Immigration 2015

As a close to my 4th graders' immigration unit, I created this video.  It showcases all of their hard work throughout the unit studying the third wave of immigration.  They explored through the lens of an immigrant character that they were assigned.  They kept a diary chronicling their journey and even went through two simulations as their character.  The students had a very authentic learning experience with this unit and at the end I wanted to capture it to showcase at the celebration with parents.  They loved it!  They loved seeing their child's learning in a fun and visual way.  I loved using Animoto because it is so user friendly and is a simple way to do something like for the class and parents.  It is a great storytelling tool as well to display learning at the end of a unit.  I will surely be making more Animoto videos in my teaching career!

Digital Storytelling

Getting my students to create a digital story was something I had never done before but was excited to try.  They are knee deep in a poetry writing unit and are exploring using craft in their work.  When I heard about Story Bird it sounded like the perfect match.  I explored the site at first, seeing if it was accessible, and if my 4th graders would be able to navigate and understand how to use it.  My students use chrome books for publishing their work and this tool seemed like a fantastic way for them to showcase their poetry.  The poetry application on the site was fun because they got to choose their own artwork and tell a story.  I began the lesson with a quote we had already looked at, "Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting that speaks."  The students have come to understand this quote throughout their own work and how they can paint a picture in their readers' minds by writing poetry.  Showing the students how to use the tool was very easy.  They picked up very quickly how to choose artwork and use the words that were scrambled on the side to align everything to their artwork.  Students impressed me with the poems they came up with.  Some used humor, others get very deep.  

I found that the writers that were struggling in their notebooks and during mini lessons were soaring using the technology and the array of words provided for them.  It was fabulous to see!  The students were able to join a class that I created on the site and share and follow each other's work.  

Some critiques I have are that I was unable to find a way for the students to comment at first.  This would be a great and quick way for students to learn how to give positive feedback and safely comment online.  I figured this part out after the lesson was over so it is something I definitely want to try next time.  The kids loved seeing each other's work.  I was disappointed to see that once a student published their poem, they couldn't go back in and edit it.  A couple of my students accidentally published unfinished work.  I was unable to find a way to go back in and edit.  After the lesson the students shared their work on the smart board, reading their poems.  They absolutely loved this tool and begged to use it again.  I really like the feature that allows me to give assignments and have the students log in and complete it.  It was great for poetry but I want to try it for other writing assignments next.  We are beginning a unit on historical fiction writing and I think it would benefit that as well.  Definitely two thumbs up for this digital storytelling tool.  If my students ask to use this tool for homework, I consider it a success! 

Parent Teacher AND Student Conferences

It is a miracle I got through last week.  It was spring conference week, in my first teaching job.  I had shadowed conferences during my student teaching experience and led a few of them before but I knew that was not going to hold a candle to what I was about to experience for three days straight.  My anxieties?  Keeping my stamina up for 23 conferences.  Being able to speak to and answer all of the pertinent questions, having come into this classroom at the end of January.  Proving myself.  Making sure all the parents' worries were addressed.  Being able to assure them that their children are in good hands and that whatever areas of weakness exist, will be worked on further.  My list of anxieties were soon squashed when I remembered that the students would be sitting right next to me. They run the spring conferences in my district and assess their own learning and goals to present to their families.  Students came in with difference smiles that what I normally see at 7:55 am every day.  Some shook slightly, others' voices quivered.  It was then that I realized, they were more nervous than me!  This was a big deal to them; having to present their hard work to their parents.  Having to answer questions about why they did poorly on something or hear embarrassing enthusiasm at performing excellently on an assignment.  They were nervous too.  Their nerves weren't from my standpoint, but they were real.  My nerves came from meeting dozens of adults for the first time and explaining how personally I now know their children.  They came from hoping they understand how important their children's education is to me and how even if I'm new at this profession, I am giving it my all to make sure the school day is filled with more positives than negatives.  My nerves and my students' nerves were authentic and honest.  The end result?  Twenty three amazing conferences.  Some more stressful than others, some with more concerns than others, but all were equally rewarding, for me and the students.  I am glad that I got to sit next to the people who work so hard with me every day and present OUR learning.

Coming to America

This week we kicked off an immigration unit in Social Studies.  The kick off included an assembly in the cafeteria where the 4th grade teachers dressed up as immigrants on their way to Ellis Island.  Our principal was the "captain" and he interviewed each of us about our treacherous journey to the United States.  The kids hung on our every word, anxious to learn why their teacher was wearing suspenders, dirty shoes, and corduroys three sizes too big.  They were told that the teachers were portraying their actual ancestors which made the stories authentic and mesmerizing.  I played by great great grandfather Louis Fulop, who came to the U.S. in the 1910s from Budapest, Hungary.  He was a poor shoemaker and like thousands came to the country for a chance at a better life.  His cousin had a job waiting for him in Manhattan as a hot dog salesmen.  Not the luxury he was imagining I'm sure but it was honest, hard work.  The kids have a homework assignment tonight.  They need to go home and speak with their family about their own ancestry.  A few of my students already knew extensively what their heritage is but for others this is going to be an eye opening journey.  I think it is so important for them to understand that the people we are going to be reading and learning about were real and could even be traced to their own bloodline!  The students bombarded me after the assembly with questions about the character assignments they are going to receive later this week.  They wanted to know if they will be traveling first class or in steerage.  They wanted to know if they will get to dress up and act as their characters, just as I did today.  It was so great to see the excitement in their eyes for this upcoming unit.  I can't wait to get started!

Music To Our Ears

My students' days are filled with schedules and time crunches.  They are constantly on the go, both in and outside of school.  I have noticed that they often forget which way we usually walk to art or that we stop to get a drink and use the restroom after gym class.  How can I blame them?  They are little worker bees, clocking in and barely picking their heads up from 7:55 in the morning to 2:45 in the afternoon.  I noticed something that made me smile in my first few weeks as a teacher and that was that without fault, at different times every day, my students remember when their music lessons are.  Their instruments are piled by the front entrance to the room, a garden of fallen trombones and clarinets.  They stack their sheet music next to the brass and copper soldiers.  Pencil marks tear up the paper like the notes they sometimes fail to take down during a mini lesson.  These kids are inspired by music and it warms my heart.  I am a musician myself, having started playing in fourth grade, led by the very same teacher that conducts them on Monday mornings.  Mr. B hasn't aged a day and pops in a few times a week to adjust his lesson schedule that is magnetized to the white board.  The kids know when to pick up and leave for a lesson and are always concerned when a test finds its way smack dab in the middle of one.  "When can I go then?"  "I need to ask Mr. B when I will have my lesson."  I always allow for reschedules.  I understand the excitement and wonder of playing an instrument in the fourth grade.  It is so new and challenging and really mind blowing when you hear a song being played by the entire ensemble.  A song that you have trudged through in your bedroom after school for weeks, the smell of dinner being cooked teasing your focus.  I remember these feelings and the magic.  I love the music program in my district, its dedication and drive.  Playing and learning music allows students to grow in all subject areas.  Their fluency and focus in reading and writing can improve, their problem solving skills in math can benefit, and their decoding skills can become stronger.  It opens up a whole new world of possibilities learning wise and students aren't even aware of all that they are learning.  They are just having fun with a new instrument they get to take home and show off to friends and family at Christmas parties.  Isn't this what we want all learning to be like?  Bright and shiny, producing music to our ears.

What Happened to Fun?

It is difficult for me not to compare my experiences at the school I work at now to my experiences as an elementary student.  The fact that I attended this school sixteen years ago (wow, okay I officially know what it feels like to "date" oneself) makes it easier to see this comparison.  My first observations were of the building layout; the main office is now the art room, the fourth grade classrooms are in a whole new wing, and the windows seem brighter.  I then began to notice how different the school climate is because of the time and current trends.  I hear students singing Bruno Mars songs in the hallway and listening to books on MP3 players, reading on Nooks and typing on Chromebooks.  Their lessons are on Smartboards and they Skype with classrooms all over the world. This is all fascinating and inspiring to me, but there is one enormous difference and that is that these kids are so consumed and busy that they often forget to be kids.  Friday was the day before Valentine's Day and a party had been scheduled.  With the school's Health and Wellness policy, only healthy foods are allowed to be consumed.  With the school's busy schedule and expectations, the party only ended up being 20 minutes, not including set up and clean up.  When I think back on my experiences as a student, my memories are of course within the four walls of the classroom, but so many of them involve the birthday parties, holiday celebrations, and fun times sharing and growing together.  I think with today's fast paced world, these students need to also learn to be fast paced and think and act quickly and intelligently.  We are doing a fantastic job of preparing them for that, but we are forgetting one special thing; fun.  With all of the balancing I am trying to do, I cannot let myself forget to let these kids have fun in the classroom.  I want them to look forward to coming into that classroom each day because there is such a short window when they get excited about reading, writing, and solving math problems.  That window closes so quickly for so many kids.  I am so lucky to have my PLN and access to technology in so many ways.  I can find so many excellent resources and ideas on allowing fun within all of the deadlines and expectations.  I have a new thing to add to my to-do list: fun.

Tricks of the Trade

I have successfully completed my first week as a fourth grade teacher (even though that week included one snow day and two delays) and I feel very accomplished.  I was able to pick up on the majority of the class routines and schedules and get some really great lessons underway.  I learned something very important as I began my journey this week and that is the fact that I can add something new to my list of credentials.  I want to officially call myself a progressional multi-tasker.  I knew going into this profession that multitasking is an extremely useful skill to possess.  I knew that I would be balancing the focus and well being of 23 little minds all while maintaining classroom control, organization, discipline, and planning for the 8 other schedule blocks in a day.  But planning for this concept and actually putting it into use are two completely different animals.  The intensity of multitasking that teachers and educators do on a regular basis is incredible.  I find it to be the most challenging but important part of the day.  Your mind needs to constantly be working in thirty different directions in order to get one thing accomplished to goal.  Students have lessons, tutoring, meetings, and assessments that they are constantly being pulled out for and you need to be prepared to catch them up to speed.  Remembering where Eric sat yesterday in his independent reading spot but also that the occupational therapist needs an example of student work for her PPT next Tuesday and that students won't be finishing their rough drafts in writing because they will be taking a reading assessment on Thursday but students who need to make that up can't on Friday because you have a consult with the special education teachers then.  It is enough to make your entire body overheat.  I think what sets teachers apart from any other type of person in this scenario is that we signed up for this job and we are willing and happy to fulfill it.  I know that some days I am going to want to pull my hair out and/or forget to do half the things on my mental to do list.  I know that it is a challenging job, but one that I am excited to give my all to carry out.  Any multi-tasking tips are greatly appreciated from my fellow educators or superhuman non-educators!

I know that one thing I am so lucky to have on my new journey is love and support.  I have it from both family and friends.  I was brought a delivery from the school secretary last week that warmed my heart and soul.  It was a bouquet of beautiful flowers sent to me by the teachers I was working with at my previous job.  They were wishing me luck on my newest endeavor and it spoke to how lucky I am to have such positive love and support.