Towards the end of the summer I submitted an application to be an adjunct professor in the ESOL/bilingual endorsement program at PSU. Since completing my doctorate, I have really wanted to start teaching at the university level in addition to teaching at the elementary level. I really enjoy my part time employment status, so I felt like teaching one or maybe two college courses would be a great compliment to my Kindergarten job because it would still allow me to be home in the afternoons with my girls. And, as a grad student, I always appreciated professors who were still practicing teachers.
About a month ago, I completed a survey on literacy instruction that was sent out by a professor at PSU. The survey asked for follow-up phone interviews, so I had a brief chat with the researcher/professor. As we chatted, I mentioned my dissertation and how I make efforts to teach reading in culturally responsive ways even while using a core reading program. At that mention, the professor asked if I was interested in teaching at the university level and I said yes, so we discussed the prospect of having me teach a course that is part of the reading endorsement program.
Yesterday, I heard back about both opportunities and I am now slotted to teach Second Language Acquisition and Development for K-12 Educators in the winter, which is a hybrid (partially online) course and also Culturally Responsive Literacy Instruction in the spring, which is entirely online.
I'm so excited!
The winter course is from 6:40-9:20 PM, which works out really well in terms of sharing childcare with my husband and the spring one will allow me to work/grade from home, which again works out really well.
Woot! Woot!
The Daily 5-My Style
This week I decided to finally roll out The Daily 5 with my kiddos. Except, it's not The Daily 5, there are only 3 choices. And, I decided to just ::gasp:: let them do it...without all the stamina building and mini lessons.
I'm such a rebel.
Actually, I was just itching to give my students choices.
I am lucky enough to have a parent helper almost every day of the week. [Can I get a woot woot!?] So my small group reading instruction has been going really well. I took a different approach this year and decided to only pull each group once per week, so that instead of rushing through the activities in a matter of 7 minutes, I can spend a leisurely 20-25 minutes with each group. We review our letter sounds, practice some phonemic awareness activities, read, and play a game. We are super productive. While I run my small group, the other students usually have iPad time, but I don't want them to get burned out on using the same apps all the time.
Staring on Monday, I introduced the three choices:
Read to Self
Word Work
Work on Writing
I will probably introduce Read to Someone and Listen to Reading later in the year, but I felt it was easier to start small and then expand.
Read to Self= Choose a book from one of the book bins (Froggy or Mo Willems books right now). Read the book cover to cover. Reading includes reading the pictures. If you finish 1 book, you may select another one.
Work on Writing=Take a blank sheet of white paper and draw a picture. Tell the parent helper about your picture (parent can write down what child says). Then, try to label your picture or write words that go with your picture.
Word Work= iPad practice time using Little Speller, Montessori Crosswords, or Reading Raven.
These are the Daily 5 posters that I downloaded.
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| http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Daily-5-Posters-1268107 |
And the great thing about all the teacher created Daily 5 resources is that they're FREE!
There is so much angst out there about how Kindergarten is the new First Grade and how Kindergarten is no longer developmentally appropriate, so I figured, rather than making my Daily 3 yet another time of day with lots of rules and instruction, it would be great to just let the kiddos enjoy reading and writing.
How about that?
Pick a book that looks good and enjoy it.
Draw a picture and tell a grownup about it.
These are things that are so developmentally important and they should be part of Kindergarten.
Eventually, (maybe in a few weeks), I plan to introduce some kind of check in system so that each child can choose daily which of the Daily 3 he/she wants to do, but so they have to do each activity at least once over the course of three days. Then on Friday, they can pick their favorite and do that activity for a second time. While keeping in mind that choices motivate students and help keep them invested in their learning, I still want to make sure they are practicing a range of skills. I will figure out a way to make sure they are still feeling in charge of their choices.
Also, I will continue to introduce more materials (more books that are decodable, more writing materials etc) to keep things interesting.
Last year I assigned students activities during small group time and I had a lot of management issues. I didn't have as much parent help, which also makes a huge difference, but I am hopeful that by allowing students to choose what they want to work on, they will work harder and develop good independent working skills.
I feel like this is somewhat of a learn as I go experiment. Rather than planning mini lessons, I will teach/coach as questions come up and make this block of time more about meeting students where they are at rather than pushing for everyone to be in the same place doing the same thing at the same time.
When you use something like Daily 5 or Whole Brain Teaching, do you modify the instructions to meet the needs of your students?
Like a Boss
I just started reading Teach Like a Champion.
Have you read it?
I'm reading it for a teacher book club that's being run through a Facebook group. How cool is that? Prior to having my own kids, I initiated book clubs at both my former and current schools and they were so much fun. We took turns brining snacks, chose interesting books to read, and had a fun time discussing the books and getting to know one another better. As a mama to two little girlies, it's really not feasible to participate in a book club after school. Although I will miss having the in-person experience with people I actually know, I think it will be fun to try out a virtual book club.
So far I have only read the introduction and that will be discussed on the Facebook page starting Monday. I am looking forward to participating from home via my phone, or iPad, or computer. If I am really productive, maybe I will even post my thoughts on the blog too.
Do you think YOU teach like a champion?
This year I just feel like I've hit a groove. I look forward to teaching and feel like things are going really well in the classroom. Not all the time, not everyday, but it's a different feeling than last year.
Smooth
This year I did something different for "turn and talk" partner practice and I am loving it so far. When I assign my kiddos carpet spots for reading instruction, I always spread them out so they are not sitting directly next to someone if possible and that is particularly important for my friends who have a hard time not touching their carpet neighbors and who struggle to keep their hands to themselves. I always make sure that my friends who have a hard time paying attention sit up close to me so I can easily redirect them and I try not to put kiddos next to their friends on the carpet because I don't want them distracting each other. All of these decisions work for instruction time and story time, but then when I went to create partnerships for turn and talk, I realized that where I assigned kiddos on the carpet did not lend itself to good partnerships.
One of my team members mentioned that she had her students sit in rows so that turn and talk was really easy and that inspired me with an idea. I assigned my students "partner spots" in addition to "reading spots." Reading spots are where they sit during instruction and those are the spots where I have them spread out and placed strategically so they will listen well. Then, I created partnerships based on kids who will work well together (sometimes friends, sometimes students who both speak the same native language, sometimes students who are both at the same language level in their English acquisition) and taught the class how to calmly and quickly transition from reading spots to partner spots.
When they sit in partner spots, they sit directly next to their partners and I have four straight rows. We practiced scooting on our bottoms to face our partners and then scooting back to face me when they hear my bell. After each story, I have the class transition to their partner spots so I can ask comprehension questions about the text. I only give them a count of 10 to move and they are doing such a fabulous job it literally impresses me every time. I am hearing everyone talk and share ideas with their partners and I am hearing students offering correct answers based on the texts we've read. It's so exciting! I thought for sure having two different spots would be a challenge, but it's been great. They are attentive during stories and then have a chance to talk and share with someone who they work well with.
The first few weeks of school, before I introduced turn and talk, I felt like my students were not getting an opportunity to talk about the stories we read because I really try to continue reading without stopping for each and every story that students want to tell. I don't want to have the flow of instruction interrupted with comments about every aspect of the story, but I do want my students to be able to express their ideas and share their personal connections to our texts. Since introducing partner spots, I have felt that they have really been actively involved in our comprehension practice compared to years past.
It's so much fun to see kiddos actively engaged. My next step is to ask a colleague to come in and specifically watch a few kiddos to listen to their exact responses in order to check for accuracy and story comprehension. Sometimes things look like they are really working from afar, but then up close maybe students aren't actually on task, so I want to investigate further so I can make additional changes if necessary.
One of my team members mentioned that she had her students sit in rows so that turn and talk was really easy and that inspired me with an idea. I assigned my students "partner spots" in addition to "reading spots." Reading spots are where they sit during instruction and those are the spots where I have them spread out and placed strategically so they will listen well. Then, I created partnerships based on kids who will work well together (sometimes friends, sometimes students who both speak the same native language, sometimes students who are both at the same language level in their English acquisition) and taught the class how to calmly and quickly transition from reading spots to partner spots.
When they sit in partner spots, they sit directly next to their partners and I have four straight rows. We practiced scooting on our bottoms to face our partners and then scooting back to face me when they hear my bell. After each story, I have the class transition to their partner spots so I can ask comprehension questions about the text. I only give them a count of 10 to move and they are doing such a fabulous job it literally impresses me every time. I am hearing everyone talk and share ideas with their partners and I am hearing students offering correct answers based on the texts we've read. It's so exciting! I thought for sure having two different spots would be a challenge, but it's been great. They are attentive during stories and then have a chance to talk and share with someone who they work well with.
The first few weeks of school, before I introduced turn and talk, I felt like my students were not getting an opportunity to talk about the stories we read because I really try to continue reading without stopping for each and every story that students want to tell. I don't want to have the flow of instruction interrupted with comments about every aspect of the story, but I do want my students to be able to express their ideas and share their personal connections to our texts. Since introducing partner spots, I have felt that they have really been actively involved in our comprehension practice compared to years past.
It's so much fun to see kiddos actively engaged. My next step is to ask a colleague to come in and specifically watch a few kiddos to listen to their exact responses in order to check for accuracy and story comprehension. Sometimes things look like they are really working from afar, but then up close maybe students aren't actually on task, so I want to investigate further so I can make additional changes if necessary.
A Tale of Two Awesomes
On Friday we had a statewide in-service day, which meant we did not have school. We don't have any formal in-service, so we can either take the day as a day off or find something to do for professional development. I lucked out because Mr. Sneaker was away in Germany/Austria, so his mom came to help me out with the girls for the week. Having MIL Sneaker staying with me means that I have childcare in the afternoon after daycare, which I typically don't. So, I was able to register for a conference that was all day Friday and all day Saturday. It was called the 5th Annual Teaching with Purpose Conference and this year it focused on Culturally Responsive Instruction. My researchy idol Geneva Gay was a keynote speaker and I got to MEET her! ::swoon:: Her work was fundamental in my dissertation and I seriously felt like I was meeting a celebrity! She is really a professor at University of Washington-Seattle, but to me she is GENEVA GAY, ROCKSTAR! I love going to teachery conferences and I left feeling really inspired. I still need to kind of collect my thoughts about what I learned, but I definitely want to post about it.
Also, today I had 16 kids in my class. Three were absent (and they happened to be a few of my more active students) and then one went home early for an appointment. Let me just say this...teaching 16 children is a DREAM. I had the best day and I wish every day could be like today. I just felt like we were in the grove. They were engaged with the story from the reading program (The Little Red Hen), they were totally on it when we did partner talk for questions about the story, everyone knew the answers to the questions and even my shy kiddos who don't usually speak were talking, not to mention that they transitioned to and from their partners spots amazingly well, and I was able to work with two small groups without interruptions because I had a parent helper.
Fab-u-lous!
Today was an I heart teaching kind of day.
And that, my friends is all I can write at the moment because Baby Sneaker just woke up fussing for mama. But, stay tuned for more!
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