A Letter to Myself on My First Day of Teaching

Dear Eliza,
Your student teaching starts tomorrow and while I know you think you're ready, you're not. I'm not talking about all the books, lesson plans, rules and other teacher stuff. What I'm trying to say is that you are nowhere near ready to understand how much you are going to love the next twelve weeks of your life. Don't get me wrong, you'll be up at 5:30 every morning, giving up your evenings and weekends to grade, plan, and of course stress but, it's all worth it. You're seeing bits of that now as you prepare to say farewell yet, I'm confident that you'll see your work continue to bear fruit later.
Right now you're anticipating some great summer reading projects, spoiler- they aren't so great. You know what, that last test you'll be giving- it will be. You need to understand that you helped make that happen. You students will learn and that's something that you've helped them with, don't ever doubt that.
The students aren't the only ones who will learn either, you, my dear, will learn a lot. Some of it will be simple stuff like how a little bit of humor gets you a long way. There'll be big stuff too like hip-hop, that's right hip-hop. You're going to teach it, or rather, facilitate it being taught to you. You're going to take an interest in High School sports, crazy right, and most importantly you'll see how fantastic it is to be in a diverse school environment. You're going to learn that high schoolers are crazy, like certifiably and that more often than not they will think you're crazy. It's ok, you are. Just embrace it now. You're going to learn that grading isn't just hard- it hurts. You love those kids a little too much and you want them to succeed. Sometimes being able to give a student an A feels even better than those As you got in High School.
Now, I know that you're trying to make lists, plan units, stay organized and on track but don't stress about getting off a little in order to enjoy the little things. Keep your eyes open because it's when you least expect it that the most meaningful things happen. For example, that recommendation letter you just got from Cam. You realize that lady thinks you can do this right, and she knows what she's doing so trust her and keep doing it. Oh, and that job you just got offered. Yeah, those people believe in you too. You were meant for this. In fifteen weeks, you'll realize that you care more about kids, education, good teaching, and deep thinking than you ever imagined possible. You'll learn that success at this job takes doing and that you can't imagine not doing it, all of it, all the time- for real though, you will dream about school at least once.
One last thing, you're going to like NC and you're going to love Hickory. So, stop thinking about that apartment with Christina because by May you're not going to want that. I'm serious, you're currently hoping and praying for an empty classroom at HHS. Because of all this, say thank you. Not just to the grown ups who taught you, challenged you and encouraged you, but to the hundred something kids who sit in your classroom. Thank you for coming to school and thank you for making me look good at my job.
Oh, and Eliza, just because you're not paid to be a teacher doesn't mean you're not a "real teacher".
Love,
Miss Barger

This letter was inspired by a post from The Nerdy Teacher  and the fact that I leave my student teaching placement tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll be able to write another letter to myself after I've been teaching for ten+ years like some of these other awesome teachers.

I'm not ready to leave aka HIRE ME PLEASE!!

I just wrapped my seventh week of full-time teaching, and I'm so so so not ready to let go. I have three weeks of full time left and then another three of co-teaching and phasing out.
Here's the deal.
I want to stay.
Preferably with the kids I have now, but I know that's not going to happen. Thankfully, there is a chance my High School will be hiring a new English Teacher. Despite the fact that I've said I was going to move back to STL when this was done, I now want to be a Red Tornado.
You guys, I went to a lacrosse game tonight. In the cold. By myself. And I had a good time. I sat by myself and, yes, I texted KJ a bit, but it was entertaining. Also, a little terrifying: they beat each other with those sticks! Afterward, I saw a student who got a concussion last weekend so he's been a little eh in class this week. I was teasing him a little about being at the baseball game when he hasn't even been at school much and then we just chatted for thirty minutes. It was great. I then got to high-five my boys on the team as they were leaving.
I want to stay. Please hire me. I love these kids, like a lot. I'm not kidding.

I've Got to Trust My Instincts, Close My Eyes, and Leap!

If we've met, chances are I've quoted a musical- it's just something that I do. Tomorrow I start student teaching full time and I think that this quote captures what I'm feeling right now. It's all there, the knowledge, the passion, and the skills I just have to trust that when push comes to shove I can do it. And in about ten hours, I'll be doing just that. I leap into student teaching with a massive senior class and then two, not quite as large but still large, sophomore classes. I just don't know what to think or feel. I know that sounds strange but I don't- I have to face about 100 children tomorrow and set the stage for the next two months of their English careers. Teacher's have a lot of power and right now that power is overwhelming.
I'm overwhelmed, but no one else is even batting an eyelash. My friends (who are teachers/student teachers), my university professor, my co-operating teachers, the other teachers, my sweet church family. Not a single one has said "Well Eliza, you're a great girl, but I don't think this whole teaching thing is going to work out." I think that part of me is afraid that these ten weeks are where someone will jump out of nowhere and say just that. I am afraid to fail, plain and simple. So, what's the answer? To quote Nike: "Just do it!" Tomorrow, and every day for the next ten weeks, I'll get up there and teach. When the problems come, and they will, I will do my best to fix them and keep going. That's all they want from me and I'm trying to retrain my crazy perfectionist brain to expect that from myself.

Here goes nothing :)

Final Thoughts

Beginning:

Via Flikr user  Raffeale Camarde

Summer 2014 is coming to a close, soon it will be summer 2015 and this girl will have a diploma and a teaching certificate! When our Methods of Integrating Technology class started I expected that I would learn a number of way to use different educational programs in the classroom. I did learn about several tools, but that was done independently because it was not the focus of the course. Instead of how to use technology, we talked about why teachers should use it and what the outcomes should be. Rather than gain tips, I started developing a paradigm through which to view my technology use, in and out of the classroom.

Middle:

THE GOAL of technology is always student learning, it's not using the newest and coolest thing in class. I think that I knew this but hearing it said out loud and reinforced in every class confirmed it. As teachers, our job is to teach students content and skills, technology is a tool for doing that, just like KWL or SSR. Technology matters if it is able to help students learn. The end. If no one is learning than something needs to change. My temptation is to think of technology as making things more cool or appealing to students. While using a short video or a new website might get them engaged it needs to accomplish some type of learning and not be disconnected from the course goals.

End:

As a girl who's hand me down Blackberry is her newest tech tool, this class was a little overwhelming. We covered a lot in a little bit of time. That being said, I'm excited to keep using it all. Here are a few takeaways from the four weeks of class:

Via Fikr user Ian Guest

Quest 1 was about frameworks for evaluating technology use. I think that this has been the most informative part of the course because it helped me see how I should be assessing the tools that I use. This coming semester I'll be planning my teacher work sample and in the spring I'll teach for 10 weeks. During this time I want to make a conscious effort to use all four degrees of the SAMR model. As I plan lessons, I hope to keep this model in mind and force myself to think past the obvious uses for programs and see how they can transform student learning.
                  ____________________
Quest 2 focused on teachers and developing a Personal Learning Network. We talked about twitter, google+, pinterest etc. as ways that teachers can learn from one another and get suggestions from outside their school or district. I like the idea of this but I think that it's going to take me sometime to really develop it and feel comfortable reaching out to people that I've never met. I do want to ask my cooperating teachers about how they developed a PLN and if they have suggestion for people I need to be learning from. I also would like to be more active in using twitter, my goal this year is to participate in one twitter chat a month. Secretly, I'm hoping that after the first few chats I'll really like it and start participating all the time :)
                                                        _______________________
Quest 3 revolved around being a good digital citizen. Plagiarism is something that I'm familiar with when it comes to books/magazines/journals etc and I have the resources to cite all of that information. I didn't know what I could and couldn't use on the internet. Since information is so accessible this module was important because we all use and share other people's information. After this module I've adapted all my search methods and I'm looking for Creative Commons copyrights and making sure the information or images are able to be used. This is an important practice for me to continue and to model for my students.
                                                        _______________________
Quest 4 covered creating content which is what I think I expected from the whole course. I love making things so this was a fun module for me. During class Dr. Linton had us create a learning object and then asked us to think about how we could use the assignment, not the object in our classroom. As fun as it may be to put worksheets or posters together for my class to use, all that does is solidify my learning. By turning the task over to the students they gain content knowledge as well as practice collaborating and being good digital citizens.

Creating a Digital Toolbox

The Basics:

Throughout the last month I have been using Pinterest to create a digital toolbox. This is a collection of websites or apps that I can use in the classroom to enhance student learning. At the beginning of this project our class created a list of ten questions to use when evaluating each tool (you can see the questions here). Every tool added needed to be assessed using these criteria.

Reflecting Back: 

I have been using Pinterest for ages and I really liked the format, while we could use other websites for this project I chose to simply create a new board. Since I was using this to collect my tools I also wanted to use it find a few more. I started looking for education related people to follow and have already found a number of great resources for teaching writing and English as well as web tools. I liked that I had the option to use a site I was already familiar with which helped me get even more engaged in the assignment.  You can find me on Pinterest at pinterest.com/ebarger

When adding tools I, at first, was very generous with several of the more subjective questions. For example, one question was "is this tool engaging for all students?" The 'all students' part of this question is tricky when you're talking about learning styles and multiple intelligences. At first I would mark this as fulfilled if the tool appealed to me. While this is a start, there are many more learners that I need to be thinking about. As I progressed in my evaluations I tried to think about what types of learners each website would appeal to and started listing them as I answered this question. A good tool does not have to appeal to every single learner but I need to make sure that I'm not gearing all my tools to a certain point of view.

Another question we asked was what level of the SAMR model could we achieve using the given website. This questions proved to be harder but more fruitful than I thought. I like to move quickly, when I'm working on my toolbox I often have Pinterest open in one tab and then several others tabs for the sites I'm getting ready to add. Assessing each tool for it's SAMR uses forced me to slow down and to think critically about what it could actually do to enhance learning. By doing this I often started coming up with several ideas for ways it could be used, often beyond what I had originally thought.

Via wikimedia commons

For example, infogr.am is a tool that allows users to create infographics. This could be used to make a learning object in which students created something online that they would normally do on paper. Infographics are an increasingly popular way of sharing information and students need to be practicing the four C's of 21st century learning. I think that a website like infogr.am could also be used to convey information that would normally be written in an essay or literature review. Students would have the challenge of finding pertinent information for their topic but also sharing it in a totally new way.

Moving Forward: 

One of the things I enjoy about pinterest is how easily accessible it is, when I need ideas there are all right there. As I progress into my student teaching I know that I'll be coming back to this board and looking for tools that work well with the specific content I'm teaching. I also want to continue to add to this board as I gain ideas from my co-teachers. Having made a start on learning different tools I hope to keep them in mind as I plan and find ways to use them to assist my students. This project has really made me aware of what's out there and what technology can do for our learning. I appreciated that this assignment made us think through criteria for each tool on our own rather than Dr. Linton giving us a list of tools. The way the assignment was set up is much more realistic because I will be responsible for keeping up with the advancements in education technology. 

Mrs. Queen Takes the Train

While browsing the isles at my local library I picked up William Khun's debut novel Mrs. Queen Takes the Train. Khun is a historian and has written multiple biographies, the most recent Reading Jackie.  This novel is a historical fiction piece about The Queen ten years after Diana's death. The Queen is feeling out of sorts and wants to do something to cheer herself up. She goes to visit a namesake horse at the Mews and an attendant there lends the Queen a ubiquitous black hoodie because she has forgotten her coat. The hoodie proves to be the perfect disguise, as the Queen walks back to the castle she is directed to go outside the gates. She realizes that her identity has been mistake and decides that it's time for an adventure. What results is a fun game of chase as her loyal household staff try to recover her before anything untoward or harmful happens. The Queen handles herself well and learns what might bring her more happiness in the long run.

Overall it's an enjoyable and entertaining read. Khun fills the story with factual information and pictures, not enough to overwhelm the story but just enough to make you wonder if you've ever ridden the train with The Queen. The monarchy often seems so separated from everyday people like you and me but Khun shows that The Queen is just as much of a person as you and I. He also easily weaves in a view of what happens downstairs at the palace. He taps into the love affair we've begun with Downton Abbey and other period pieces yet, keeps it modern day and easily accessible.  I finished the novel wanting to read more about this woman who has commanded the throne longer that my own grandmother has been alive. I was fascinated by Elizabeth I growing up and now I want to read about this Elizabeth.

Khun is currently working on another historical fiction piece about Isabella Gardner and John Singer Sargent. You can read more about him on at his website williamkhun.com

Collaborative Learning: A Redesign

This week our Methods of Integrating Technology class has been given the task of redesigning a traditional collaborative learning task so that it uses technology in a transformative way. I've chosen to adapt the KWL strategy.

Traditional: 

I'm a big fan of the KWL instructional strategy and

Via Wikimedia commons user Dkappella 

think that it has a wide variety of uses in the classroom. KWL's are typically done as a whole class, or partner project. Together the group works to come up with things they Know about the topic, things they Want to know, and what they have Learned; hence KWL. In a recent lesson that I taught to my MAT colleagues we used a KWL chart to make predictions about the plot of To Kill A Mockingbird. To use KWL in a small group students would pair off and list things that they know about the topic, in this case To Kill A Mockingbird. They would then list things they wanted to know. Generally some type of graphic organizer is used for this activity, I've included on here. When all groups are finished the class comes back together to compare lists.

Redesigned: 

During this class Dr. Linton has modeled various ways that Google Drive can be used in the classroom. I was familiar with Google Docs but had not branched out into the other services that Google Drive offers. To redesign this project I created a Google Form that asked the first two KWL questions. In this redesign the students would pair off and complete the form together. When they have given the appropriate number of responses they can submit the form. These answers all complied on a spread sheet and the teacher is able to see, in real time, what students are asking. Having complete the two questions the class comes back together to asses their answers. 

Via Flicker user Chris Messina 

Since all the answers have been collected the class can quickly and easily compare their responses. This KWL is to prepare students for reading To Kill A Mockingbird, after they read it the "what I learned" portion can be filled in. I think that asking an older class, in or out of their school, to fill out a form answering what they learned when reading the book would really add to this activity. The students questions are most likely going to be very surface level, they know and want to know about the characters and the plot. Getting feedback from a class who has already read the book could allow the current class to start thinking about the themes as well as the plot. Asking parents, or other teachers, for input on this question could generate a wider variety of answers as well.
When it comes time to complete the final part of a KWL  the teacher only needs to bring up the original spread sheet. Not only will students be able to answer their original questions they will be able to compare what they learned with others takeaways from the book. 

Thoughts: 

This was my first time redesigning a task and I wanted to start with something small scale. I actually enjoyed this a lot more that I thought I would. During the project my goal was to make sure that I wasn't letting the technology do the work for the students. Using Google Forms for this task still asks students to activate prior knowledge and build off it of it by discerning what they still need to know; it enhances the task. The thing I found challenging was taking my technology use beyond substitution. I really like the SAMR model, and I wanted to challenge myself by going deeper. I think that this will get easier as I become more familiar with redesigning and when I take on bigger tasks. The KWL is a small scale collaborative task that is usually employed at the beginning of a lesson or unit. Adapting a collaborative task that is used when students have a great knowledge of the content may lend itself to different levels of the SAMR model. I'd love to hear your tips on redesigning collaborative tasks and what the results were.