their parents asked them what they learned today that the answer was not the typical "nothing..." I have no doubt that the students who took part in the lesson about the deer will have great discussions at home this weekend about the issue. I have no doubt that we will still be talking about it in class next week. My lesson? Don't underestimate the thinking ability of small children. Don't limit their learning to the same old things we have always done. Yes, they love Santa and frosting, but they also love to be challenged and be respected for their thoughts.

If you have read my earlier blogs, you will understand when I say, "The bridge to nowhere is back under construction...."

2010-11-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

Further Lessons from Cape Town...

I took one picture from the window of my hotel room at the Southern Sun Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa. I looked out that window several times each day. If I had taken the photo a little more to the left, you would have seen Lion's Head... a little more to the right, the giant Waterfront ferris wheel. Either photo would have been more interesting than the one I took. Sometimes, however, the most important things are hidden in the least likely places. As it turns out, this photo holds a lesson that applies in every way to the most important lessons I learned in Cape Town.

I had to crop the picture to see an enlargement of a puzzling structure. A pair of highway bridges that ended right in front of my hotel. According to a tour guide, the bridges have stood unfinished for 40 years... a road to nowhere... I have searched the internet for an explanation, but find only speculation and questions. Did they run out of money? Was it poor planning? One site explained that after the project began, it may have been determined that the elevated road would block the view. Whatever the reason, an enormous amount of money was obviously poured into a project with absolutely no return... ever.

The bridges have taken on new meaning now that I have returned home and to my classroom. They are a symbol for me of what has happened with technology in our district, and I suspect, districts around the country. Our schools have invested a tremendous amount of money into technology. Our district is equipment rich. There are multiple computers in every classroom, mobile and stationary labs, classrooms equipped with Smartboards, projectors, and document cameras. We have the "stuff" and the network to support it. We have the capability to connect our students to the world! All we have to do is cross the bridge. But, at least for the moment, that is a "bridge to nowhere" in many classrooms. Technology is used mostly for email, online games and tests, data collection, and word processing. Why?

The explanation came to me in another lesson from Cape Town. Just outside the modern city filled with beautiful, affluent neighborhoods, you will find sprawling shanty towns.

A tour guide explained to us that the government is trying to create better housing for the residents of the shanty towns, but that many people resist. Moving to the upgraded housing means paying rent and utilities, hard work and added responsibilities. Many would rather stay in the shanties even though moving may bring comfort and advantages to their lives. Even with the opportunity right in front of them, many refuse to change.

It strikes me that there is a comparison to teachers and the journey into 21st century teaching. The tools needed are right at their fingertips, present in the classrooms and throughout the schools. But to use the tools to meet the 21st century demands of communication, collaboration, and creativity as it relates to the global community is hard work and added responsibility. Many would rather stay in their current comfort zone even though moving ahead would bring advantages to their students. Even with the opportunity right in front of them, many refuse to change.

It would be unfair to place all the blame on the teachers, however. There is another lesson to learn from the road to nowhere. Why would a costly project be allowed to be abandoned with no return for the investment? Why was planning not done to see it through? That is again, not unlike technology adoptions in our schools. Money has been spent for equipment. Teams of teachers have been sent to expensive conferences and training. Substitutes have been paid to cover classrooms while selected teachers worked together on developing standards and goals for 21st Century skills. Stipends are paid to a team of teachers to support instructional technology in the classrooms. But the spending and commitment stop there. There is no time during the school day allowed for the other teachers to learn and develop skills. Technology training is expected to take place on a teacher's own unpaid time after school. Less than rarely is inservice or staff development time allocated to technology or 21st century skills. That sends a clear message from the administration to the staff that those things are not important.

We have an opportunity in our district. This year we planned an early release time for students on Friday afternoons to allow for collaborative work among teachers. It is my hope and dream that interested teachers will be allowed to use that paid time to form professional learning communities aimed at increasing innovative teaching strategies in our schools. Teachers are already dealing with more than they can handle, and they are certainly not overpaid professionals. If the money spent on technology is to be more than a "bridge to nowhere", the administration will have to make it a priority. It's time to pay the teachers to complete the bridge! Those in charge will have to communicate the expectation, allow paid time for teachers to develop skills and collaborate, and watch what happens to student motivation and learning when the bridge begins to span the world.

2010-11-01T18:13:00.000-06:00

Look Both Ways...

Friday was the last day of the World-Wide Innovative Education Forum in Cape Town. I began the morning with an early dash to the Convention Center hoping to get a few minutes of internet time before the crowds arrived and the internet service went down. As I arrived at the busy intersection I would have to cross, I realized that the signal lights were not working. They were all blinking red. A quick glance up the sidewalk revealed the approach of two other teachers. I decided that a group would have an easier time getting across the busy street so I waited for them. I knew that one did not speak English, so I pointed to the blinking light and looked to my left to make sure it was safe to step into the street. Luckily, before I actually completed a step into the path of a car, one of the other teachers said, "Look to the right. Good advice for Americans!" The cars in South Africa drive on the opposite side of the road from here. A week had not been long enough to break my old habits! I still chuckle about the moment, but the true significance of his observation only came to me as I thought about my experiences in Cape Town.

I went to the forum with one major goal: to learn ways to inspire more teachers to incorporate technology and innovation in their teaching. Interestingly enough, I found out through discussions with other attendees that many people traveled from places around the world with the very same goal. It became apparent that what we were really seeking was an easy path to 21st Century education for all students. That path, however, is not an easy one and my experience at the intersection opened my eyes to a major obstacle.

If crossing into the 21st Century with education is an intersection, we as educators need to look both ways before we cross. I think that right now, we are looking only one way. We continue to do the same things we have always done, even though the world is changing around us. Perhaps we need to stop looking where we have been and look in the other direction to see what is coming before it runs over the top of us and passes us by.

Our closing keynote speaker, John West-Burnham, posed the question: Are we innovating to improve or to transform? His analogy of the caterpillar and butterfly opened my eyes to the true nature of the challenge we face. You can glue wings to a caterpillar, but you will still have only a caterpillar. A butterfly requires a transformation that takes time and patience.

Although simple in its message there is a powerful lesson to be learned from his words. We are always looking for ways to just improve our school, but we never really try anything truly different that will make lasting and meaningful change. It is time to begin the transformation.

I find myself back where I was when I first began writing this blog over a year ago. My head is buzzing with new ideas that I need to make sense of. I'm ready for the challenge and can't wait to share the energy and excitement I feel about this right now. My first challenge will be to teach others to look both ways.

Opportunities and Possibilities...

2010-10-24T12:49:00.001-06:00

My journey to Cape Town, South Africa is underway and I find myself with plenty of time for reflection. 31 hours of travel time to be exact! If you had told me a year ago that I would be sitting in the airport in Washington, DC today, waiting to board a plane to South Africa, I would have said you were crazy! But, here I am and it occurs to me that it was always a possibility, as are all the events of our lives, dependent on actions, decisions, and choices made every day by each and every one of us. This, sure to be one of the highlights of my life on this earth, came to be because of choices I made in my life. I chose to change careers late in my life and complete the teaching degree that I had left behind with an early marriage. I chose to devote a great deal of time teaching myself how to use technology. I chose to spend personal time creating online experiences for my students. I chose to be friends with Rawya and become involved in activities that were challenging, but rewarding.

The wonder of technology has always fascinated me. I often think of all the signals in the air sending cell phone calls, emails, text messages, video conferences, and media here, there, and everywhere each and every second. I don't have any idea how it works but I like to imagine it in the air around me! With the appropriate device I can capture those signals to send and receive communications. There are opportunities around us every moment as well. As a teacher, I spend a tremendous amount of time planning and preparing to teach young children about academics and the world. Taking time to explore the opportunities is often difficult and time-consuming. But... if I had decided searching for an epal was too much work... if I had decided not to participate in projects with Rawya... if I had viewed filling out applications for contests as being too time-consuming... if I had made some simple choices rather than the more difficult ones, I would not be sitting here today. Ironically, the more tough tasks I took on, the easier they became, and the rewards are amazing.

This morning I realized that my responsibility for finding opportunities and possibilities does not end with myself. Perhaps my greatest task is opening the world of opportunity and possibility to my young students. I want them to see the rewards of choosing the tough road rather than always the easy way. I want them to see that hard work pays off and can take them places they have only dreamed of. I want to inspire my children and my co-workers to open their minds and hearts to the opportunities that abound.

I saw the world out the window differently today. In the past, looking from the window of an airplane I have always focused on looking down. Tiny farm lands, forests, and lakes have captured my eye and I have marveled at how they look from the eye of a bird! Today, I found my eyes looking outward instead, to the horizon. Suddenly, it wasn't what I could see below me that caught my interest, it was instead what I couldn't see. I could imagine the curve of this great planet below me and the land that was below the horizon. Instead of the world seeming smaller, it was suddenly gigantic and I realized for the first time what a tiny portion of it I have seen and experienced. I am filled with awe at the realization that I am traveling halfway around the planet to places I have only dreamed of.

In the Grand Junction airport this morning, a man saw my passport and asked me where I was going. As I told him about my trip, he shook my hand, congratulated me, thanked me for being an educator, and then he laughed. He remarked that the people at the forum would not realize how amazing it was that the teacher representing the United State of America at the World-Wide forum comes from tiny Craig, Colorado! I had to laugh as well. It is amazing and that is the miracle of networking on the internet. We all come from the world and that is all that really matters. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. I am humbled by the possibility.

By the way... a teacher from South Africa who will be attending the event told me there is a teacher who will represent a part of Africa, who has no electricity in her school. She had to transport her students to a place where they could access computers to complete her project! The tough choices pay off! Hard work has rewards!

2010-08-05T10:13:00.000-06:00

Unbelieveable!!!

I just reread my posts from a year ago and have goosebumps. It is absolutely beyond my wildest expectation what has taken place in the past year. To sum it up... magnificent success!! My students formed relationships with children in places around the world. They became experts at manipulating the earth on their ipods and they now speak easily of far away places. Families were able to watch our work throughout the year. I formed friendships and learned from people I had never met. Enough? Probably... All? Not even close...

One of my first graders had to travel to Boston Children's Hospital for open heart surgery this year. We discovered that she would be less than an hour from our friends in New Hampshire. We used a KMZ file on Google Earth to follow the path of the ducks in Make Way for Ducklings in Boston so she would recognize names and landmarks while she was there. She spotted the Charles River as she flew into Boston before surgery. After her surgery we skyped with her so she could sit in on our class and reading group. Technology made a little girl's scary experience so much easier.

My friend in Beirut, Rawya, and I entered the Epals Ambassador contest and won! Amazing! Most amazing was our collaboration from a distance to complete the application and video at the last minute to enter.

That was so much fun, Rawya suggested we enter another contest to attend the 2010 Microsoft US Innovative Education Forum. We had only two days, so once again, we worked on the application from our own sides of the planet. It was posted and we waited. No word. Finally a call came that there was interest in our application but a few questions. The worst news was that even if we were selected, Rawya would be unable to attend because it was so expensive to fly her from Lebanon. Oh, well. Again there was no word until one week before the forum. I received a call that we had been selected, but had not been contacted. Was I still interested? Of course, but there was a new twist. I let the people from Microsoft know that just by coincidence, Rawya happened to be in Los Angeles visiting her brother. They agreed to fly her to Washington, DC to attend the forum! The rest is like a dream. We met at the airport and spent three wonderful days together in DC. If that was not enough, we won the contest and are now headed to Cape Town, South Africa, in October to represent the United States at the World-wide Innovative Education Forum!

My life is filled with wonder and awe at the power of technology in our lives. If all that were not enough, the most amazing thing happened this morning. In my second posting to this blog I mentioned a teacher in Australia that I had lost touch with years ago. Here come the goosebumps again. This morning I had a message waiting on epals. The very same teacher had just located me there and was wondering if I remembered her. She is back to teaching first grade and wants to pal for the coming school year... It doesn't get much better than all of this!

Settled in... for now

2009-10-18T09:25:00.000-06:00

It's been awhile since I posted to this blog. Originally I felt the need to keep track of my learning and progress using Web 2.0 tools. While I am a loooong way from proficient at this, I now feel quite comfortable and find myself constantly trying new things and celebrating when they work. I have an eye for the new and possible! Two Web 2.0 activities have become my passion and occupy most of my available computer time. The first is creating a record of my student's learning and the second is finding ways to connect them to the world.

I love wikispaces and use it more as a website than a collaborative tool. I try to post often to record our classroom activities and learning on our site at arnettclass.wikispaces.com. As the students are becoming better readers and writers I will post more and more of their actual work, words, and voices to the site. The kids love to look at the postings on the site. A few parents are also looking. I hope to increase that in the future and to invite them to join for discussions and comments. One of the great joys of the wiki is that family and friends far away can also take a peek into the lives of the children. There are so many great tools on the internet that allow fun and creative postings at no charge. Animoto, Slide.com, and Good Widgets are two of my favorites!

The other goal I have for my kids is to connect them to the world. We are so isolated here in this rural corner of Colorado. Some of the students have little experience outside Moffat County! We are awaiting letters from New Hampshire, are posted on a multicultural project and blog from Beirhut, Lebanon, and most recently have had our letters delivered to a first grade classroom in Lusaka, Zambia! The project in Africa is part of the Bridges of Peace and Hope project spearheaded by singer John Farrell. We can't wait to hear from our new friends!

The possibilities are endless. The technology is available. The kids are enthusiastic. I am happy.

A Sweet Place to Settle...

2009-08-14T15:00:00.000-06:00

Beyond my dreams...

Today I received another answer from my posting at epals. It is from a teacher in Beirut, Lebanon. She teaches English as a foreign language to first and second graders. They have a blog at www.youngclovers.blogspot.com where they record their contacts with students from around the world and we have been invited to participate. I was moved to tears as I watched the videos on the blog... Children from vastly different countries coming together to share. I can not wait to show my students and to enter their project!

How ironic that they call themselves the youngclovers! My bees were buzzing, but found a sweet place to settle!

Sweet Success!

2009-08-12T09:33:00.000-06:00

We now have a class of first graders in New Hampshire to epal with! I can't wait to tell my students! The first task, of course, will be to locate our new friends on the map and explore their town with Google Earth. Although I have had class keypals in the past, this will be the first time we have used 2.0 tools like Skype for communication. It should be great.

With that first step out of the way, I'm thinking of other things I can do with my class. I have created a wiki for the students to use for posting their work as we explore various themes and units. ( www.arnettclass@wikispaces.com ) We begin the year with the miracle of the monarch butterfly, observing a caterpillar as it forms a chrysalis and emerges as a beautiful winged creature which we carefully release. In addition, I order Painted Lady caterpillars and we repeat the process with them. I've created a Caterpillars and Butterflies page on the wiki for student work. The plan is to have the students use our Flip Video camera to record the stages of the life cycle to add to the wiki along with their narration. We create butterfly life cycles out of art supplies and write about the cycle as well. I'm thinking that this year I may introduce poetry very early and have the kids write some about their observations. All of those assignments can be posted on the wiki to share with families and friends.

Another passion of mine is digital storytelling. Staying with the wiki for now, I've created a page for the students' stories to be uploaded. Although I experimented with this last year, I would like to expand student time spent creating digital stories this year. One goal is to involve families more as we request photos and objects from home that will personalize the students' creations. I think the wiki will be much more accessible to families at a distance than the site where I posted things last year. My plan is to begin on the first day of school by having each child create a picture of something that tells about them. I will photograph each child with their picture (no names, of course) and make a slide show using Animoto to post on our wiki.

It can be shown for Open House as well!

This is all still just the tip of the iceberg, but as my students' reading and writing skills develop, we will expand our journey into the 21st century classroom. I'm feeling more confident everyday as I sort it all out...

Making honey...

2009-08-06T12:00:00.000-06:00

With only a few weeks left before school starts, I've decided not to waste any time planning how to put all of these wonderful new Web 2.0 tools to work! There are so many ideas jumping around in my head that it only makes sense to use my new blogging skills to record them for future reference and use! Where to begin...

It is always easier when trying something new to begin with the old. By adding and tweaking, a new product results! In years past I have developed keypal relationships for my students. One of the most successful was a relationship with a teacher in Australia that lasted for four or five years. She ultimately was transferred to a new school and older students so it came to an end. I did not pursue finding a replacement. There is no time like now to remedy that! Students are so engaged and motivated by writing to keypals. We exchanged gifts, traveling stuffed animals, and letters.

Web 2.0 skills for the 21st century are about communication. I can easily add some new tools to revitalize an old idea:

1. Locate a partner class using: http://www.epals.com/ (or another similar site)

2. Plan possible activities with our keypals:

Skype http://www.skype.com/useskype/

Write an ongoing story (we start the story, they add to it, back and forth until it is finished) using a blog http://blogger.com

Share information and ideas verbally http://www.voxopop.com/

Create digital stories and podcasts to share from our class wiki

http://arnettclass@wikispaces.com

Microblog http://twitter.com/

3. Teach our buddies about our home and learn about theirs:

Locate each on Google Earth http://earth.google.com/

Explore digital storytelling with Google Earth http://tbarrett.edublogs.org/2008/12/01/google-earth-is-our-paper-part-5-a-week- in-review/

Create an online presentation about our classroom, school, and the place we live:

http://www.dandelife.com/

I'm sure the list will grow and the partner teacher will have even more ideas! For now, I'll

begin trying to locate a keypal class for the year. And so the process begins... sorting it all out...

A nest of yellowjackets...

2009-08-05T13:46:00.000-06:00

Once while hunting on the Northern California coast I stepped on a log and disturbed a nest of yellowjackets. Suddenly the air around me was filled with the hum and movement of hundreds of black and yellow flying insects... with STINGERS! I've never run so fast! They were landing all over me trying to sting and some were quite successful! I threw my rifle (which later I later realized could have resulted in injury to me or my hunting partner) and began stripping off clothing with bees attached as I ran. When the danger had passed, the bees had settled, and I was safe again, I was left feeling a little ill from the many stings and rather foolish as my partner pointed out that we had walked right past the nest earlier in the day and he had warned me not to go near it. The bees had been there all along. If I had just recognized the log and walked around it I could have spared myself the agony. But a few lessons were learned and I would forever be a more observant hunter.

It has been many years since that day. I have not stepped on a yellowjacket nest since... until I went to a recent technology training session about 21st Century learning and web 2.0. As the instructor began revealing tool after tool that were not new, but new to me, I began to hear the hum and feel the stings as I tried to take it all in. Blogging... wikis... social bookmarking... this website and that. Now I love technology, but felt overwhelmed as to where to begin to make sense of all this information. It was after the training that I began to sort it all out. I had spent the summer on Facebook and had a great handle on that, but now I experimented with Twitter and created a title on a wiki page... Doable, I thought. That is until I stepped right squarely on another nest of bees and began exploring the 101 web sites on the handout from the training. Then there were the links from a friend's wiki and the links from another's delicious site. Now I'm once again surrounded by bees. They've come in the form of Animoto, Gliffy, Plinky, and Voxopop, just to name a few.

I spend a lot of time on the web, but had walked right past all of the new tools for quite some time. Now that I've stirred them up, I'm not sure where to go with it all. As with the bees, the experience has left me with a bit of a headache, but the bees are again settling. I'm realizing that clicking on the links to the sites is a lot like opening Christmas gifts as a child. Right now I'm tearing off the paper and exclaiming how fun each will be to play with as I toss it aside to open another. Soon I will move past the discovery and begin to reflect on how I can put all of this to work to help me motivate and teach my students. I can't wait!