A Spring Break Bucket List to Rejuvenate

This blog post is dedicated to a colleague and a dear friend. Lorrie, you will be missed and many of these thoughts and ideas came from the many fun times that we shared. Heaven awaits a very special person. Rest in peace my good friend!

_______________________

It’s almost here! We have persevered through three months of winter. We have dealt with the treacherous weather conditions, the task of fighting off the many classroom illnesses, the turmoil of state testing, a recent tragedy, and the everyday grind in the occupation of teaching. Spring Break is finally upon us!

Although there’s still a lot left to do with our students, breaks are something teachers really need. Spring Break re-energizes us! Many of you might have plans of a luxurious vacation in paradise, while others may just be traveling to spend some time with family. However, I’m guessing that the majority are just spending the time at home or just plain catching up. Whatever you might be up to, this blog’s sole intent is to kick off your well deserved Spring Break and give you some tips on how you can successfully recuperate and ready yourself for the final run. Enjoy!:

 

Plan Nothing- Imagine a day without anything to do.  A day without meetings to attend or appointments to be made. A day without anything is a day of relaxation. A day spent in your pajamas.

Don’t Set Any Alarms- Oh the joys of a 9- day weekend. Bring back the days of college- rise and shine at the crack of noon? How fun it is to wake up when you want? No need to worry about your snooze button.

Read a (Whole) Book- How many times have you picked up a book to read, only to find out something else comes up? Dig deep into that book that you’ve been putting off for a while. Indulge yourself with some uninterrupted reading. A nice cup of coffee or another favorite beverage will make it so worth the while!

Blast Your Music & Dance!- If there ever was a time to let loose, do it now. If the weather allows, open those windows and crank those tunes- let it all out! I’m thinking Tom Cruise in Risky Business!

Road Trip!- Take one, or several, quick two-three day road trips- take in some sights in the Heartland of America or venture out to our neighbors to the north or south. Spending a couple days away does wonders for the soul! Don’t forget the SELFIE at each state’s Welcome sign!

Buy Something for your Other Rooms- So many times we’re buying things for our classrooms. It’s time to splurge on your own house. Walk around your house and focus on your own flexible seating! Find a relaxing project that takes care of your own needs.

Catch up on Life!- We all have things that we put off- now is a great time to get caught up. Whether it’s emailing a friend, adding to a scrapbook page, or finishing up some tax filing, get it done, then get back to relaxing!

Indulge in March Madness- Is there a better time to follow the NCAA tournament than during Spring Break? Cheer on your favorite team (probably not a local one) or just track your brackets. If you’re lucky enough, head out to a host site and catch some action!

Get Back into the Exercise Room- If there is ever a time to get yourself back into a routine, it is now! This is a great time to blow off some steam and get yourself ready for the summer! Get that schedule started now- it’s easier to get started when you have nothing else planned!

It’s Opening Day- Take Me Out to the Ballgame- enjoy the start of the baseball season! Spring training games are wrapping up and the regular season official start is March 28. Make an attempt at one of those road trips and catch the action live. There’s also a good chance our high school and college teams are hitting the fields.

Throw a Dinner Party- What a great way to catch up with friends and neighbors! Give it a Spring Break kind of theme while you’re at it. Fire up that grill and take it outside if the weather permits. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, make the most of a night to enjoy with friends.

Pamper Yourself- Get that relaxing massage you’ve been putting off. If you need your nails done, what better time? Maybe you can even soak up some sun! For those golfers out there, what’s more relaxing than time on the range?

Binge Watch- All those Netflix shows you’ve been putting off, this is the perfect opportunity! Coach’s tip: Need some humor? Search Netflix for The Ranch. If you’re a fan of The Office, this is the ideal binge for you! I’ve also heard that Jack Ryan is a big hit!

Stay Up Late- Remember those days? Who needs a bedtime during Spring Break? If you’re sleeping in, why bother watching a clock? Great way to make the most out of binge watching as well.

Get out and Enjoy the Weather- I am so hopeful that this is possible (fingers crossed)! Take a ride on your bike or a stroll through the neighborhood. Get out those shorts and flip-flops. Enjoy your morning coffee out on the deck and just listen to the sounds of Spring in the air!

Call your BFF and Just Chat- When was the last time you actually had this opportunity? Your teaching BFF does not count– this needs to be that friend or sibling that you just haven’t had the opportunity to chat with. Reach out and indulge yourself in the conversation.

Start Planning Summer Vacation- What better time to start? Get a game plan going- plan out each week so you’re not wasting away precious time during the summer.

Finally, RELAX!– Enjoy your time away by just going about your day like you just don’t care. Get yourself healthy- get those doctor visits out of the way. Dedicate your break to taking care of yourself and rejuvenating for the final two months of the school year.

 

Have a safe and refreshing Spring Break!

 

Slowing Down to Go Faster: Building a Solid Foundation

In a time of constant change, it seems as if we can never really keep up. As we rush to keep up, the haste to move forward can create systems that haven’t had the opportunity to solidify a foundation. In a time where things are so hurried, it might be time to think about slowing down. Slow down and build your solid foundation.  Slow down to get procedures in place in your classroom. Slow down to deepen your understanding of your learning targets and create clarity in what it means to be proficient in your standards.  This slow down will pay back in dividends.

Because by now we all know I struggle with brevity, this will be another two part blog post. I decided to first address what you could reflect on in your classroom today; focusing on procedures, structures, and planning.  Next month, I will follow up and offer some ideas and suggestions about ways to deepen your understanding of your learning targets and creating clarity on proficiency.

 

Paradox of Planning for Personalized Learning

On the Kane County Institute Day, I was able to present on planning for personalized learning.  I started my presentation talking about how planning for personalized learning is a paradox. A paradox is a contradictory statement that when explained displays a truth.  (An example of a paradox would be something like “it is the beginning of the end” or “I know one thing; that I know nothing.”)

Personalized learning often gives us the feeling that we need to hand over the reins to the students and let them experiment and create for themselves. Personalization feels like it should be a free flow of ideas based off of what the student wants and needs, which means it would be near impossible to plan or create structures for all the students we see each day. Yet, as we start exploring personalized learning with students, I believe we are starting to understand how incredibly vital good procedures, structures, and planning are in order to create an environment that allows students to personalize their learning.

 

Procedures and Structures

Procedures are the routines in the classroom and structures are the organizational elements that need to be understood for there to be a safe and productive environment.  These guiding elements give students stability and create a room where learning can be varied and yet still organized. Procedures and structures are often times focused on at the start of the year, but begin to slip as the year goes on.  Have you re-calibrated your classroom lately?

Kaneland adopted the CHAMPS model to assist in creating a common language about behaviors and expectations for procedures and structures.  Did you take the time to train your students on all elements in CHAMPS? When was the last time you revisited the expectations for behaviors or procedures?  Does it seem to take forever to get students to truly understand and follow through on the expectations? Go slow.  Make sure students have full understanding.  By taking the time to solidify procedures and structures, less time will be lost at the end of the day when students are moving independently. It is one of those situations in the classroom where you need to go slow to go fast.

If you are setting up your classroom for personalization, do your students know and understand:

  • Conversation levels?
  • How to request Help from the teacher or a peer?  What a student can/should do while waiting for help?
  • Expectations of an Activity?  How to move through the task?  Where the materials are to complete the activity?  Where to find a new activity or where to turn in something that has been completed?
  • Movement in the classroom?  When should they be moving around?  When they should select traditional seating versus when alternate seating?
  • What appropriate Participation looks and sounds like? Do they know how to conference with peers? Do they know when it is best to work with a partner or group or when it is best to work independently?
  • The rules and expectations of your room?

 

Planning

Planning is a structure that helps teachers and students gain clarity before a unit begins.  As a new teacher, you were trained on how to create a traditional lesson plan. You knew your objectives, activities, resources, and ways that you were going to differentiate for a variety of learners.  How many of you still use this form? I know at the start of my career I was intentional about my planning. I used that form. My planning began to shift in year two when I purchased the traditional lesson planning book and just jotted down my activities for the unit.  By year five, I was sometimes using my planner and other times would go back afterwards and plug in what we did. As I gained experience I relied a lot less on that planning book.

Personalized learning is a new way of doing things for those that are first year teachers, as well as veteran teachers. We are shifting our standards into “I can” statements to create learning targets that are student friendly.  Do you have lesson plans with these on them? Do you have a map of how your learning targets build together versus live in isolation of one another? When you do a culminating activity or project do you and your students fully understand all the targets that were building blocks?  

It is time to go back to lesson planning.  To create a unit takes time. It can slow you down. This slow down is needed to prepare yourself as a teacher for the clarity it takes to be able to guide students through personalization.  As you are planning for personalization:

  • Start with your end in mind.  
    • What does proficiency look like for your standard? (We will take a deep dive into this next month)
    • What foundational skills do students need to be successful at the end?
    • What are a few different options for students to display what proficiency looks like?
  • Backtrack and scaffold foundational targets.  
    • What information/skills will be new to all of your students?  These ideas/concepts/knowledge often times require a full group instruction, often times referred to as legacy or seminar instruction in personalization.
    • What information/skills will lend themselves to small group instruction? What targeted instruction will you provide? How are you differentiating for a variety of learners and coaching students?
    • What new information/skills can be built as a student team without much teacher assistance?  Where will you strategically use flex grouping to allow students to have academic discourse?
    • How will you allow students the ability to personalize as they are gaining these foundational targets?
  • Create formative assessments.
    • Do you have formative check in points scheduled?
    • Do your formative assessments focus on knowledge and skills?
    • Does your formative assessment actually evaluate the knowledge or skill that is identified in your learning target or standard? (If you have an “I can” statement about finding the capital on a map, does your formative assessment have a map or are you asking students to list the capitals of certain cities?)
  • Identify resources.
    • What materials will you have available to students?
    • Do you have a variety of resources (print, online, community, etc)?
  • Allot time for student planning and reflecting.
    • When will students be able to set goals or create learning plans?
    • How will students learn about the learning targets and see models of what it is like to hit the learning target?
    • Where is reflection imbedded in the daily routine?
  • Plan for a variety of student ability and rate of completion.
    • What are some ways you could modify for those struggling?
    • What can be done for those that move quickly to proficiency?

If you are looking for a new template to do your personalized learning lesson planning on here are two versions from Edina Public Schools:                                Version A                     Version B

 

Wrap Up 

Please remember that personalized learning doesn’t say that you should not help students make academic decisions. Students need structures, guidance, options, and coaching in order to help them grow as learners. Personalized learning allows students to have a voice and choice in how and what they are learning as they become co-creators in their education.  A teacher needs to have the ability to give students clear examples of proficiency, suggest appropriate activities and resources for learning, and a way to provide formative feedback to learners. Personalized learning is not about setting students free to fend for themselves. Thoughtful and thorough planning is crucial for teachers offering personalized learning experiences.

 

*Link to Presentation: Planning for Personalized Learning

 

Refocusing on our District Constellation with Research

We have had a lot of discussion around our School Improvement Goals in the past few weeks.  I thought it might be worth taking some time to reflect on our focus and the benefits it can bring to students.  I looked back to our district constellation that we explored at the Personalized Learning 2.0 Academy earlier this year.  The honeycomb cells identified are terms that we know and understand, but what does the research say?

I have been contemplating aligning Hattie’s research on Visible Learning for the past few months.  I wasn’t sure quite how to approach that.  By refocusing on our constellation, it seemed appropriate to explore what the research says about each honeycomb.  Keep in mind that the effect size of .40 signifies one year of growth.  What I have listed below are only some of the effect sizes that could be categorized in each area, but I selected the ones that seemed most meaningful. I think if we truly reflect on what we have implemented and what our next steps are, we will further ourselves in personalizing for our students.  If you are curious to read the definitions of each honeycomb cell, you can access a pdf version of the image below here.

Last week’s coaching blog entry focused on Reading Conferences.  The resource shared seemed to be an excellent tool to use for implementing conferences in any area.  Conferring is a key component to Proficiency Based Progress, but teachers and students can also integrate the topic of a student’s Learner Profile as you explore together student progress, sucesses and frustrations.  As we gain further understanding about Personalized Learning, we will hopefully see the blurred lines among these honeycombs and experience a classroom that truly empowers students.  Is it time to create or update your own constellation?

“Don’t wait for the stars to align, reach up and arrange them the way you want….create your own constellation.”   -Pharrell Williams

I would like to close with celebrating all of the wonderful implementation that I have witnessed across our district.  As we collaborate within and beyond our district about personalized learning, my takeaway is always that Kaneland and Kaneland teachers and students are doing great things.  The choice and voice that I have witnessed here is impressive.  Let’s keep the momentum going!  I can say without hesitation that I am proud to be a Knight!

 

References:

Visible Learning (visiblelearning.org)

Institute for Personalized Learning

KMSD Personalized Learning Look Fors

Weichel, M., McCann, B., & Williams, T. (2018). When they already know it: How to extend and personalize student learning in a PLC at work. Solution Tree Press.

Reading Conferences

I just unwrapped my new professional book “A Teacher’s Guide to Reading Conferences: Grades K-8” by Jennifer Serravallo. Just barely a few chapters into this book, I have found there are so many valuable tips to reinvigorate reading conferences. Below are some of Serravallo’s tips:

What Conferring is:

  • a conversation with a student
  • a time to offer individualized instruction
  • a time to provide assessment based guidance
  • a  time to offer guided practice and feedback
  • a time to support student self reflection
  • a time to teach the reader

What Conferring IS NOT:

  •  a pop quiz
  • a time to reteach everyone the same lesson from the whole class lessons
  • a time to make random, off-the-cuff remarks
  • a time to do extensive modeling/demonstration
  • a lecture with an audience of one
  • a time for teachers to do all the talking
  • a time to teach the book

Now that you know what a conference is, the next step is to contemplate which kind of reading conference would be beneficial to your students.  Serravallo summarizes the different types of conferences, linked here, that could be structured in to your reading block.

Next, you are thinking what are the rest of my students doing when I am conferring with students? What makes our students better readers is the time to read. Research tells us that reading related activities such as comprehension question worksheets, phonics activities, memorizing sight words take up way too much time during the reading block. Instead  the students should be reading for sustained periods of time.

Serravallo recommends that following minutes children should be reading in school each day:

 

Grade Level Approximate Number of Minutes of In-Class Reading, Daily
Kindergarten
  • 7 – 20 minutes: independent reading and conferring
  • 5 – 10 minutes: partner reading and conferring
First Grade
  • 15 -25 minutes: independent reading and conferring
  • 5 – 10 minutes: partner reading and conferring
Second
  • 20 – 35 minutes: independent reading and conferring
  • 5 – 10 minutes: partner reading and conferring
Third through Fifth
  • 40 – 45 minutes: independent reading and conferring
  • 10+ minutes: twice weekly, subtract some time from independent reading to allow for partnership or club time and conferring.

This book is full of so many great tips and would be a great addition to your professional library. Let us know if the coaches can assist you in any way with your reading conferences.

 

 

Works Cited

Serravallo, Jennifer. A Teacher’s Guide to Reading Conferences: Grades K-8. Heinemann, 2019.