Asking Kids How They Learn

I think most teachers already realize that it's important to engage their students and that a student's learning engagement actually bumps up student achievement significantly.  However, if they are at all like me, then they also need to be reminded of what works for kids.  What is the best way to be reminded of this?  By asking kids!   Find out how kids best learn by asking the kids.  What an amazing concept, eh?

I was fortunate enough to be part of a "Look to Learn" walk-through training this past week.  Our district is training both teachers and administrators to go into classrooms for quick 4-minute snapshots of the "learning" (not the teaching) happening in classrooms.  By asking the students themselves to explain what they are doing and why they think that they are doing it, you get a wealth of information.  It was extremely enlightening -- and not at all evaluative.  I only found myself evaluating one teacher -- myself.

I participated in these learning walk-throughs under the guidance of an amazing instructor, John Antonetti.  My eyes were opened to the many ways in which I can improve student engagement in my own classroom as I looked for the following eight engaging qualities occurring in other classrooms:
(1)  Personal Response
(2)  Clear/Modeled Expectations
(3)  Emotional/Intellectual Safety
(4)  Learning with Others
(5)  Sense of Audience
(6)  Choice
(7)  Novelty/Variety
(8)  Authenticity

I went into some classrooms in which the students were very engaged and others in which students were compliant but not otherwise engaged. (To be engaged, a lesson needs to provide 3 of the 8 qualities listed above).  In my learning walk throughs, I found that the students often knew the objective (or had clear/modeled expectations) but lacked other engaging qualities.  This lead me to wonder if my students were actually engaged in my own classroom ... and how often? I'm talking about real engagement that creates an excitement to learn and do more -- even if the teacher leaves the room. I think we all know that, even as adults, if you really love to do something, you can do it for timeless hours without being told and want to continuing doing it well after the allotted time is up.  Isn't that what we ultimately want for our students?  To engage them so well that they can't help but to want to continue to learn more?

Of course there will be always be teacher-directed moments when a concept or activity is being introduced.  That is also necessary to teaching.  But I'm not talking about teaching here.  I'm speaking about learning.  Learning how to create learning.  Thinking about thinking.  You know, fun metacognitive stuff.

Learning walk-throughs are truly enlightening for the teacher(s) participating in the walk-through.  I received the ideas, motivation and energy to create a better learning environment for my students.  My thinking started to shift away from my instructional methods and move more toward the levels of engagement in which I am or am not providing for my students.  Engagement is at the forefront of my mind when I go to plan my lessons now.  It was always there, but I can't honestly say that it was always at the forefront.  Now that it is, I plan to keep it there by continuing to do walk-throughs.  I will voluntarily use my planning time to do walk-throughs simply because I believe it will help my planning. It is time well spent and well served.  


My biggest take away from the day was the idea that we will learn our craft as teaching professionals by interacting with each other across disciplines and across grade levels with common expectations -- not by closing our classroom doors and practicing in isolation

Even as I see real value in participating in learning walk-throughs, I know that some teachers may not.  Some may say that they are disruptive and may become evaluative in nature.  Well, let's look at this from a perspective in which fear has been removed.  Fear that the learning walks "may" become evaluative in the future.  Fear that all teachers will be forced or mandated to do learning walk-throughs.  Fear that we are bothering the teacher in the room in which we are performing the walk through.  Fear that going into a room for a four-minute snapshot rattles an experienced, skilled teacher who already has the utmost confidence in his/her abilities.

In one entire day (from 7:45 - 2:00), I walked through classrooms in the High School, the Middle School and my own elementary school.  Not once did we speak about the teacher or the teaching going on in the classroom.  It was all student-oriented.  It was not evaluative.  It was not judgmental.  It was a learning tool for my own teaching.  What a great learning experience.

"Unconference" Style Professional Development Reveals Interest in Yoga in the Classrooms

A google spreadsheet was sent via e-mail from our Superintendent, explaining that our next upcoming Professional Development Day was going to be run in the "unconference" style.  I was thrilled.   Finally a professional development day filled with choice and  interest!  This approach invited teachers and staff to sign up for a time slot to present an idea, talent or skill which they thought would be interesting to share with their colleagues in the district.  I could actually learn something new instead of daydreaming about what I could be doing. I also had the opportunity to be a presenter. 

I had always wondered if the teachers in my district had any interest in learning how to use simple yoga tools in their classroom.  Here was an opportunity to find out.  As a first grade teacher and yoga teacher I have always used yoga in the classroom to calm and center my students, helping them to become "learning-ready."  With all of the high levels of anxiety that children seem to suffer from these days, it is a tool which I find to work.  I had taken a course over the summer in teaching teachers these simple yoga tools so here was a chance for me to experiment.

I immediately put my name in the designated 9:00 am time slot with the title "Yoga Tools for Teachers in the K-8 Classroom." Once I put my name in the slot, I immediately deleted it.  Would teachers actually have an interest in this?  Would I be left to sit in my classroom with no participants?  Conversely, would I have too many?  After doing some of the breathing that I would be teaching, I re-entered my name into the slot.

Well, I guess you never really know until you try and then...well, you still don't really know.

When 9:00 am arrived on the day of the "unconference," a few colleagues trickled into my classroom and I began to speak to them very informally about children's yoga.  It seemed as if it was going to be a very intimate presentation and I began to relax.  But then a wave of teachers from another school came in and then another wave after that.  They just kept coming.  I ran out of handouts, chairs, space on the carpet and space in general.  It was standing room only and even that real estate was becoming scarce.  I was wondering if I would have to hold the presentation in the hallway.

It was too late to cancel the session or run away, so I began the session with some adult yogic breathwork.  In the midst of trying to create a calm, inviting environment for the participants, I centered myself in the process.  This reminded me of the most important reason to do yoga with your students in the classroom -- to calm yourself.  After all, happy teachers make happy students.  They consistently follow your energetic lead throughout the day.  They are the most sensitive human beings on Earth -- natural barometers of our own well-being.

After teaching simple yoga postures, games and breathwork to use with young children in the morning, during transitions, before tests and at the close of a day, I ended with a guided relaxation.  Time was up and the participants made their way out of my classroom to the next session.

Did the participants like the workshop?  Would they use the resources, materials and tools that I taught them? I may never know.  However, my biggest take-away from this experience was knowing that there is definitely a growing interest in meditation and yoga in the classroom (demonstrated by the huge number of participants at this session).  I only hope that I can continue to share what I have learned over the years and learn how to implement even more techniques ... for the overall well-being of the students.

Classroom View: Social Media Resistance

Classroom View: Social Media Resistance

Social Media Resistance

What techniques have you used in the past to encourage educators of any kind to buy into the benefits of Twitter and PLNs?

This summer I was able to bring two of my life's passions together when I underwent a program called YogaEd. As a certified yoga instructor and first grade teacher, this training certified me to teach yoga in the classroom to childen, as well as, teach my fellow elementary, middle and high school colleagues how to use various quick 5-15 minute yoga poses, breathwork and visualizations to calm, energize, refocus or relax their students. I am excited to bring these time-tested, scientifically-proven skills into my classroom and to my colleagues (if given the chance). However, the benefits of yoga in the classroom is another blog for another day. I wanted to write today to ask for your help.

At the end of this intense certification workshop, the 32 participants of the program did what they usually do -- share each other's e-mail addresses and vow to keep in touch and share resources. I've been in enough workshops to know what happens after we depart. The first week there is a flurry of e-mails thanking each other, sharing some resources and asking for additional resources. They start off as group e-mails, eventually are broken down into smaller groups made up of those who have replied and ultimately end up as maybe an electronic friendship among one or two other individuals if you are lucky.

So when the e-mail sign up sheet was being passed around the group, I took this opportunity to propose that maybe we could set up a network via Twitter accounts. I immediately got a collective groan from the group as a whole and the resistance did not stop there. Throughout lunch and other break times, individuals felt obligated to tell me one Facebook tragedy after another. I listened and tried to relay to them how you could set up a twitter account which only had professional contacts; how you could get the scientifically-proven benefits of yoga in the schools out to a wide audience of school administrators and teachers, and share our experiences, valuable resources, blogs and websites with each other. I also shared how this is a simple, quick approach to reaching a worldwide audience of targeted individuals who need to hear about the benefits of yoga in the schools.

This is a tough group to persuade as many embrace bringing ancient, tradional wisdom to our contemporary living but fear the reverse for some unknown reason. I beleive that a merging of these two worlds has unbelievable power!

A few individuals were won over and vowed to set up a twitter account and follow me. I told them that I could help them from that point forward. I have yet to see these accounts - but hope springs eternal and I will contact them via the old e-mail method and approach them yet again.

So I am here asking for help in how to reach and win over these educators (many of them are classroom educators as well as yoga instructors such as myself). I have their e-mail addresses and am not afraid to use them. I will continue to try to persuade them to sign onto Twitter as I feel that their individual resources and skills are invaluable to all educators. I need your help. What are some irrefutable arguments and/or resources have you used to help persuade the skeptical non-believers? Any advice, websites, YouTube videos, etc. are appreciated. Thanks!!!

Forcing a Flower to Bloom

Data. Now there's a loaded word in education. What is data? Well, I think data is a tool (one of many) that can be used to assess where a student is in relation to his/her academic growth. It can be read well and tell a lot about a student, but it can also be misinterpreted. Data often gives educators and administrators a good place to start in assessing what a child needs.

But it can't end there (in my opinion). Isn't teacher observation -- I mean really close and documented teacher observation -- a valid evaluative device? Is it not regarded highly because it is not "scientific?" Is it not able to tell you anything "valid" about a child's overall growth?

I have a child in my first grade class who has made tremendous growth socially and emotionally. His academic growth in language arts is not quite as evident. Has he made the leaps deemed acceptable by the standards set for all learners his age? No. Has he demonstrated "grade level" understanding? No. Has he continued to climb in test scores at a rate deemed acceptable? Apparently not.

But have I seen him grow? Yes. Have I seen him raise his hand and take more risks - even though he may not have the correct answer? Yes. Have I seen his confidence improve? Yes. Do I see him on the cusp of a breakthrough? Yes. Will he be able to continue at his own pace until he is ready to bloom? No.

This beautiful little bud is being forced to bloom before his time. And instead of continuing to water him with understanding, patience and encouragement, he is being forced to try a "new approach." Why? Because he is not blooming fast enough for the parent advocate? He is making progress at his own pace. I see it working. Unfortunately I don't have the data to support what I "see." I don't have the data to support what I can intuitively feel. I don't have the data to support the numerous case studies I have witnessed over my many years of teaching which involve children who started out slow, eventually "broke the code" and went on to close the gap in their learning in relation to their peers at a later age.

Why does everyone have to progress at the same rate? Especially young children who have demonstrated a special need for more time? What is the rush? Why can't educators be allowed to use what they observe to be working? Why can't we be trusted? Why is switching approaches the only answer?

Now I know that switching teaching approaches has its merits. But I also see how it can be confusing for young minds. Connections that have just begun to form are no longer nurtured and may fade away. Scaffolded approaches which build upon one another are disregarded and the foundation of learning which has just begun to be built is left vacant. New approaches are implemented and learning has to start over from scratch. Does that make learning happen at a faster rate?

I just get a little dismayed when professional opinions are usurped by data, that's all. I want what's best for each individual student of mine. And I would love to have the chance to defend my beliefs, but alas, I have no data to support them...

Generations connecting to each other via blogging

While managing my first graders blog site, I came across a comment that really made me smile. It was in response to one of my student's blogs and it read,

"This is my first blog response ever!" Love Grampa.

This young generation is reaching out to their grandparents and introducing them to blogging. I don't think anyone should worry about whether technology and social media will be used in the schools in the future. It is here and, as this generation and future generations grow, it will be a way of life. As educators continue to introduce more and more technology into the schools, I believe that there will be a natural progression in its use. Maybe we all have to relax into "what is" and allow the use of technology and social media to blossom on its own. Just keep watering the seeds that you have all planted and continue to plant.

Thanks to all who are teaching me and allowing me to introduce what little I know to these brilliant young minds who are destined to carry it further. I am determined to take my own knowledge further, inspired by the children in my class.

Who's teaching who?

Blogging...almost as fun as watching chicks hatch.

I have an incubator with eggs in my first grade classroom. Although it is in the corner of the room, it has become the epicenter of the classroom. Today as it was time for math and I did my best to get the children to sit on the rug for the beginning of my lesson on measurement. But they were hovered around the incubator. I didn't exist. Math didn't exist. Time and space stood still. A chick was emerging from its shell.

How do you call children away from an incubator when a new life is being born? Answer:"You don't." More honest answer: "You can't" Most honest answer: "Why would you want to?"

I know every year that when we get the incubator in our classroom that teaching must be transformed for those 5 days. Curriculum takes a back burner to real life science and everything will revolve around these tiny creatures. You can move them away from the incubators but they will gravitate back. You can try to teach, but they won't listen (even if you are talking about chicks). Real life is happening in this little white box and talk is "cheep" (pardon the pun).

But when I said, "Let's go to the computer room and blog about our first little chick being born," not one student remained at the side of the incubator! They all eagerly lined up for the walk down the hall. They couldn't wait to tell the world that they had a new classroom pet...and that it was a boy because he was black with a yellow dot on the head ...and that they named him "Mr. Chick." I was shocked. Computers actually trumped a wet, limp chick gasping for his first breaths on the bottom of the incubator. Never did I think that I would see the day that ANYTHING would tear their eyes from the second by second commentating. Especially since there was another birthing session on the horizon as more eggs were beginning to crack.

Ever since I began this blogging with the class, parents have telephoned and written to me about how excited their daughter or son is to go onto the computer and blog. Blogging, it seems, has taken over their Club Penguin Game time on the computer at home. One parent said that her daughter hasn't even been fighting with her brother over the TV because she opts to go on the computer and write instead. I was amazed at all of the new blog posts that they had created over the weekend. They beg me to let them on the computer during free time in the morning to blog. And why not? Six and seven year olds love an audience and are alway vying for attention. They have an instant audience by blogging! Writing for meaning has taken on a whole new platform.

I'm tweeking their blogging experience here and there by making suggestions for topics, encouraging them to respond to their classmates' blogs and making them re-read what they write for editing purposes. But for the most part, I am letting them just get their own ideas down. Little Emily in my class asked me to read her blog to see if it sounded as if she was talking (I always tell them that writing is just like talking on paper -- or computers, as the case may be now.)

So although managing the blog site has become a new part time job for me, I am loving the excitement it has generated in their writing. And, as TJ confessed to me at the end of the day, "You know, Mrs. Tortolini, blogging is almost as fun as watching chicks hatch." Need I say more?

Seizing Daily Opportunities

I want to thank Philly-Teacher's blog (http://philly-teacher.blogspot.com/), for helping to inspire this post. In her last blog, she asked for a list on what you like about Education. I love posts which focus on the positive aspects of our job because, as we all know already, it is so easy to get sucked into the vortex of all the problems in education, political bashing and daily complaints.

Educators have the BEST jobs in the world! By BEST I don't mean easiest, most supported, or highest paying. But, for me, the rewards far outweigh any complaints that I may be aiming to eliminate from my mind.

I wanted to write a list of what I get to do (or at least have the opportunity to do) every day in the service of teaching:

Every day I have the opportunity to:

• Make a child laugh.
• Help parents who may feel discouraged or at wits end.
• Witness and help create "AHA" moments in young minds.
• Wipe away tears of fear and hug away anxiety.
• Open up new worlds.
• Share my experience of life every day to wondering (and often wandering) minds.
• Share in the triumphs of each child in my room.
• Soothe the anxious minds of children and parents (and sometimes co-workers and administrators)
• Learn from numerous different perspectives -- children, parents, fellow educators, administrators.
• Share with the wonderful colleagues who want to help make the world a better place for children.
• Be reminded of how a child sees the world.
• Be reminded of how love and caring are the most important resources we share with each other.

These are my daily opportunities on any given day -- if I so choose to seize them. It's up to me to make this choice.

The list may strike some a sappy, but for me it is truth.

What is on your list?

Caught Up In the Energy Of A PLN

My principal was showing a fellow PLN member from another state around our school at the request of the High School principal of our district. This teacher is relocating to our area and the High School principal thought it would be a great idea to introduce him to the faculty of our district.

Once it was explained to my principal how we all knew each other via our PLN on Twitter, she got interested. A conversation began in the hallway outside of my classroom and (I'm assuming) continued as the three of them continued on with the tour.

I went home and later that day and saw that my principal was now following me on Twitter. I saw her the next day and congratulated her for jumping in and creating an account -- for taking the first step.

"I don't know what I'm doing yet, but I got caught up in the energy of it all," she explained to me.

I relayed to her that I still didn't know what I was doing yet but that there are so many people to help you and that learning is fast and fun.

My point here is to get the conversation started. Get people excited. And if you are speaking to people who aren't excited about joining the PLN, talk to someone else who DOES get excited. We need to strike the nerves of those who will listen instead of trying to convince those who refuse to listen. It becomes a waste of time and energy to speak to those who are not open to the idea of social media. HOWEVER, if you notice even the slightest interest or curiosity in someone, it's important to help them. That's how the fire spreads -- by fanning the small flames.

I truly feel that our job is to NOT to change the thinking of others but to remain true to our own beliefs. We have no power over what others want to believe. It is their personal choice. As Tom Whitby stated in a recent post, there are people who are just as passionate about not reforming the system as we are passionate about making change. It’s useless to get caught up in a debate with those who will not listen. Nothing you say or do will change their mindset.

I'm not saying to not speak. It's important to start conversations which will build better learning for our kids. I'm merely asking if we are continuing the conversation with the right people. The mavens. The ones who are going to effect change.

My personal belief is that it’s more important to put all of your energy toward what you are "for" instead of focusing your energy toward what you are "against." You are going to create more of whatever you focus your energy toward. Why put your energy toward resistant thought? It only creates more resistant thought.

How One Tweet Changed my view of Social Media

I've always firmly believed that life presents you with the perfect people, resources, opportunities and teachers at precisely the right moment. What I didn't know was how lightning fast this realization becomes once you become involved in social media.

When I ventured to create a Twitter account just over 3 weeks ago, I probably held the same exact thoughts that many teachers who aren't using social media currently hold:

Why should I enter into the social media media world (aside from updating my FB account)?
How would Twitter translate into any usefulness in my classroom?
What the hell is a PLN?
I was a first grade teacher with basic computer skills. What could I possibly teach my six and seven years olds?
What could my kids actually get out of social media at this age?
I don't know enough about computers.
Isn't that the computer teacher's job?

And the biggest resistant thought of all (drumroll please), "I don't have the time."

Well, let this be a warning to all of you who hold these beliefs: Be careful what thoughts you put out there, because the answers are lurking in the blogosphere, waiting to strike you like lightning -- especially when you enter into the world of Twitter and PLN's.

I opened an account and expected to go no further. I tweeted a little (mostly Retweets). It was fun. I was actually learning a lot. The people were nice. But I still didn't really "get it."

Throughout my tweeting experience, I read about #edchat and thought I'd take a look to see what that was about. I showed up one Tuesday only to find that people were tweeting faster than I could read. I would try to reply, but by the time I had written anything, 15 people had already Tweeted and re-tweeted what I was going to say. I looked at this positively -- at least I held a lot of the same views as many of these social media veterans.

Then I joined the Educator's PLN. Pretty fun. I can blog at my own pace, writing what I think in my own time. Got a few responses. That was nice. But still I thought, "Why am I doing this?"

My answer came in the form of a single tweet. The HS principal in my district forwarded a tweet from a computer tech coordinator in Illinois who was asking for people to respond her first graders' blogs on Kidblog. Oh, now this hit home! I know how much it would mean to a small child to receive a message from someone in another state. In my book, there is no greater joy in life than to create happiness in a small child, so I opened the blog and sent a response to every child in the class.

Something very magical happened to me as I did this. I started to actually imagine how ecstatic my own first graders would be if they were the ones receiving responses to their blogs. I could actually feel their enjoyment, their interest and their enthusiasm. Suddenly all of my previous thoughts vanished. I wanted to create that excitement for my kids!

I finished responding to the blogs and tweeted the computer coordinator in Illinois, asking her for more information on how she set up this blog. She was so kind and generous (and fast!) with her information and went out of her way to provide me with everything that I would need to set this kidblog up. She even shared the letter which she wrote to the parents of her students, explaining what blogging is and how it would be used.

I passed this information onto my computer teacher and she set up the kidblog page for me (thank you Carolyn). I added the names and brought the kids to the computer lab today to show them the Blog page. Although the kids didn't have time to write their blogs yet, they had a chance to see the page and read the blog that I had written to them. One of the boys stood up and clapped happily just seeing the heading "Mrs. Tortolini's Class at the top. "It has your name!" he exclaimed.

Once he saw his own name, he nearly fell off of his seat in euphoria!

Before we left the lab, I told the class that they would be writing blogs on our classroom computers over the next few days to be seen by other teachers and first graders in different states and even different countries. One boy screamed out happily, "And different planets?" "Not yet," I replied (but I assured him that nothing is out of the realm of future possibilities).

That's when the realization hit me. Social media and technology doesn't make teaching harder ... it makes it easier. It makes it more exciting for the kids (and the teacher). And that's where the excitement needs to start in order for social media to really take off in schools ... with the kids ... when they are young. Maybe they'll pass the excitement along to their parents and eventually onto other teachers.

This is also the time to teach them how to be responsible with Social Media.

I can't wait to get them writing these blogs and reading their responses. And neither can they.

Please look for my tweet asking for blog responses!