Let it Come Naturally

You know the old saying that goes something like, you can't force a round peg into a square hole? Well, it applies to our classrooms in a very serious way.  You want your students to learn, that is a given.  The challenge lies in the manner in which it is accomplished.

Just like not forcing round pegs into square holes, you can't force learning on your students.  If you try, you will only be met with fierce resistance and certain frustration for all parties involved.

Instead, you need to focus on providing the means for learning to take hold.  Focus on the areas of your classroom that you can control, and allow the students to learn as a by-product.

But, how is this done?  Is there a special magic potion that you can spread throughout your classroom that will magically result in learning?

Not really, at least not in potion form.

What you can do is follow three simple steps that will envelop the students in a learning environment, resulting in their desire to learn without being forced into a square hole.

First, begin your year together with your students by building true relationships with each and every student.  Get to know your students, beyond their favorite color, team, etc.  Connect with them on a deeper level to show them that you truly care about them as a person first, student second.  This straightforward approach will resonate with students simply because you are placing a priority on getting to know them.  Show them that you care about them, as people, and everything you do in the future will be framed around your first decision to know who they are instead of what they can do.

Second,  involve your students in creating the type of environment in your classroom that best suits the learning goals and aspirations of your students.  Allow your students to help you brainstorm the ways in which they learn best.  By engaging your students in this conversation, you will demonstrate to them that they have a say in the manner in which their classroom operates.  Utilize this activity as another way to learn about your students.  Pay attention to what they are suggesting, for it will speak volumes for the best ways that they learn.  Try to be as open minded as possible during this experience, and begin to construct ideas around the suggestions that your students offer.

Finally, follow through and incorporate as many of the ideas from step 2 as possible.  When you are planning your lessons, refer frequently to the chart that you made with your students and try to find ways to include their suggestions.  Doing this will show your students that you value them as learners, and demonstrate to them that their ideas have merit.  While you will not be able to incorporate all of their ideas in each lesson, the ones that you do include will provide a learning environment that your students helped create.  They will assume ownership in what is happening in their classroom, and that feeling will carry them through their learning.

I know that I said there were three simple steps to take in order for learning to just happen in your classroom, and that it may seem as though there are other words you could use to describe these steps.  But, trust me, for it has worked in my classroom for years.  Each of these steps, when taken as whole, will create an environment perfectly structured for learning - without forcing a round peg into a square hole!

What do you think?  Have I overlooked an integral part to creating a natural learning environment?  I look forward to your input in the comments section.


image attributed to flickr

Having the Difficult Conversation

Teachers fundamentally have a requirement to do what is best for their students.  

Whether you agree with it or not, this includes having critical conversations with your colleagues.  These conversations are not easy to have, or else they would be called chit chats.  But when your students' instruction is impacted,  whether you are concerned with a support teacher's punctuality, or you question a homeroom teacher's instructional practices,  it is essential that you step in and address the situation.

My principal the other day said something profound about critical conversations; she said to talk to someone, not about them.  This really made a lot of sense to me, as schools are notorious for being gossip factories.  Instead of talking to everyone else about this teacher, put on your big boy/girl pants and go talk to the teacher directly.  

One thought to keep in mind when preparing for this type of conversation is to come at it from a place of empathy.  Teachers are human beings that have lives outside of school- which some of our students may doubt!  Sometimes, stressors from our personal lives carry over to our professional lives and impact our effectiveness in the classroom.  The teacher may not even be aware of the impact that a personal matter is having on his/her effectiveness, which is another reason to have the conversation.

When engaged in a critical conversation, try to steer clear from making it personal.  Keep the focus on the students and your concern for their learning.  While this may not be a fool proof method to keep the teacher from getting upset, it does keep the conversation on a professional level. 

These are difficult conversations to have, as no one appreciates being called out for something they are doing incorrectly.  But, by keeping the focus on what is best for students, you will be able to turn this critical conversation into a learning experience for the teacher that will benefit his/her students in the future.

What do you think about the critical conversation?  How do you handle these types of conversations with your colleague? 

image attributed to icanread

Relationships over Testing?

In this era of high stakes testing, data aggregation, and maximizing instructional time, teachers may feel the need to prioritize content over relationships.  The prevailing notion may posit that there is not time to 'waste' on the fluffy stuff like relationship building.  It follows that the teacher may feel the need to devote all the time and energy available to making sure every minute of class time is focused on preparing students to succeed on the test.

May I offer up the notion that by taking the time to create a positive classroom culture, built on relationships that allow for empathy and support of each other, can lead to greater gains in learning?

Let's play this out a little bit further.  If you spend time at the beginning of the year, and build time into the day consistently throughout the year, on building those relationships, the payoff at the end of the year will be there.  Whether it is results on the test, as some are focused on, or on taking students to new levels of achievement and developing lifelong learners willing to take risks, as I would focus on; the benefits to students from participating in and developing a positive classroom culture will undeniably lead to your desired outcome.

When students feel safe and secure in their classroom, their inhibitions can dissipate, and they are comfortable in taking risks in their learning.  This risk-taking will take them beyond their comfort zones, to where the real growth can begin.  While the results may not immediately present themselves, over time the effect of these feelings on the students have the potential to be immeasurable.

Students will feel safe enough that they can be honest when you ask for understanding.  Instead of nodding and faking like they follow you, students in these classrooms are comfortable admitting that they do not understand what you are saying.  They will freely ask for more evidence, more examples, or for you to explain it again.  And, that is where you will see benefits of spending time creating the safe and secure learning environment for your students.

What do you think?  Do you feel there is a connection between a positive classroom culture and increased student growth?

Teaching is...

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, The Center for Teaching Quality — a group that has been working to raise teacher voice and to redefine the teaching profession  for the past 20 years — is encouraging teachers to spend the week sharing reflections about just what teaching is all about using the hashtag #TeachingIs.

Teaching is what I do.  It is complex, yet so simple at the same time.  There are many components that makeup the art of teaching, but when you boil it down to its simplest level, it is about doing what is best for students.  Period.  Every decision I make as an educator is viewed through this lens.

Teaching is hard.  There are many variables that present new challenges, that try to steer you away from your primary focus on your students.  It is difficult to stay the course and not be swayed by those variables.  

Teaching is inspiring.  It is inspiring when the light bulb goes off for my students.  That light bulb validates everything I do, and encourages me to press on in the toughest moments.

Teaching is reflecting.  In order to be able to do what is best for my students, I need to reflect on what I am doing to ascertain the impact it is having on my students.  It is equally important that my students see me reflect, for it is a learned skill that will take them far in life.

Teaching is painful.  It is painful when you have a student doing everything to succeed and they still don't.  It is heart wrenching when your students are not successful.  But you can't give up, you must reflect, reassess, and reteach until they are successful!

Teaching is fun.  It provides countless opportunities to laugh at myself on a daily basis.  It allows me the opportunity to inject humor into the lives of my students, especially for those that may not experience at any other point of the day..

Teaching is the greatest job in the world.  The highs are higher than any other, and the lows can be lower than any other.  But, in the end, it is all worth it because you are able to learn from the greatest teachers... the kids!

Oh, We Don't Use Technology in My Classroom

A teacher in my building was excited to share some QR codes, that she had made, with her grade level team.  She did this during a team meeting, and afterwards gave each teacher a few copies for them to use in their classroom.  Her teammates were very excited to try out this new idea, save for one.  When she went to give it to this particular teammate, she was greeted with an upturned hand, and the response "Oh, we don't use technology in my classroom."

After hearing of this exchange, I let it roll around in my head for a few days.  I didn't react, didn't share it with anyone else, just let it kind of sit in my mind.

Then, it hit me.   This teacher was dismissing a new idea out of hand.  While it was directly related to technology in this case, it made me wonder what other new ideas did she dismiss?  If this teacher was so adamant about not using technology that she freely admitted, in front of her team, that 'we don't use technology in my classroom', surely this wasn't the first time she turned down a new idea.

Carrying this out a bit further, it really makes me wonder how she reacts to other new ideas?  What are her students missing out on, without even knowing it?   How can she, as a teacher, be so close-minded to new ideas?  What if a student made a suggestion for trying something in a different way?  Odds are, that student's idea will be dismissed as well.

Is this what we should be teaching our students?  To fear new ideas, without so much as a second thought?  Students often take cues from their teachers, and this is one that I would certainly not wanted copied by her students.

What My Students Need to Hear

This is a blog post that I am writing as part of the 2014 Teacher Leadership Challenge. The 2014 Teacher Leadership Challenge is a weekly installment activity that poses a prompt on an educational topic or issue. Your challenge is to respond to the prompt in 500 words or less via a post you publish to your blog. The aim is to get more teachers thinking globally about their classroom practice and their own connection to the wider education community.

The blogging challenge this week is to read Chase Mielke’s post entitled What Students Really Need to Hear, and then to craft your own blog post with a message about what your message would be to students.

There is a plan, contained inside the four walls of my classroom.  It may seem disjointed, rambling, and utterly hopeless.  But it isn't.  No, there is a methodical plan.

That is what my students need to hear.  They need to be reassured that behind the scenes, maybe WAY behind the scenes, there is a blueprint that lays everything out.  That everything we do in my class is done on purpose.  That I am not just throwing ideas against the wall and seeing if something sticks.  No, that's not how I decide what to do in my class.

You see, my plan is to create lifelong learners.  I can't come out and just tell you that in class, because that really isn't too inspiring.  Instead, I do the old head fake trick.  This way, you'll develop into lifelong learners without even realizing it, because then you won't have the chance to dismiss it as uncool, nerdy, or a waste of your time.

At this point of the year, it is too late.  I have already got you hooked, there’s no escaping. 

You thirst for knowledge constantly, as the result of being able to choose how you learn the content. 

You always take extra care in making sure your presentation is just so, because you decide how to share what you’re learning with us, and the world.

You always are asking more and more questions, because of the curiosity that runs rampant in the room.

You see, there is a plan.  A real good plan, if I must say so myself.  And, it has turned out pretty well. 

Do you see why I couldn't come out and tell you this?  Is it clear to you now why I had to hide it away, undercover? 

I worked on building up your trust, because I knew that if you trusted me that I would be able to push you beyond what you thought you could achieve.  I could enact my plan, carry it out to fruition, once I had your trust.

I understand if this makes you upset.  It won’t hurt my feelings if you want to throw me against the wall to see if I stick.  You see, after you throw me against the wall, you’ll have this need to figure out why I did or did not stick to the wall.  You will design a set of experiments, test out your hypotheses, and come to conclusions… all the while enjoying every step of the process.

You see, there is a plan…

Can You Have a Culture of Learning Without Relationships?

I saw this quote from Charity Stephens (@differNtiated4u) on Twitter recently, and it made me think about the role of relationships in classrooms today. The job of the teacher has evolved,  it used to be that we were managers of the classroom, focused on organizational issues and maintained a distinct boundary between us and our students.

But, times have changed.  Whether you agree with the idea that we are asking more of our students today than teachers did 40 years ago is irrelevant.  What is relevant is the simple fact that behaving today as teachers did 40 years ago is misguided because our students are sitting in classrooms that are structured differently and are asked to interact in innovative ways with their learning environment.

Where teachers used to be managers, we now need to be relationship builders.  I am sure you have heard the quote that goes something like 'they won't care what you know until they know that you care.' This quote is appropriate when you consider the makeup of today's classroom.  In a student-centered classroom, a student assumes new roles and responsibilities that require them to be active participants.   It is imperative to develop a relationship with each and every one of your students that lets them know you care about them as a person.

In my classroom, I began each year crafting meaningful relationships with my students.  While other teachers may have dabbled in getting to know you activities for a day or two before jumping into the content, I spent weeks devoting at least some portion of each day to connecting with my students on a personal level.  The time that I 'wasted' on these activities invariably paid off later in the year when I was able to constructively criticize my students for their effort, work, or attitudes in class.  Their responses to this criticism was vastly different than what other teachers received.  Why?  Because they knew that I cared, that my criticism came from a place of love, and wanted them to be successful. Unbeknownst to them,  I was creating a culture of learning.

In a culture of learning, teachers are learners alongside their students, trying new things, failing, succeeding, reflecting, and growing in a continuous cycle.  When a classroom is built on strong relationships between teachers and students, these cycles are able to occur minus suspicions from either side.  No one questions the intent of criticism, for all are aware of the meaning behind it.

In this era of high stakes testing and increased data aggregation, it is imperative that teachers never lose sight of the benefits of connecting with our students.  For it is within those relationships that we are able to create a culture of learning and encourage our students to reach for new levels of learning!

What do you think about relationships?  How are they connected to creating, and maintaining, a culture of learning?

Goodbye Twitter?

I was disgruntled with Twitter. I was ready to walk away from it all!  No more tweets, no more little blue bird taking up residence on my home screen.  It wasn't working for me, and I felt it was the time for me to leave.  Sure, occasionally I would find some great resource, or hear a quote that moved me.  But, it wasn't enough. It was decision time, should I stay or go?

As I thought about my decision, debating the pros and cons, all I kept hearing in my head was people extolling the virtues of Twitter and how it had revolutionized their teaching and learning.  It really made me think, if it has this superpower for others, why was I questioning it?  What was I missing?  Clearly, I was doing something wrong, or not doing something right.  But, what was it?  I needed to figure it out.

So, I decided to stick it out with Twitter.  I gave myself one month to see if I changed my mind.  I also decided that I needed to make some changes to my Twitter-self.

Here's what I did...

Go Both Ways
Before this experiment, I only read what others were posting.  I rarely tweeted anything out, and if I did it was to ask for something.  I never received a response, which only furthered my frustration with Twitter.

After my Twitter rebirth, I became more active on Twitter.  I started retweeting great ideas from others, commenting on what others tweeted, and just turning Twitter into a two-way street of communication.


Joined in the Conversations
Up until a month ago, I had only participated in a few #byotchats.  My participation in that chat was due to the fact that I knew, and respected, one of the moderators of the chat.  Other than that, I did not participate in any chats, mostly because I didn't see a great benefit from my participation.

During the month of April, I made a point to regularly join Twitter chats.  I even went so far as to put them on my Outlook calendar.  I searched for chats, using the Weekly Twitter Chat schedule on Cybraryman's website.  I participated in so many, here's a partial list:

• #aspiringadmin
• #educoach
• #edtechchat
• #21stEdchat
• #mnedchat
• #Iaedchat
• #COLchat
• #NBTchat

Some of these chats were better than others, to be honest!  But, what I found when I joined these   chats was a plethora of expertise!  These chats opened my eyes to new perspectives, fabulous resources, and connections with so many talented educators around the world that I can't imagine what I did before I started participating in chats.


The Findings

So, what did I find?  I found that my disgruntled feelings with Twitter were misplaced.  The lack of professional growth on my part from Twitter were a direct result of how I was interacting via Twitter.  

Since I instituted these two simple changes, I have been amazed at the results.  I have made connections with numerous educators around the world.  I have had my own thoughts questioned, causing me to re-examine them, and either solidifying my thoughts or resulting in a shift in my thinking.  I have heard different perspectives on many topics of great importance, perspectives that I would not have been exposed to would I have walked away from Twitter.  I have engaged in thoughtful discussions with other passionate educators about the current state of education, and how we can act to make improvements from a grassroots level.

In essence, as I write this, I am proud of my decision to not walk away from Twitter.  That, by taking these two simple steps, I have been able to grow my own PLN, and expand my wealth of resources available to me as I continue to grow.  For this, I am thankful, and hope others can find similar benefits from Twitter!

The Beginning of a Shift

This is the second in a series of posts about a movement that I am starting in my school.  My school predominantly instructs in a teacher-centered model, and my aim is to shift that to a student-centered instruction model.  This series will serve as a means to flesh out my ideas as I plan for professional development during the 2014-15 school year.

Today's post will focus on why I feel it is important to make this transition in our classrooms.  Future posts will include an examination of characteristics associated with a student-centered classroom, resources available to help in planning for professional development, and finally, an outline of how I intend to structure my professional development sessions.  In the fall, I will revisit this series to assess how the professional learning is going, identify areas that I need to address, and share any lessons that I have learned.

Why I Feel This Change is Needed

The students of today are changing, and we need to change our methods of instruction to meet them where they are. Students in schools today are accustomed to being in control of their learning while away from school.  With the ubiquitous nature of information today, students can learn what they want, how they want, when they want.  It is imperative that educators make a shift in how we structure our classrooms to give the students what they are seeking.

The prevalence of digital devices in our classrooms has offered teachers an opportunity to harness the powers of these devices to take our students to new heights.  Unfortunately, what I have found during my observations in my school is that the addition of technology has not changed the manner in which the students are learning.  This is not a surprise to me, as one should not expect that just because you add an iPad to a classroom, that all of a sudden the teacher will make this fundamental shift in their instructional practices.

It is the confluence of these two developments- an altering of our students' needs and desires as they relate to learning, and teachers unsure of how best to integrate digital devices to effectively meet the needs of our changing students- that has led me to believe that my goal for professional development needs to focus on developing a student-centered environment in classrooms.  By leading teachers in learning the different options available to personalize a student's learning environment effectively, and following up with classroom observations throughout the year, I strongly believe that my teachers will be able to make the shift in the direction of a student-centered classroom.  

Do you feel it is imperative that teachers move towards a student-centered model in their classrooms? Why or why not?

Teacher Without a Class

I do not have any students. I work in a school of over 900 students, but none of them are mine.   I am an Instructional Technology Specialist, which means that I am not assigned any students.  This is my first year in this role, and it has been a whirlwind year to say the least.  There are so many differences from when I was a 4th grade teacher last year, some positive and some negative.  I love my role, and have thoroughly enjoyed learning how to teach adults and help them grow as educators.  But, something has been gnawing at me since we came back from winter break.  Something was missing, and I just couldn't figure it out.  Then, it hit me...

I do not have any students.

Sure, you could say that every student in my school is now my student, and you would be right.  Sort of.  However, it is not that simple.  I am missing something, and I think it is the close relationships that I developed each year with my students.  I was a classroom teacher for 11 years, and relationship building was one of my favorite parts about it.  I loved getting to know my students, and learning everything that I could about them.  It was so important to me because this knowledge really helped me accomplish so much with them.

I firmly believe that students won't care what you know until they know that you care.  I can't remember where I heard that saying first, but I truly embraced the concept in my classroom.  By taking the time to get to know the students, not only at the beginning of the year, but also throughout the year- on the playground, in the cafeteria, as they rolled in in the morning; I fostered a relationship with each and every student that reinforced the idea that I cared about them as a person.  For some students, it was more challenging to develop that relationship, but I still worked at it until I was successful.

It was because of that strong connection that I believe I was able to accomplish so much with my students. Because they knew that I cared, they would trust me when I came up with some crazy idea- which was pretty often.  Because I cared enough to learn all about my students, I was able to zero in on what each student would need to succeed at any given moment.  Because I cared, the focus was always on the students and what they needed; it was never about me or what I needed.  Because my students knew that I cared, they believed in themselves and knew they could accomplish whatever they set out to achieve.  Because I cared about my students, I didn't care about making mistakes in front of them.

Now, I do not have those students anymore.  Sure, I have connections with some students as I work with them in their classes.  But, it is not my class, I am now a visitor in their class.  This is a different dynamic, and it is a challenge for me.  The things that I used to do with my students in our class may not be acceptable in another teacher's classroom.  I have had a difficult time restraining myself at times because I was so used to it being our class.

What do I do now?  How can I fill in this gap that is missing from my professional life?  I haven't figured it out, obviously, or else I would not be writing this post.  I am reaching out to educators that have gone through this type of 'loss' to see what you did.  I do not want to return to the classroom because I really love my new role, and I am beginning to wonder if this is just something that I need to accept and move on from...