I Think You Can: Graduation

One mom.  

One campus. 

Twenty professors.  

Two high schools placements. 

Three middle schools placements. 

20 courses. 

60 credit hours.  

560 hours commuting.

 2 PRAXIS tests. 

Quizzes.  

Projects. 

Exams. 

Comps. 

Lit Reviews. 

96 lesson plans 

and three children. 

It is two years.  I only need to survive. 

If I can get through tomorrow...

I THINK I CAN.

If I can get through this week...

I THINK I CAN.

If I can get through this project...

I THINK I CAN.

Then the moment finds you; a tipping point.  

The place where I think I can, I think I can, I think I can gives way to I think I did. 

     My moment occurred about two weeks before graduation.  My grip released, my jaw relaxed and I realized the mountain was behind me.  I survived and I grew in ways I could never imagine. 

If I wrote a letter, what would I say to my twelve-year-old self?  Nothing.  I know she will make it because here she is thriving at forty-three. A better question is “What do I say to the twelve-year-old sitting in front of me?”

    It is two weeks after my moment and I sit in my cap and gown waiting for my degree to be conferred.  There, among my fellow student teachers, I begin to feel the weight.  In one short breath, I will hear my name, walk across the stage, and shake hands.  As I cross over from student to teacher, I understand it is my duty to pay forward this feeling of relief, of pride, of exaltation.   I’ve climbed the mountain.  I know the way. 

     Every student at every desk deserves this feeling. 

     My journey did not start with graduation.  It started with a mother finding the time to read to her children every night.  A father who, frustrated, wrestled through another night of homework.  The steadfast support of grandparents picking up, dropping off and cheering on.  The love of a sixth-grade teacher who still emails me every May after thirty years; or my eighth-grade teacher who follows all of her students on Facebook from her nursing home. 

     I am that teacher now.  It will take a lifelong, marathon of dedicated love for my students.  I sit in my chair in my cap and my gown and I pray I have it in me.  I think I can.

     I know that graduation is not the end of learning because learning itself is gradual.  Each step, big or small, is planned, performed and punctuated with “I think you can.”  Each smile, each handshake, each hand written note says “I think you can.”  Each pattern I find, each assessment I make, each habit I push aside brings another in an endless series of “I think you can.” Then I see the shift.  I recognize the moment because it is my moment seen in the eyes of someone else. 

And I know I have chosen wisely.

As I sit writing tonight, like I have every night for two years, I know I can.  My daughter says “Mommy, you graduated.  I thought you were done” and I smile, “No sweetie.  I am just getting started.”  

This post is inspired by and dedicated to the amazing teachers at Blackstone Valley Prep who, every day, tell my children "I think you can."  You can find a reflection of their work at BVP Musings.

Badges, Hit Record, Choice and Authenticty

This year I am a practicing, practicing teacher, which is to say I am a student teacher rehearsing my teaching practice in the classroom of another practicing teacher.  Being a practicing² teacher, there are certain limits to what I can attempt within my classroom.  However, I have tried to include digital authorship, creativity, and student choice in every aspect of my teaching.  What follows is a the digital authorship experiment foisted upon my unwitting students.

Badges VS. Hit Record

I had a blended learning panic attack when I first learned about badge programs like MacCarthur Foundation’s DIY.  “ Leveling up,” a pedagogy based on the video game concept of levels, is frequently used by Kahn Academy, TenMarks Math and other web-based tutorial programs.   My children have found the idea of level up programming  very exciting and very accessible, but generally only for a short while.  The extrinsic nature of the motivation rarely transfers into the intrinsic quest transforming a student into a lifelong learner.  However, the DIY Badge program is more than a web-based tutorial.  Students are given a great deal of latitude in choosing their area of study, they complete three challenges within their badge, then their work product is graded on a pass/fail basis by a person at DIY.  The diversity of work at DIY may be difficult to monitor, scaffold and supply for a larger number of students, but it lends choice and authenticity to the assigned tasks.  Whether creating assignment parameters that align with the standards of a subject area or using the badge economy to bolster summer student growth, DIY enables students to receive sheltered feedback from a community of people with a shared interest.  

 Badging has been a long standing method of motivating students, particularly within the real  of scouting.  DIY provides a safe online environment for learning that incorporates social interaction.  The application has been used by after school programs as a way to engage students.    

     For middle and high school students to engage in a rigorous, long term project requires work and rewards that are authentic.  Hit Record is similar to the DIY concept in that it provides choice and challenge, but instead of an invented badge economy, the student work has the authentic possibility of being published.   In my experience, invented economies like the one in DIY or those in Kahn Academy will eventually need to be reinforced with some other more tangible reward.  Yet, with Hit Record, just the possibility of publication has been enough to inspire members from three of my poetry, theater and ELA classes to submit their work to the process.  Once submitted, their work can be seen online as a part of a community of creators waiting to be published to a much wider audience.  They can receive feedback from that community and their work may garner further publication.

There are a quite a few things I really like about the Hit Record experience.  First and foremost is the availability of choice.  They have managed to organize the freedom to create anything.  In doing so, they created a very exciting new collaborative outlet.  Choice plays an important role in innovation and creativity.    The sheer magnitude of "Records" available is staggering.    It takes only a few minutes to find and master the searchable “Explore” tab.  The tagging system inherent in the upload process allows a user to search across media, subject matter, artist, genre or any other category.  If you find a project and you feel you can make a contribution, then you use your specific skills to add to the product.

     I decided to jump in on a project called “Morning Monsters”.  The project started as an idea.  Several scriptwriters and illustrators made work contributions.   The illustrations sparked a secondary idea, namely, creating an illustrated children’s book.  The lead collaborator, at this point, had several poems written about the morning monsters attached to the project.  The poems were then read out loud, creating a voice over to be animated later by yet another party.  The project itself is starting to take shape as the result of at least six different artistic choices made by collaborating strangers.

     The lead collaborator for Morning Monsters communicates with the collaborating world via video updates.   In her latest update, she included several examples of the kind of footage she found useful for her project.  She was looking for footage of children, ages 8-12 getting ready for school in the morning.  I happen to have a plethora of children that age.  The animated morning monsters will be added to the live action footage creating the complete scene.  This footage will be part of a montage of meddling morning monsters wreaking havoc in the lives of school children everywhere.  With her simple parameters in mind, my children and I set out to make our leap together.

Here is Logan’s leap: A slipper being commandeered by the as of yet unseen "Morning Monster."

Logan's Leap

Here is Maya’s leap:  A towel, stolen by yet another "Morning Monster" to be added later.

Another advantage I see in using Hit Record in a classroom is that of brevity.  From concept through editing, each project taught one on one with a middle school student took about 45 minutes to accomplish.  While it may take longer to teach a group of children to accomplish the “Record”, it is much easier than creating an entire film short from scratch.

     Not every “record” is included in the final collaborative effort.  However, simply seeing their video posted to the Hit Record website was enough authenticity for my children to become very excited about the process.  With older children, this may not be the case, but the "collaborative challenge" option allows students to accept a challenged already issued by someone outside of the classroom.  Such an opportunity may give more closure to their concept of authenticity.

I did have a very Patricia Lange moment with my leap.  My children were very excited to put together a video project on their iPads, yet do I really want my children to become part of a “Hit Record” video set somewhere?  In the end, I decided the experience was worth the risk.  As collaborators, we are supposed to cite and tag each work or idea we have used to build and remix our new product.  As a teacher, I like the idea of citing other artists within a creative environment.  As a parent, I am glad that the work my children created will be cited and I will be notified of the ongoing building process. What remains to be seen is, where will our record end up?  I love an enduring mystery.

I created something - something at the beginning of its journey.  I wonder where it will lead.

     

Selective Listening

Excuses are the antithesis of opportunity.

     As a teacher I find it easy to fall into the trap of "He is a _________, so he won't be able to do it", instead of "He is a _____________ so I need to _____________", When I feel myself slipping, when my balance is off, I remember my friend Frank. 

      Students like Frank, today, are considered morbidly obese. It was that day in PE we all dreaded, Frank most of all. We needed to make the mile run. Students would run, jog, walk or meander through the task with little in the way of thought or effort. For most teachers, most years, looking at Frank was the only wordless excuse necessary. He would never finish. He had never finished. This year was different. 

      As Frank began to struggle, our teacher dropped his clipboard and started running the mile next to him. Step by step, they ran through the class period. They ran through the bell. They ran as long as Frank needed. I do not know which excruciating footfall had the greatest impact for Frank, but a quiet moment came when he changed.

      Two days later Frank approached the PE teacher and asked to join our Cross Country team. His running stats were five to ten times longer than those of his teammates, but he finished. He listened to his peers complain about bringing down their average, but he finished. He got sick at every meet, but he finished. Sometimes it was after the awards ceremony started, but he finished.

      Eventually, the team realized what was happening with Frank was bigger than all of us. His teammates would finish their race, find Frank and finish their race again by his side. Frank became the heart of our Cross Country team because his teacher heard his excuses and taught him how to finish the race. 

      Hearing an excuse and accepting an excuse are two different things. Frank's teacher created a " No Excuses" environment without ever losing sight of Frank. He saw his student's excuse and met that excuse with understanding, scaffolding his teaching to meet Frank's need. Rue Ratray said something similar, "The very best teachers aren't just No Excuses. The Know Excuses. They don't accept them. But they know them and manage them." 

      Motherhood has convinced me of the importance of "selective listening," the art of processing a child's excuses by throwing away obstacles and using the rest as a teaching tool. Frank, his teacher and their perseverance guide me reaction to a student's excuses and continue to help me find the right balance within my own classroom.

All that Twitters is not Gold

    

     As I move from my coursework at the University of Rhode Island out into the professional teaching world my personal knowledge acquisition moves from knowledge hand delivered from books and professors to information I must seek out and evaluate on my own.  The university resources I have saved over the last year provide an excellent metric for credible and usable materials.   A teacher is only as strong as his or her ability to seek, acquire and organize resources.  Graduation will be upon me before I know it, making it important for me to expand my horizons and create a similar metric with which to find and vet new information about the education environment. 

     One of my many channels for remaining connected with great people, great energy and great tools is Twitter.  I have not mastered Twitter as a sales and marketing tool.   However, I am an avid Twitter stalker.  As such, several of my peers have asked about the secret art of the Twitter ninja.  What I do is pretty simple; I clip therefore I am.
   I use Twitter to create a funnel through which I can sift information into my personal knowledge base. 

My Ninja Twitter Funnel of Silent and Deadly Awesomeness.

    My Twitter funnel is based on credibility of source and practical application.  For example, in the outer layer of “everyone on earth”, I do not follow @JustinBeiber because he adds little to the quality of my life.  However, I do follow certain authors or characters, like @Frank_Underwood, Geoffrey Chaucer, @TheMarkTwain and @PopShakespeare.  While it can be disconcerting when fictional or dead people follow you back on Twitter, these accounts post fun pieces of information that add depth and spunk to my lesson planning.  I was able to watch Geoffrey Chaucer and Mark Twain on a cross country road trip last year and as a Twitter Ninja, I have the ability to direct message @God. 

      The second layer of my Twitter funnel concerns people, foundations and companies with a purpose parallel to my needs as a teacher.  These organizations frequently post materials that add to my depth of knowledge professionally.  They are often a way to learn of the latest and greatest in the way of technology or best practices.  However, the second tier of Tweeters generally come with an agenda that affects their credibility.  If there products are worth their salt, the will sprinkle down into my third Twitter layer.

     The final layer I reserve for teachers and administrators, many of whom I know personally.  Through the list function in Twitter, I can view just the ideas hailing from or used by teachers every day in a classroom.  While I clip things from each layer of my Twitter funnel, the information I glean from the “boots on the ground” teachers is often most valuable. I also use my teacher friends as a great source for farming #hashtags.  The Q. or A. in front of a tweet indicates participation in a dedicated conversation between teachers and admins.  I frequently seek out and mine these specific conversations for reliable resources.

     The information I find online, in class and through Twitter converges into my personal knowledge base.  To organize this information I use an Evernote account reflecting my own divergent thought process and growing as my resources develop.  Stay tuned next time for my long promised and eagerly awaited blog on designing an Evernote to reflect the Common Core Standards for English.  

Until next time, here's to hoping we all teach better tomorrow. 

Being Able

     My classroom teacher “pushes in” or shares time with an English Language Learner (ELL) class during the day and where she goes, I learn.  The English Language Learners are a part of her regular classroom, but they spend some time every day in a classroom specifically designed for those learning English.  The ELL support was divided into four levels by ability instead of grade level.  For example, my classroom teacher’s ELL class consisted of third level learners in grades six, seven and eight.

     It was in this ELL classroom I was able to work with a boy named we will call Able.  Able was struggling to write a biography about the life of Eminem.  He was flipping through his book, brow wrinkled, staring at the empty page in front of him.  As I walked by, he refused to look up.  I squatted next to him in order to make eye contact.   I began our conversation by asking about his biography topic.  From there we patiently worked through his outline adding detail and discussing parts of Eminem’s life and why they were important.  We worked hard to communicate with one another at times.  There were moments in which I forgot I was talking to an ELL learner and probably should have approached our task differently.  Yet, once he opened up, Able was engaged and engaging.  It took both time and effort, but his outline had more detail and I could see he was proud of what he was able to accomplish. 

     I can speak to the use of media to engage diverse learners or about respecting and appreciating the diversity in or school.  Yet, echoing the usual headline is not the same as making headway as a new teacher. After reflecting on my day, the lesson shaping me as a teacher comes directly from Able’s parents.  When he was born, his parents held him in their arms and named him “Able.”  They named him not because of what he did, he was probably no more than minutes old.  Their focus was on what he will do because of what he is “able”.  His parents believed in him.  His classroom teacher believes in him.  With a little help, Able believed in himself.   Supporting diverse learners begins with understanding each student as "Able" and empowering students like Able to find and believe in what they are able to do.

It may be easier for the parents to see hope for their newborn because their child has no past.  My challenge is to begin teaching each day with that rocking chair moment; seeing my students as small, fragile and full of future.  

Teacher's Toolkit - Flipgrid - #Digiuri 2015

    I attended a professional development opportunity last April as part of the Comebackcity High Expectations Project (CHEP 2015).  One of my favorite sessions describing a scope and sequence of rhetorical habits to improve to improve the rigor of group discussion in a classroom.  The sequence of eighteen positive discussion habits ranging in difficulty, was developed by teachers at Uncommon Schools and Northstar Academies.  

    Explaining a skill in rhetoric is never as effective as modeling the skill directly for students.  Unfortunately, not all of the eighteen habits will occur naturally within a group discussion.  For several months I have looked for a way to model the skills students need to add rigor to group discussion.  I wanted the subject of the model to be neutral, allowing the video to be used across Science, Social Studies and ELA curriculum.  I also wanted to include a very short audio visual element I can use to cue students in any classroom subject.   Flipgrid was used with a group of teachers as an ice-breaking activity at the Summer Institute on Digital Literacy conference held at the University of Rhode Island this summer. Intrigued, I decided to create a Flipgrid discussion about Flipgrid.  Then I added a Jedi.  

Preproduction:

    Flipgrid, developed by the University of Minnesota, allows a teacher to ask a question and record the response of students.  When used in its traditional teacher asks/student responds format, it is an engaging way to get to know students, to help them listen to and communicate with one another, and it can even be used to engage parents at home.  There is a limit of ten Flipgrids, which, when used regularly across five classes can dwindle quickly.  However, I learned that each grid can contain an unlimited number of questions.  Instead of creating one grid per Flipgrid assignment, I can create one grid per classroom and add a question for each assignment.  There is an annual cost for Flipgrid depending on the user and institute using the program.   The cost for a K12/Private institution is $65 per year, this allows for 10 grids with unIimited questions and responses. I found a demo on the same page and signed up for a free trial lasting 21 days.

 

On Set:

    My son and I set out to film this Flipgrid question and response series reflecting each of the eighteen group discussion habits I needed to model in class.  Once within the Flipgrid program, there were ample video tutorials and the administrative page was very intuitive.  Each video has a maximum length of ninety seconds.  Flipgrids can be viewed permanently or until removed by the administrator. However, nothing can be added to a grid after the 21 day a trial period.  

   The series can be shared with a weblink or embedded in a webpage.   The grid can be easily edited, but the hash cannot. (You can but to do so produces a new weblink and embedding code.) The series can be deactivated, meaning no one can add further videos. Each grid has its own set of security options, so it can be managed by the administrator to moderate the content displayed.  Each video requires a picture of the user, and agreement to the Flipgrid terms of service. When I asked a random group of parents to respond to a question online, the agreement process was off-putting. But the parents in our PTO did not have a thorough explanation in advance. As you can see, the picture function was enormously entertaining for Baby Wolverine.

 At the end of each video, the speaker can record a one word first and last name in separate boxes.  A first and last name must be entered.  Only the first name appears on the video.  Instead of typing a name, I used this feature to label each of the core habits illustrated in the video.  

One of the most attractive features of the product is my ability to run my mouse across the videos to find the exact video to play as a model for the class.  I can also email a specific video clip to a specific student assigning them a “secret habit” to practice during discussion that day.  For example, Johnny is asked to play the “Devil’s” advocate.  If he models the habit correctly, then students watching the discussion should be able to identify his assigned secret habit.  

Post Production:

  Flipgrid is a very flexible tool for engaging students in an assessment.  I can easily see this used as a way to assess speaking in a foreign language classroom.  Its content is unlimited and the program is quick and easy to use.  A teacher can also demonstrate a step by step process visually. The audio/visual element of Flipgrid makes it an interesting alternative for students with special needs.   I would consider creating a personalized grid for each student and posting to their grid any step-by-step instructions they need for the day’s the lesson.  

The Reviews:

   I give two thumbs up for this program.  It is easy for students to use.  My son had as much fun taking still pictures with the webcam as he did recording the videos.  He even enjoyed the ability to reorder videos by the date or the number of likes and views.  The format is basic enough to use in many different kinds of classes.  When I become the head of my own classroom, I would consider this to be an excellent investment.  

The Perks of Being a Not-so-Wallflower

I like to think of myself as sitting in a dark theater or in the corner of a bar musing in quiet mystery. Seeing myself as a enigmatic rogue is completely divorced from reality.  I have many, many abilities; maintaining a low profile is not one of them.  

Whether it is "Miss Tracey" or "Mrs. Dann"  people everywhere seem to know me.   Sometimes I am "Mama Bear", sometimes it is "the lady with the hat."  Usually the descriptor "crazy" is attached to my epithet somewhere.  Regardless of what people call me, one thing remains true, I suck at anonymity.  

 It is a blessing. It is a curse. But it is always intentional.  

    One of my biggest disadvantages as a student teacher is time.  Relationships are a key element of classroom management, engagement, and every aspect of learning.  With only three hours a week to spend with a hundred different students, it is very difficult to make a connection and establish trust - unless you find a shortcut.  

Each morning I drink two cups of chai tea from the beat up head of a Star Wars villain. It is my favorite shortcut.

  Sometimes a Storm Trooper, sometimes Boba Fett, and sometimes I drink from Vader himself. Every morning my mug and I perform a Jedi Mind Trick.  Students don't realize my mugs match the exact calorie count of a Starbucks latte or that I found them on clearance at Rite Aid filled with old Valentine candies.  They don't care. Yet, when I greet them at the classroom door once a week, some of them will look up from their shoes and say "cool mug."   The Jedi mind trick worked.   I have made eye contact, I have their attention and perhaps a common interest. The students who engage with me on their way into the classroom are more likely to listen and learn once they get inside.  It is a tiny middle school miracle.

    While Star Wars is fairly universally known, the Force does not run strong in every family.  My mugs do not always work.  Following the same logic, I began to look for other props and trinkets that might crack the shell of different class members.  My daughter, Princess Grace, received a "golden snitch" necklace for Christmas last year.  I put it on one morning and headed into my teacher’s classroom.  Before the final bell I could tell you which students read the Harry Potter series, which students preferred the movies, who their favorite characters were and much more. Each morning since, a student asks me what book my necklace is from. I am constantly looking for jewelry that reminds me of a piece of literature. I have even used it to generate inquiry at the beginning of a unit.

Here are just a few of the examples I've found:

And where would this hitchhiking student teacher be without a pair of earrings?  

    I recently attended the Summer Institute on Digital Literacy with over 180 other teachers.  I carried my mug with me every day.  The final day of the conference I was approached by one of my fellow attendees.  She said "I've watched your mugs all week. Why do you carry them with you?"  My answer is always the same "because now I've met you."

While they work against my love of anonymity, my mugs have taught me something important; what someone notices about you, helps you learn about them.  Learning about each other is the business we are in.

Right Sean Connery?

Don't Panic!

    

     This year I turned 42.  Since 42 is the answer to life, the universe and everything, I decided it is time to start a blog.

     We find our heroine as a middle aged graduate student at the University of Rhode Island working steadily toward a Master of Arts in Teaching for Middle/Secondary English Language Arts.  In the short time I've been involved in the URI program I've learned two important things.  First, in order to truly "master" teaching, I need to reflect on my teaching practices.  Second, a master teacher is also a master student - relentless in the pursuit of new knowledge, ideas and tools.   Ideally, a blog will help me accomplish both of these goals.

     From beginning to end, I will student teach in five different classrooms working with urban, suburban students, English language learners and students with special needs before I have a room to call my own.  Out of respect for the students and professionals sharing their worlds with me, I have changed the names of the schools and people I encounter.  To prove it to you, let me introduce my own children...

Baby Wolverine                                             Baby Spiderman                                                And Princess Grace

   Please bear in mind that I am a mother of three trying to complete a graduate program between birthday parties, PTO meetings and scouting events.  I may require some forgiveness in advance for any irregularity in my work.  If I miss a blog or two here and there

When life lets up, I will return.  

Thank you for following along, I am hoping you will get to know me, laugh, learn, and enjoy what will likely be a long journey.    Don't forget your towel! And for now?