A Few of My Favorite Things

I love watching musicals.  As a child I would watch many of them with my parents.  Funny Girl, My Fair Lady, Bye Bye Birdie, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Sound of Music were among my favorites to watch repeatedly.  I guess breaking into song can make anything seem lighter, or make anything seem better.  It almost seems like the characters are reflecting about their situation in song.  As the summer is coming to an end and I am about to begin my sixth year as a building administrator, I began thinking about some of the difficult days and frustrating moments that I have experienced and possibly will experience along with all of the things that have to get done and really stressing myself out.  I thought, "How negative is this!  Not a good way to begin the year.  Let's turn this around and think of my favorite moments."  Of course the song "Favorite Things" from Sound of Music popped into my head.  I think Maria had it right during that thunder storm scene.  She and the children sang about all of the things that made them happy and removed those scared negative thoughts about the loud thunder and crash of lightning that was happening outside the windows.  I think it is important to think about those amazing moments in our careers that made us truly happy or excited, or rejuvenated.  Those memories can get us through those annoying, frustrating moments that we all unfortunately experience.  They remind us why we do what we do and cause us to find the solutions to our problems that arise, so that we can create yet another wonderful moment.  Here are a few of my "favorite things" or moments:

Hour of Code - Computer Science Week was approaching my first year as a principal in a new school for grades 3-5.  I discovered that the students were not aware of "Hour of Code" yet.  I worked diligently to organize a schedule and directions for what to do when they got to the computer lab.  The students were quite fond of Mind Craft that year so I chose the mind craft coding game from code.org.  The students arrived one class at a time to watch the mini video about web design and how to use blockly (a coding function that has JavaScript underneath).  After viewing the video, they all went to their computers and began coding to make their character follow the directions needed to solve the puzzles.  The students were great at it! Besides the students succeeding in coding and learning a new skill that can be applied to future jobs in computer programming, what made this a "favorite thing" was what happened after "Hour of Code".  As I was walking in the halls, I was stopped on more than one occasion by more than one student for the same purpose.  The students were thanking me for bringing them "Hour of Code".  One of them told me that they went home and tried other coding games after they successfully completed the mind craft puzzle.  Another one told me that they wanted to be a web designer when they grew up.  I had made a difference in these students' lives and it felt amazing!

Digital Tool Teasers - Sharing digital tools to use in the classroom is a passion of mine.  I love adding a tool to my faculty meetings for teachers to try out if they would like.  I don't make it an expectation or mandatory by any means.  It is more to simply add to their toolboxes of strategies.  If they want to try it out, I make myself available to assist if needed.  Different tools work for different classrooms and teachers.   I always love seeing teachers get excited to try something new, especially when they end up loving it and taking it to the next level.  I end up learning from them as a result. One of my "favorite things" was when I introduced Plickers to the teachers in the Middle School where I was an assistant principal.  We didn't have 1:1 devices so the use of Plickers was very exciting to the teachers.  This tool affords teachers the opportunity to create questions about a topic and the students hold up coded cards for the teachers to scan with one device like a cell phone.  The data is collected instantaneously and the teacher has the information in their account.  Students can also see the results of the data and understand why they may need to review a topic more.  What made this a "favorite thing" is what happened after the teaser.  I began getting emails from my teachers thanking me for introducing them to this tool.  One teacher wrote how she used it in her reading class and the students began creating questions for each other on the topic.  It became an even better way to see how the students were doing with the content.  Excitement is a contagious feeling and one of my other favorite moments was working with a teacher, in the grades 3-5 building, who was excited to try out Google Classroom. He invited me in to Co-Teach in the classroom.  I was able to teach the students alongside my excited teacher and we all learned various functions of Google Classroom together.  Some functions the students were able to figure out and show us! It was incredible.

Reward Earned - In one of the third grade classrooms, students earn teacher bucks throughout the week for good behavior, great effort, or accomplishments.  At the end of the week they go to the classroom store and use their earned teacher bucks for classroom incentives.  Some cost more than others.  Some students make the decision to save their bucks and not purchase something that week so that they can earn one of the pricier items.  Why is this a "favorite thing"?  One of the pricier items that a couple of students saved their earnings for was to be able to bring a book down to my office and read to me.  I love any moment I can have with my students but these students passed up on homework passes or sitting in the teacher's chair to come read to me.  It made my day to see their smiling faces as they read a book of their choice with me sitting next to them individually.

Book Club - As an administrator, you sometimes can lose those precious moments with the students that you may have had as a classroom teacher.  I missed talking about books with my students.  A friend of mine in my PLN is an assistant superintendent and she told me how she continued a book club she used to run in the middle school.  She loved reading with the students so periodically, early in the morning, students would meet with her before school and they would talk about the book they chose to read as a group.  I thought if she could still have book talks with students so can I.  I read a few books appropriate for students' grade level and chose the book that I thought would work for our first book club.  I wanted some input from teachers (and wanted an excuse to demonstrate another tool, Voxer) so I asked teachers if any had the desire to read a book with me over spring break.  There were a few teachers who were interested so they created Voxer accounts and we read the book together over the break.  We voxed each other as we reached various points of the story and unanimously agreed that it was a great book to read with the students in grades 4 and 5.  I sent home the flier for students to sign up and purchased books for them.  20 students and I met in the school library before school and we talked about what was going on in the selected parts of the story as well as participated in activities such as a trivia game using Kahoot and adding our thoughts about the story on a Flipgrid.  The students LOVED the book and great conversations happened as a result. Those Friday mornings were amazing and gave me a smile that lasted the entire day.

I love thinking about my favorite things, "When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad..." I smile and think about all of the wonderful things I get to experience as a building principal. It is such a rewarding job that I am lucky to have, even on a rainy day.

Every Student Counts

"Every student counts" is said and heard all the time in so many different contexts.  We have our ENL population  of students who have various needs in order to succeed in the rigorous academics in our school while also learning our language.  We have students with learning disabilities, whose brains work differently than others and so they too have various needs to succeed.  We have students who have attention issues or other behavioral issues that get in their way in the classroom, therefore, they too have various needs to succeed.  We also have those students who are gifted in some ways and learning comes much easier to them. Their readiness level in various subjects is grade levels higher than their peers, therefore they too have various needs in order to continue to progress in school.  Every student counts! So I pose the question: If all of these students are in a classroom together, how do we ensure that the myriad of needs are met?  Then I take it one step further: How do we instill in these students the knowledge of what their needs are so that they could ensure that they are given the help that they need?

Many people would answer the first question simply by saying two words..."differentiated instruction."  What does that mean and how do we transfer it to the student as well? I watched a webinar with Robyn Jackson from ASCD. She talked about the resources used for differentiating as opposed to planning multiple lessons within the lesson. She looked at the students as falling into four quadrants; high process/high content, high process/low content, low process/high content, and low process/low content. Various resources would be made that would assist each student with the lesson so that they can reach their individual potential. Students will begin to learn their own needs and eventually seek out the resources themselves. Of course it is important to note that if a student feels as though they would benefit from a resource they were not originally provided they should be afforded that opportunity if needed. A student who is low content, may need help with some vocabulary, this can be done with visuals or a glossary. Students who are English Language Learners can benefit from these resources as well. Students who are low process, may need a resource demonstrating the steps to take in order to complete the task, like a check list or graphic organizer.

Let's look at the high process/high content student. We all have them but unfortunately many times the focus is on the students who are struggling that we forget to meet the needs of those who do not struggle. Since EVERY student counts, we need to make sure they too reach their full potential. How about offering some "nice to know" information about the topic. This takes those students to the next level in the content but does not confuse the students who need to grasp the basics of the content. I remember when I was younger I was an avid reader. I always had a flashlight and book under my pillow. I remember my teacher in elementary school offering me a list of books that she thought I would like to read. They were books that were clearly a higher grade level than we were reading in class. She then would take the time to meet with me to discuss the books that I chose to read and we would have a little book talk. It wasn't a lot of time spent but it stuck with me and I got a lot out of our book discussions that I wouldn't have been able to have with the books we were reading in class. I think that is when I began to learn how to question what I was reading, I do not believe I was annotating in my margins yet but I probably could have if I was shown how.

Recently, a teacher I know, told me about a discovery he made about his student that could potentially change his life in education and he is only in second grade. This student has been a discipline issue since Kindergarten. Each year the current teacher would hear from the principal as well as the past teacher that he was problematic and a huge distraction to the rest of the students in class. Many times he would not do his work and would cause disruptions. This second grade teacher came to the realization, by taking the time to gather some extra data, that this student was extremely bored in school because his academic levels across the board were a few grade levels above what was being taught in class. His second grade teacher began giving him different work at his level including a separate reading group using above grade level materials and changing the questioning. The student is now behaving beautifully and is not a disruption anymore. He is happy with the challenging work.

Many times when differentiating for students to meet the needs of all students, choice is needed.  There are many ways to learn information as well as show that you have learned the content.  Sometimes it is not about changing the level of the material you are using but offering choice on the assignment and how the learning is demonstrated.  Tapping into students’ strengths can often help them with their weaknesses. 

There are many ways to differentiate content or process for all our students and their various needs.  What’s important to remember is that EVERY STUDENT counts and we need help them all reach their full potential.  As Carol Ann Tomlinson astutely stated, “In the end, all learners need your energy, your heart and your mind. They have that in common because they are young humans. How they need you however, differs. Unless we understand and respond to those differences, we fail many learners."

Deliberate Updated Instruction

Now that we are not entering the 21st century and are in fact in the 21st century, districts are making sure they have all of the newest technologies for their schools.  Many are equipping their classrooms with new interactive whiteboards, buying tablets, iPads, or chrome-books.  Some districts are implementing a 1:1 initiative giving each student a device, some are implementing a BYOD initiative, and others are investing in device carts that are shared among the faculty.  While having these technologies are beneficial for updating our instruction and engaging our students in their world, it is more important to look at how these technologies are being used.  These technologies have the capabilities of redefining a lesson rather than just looking updated because we used technology.

Dr. Ruben Puentedura developed the SAMR framework to help teachers evaluate how they are integrating technology in their lessons.

 

Let me walk you through the process of using technology to update the poster board/trifold board presentation on a selected location...

The first level of the framework is substitution, which is seen in any classroom that has a computer and projector/board.  This is where technology merely substitutes for the original methods.  There is no real change to the lesson.  You are using technology to use technology.   An example of this could be using PowerPoint to present information on a chosen location.  The second level, augmentation, uses technology, as a substitution however, there is minimal improvement to the lesson or project. Students can add video or hyperlinks to their PowerPoint presentation making it more engaging to the audience.  After substitution and augmentation you cross the threshold to transforming the lesson with deliberate updated instruction.  The third level of the SAMR model is modification, where technology creates a significant redesign to the lesson or project.  Students can create a digital travel brochure for their selected location and include a student created video.  The final level of the SAMR model is redefinition, where the lesson or project takes the shape of something that could not have been possible before.  Students can use Google Earth to explore their chosen location, include interviews with people who have visited the location and/or record a Google Hangout with people currently living in the location.

Another project that could go through the process is writing a story using a pen and paper. At the substitution level the story can be typed using a word processor. Augmentation exists if the student uses existing tools as the spell check, thesaurus, and word count. Entering the transformation area at the modification level the student may collaboratively create a story using Google docs and incorporate multimedia like sound bites or video. Finally, to reach the the redefinition level the student can post their created story on twitter or create a blog so that their story is shared with the world and can receive feedback.

As I attended various edcamps, connected with educators through Twitter chats, and continued to read various blogs from people in my growing professional learning network, I find myself learning so many ways to use technology to transform education rather than simply enhance it.  Being a connected educator opens the doors to so many more ideas making it easier to reach that level of deliberate updated instruction, unlike trying to do it either on my own or being limited to only the resources in the building and sometimes district.  Technology can truly redefine our education if used in a transformable way.  So while having the various technologies is of course important, sharing ideas on how to use it will make the money spent well worth it.

Cultivating Kindness

I read a news article recently about a boy in New Mexico who was repeatedly asking his mom to pack two lunches for school each day.  His mom figured he was just a very hungry growing boy, so continued to meet his request.  Eventually, out of concern, she asked him if he was just not getting full.  The boy explained that he noticed a little boy in school was only eating a fruit cup each day and believed he could not afford lunch.  He continued to ask if we (him and his mom) could continue to feed him.  After some time the mom of the little boy found out and reached out to the other mom through the school principal.  She wanted to pass a long some money mentioning that it wasn't much but she just got a job and wanted to pay her back for the kindness she showed her son.  She could not accept the money from this grateful mom.  The Volleyball team that the helpful mom coaches also raised $400 to help pay for the lunches, and the mom would not accept that money either.  Instead she decided to "pay it forward" and brought the money straight to the cafeteria of the school and paid up all of the past due balances of all the children so that no child would go hungry.  This type of kindness that the boy and his mother bestowed upon the little boy and his mother is not something you see or hear about often but it makes you want to do another act of kindness when you do.  The power of cultivating kindness is simply the act of being kind.

My school district recently had an assembly at all four elementary schools that was about this idea of cultivating kindness.  Many districts have brought this assembly to their schools and you haven't, I highly recommend that you do.  Mr. Richard Specht comes to schools with his storybook that he wrote, called A Little Rees Specht Cultivates Kindness, and his story of proof that kindness can be cultivated and grow like a plant.  A detail of his story is quite sad but he does an excellent job at telling his story and not upsetting the children with that detail.  He does a great job at showing how he was able to turn a tragic moment in his life into a teachable moment.  Everyone sitting in that room, children and adults alike, were positively affected in a way where they too wanted to participate in acts of kindness.  I am not going to tell his entire story however I will write about some of it to help explain the idea of cultivating kindness.  As Hurricane Sandy was quickly approaching, Mr. Specht was given the task of securing the backyard furniture as well as watch his two year old son while his wife was on errands with their daughters.  A friend came over to help watch the two year old as Mr. Specht frantically tackled the furniture.  When Mr. Specht came back inside he saw his friend sitting on the couch watching TV.  He asked what his son was doing and his friend thought the boy was with Mr. Specht outside.  An accident took place which resulted in the loss of his son at the same time as Hurricane Sandy knocked out all the power and destroyed everything in its path.  One day, after the hurricane was over, there was a knock at the door and it was a landscaping company.  Mr. and Mrs. Specht going through what they were going through just looked at him.  The man said that he thought he could help them.  The Spechts simply said they didn't need landscaping and the man asked them if they have seen their yard.  The Spechts said everyone was going through that.  The man told them not everyone went through, what they went through.  The landscaping company decided to work tirelessly all week making their landscaping look better than it ever had before (for free).  The Spechts were so grateful they tried tipping the men.  The men refused to take the money.  The Spechts went to their lunch spot and tried to pay for their lunches and the restaurant owner wouldn't take the Specht's money and instead bought the men in the landscaping company their lunch instead.  The Spechts wanted to return the kindness that the landscaping company, the restaurant, and friends and family members have shown them the past few weeks.  They decided to have 500 cards made that tell a little about their story and pledged that they would do 500 random acts of kindness.  

The first act of kindness is what led him on the path of cultivating kindness.  He was in the car with one of his daughters and drove to Dunkin donuts for breakfast.  While at the pick up window in the drive through, he paid for his order but did not drive away.  Instead, he gave the woman at the window one of his cards and told her he would like to pay for the breakfast that the car behind him ordered.  She took the card and his money and Mr. Specht and his daughter drove away.  Later that night he received an email from that woman at the window (his email address was on the card).  She said the most amazing thing happened when he drove away.  The car pulled up and the woman told him that his breakfast was paid for and showed him the card.  That man decided to pay for the order for the car behind him and left the card at the window.  The next car did the same and the car behind that.  This continued until there were no more cars pulling up to the window, 3 hours later.  One random act of kindness caused others to do acts of kindness.  Mr. Specht now has a website and cards made up that are past around all over the world.  People share with him the random acts of kindness they do.

After experiencing this man's story and sitting through one of the best assemblies I have experienced, I ask myself... how can I continue this idea of cultivating kindness in my school?  As educators of children, we ensure that they grow to be productive members of society.  We ensure that they have the education necessary to succeed in life in the work place as well as in the community.  The children that walk the halls of our schools are our future.  What better way to change the world than by cultivating that desire to spread kindness not only to friends but to people they may never have met.  

Brain Breaks

I don't know about you, but after working really hard on a project or spending time learning at a conference, I need time to unwind and rest my brain. I need time to be quiet or listen to music, and just take minute to unwind.  Children need to do the same, especially with the demands of the rigorous learning they experience in each of their core subject areas.  They need a "Brain Break"! This can look different depending on either the make-up of the class, the time of day, or the activity that they were participating in that required a brain break.

Brain breaks can last anywhere from 1 minute to 10 minutes.  A popular Web 2.0 tool can be used to guide a classroom brain break.  It is called Go Noodle.  I used it with my faculty at a faculty meeting in order to introduce it.  Since that meeting, it would be safe to say that 75% of my teachers use it with their students and both teachers and students LOVE IT!

The class gets assigned a character.  After a certain amount of brain breaks the character grows and the students get excited to see how big their character gets.  Go Noodle has different types of activities that the teacher can choose for the class, depending on the need of the class.  If the class needs to get out of their seats and move around and be very active because they have been sitting in their seats for a while racking their brains to solve math problems, a Zumba or Hip Hop dance activity may be just what they need.  The Go Noodle selection has activities that are as short as 1 minute long and as much as 10 minutes long so teachers can choose an activity that meets their timing needs.  They can also choose a longer one but stop it when they need to; the class will still get credit for their brain break activity so that their character continues to grow.  Once they select the activity there are people that come on the screen and lead the class in a routine going along with the music.

If the students need a brain break to calm them down, Go Noodle has some mindfulness activities including yoga or breathing exercises.  The act of being present and mindful is becoming more and more popular however many people are not quite sure how to lead an activity for their students.  The breathing activity on Go Noodle can help with that. There are many options but one of the options I like is called "Take on the Day" which walks you through blinking and breathing and being present and is only 1 minute long.

Other breathing activities are great but longer so you may want to stop it after a minute or two because the students may start to get restless taking deep breaths in and out for longer than that.


Over the summer I went to a conference led by Dr. Bill Brennan and Cory Muscara called Brennan Learning.  Dr. Brennan discussed many topics that he is known for around innovation.  Theory U was discussed to help bring about change in school districts and other organizations.  Mr. Muscara's specialty is meditation and the act of being present, which pairs well with Theory U since being present is part of the Theory U process but in a different way.  Mr. Muscara led us in a few mindfulness activities that can be done in schools without the use of technology.  One of the activities stuck with me, especially because it doesn't take long at all and is a perfect way to take a brain break and be in the moment.  During a silent moment, where no one talks (soft music can play in the background but doesn't have to), everyone in the room closes their eyes and traces one of their hands with the other hand.  Each person uses his/her pointer finger to trace up and down his/her thumb, then move to the pointer finger and trace up and down, then the middle finger, the ring finger, and pinky. Then he/she does the same thing the opposite way back to the thumb.  The quiet soft sounds, the sensation of the finger tracing the hand, and the thoughts of your breathing make this an easy way to take a brain break and be mindful.

It doesn't matter how you take your brain break or how you lead your faculty or students in a brain break.  What matters is that you take the time to have one.

Apps for Education

This is my first attempt to begin blogging and I am really excited to give it a try.  There are so many Apps to use in education, so I am going to choose a few that I think are either helpful to parents and teachers or engaging for students.

1. Lit Leveler is a great app for teachers and parents who are looking for the book level of high interest books.  I really believe that the love of reading does not come from a level and it is OK for a children to choose books that are below their reading level or challenge themselves with a book above their reading level.  However, at times, it is helpful for them to choose books on their level so this app is helpful for a quick determination of the level of the chosen book.  Teachers can also find that the Lit Leveler app can save them time leveling their classroom libraries.  The app allows you to scan the bar code of the book and immediately the Lexile score, the DRA score, and the GRL reading level pops up!  If the book does not have a bar code, you can type in the title as well.  Gone are the days of going to a website and having to type in the book's information to retrieve the reading level.  It is important to note that this app has a small fee of $3.99.

2. Remind is a great app for communication purposes.  I use it with my faculty and I am able to have two way communication with them directly to their phones without having to have their cell phone numbers and they don't have mine.  My teachers love using the app to communicate with their students' parents.  Some of them turn off the two way capabilities and use the app to send out a message to the class as a whole or to a small group.  They can also send individual messages to the parents.  The messages all arrive to the phones as a text message, which are always checked right away unlike mass emails or take-home folders.

3. QR Reader and QR Code Generator are great apps for engaging students.  I had a great time with my faculty at a faculty meeting by sending them on a QR code Scavenger Hunt.  They split into teams and searched around the library for QR codes. Using their QR Reader app on their phones they scanned the codes which led them to trivia questions.  The first group to answer all questions correctly won!  This led teachers to create QR codes for a classroom review.  One class was seen working together to scan QR codes around the room that were next to specific pictures of geometry terms.  Each code led them to the next term for review.  The students were excited while reviewing their geometry unit.  Another teacher added a QR code to her homework that led students to videos on the topic, they were studying, for extra support.  There are so many engaging ideas that can used with QR Codes!

4. Voxer is another communication app that can be used in many different ways!  It is an app that turns your phone or device into a walkie-talkie.  Recently, I joined a few Voxer groups one of which led me here, to my first blogging experience.  I joined a Blogging Challenge group that discusses blog posts we each create beginning with each letter of the alphabet and having to do with education.  I also joined a few leadership groups allowing me to broaden my professional learning networks, giving me more support and idea exchanges.  Voxer can also be used for book talks in a book club.  Students and/or adults can choose a book and Vox about each section read.  I know a teacher who also uses it during her reading conferences.  The student Voxes himself reading and the parent can here it and offer positive feedback right then and there, but also the student listens to his Vox submissions and hears his own fluency progress.

There are so many wonderful apps out there for education and I am sure that some of my future posts will include some other ones.  For now, enjoy the four Apps for Education that were written about today!