Experiences Worth Writing About

June 14, 2014
Old St. Patrick's Church, Chicago

The month of June was quite the whirlwind!  I know most teachers welcome the end of the school year with open arms, happy to have summer break stretched out before them with possibilities of relaxation and adventure. For me (Meg), summer break meant something a little different this year.  I got married on June 14 to the most wonderful man, and thus embarked upon a new journey called marriage.

Teachers, regardless of the subject we teach, know that learning starts with making connections to our own experiences, using our background knowledge to attempt to gain access to a greater understanding.  While I am new to this whole marriage thing, I have not doubt it will give me plenty of experiences to use as fodder for future learning.  Likewise, I know I will need to use what prior knowledge I already have to help me navigate the waters of marriage.

Although there are still six weeks of summer break remaining, I cannot help but think forward to the upcoming school year (call me crazy) and how I will start the year with my students. I want to begin by building rapport with my new kids, and what better way to do that than sharing important life stories with each other?  Within the first few days of school, I always engage my students in some type of "about me" activity to start building our classroom community.  I have taught many different subjects over the past eight years, so the actual activity itself has changed in order to make a connection with my content area.  This coming school year, I will be back in 6th grade after a two year stint teaching 8th grade algebra.  My incoming 6th graders won't know much about me given they are new to the school, and those with older siblings who may have known of me will not recognize the name "Mrs. Knapik".  I will certainly need to provide them with some background on me if they are to feel comfortable learning with me.  And since I will still be teaching math, we will likely write math stories about our summer adventures to help us get to know each other.  This can be done briefly by writing their stories as blog posts, or this can be done with more depth by creating digital stories.

Patara Elephant Farm
Chiang Mai, Thailand

Thai Baht and US Dollar

I adapted this math story idea from Char Forsten's Math Talk, or telling number stories from illustrations, in the elementary classroom.  My honeymoon to Thailand and Bali gave me plenty of opportunities to use math from understanding the exchange rate between the US Dollar and the Thai Baht or Indonesian Rupiah to learning about the life span and diet of the Asian elephant I took care of for the day when I visited an elephant farm in the hills outside of Chiang Mai.  I will be able to share my experiences with my students, and in doing so they will not only learn more about who I am, but they will also notice they have more background knowledge about math than they may have initially thought.

What kind of experiences will you have this summer that will be worth writing about when returning to school in the fall?

Using a Blog as a Formative Assessment

As the school year comes to an end, I (Jamie) can’t help but be reflective.  I think one of the best things I did this year was to begin using a blog as a way to formatively assess my students.  In August, way back at the beginning of the school year, I was looking for an alternative to making students complete a journal write about their summer reading.  My school requires students to read one book from a preselected list of books to read over the summer.  We like to use this book as a way to rally around a common book and theme.  This year’s theme was choice.  We had planned on having the students write an essay/journal response about their summer read.   I was not in love with the journal write idea because it meant that I, the teacher, would be the only one reading about their summer reading.  On the other hand, I didn't want to use precious class time to have students orally share their reading aloud to the class in a presentation format.  Blogging was my answer!  

In the past, I had used blogging as a way for students to write about their independent reading.  When doing this, I used Kidblog and each student owned their own blog.  Don’t get me wrong!  There is absolutely nothing wrong with using a blog in this way, but this year I went a different route.  The students were not going to own this blog. No, this blog would be owned by me.  This meant that I would supply students with prompts via a blog post, and they would respond by commenting to the blog post prompt.  This was a bit of a shift in thinking, and a move away from the traditional use of a blog.  But, it got the job done nicely!

I started this new blogging journey by creating a name for my blog.  You will have to admit that the name I created for my classroom blog was very original--Mrs. Diamond’s English Blog.  Well, I won’t score any points for originality with that name, but it got the job done.  I also decided to use Blogger to set-up my blog because all of my students have Google accounts through our school district, so this made sense for me.  There are other platforms such as Kidblog and Wordpress that you could choose to explore as well.

Within five minutes (maybe ten) of getting on to my computer, I had my blog up and running.  It really is not a difficult endeavor, and I encourage you to give it a whirl.  

Here was my first post given to my students:

Summer Read Blog Response - Choices

Matched by Ally Condie

Rules by Cynthia Lord

Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs

Zach’s Lie by Roland Smith

Each of the summer read novels has a common theme of “choice”.  The main characters of each book make significant choices that direct the course of their lives and affect the lives around them.

TASK: Identify the significant choice the main character made and explain its impact on the story.  Include the following in your response:  

• the title and author of your summer reading book
• a brief summary of the plot
• explain the significant choice he/she made
• explain how his/her choice impacted others in the story
• explain whether or not you agreed with the choice
• explain how your opinion of the character and his/her choice shows who you are.

Begin your response by clicking on the comment button. Please include your first name, last initial, and your class period at the top of your comment.

This first blog post prompt was a success. I met both of my original goals. I was able to check-in on their summer reading, and I allowed students an opportunity to share their thinking/thoughts with others. The blog served as a formative assessment to obtain baseline data on my students reading comprehension as well as their writing abilities.

However, this blog post went well beyond my two goals.  Because it was a published piece of writing online, students took more time and put more effort forth in making sure their writing was of good quality.  They didn't want to be embarrassed in front of their peers.  Students were told that their writing was being shared with the entire team as well.  Instead of only being read by the twenty plus students in each of their classes, all 110 students on my team would have access to their thoughts. I loved the opportunity this provided for students to communicate with each other outside the classroom walls and class periods.  

As the year progressed, I found even more ways to use Mrs. Diamond’s English Blog.  While we read The Giver by Lois Lowry, I posted prompts that gave students the opportunity to interact with the text and with each other through the blog.  

Example:

The Great Escape

After learning that Gabriel is to be released the next morning, Jonas realizes he must escape from his community with him as soon as possible.  Imagine you are Jonas.  Explain why you are running away from the community.  Describe your planned destination.  Tell what you hope to find in this new place and what your plans are for your future.  

I also used the blog to check-in on their independent reading during reader’s workshop.  During reader’s workshop, students choose books on individual interest and preference.  Blogging through the use of prompts, helped me to keep a running record of the books each student was reading.  It allowed me to zero in on student who needed more support with their reading and alerted me to students who were not reading at all. Formative assessment!   I was also able to conference with students through the blog. To be honest, this was the first year that I felt like I was really able to keep up with student conferencing because I was able to have conversations with my students outside the school day via the blog.

Example:

Reader’s Workshop

Title of book and author.   What page are you currently on in your book?  Imagine you and the main character(s) are going out to lunch?  Where would you go to eat?  What would you talk about?  Are there questions you'd like to ask the main character(s)?  Advice you'd like to give him/her/them?  

Mrs. Diamond's English Blog was a great success! It proved to be an invaluable formative assessment tool.  Next year, I plan to do both a student owned blog and my teacher owned blog. Onward and upward!!!

If you’re interested in more information about blogging and uses for it in your classroom, check-out our book Literacy Lessons for a Digital World.  You’ll also find information on digital storytelling, podcasting, and collaborative websites.

The Olympics: A Golden Opportunity for Literacy in a Math Classroom

I am a unique breed: current eighth grade algebra teacher and veteran sixth grade math, reading, language arts, and science teacher.  Being such, I have a perspective as an algebra teacher that is a bit different from my colleagues who come from a more traditional math-focused background.  As many teachers are now aware, the Common Core State Standards emphasize that all teachers should integrate literacy activities into their content areas.  In math specifically, the Standards for Mathematical Practices provide the perfect opportunity for this.  Gone are the days of simple math computations; instead students must construct viable arguments for their solutions and justify their problem solving process.  The math/reading/writing teacher combo in me just loves this!  However, to many math teachers, this can be a very intimidating task.

I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to work with two educational consultants this year, ReLeah Lent and Katherine McKnight.  These ladies are right there with me as huge proponents of integrating literacy into all content areas.  Our conversations have revolved around the merits of having students read articles related to math and write about their opinions, as well as using mathematical computations to argue a point in response to a controversial question.

Cue the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi, and you have the perfect opportunity for students to read, write, and talk math.  Olympic.org, USA Today, Live Science, and the New York Times among many others were great places to find graphs, infographics, and articles related to the Olympics.

There is so much math to be done!  Students can find measures of central tendency for race results, and more importantly, argue which is the most accurate representation of the data (and why they believe so!). Using these resources, students can look at preliminary runs and calculate probabilities of various athletes taking home the gold, or they can determine whether or not the Olympics provide a "fair" opportunity for a variety of athletes to participate.
They can convert the cost of tickets to the closing ceremonies from Russian rubles to US dollars, compare this to the cost of other Olympic game events, create a travel itinerary, and create a persuasive argument as to why we should have taken (or not) a school-wide trip to the Olympic games.  (Add a fundraising component onto this field trip idea, and that makes it all the more exciting!)  I also had my kids participate in a Fantasy Olympic league to further spread the "Olympic fever".  (Don't worry, there was no money exchanged over the course of the Olympics, only cute hand-made certificates to the winners.)  Again, there were multiple opportunities to talk about probability, measures of central tendency, and graphical representations of the teams' progress.

While the Olympics provided a perfect backdrop to immerse my students in authentic math tasks while also incorporating literacy into my classroom, I was reminded that I can do this kind of stuff any time!  Yes, these types of activities require time in preparation as well as in class.  And, I do admit that from time to time, the literacy activities I use with my kids may stray from the curriculum standards so many of us fear we won't be able to squeeze in over the course of the school year.  However, in my humble opinion my students are getting a well-rounded and meaningful mathematical experience.  I am creating an environment in which talking about and doing math is valued.  Students are learning to use math to their advantage to draw conclusions, and they are becoming more articulate in explaining their thought process and reasoning.  Most importantly, I am coaching these kids to become problem solvers who use all of their resources and persevere through difficult situations.  THESE are the qualities that will stick with kids for the rest of their lives.  And while I do teach my students a quadratic equations song that they still sing years later when they come back to visit me, I know it is the former skills that serve them well in their day-to-day lives.

Looking for Inspiration and New Ideas to Teach Inferencing

Hot cup of coffee brewed and an apple danish acquired from my local bakery, my mission this morning is to surf the web in search of ways to help my students with inferencing. The amount of materials available through a simple web search never ceases to amaze me, and I love when I have a few moments to discover new ideas to incorporate into my lesson planning. 

My first discovery was a blog called Technology up to Speed (add this one to your favorites).  I have included the link for the post dated August 6, 2013, so you don't have to search out the materials I am about to discuss. Once you find yourself on the post, you will find a link to animated short videos and a link to free graphic organizers to use in conjunction with the videos to teach various reading skills.  The materials offered on the post are organized by the skill you are interested in teaching, which makes it very user friendly.  You are also able to download the materials for future use.  The video shorts are also accessible via YouTube.  Of course, my focus was on finding materials to teach inferencing skills, so I spent most of my  time perusing those videos and organizers, but there were other topics covered.  You will  find links to help you teach cause and effect, compare and contrast, questioning, predicting, and many others.   If your looking for a way to engage your students and teach reading skills, this is a great place to start.


Next, I found myself on site called Haiku Deck. This site offers educators an alternative to using Powerpoint and/or a Google presentation. It allows you and/or your students to combine text and images to share information in a user friendly format without being overwhelmed by having to make too many formatting decisions. The site offers both an iPad app or web app as a free download.  The Haiku Deck also offers educators plenty of information and inspiration to get you started--click here for more information/help.  

After creating my Haiku Deck account and exploring the site a bit,  I came up with the idea of using it to make Inference Riddles.  Feel free to take a look at my example, and use it in your own classroom.  My plan is to show students my riddle, and then they will work on creating their own riddles.  I think this is a great way to help students to understand the importance of using textual clues as well as using imagery to help their peers guess the answer to their own riddle.  They will be practicing their abilities to make inferences and not even know it!

Danish gone as well as two cups of coffee!  
















 on their abilities to use implicit and explicit evidence inference making skills

So Much Gratitude

As most people do when January comes around, we have spent some time reflecting on the past year and how it unfolded. Wow, are we ever blessed! The fruits of our nearly two years of laboring paid off, and we saw our first book published!

Integrating technology into our classrooms is something we both truly love doing--what teacher doesn't love to see their students motivated and invested in their learning?!  We are beyond grateful that Scholastic gave us the opportunity to share our ideas with other educators.

We have received so much support from our family, friends, and colleagues as well.  It has truly been overwhelming and heart-warming.  There were facebook posts, tweets, and newspaper articles.  We were even featured in an interview on mySuburbanLife.com.  Plus there have been an abundance of emails, texts, and phone calls. THANK YOU from the bottom of our humbled hearts.  It means so much to know there are so many people, both near and far, supporting us.

It is our hope that, in time, all teachers will see first hand the benefits of meaningfully infusing technology into their classrooms.  They too will hear the excitement in their students' voices as they realize their first blog post is getting more views than there are students in the class ("There are other people reading what I wrote!?").  They will see the awe in their students eyes as they see their podcast posted on iTunes.  That they will see students grow and thrive beyond their wildest dreams because of the opportunities technology provides to gather, create, and share knowledge.

If you are one of those teachers just getting started with using technology in your classroom, check out our feature in Instructor Magazine to access some lesson ideas and free resources from our book.  If you are one of those teachers already using technology, let us know what your favorite tech-related classroom activity has been recently!

Happy New Years, everyone.  May the year ahead bring us all exciting new endeavors in the classroom and beyond!

Writing Less Stagnant, Writing More Interactive, Blogging!

As Meg and I prepare to teach our first class at the university level, we have been engaged in a lot of conversation about blogging.  This morning, as I sat with my cat perched atop the text we've asked our students to read for class, I began to think about how I've used blogging in my own classroom.  I've come to the conclusion that I need to blog more frequently with my middle school students. Though I've read this book in the past, I love when I am blessed with time to revisit a text and can become more enlightened.  Re-reading the second chapter of the book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson has reminded me of the enormous potential blogging possess for educators.  
Richardson has reminded me that a good blog is reflective and conversational.  It is a place for both writer and reader to think and respond.  A blog that is well done in Richardson’s words, “demands interaction”.  It begs for the reader to make a  comment. This makes blogging a more fluid type of writing with no real end. I love this!  While I have used blogging in my middle school classroom, I have found myself  losing sight of the collaborative part of blogging.  I find that I am good about allotting time for students to blog, but I am not as good about building in the time for students to read and comment on the blogging done by their peers.  Big mistake!  I need to correct this!  The idea that blogs are a collaborative space needs to stay in the forefront of my mind.  

In my opinion, this book is a wonderful resource for educators.  It is full of practical ideas and advice to help teachers navigate the sometimes overwhelming road to using technology in the classroom.  I look forward to further re-reading, and hope my graduate students, as well as others, will find this book useful.

Another School Year, Come and Gone

Today was the last day of the school year.  I (Meg) have a new perspective this year as it was my first year teaching 8th grade students as opposed to 6th grade.  Certainly, as my 8th graders reminded me multiple times, this day signifies an end.  My kids are finished with middle school--they're outta here!--and are moving onto greener pastures at the high school.  All the kids move another year ahead in their studies, and teacher pass along their kids to new teachers with the hope that they truly did make the difference they hoped they would make in these kids' lives.

But really, it is also a new beginning for us all.  I am looking at my summer calendar, and while in theory I am excited to start summer break, I really don't have many free days at all!  I am taking professional development course for the next two days on Web 2.0 tools to use in my classroom.  During this course, I will be thinking about the upcoming school year (still 3 months away!) and trying to figure out how I can take this new knowledge and improve my teaching methods so my students will be more engaged.  I will be brainstorming ways to integrate these tools into my learning activities so my students can better communicate what they learn and think critically about the information they consume.

Jamie and I are also teaching a graduate level course at Judson University this summer, LIT 505 Integrating Technology in Literacy Instruction, as a part of the university's Masters in Literacy program.  This is certainly a new beginning for us as we embark upon an exciting adventure in higher level education.  We will be striving to provide our graduate students with meaningful ways to integrate technology into literacy activities across all curricular areas at all different grade levels.  Our many exciting successes from our own classrooms will provide a starting point for these discussions as we explore blogging, wikis, podcasting, digital storytelling, and Web 2.0 resources.  As with any new beginning, this is extremely exciting but also a bit nerve-wracking.  Jamie and I aspire to provide our grad students with an environment where we spark enthusiasm and curiosity, so our students leave us at the end of the summer feeling anxious for the school year to start just so they can try out these exciting activities with their newest group of students.  But we also want to emphasize that we all learn from each other.  Education is a life-long process, and twenty heads are better than one.  For everything we teach our students, we will also learn just as much from them.  I think that is one of those key characteristics of a good educator.  We just love learning so much ourselves that we just need to spread this passion to our students.

So here's to the end of the school year!  Not just an end, but a new beginning.