Day four: What I like most about teaching...

Using structured online lesson plan templates! 

 Oh no wait, that's number one on another list! Number one on my FAVORITES list is witnessing the moment when the lightbulb flashes on. I love when the lesson worked, the student got it, and they're completely engaged.

Day 2: One thing I'd like to improve on my next observation.

I'd like to improve Domain 3B, questioning & Discussion Techniques. My classes are technology-based classes that require students to apply their art-making ability and writing ability to web, multimedia, and graphic design projects. Part of the class is "how to" and part is critique/self-evaluation. Better questioning and discussion techniques would make our critiques more meaningful. I've made a real effort to ask higher level questions, but I often don't allow enough time for thinking before responding. Ok, I'll admit it, I'm afraid of the quiet.

Tech toc: Time to Incorporate New Tech

Teaching multimedia to teens is like teaching swimming to a trout... for some kids. They have more camera/multimedia firepower in their pockets than I had in my entire neighborhood when I was their age. Texting, emailing, Skype-ing, are old hat. Some kids are AUTHORING blogs and vlogs. Some kids have their own YouTube channels. Some kids shoot, edit, and broadcast from the hip, or rather, the phone on their hip.

Then, there are the Other Kids... These kids WATCH the blogs, vlogs, YouTube Channels, but they don't author the media. They don't author much of anything because they don't have the  parents who are tech savvy, tech skills, OR access to equipment TO author. These are my people! I know how to get them up and running. I've got notes, prezis, mini-projects, and all kids of resources to get them up & running.

It's the tech savvy kids I stay up at night thinking about. What's the next level for them? These kids are already invested in favorite software and preferred platforms... and their resources are better than the resources I have in my classroom! Hence my big tech experiment: Use your own.

BYO Tech Student Rules Get your parent's permission Be responsible for your own tech Remember to bring it to class or get a zero for the day Pass my pretest Use responsibly as a good digital citizen Put all final work on your school student account to be graded

If a student has a tablet, phone, or laptop that they prefer to use, they can use it.

This is a big risk for me because I can't possibly know all the software out there, or all the devices that are out there. What if something goes wrong and I can't help them?

Just in case Murphy, of Murphy's Law, is listening, I will not tell you it's working out well. I will not tell you that my advanced kids are more engaged. I will not tell you that they've been very responsible, perhaps even uber responsible.

I will just say that every day I cross my fingers and pray that the tic toc on my lucky clock has not run out of time.

Setting Goals in September

Second year in the same district, a first in my new career! I'm so happy I could sing.... If I weren't so busy. As part of my second year teacher professional development, I've been invited to take the 30-Day Blogging Challenge adapted from teachthought.com. Here goes Day 1,  blogging my personal school year's goals:

1. Flip my lessons in Multimedia
2. Diversify my projects and set up guidelines for independent projects for advanced learners
3. Incorporate more "real world" connections and activities in the active engagement part of my planning. Are there contests my students could enter? Are there school events my students could "cover" to create websites, newscasts, portraits, podcasts?
4. Connect with other teachers at school
5. Improve my website
6. Avoid spilling my coffee... Again.

Don't Spill Your Coffee

Anticipate. Research. Plan. August inches up a roller coaster track. September slams, g-force downward pull--learn names, establish class culture, differentiate, assess--catapult to December. Each day a test: did the lesson educate & ignite learning? February. Clack! Screech! Coaster squeals hairpin turn: the observation. Feedback throws you back. May. On track. Improvise, revise, get wise. Do it all again. Don't spill your coffee!

My First Summer Off…

Since the last time I blogged was Spring of last year, you can tell this past year was a hum-dinger. I've just completed my first full year of teaching! 7th Grade English Language Arts in the Northeast of Philadelphia.

It was: wonderful, terrifying, difficult, amazing, mind-spinningly busy, loud, teeth-clenchingly frustrating, ever-changing, transcendent… and so on. The planets must have been aligned perfectly for Pisces because I had terrific luck! The district hired me, but when I went to my assigned school I found that the school had hired another teacher. Because this is Philadelphia, the administration of the school didn't bat an eye. The other teacher and I were pulled aside and told, "keep a low profile, maybe no one will notice and we'll be able to keep you both." Only in Philadelphia!

This is how it came to be that I spent my first year co-teaching with a wonderful and experienced veteran teacher of the district. She gave me feedback, suggestions, showed me how to navigate the challenges of our district, school, and classroom.

Being the era of budget reductions, my first year ended with a lay-off. 1300 teachers with 1 year in the district were shown the door in June, me included. It's the end of July now, and I'm just catching my breath. September looms uncertain for all except one thing: teachers go on maternity leave, retire, have illnesses, and many other occasions that cause schools to need long-term subs. If I can't find a full-time teaching position, it's back to Aesop and the sub registry for me!

My First Observation

While most teachers dread observation, I actually… invited it. Since this is my first fulltime teaching position, I had some questions about my teaching style and classroom management. I thought the observations of a veteran educator would be the best way to have my questions answered, so I called my department head and requested. A couple weeks later, the date was set.

I'd be observed the following day at 2:50. YIKES! No "prep" time… Though my plans were already set, I felt seriously caught off guard. The night before the observation I was out late picking up my Mother from the airport, and I had bronchitis. My colleagues told me to cancel, but I worried canceling might look bad, so I took the "Show must go on" attitude and pressed on.

By the time 2:50 rolled around, I had very little voice left. The incoming class had 28 1st graders, 8 with special needs, and 2 support staff. I squeaked & wheezed through the lesson, roamed the room assisting students, and actually had one brief shining "teachable moment." I could have kissed the support staff for all their help, my lesson would have definitely flopped without them.

My department head frowned and wrote furiously as class went on—I thought I was sunk. As the students filed out, he smiled. "Not bad… surprised you pulled it off with that voice. Couple things to work on…" If I were a betting woman, I'd have made money guessing what those "couple things" were: Class management and time management.

He gave me a couple suggestions which I used the following day to great success. We all know it's important to have a signal for students to quiet down, but he said it's also important for THE TEACHER to respect that signal. I'd ding my little bell, the students would quiet down some, and I'd talk over them hoping they'd get what I said. His advise was to ding the bell & wait for them to be silent before speaking—to remind them, "What should you do when that bell rings?"—and not do any instruction until they are silent and looking at me. What a difference that made with my 2nd graders the following day!!!!!

The lesson in all this? Well, be not afraid of the observation new teachers! Welcome it! Their advice might make the little bit of difference you need to take it from a good class, to a terrific class!