Genius Hour and we are off…

I am going to introduce Genius Hour to my high schoolers on Monday and Tuesday. I really like this presentation (Genius Hour Prezi) and I think I am inspired to make one of my own. But that means learning how to make a prezi…so we will see if I can figure it out in a few hours Saturday or Sunday. But I think that is fitting…that I should have to learn something new and a little out of my comfort zone. Because that is what I will be asking my students to do.

Someone (I don’t remember who) pointed me to this resource on Genius Hour. This Live Binder for Genius Hour has a lot on the topic. Then of course there is Twitter, a hot bed of support and ideas. One of the best ones came from Angela Maiers and her “You Matter” TEDx Talk…not only that but the fact that she jumped in in support of my project. How wonderful is that! Because that I am going to challenge my students the way that Angela did hers…I want them to find something that breaks their heart and try to find a solution. I am going to do my best to put them in contact with WHOEVER they need to be in contact with to help them implement their solution or at least present it for consideration.

So I will let you know how it goes…I’ve told them that we are doing it and they seemed excited. So now let’s see what their Genius comes up with!

All the things I am

I am a teacher, which means I am a counselor, referee, computer tech, Mom, secretary, disciplinarian, drill Sargent,  reading specialist, holder of all knowledge (not true, but what some students think), scientist, cheerleader, shoulder to cry on, engineer, trouble shooter, referee (yes I said that twice), educator, learner, leader, the end to all gossip (really it stops with me), and whatever else I need to be for my students to succeed.

The Teacher is not nearly valued enough, and why is that. We help raise your kids. We teach them…you revere the Doctors who keep them healthy, and they only spend a total of 15 minutes at a time with your child. I spend the entire day with them. I comfort them, I encourage them, I am there for them even when they think no one is on their side. I cheer for them at all sorts of after-school events.  I cry when they fail or are hurt. I am proud when they reach that achievement.

It’s not teacher appreciation week, but take a minute and thank a teacher. Tell them you understand and appreciate what they do. You might just make a bad day, a great day for that teacher.

Critical Writing in the classroom

Today we had a half day of staff development today about Critical Writing in Content Classes. We were given five really great strategies to use in our classroom. And I’m pumped to try them out in my room.

I know my kids can write but it is difficult to help them write and communicate effectively. I really feel that these strategies will help develop these skills. The first one was Word Bank. You give the students a word of academic vocabulary and ask them to use as many as they can in three effective sentences. I love that they have to use the vocabulary together which means they really have to know the meaning of the words to use them effectively.

The next was a “Say, Means, Matters.” This was the one I was most excited about. The students must paraphrase what a passage “says” then condense into their own words of what it “means” and finally they state why it “matters” to them and the world. What a wonderful way to have them process an article or book passage!

Next was a written discussion from a prompt. The first person responds to a prompt. Then they pass it to another who responds to the first, by either agreeing and adding supporting ideas or giving a counter-arguement. Then it is passed again and the next person responds, and then once more trade then the original person gets it back. Then they can have a spoken discussion of what was written.

Another one was a descriptive activity where the student chooses from a bag a word or phrase to describe. The key is they cannot use the word in their statements, but someone has to be able to figure out what the word is by their description.

The last was a new way to look at word problems. Turn it around the process, give them the numerical problem and have them write the word problem. I think this one could be even cooler if you turned around and used their wording on a test!

There are so many other strategies out there. What are your best ones?

TRC 2012-2013

The TRC has been part of my life for five years and I have been accepted for the 2013-2014 year as well. I was recently referred to as a “member for eons” and I had to laugh considering for education five to six years can be eons…there are stats out there confirming that most “new” teachers (who survive year one) will only make it to year five. I’m on year six going into seven and the majority of those include TRC membership. So eons it is.

I wrote a reflection on this past year. Well here is my reflection on my pd this year since the TRC is the driving point behind most of my pd. With the TRC I am required to get 105 contact hours in science pd as well as mentor 3-5 teachers in my school to pass all that knowledge on. I mentioned building my PLN in my last reflection and here I will expand on that.

I feel I have two PLNs, one virtual and one physical. I have built both, probably my virtual one has gone through the most change due to Twitter, Share my Lesson, Teacherspayteachers.com, my new listservs and other websites. But I’ll save talking about that til another day. Here I want to focus on my physical PLN, the one that I get to see these influential people face to face regularly. And the TRC is where the bulk of them come from or is what links them together in some way.

First, there are my fellow TRCers. We are linked together with a common desire to teach science well and keep improving. I know I can turn to them when something isn’t quite right and get suggestions for improvement. I can also get a shoulder to lean on or cry on if necessary when I am struggling. I know they understand the difficulty of teaching science to students and teachers cause they’re doing it too. They are my greatest source of strength and motivation. And that is why I’ve been in the TRC for “eons.”

Secondly, there are my mentees, my fellow science teachers at school whom I mentor and share the knowledge and resources. They too are in the thick of it with me and know what I’m going through. They are a great source of ideas and support. But here I get to share. Share ideas, share knowledge, share experiences. Not that I don’t share with my TRC fellows, I do, but here I am able to teach adults. And that is what I am reaching for, that is my goal. To teach teachers how to teach science.

Multitasking

I am doing a book study on the book Rewired by Larry D. Rosen. One chapter is about multitasking and we were asked if we were multitaskers and how we felt about multitasking.

Here is my response.

Hi, my name is Jennifer and I’m a multitasker.

I am currently typing this, listening to a podcast, referencing my iPad for quotes and texting a friend. SO yes I am a multitasker. Am I doing any of this proficiently? You be the judge, but I think so.

I think multitasking is the only way to keep juggling all the balls of life. If I didn’t multitask, then I would have many fewer friends, I don’t think I would be as effective as a teacher, and honestly I would feel disconnected. So I don’t think it is a bad thing. Now do I do less when I need to concentrate on something? Sure, but I still don’t only do one thing…I can’t focus if I am worried about what’s going on elsewhere, if I, for example, keep texting I stay up to date and it only interrupts what I am doing for a few seconds as I check and respond.

This week I have been in a PD class and we were asked to put away our devices and brainstorm a question…that was torture. I couldn’t focus, not that I would have checked my phone, but knowing I couldn’t made it the only thing I thought about. I can’t help but feel that is how our students feel when we ask the same of them and I am an adult, I know ways to deal.

Are there times when I don’t multitask? Yes, riding my motorcycle for one…but am I REALLY not multitasking? I am shifting, rolling the throttle, operating the front and back brakes, checking traffic around me, and keeping an eye out for potential hazards that I may need to avoid. Sounds like I am multitasking, it’s just that they are all on the same “topic,” riding the bike. So think about it, aren’t there things that you are multitasking and just not thinking about it.

Reflection

As I sit here, preparing for the last day of school, I want to take a moment and reflect on this year.

There are things that I loved, things I could have done better, things that I wouldn’t change for the world. I have learned so much from my students and colleagues. I’ve built my PLN, learned about new things to try next year and gained some knowledge. I now have another year under my belt and have discovered that teaching really is what I’m meant to do.

Some things that I loved are getting to know a wonderful group of students and all the messiness that entails. And yes I even loved the ones that drove me batty. I wouldn’t change them for the world for they taught me about myself and have helped me hone my craft. They are the ones who drove me to find more effective ways to teach and reach them.

There are things I could have done better. As with anything, there are things I wish I had done differently. I wouldn’t be being honest with myself or you if I said everything was perfect. There were activities that failed, experiments that didn’t go as planned, and opportunities missed. I will never get this year back, I will never get another chance to impact my students’ life. If I could do it over again, I would had fewer worksheets and more hands on activities. I would have implemented genius hour for all my students, not just made it a project at the end. I would have used more of my Kagan strategies. Played more games.

But in the end, I am happy for my seniors and can’t wait to see what my juniors do next year. And I can’t wait to see what my seniors make of themselves. I hope I encouraged all of them and led them to a better life.

Diigo & Edcanvas

Diigo is a wonderful site. It is a social bookmarking site, but its more than that. You can also annotate, highlight, and leave post its on the sites you save.

I have been using it to organize my sites for the presentations I am working on.

Edcanvas is an equally impressive site. With it you can put together a lesson with many different resources. Files, videos YouTube or otherwise, pull from your google drive or Dropbox, link to websites that help clarify your subjects, you can even embed your educreations screencasts.

You can follow them both at @diigo and @edcanvas on Twitter. I highly recommend giving them both a try. Well worth it and they’re both free!

And now for high school…

Well, I’ve made the jump. I am now teaching Principles of Technology at the high school level. I took the 8-12 science composite about this time last year and started searching for a new position.

I found my current position this summer and enthusiastically became a junior/senior teacher of physics (what PofT is really). I spiffed up on my physics and started planning lessons and labs. And I’ve been at it ever since. I find that I am we’ll suited for this level and the kiddos aren’t all that much different. A good bit taller, but not much different. They still need a teacher who is enthusiastic about the subject, who sets high expectations and develops great lesson plans.

Although I will say this last six weeks has been a little trying so far. The seniors are done even if they’re not finished. This is proving difficult but not unmanageable. I think that they are required to have my credit to graduate is helping me out some.

My few juniors are testing this week. They are the last group to graduate on the TAKS exam so this is a big week for them. I prepared them as well as I could, reviewing biology and chemistry along with everything we have covered this year. So we’ll see, but I believe they will do wonderfully!