Improving My Attitude

Usually by this time in the school year, I find myself in an ever-increasing pessimistic mood. I'm counting down until the last day of school, complaining about my job, and grumbling about the workload. I just want summer to hurry up and get here so I can sleep in, enjoy the beautiful weather, and spend more time with my family.

A few days ago, I recognized this negative behavior rearing its ugly head again, and I determined that I needed to make a change. I decided to surround myself with positivity and make the following changes.

• Work out more. Exercise is proven to decrease stress and improves mental health, and it is definitely something I can increase. 
• Eat healthy. Although I'm not a horrible eater, I notice that I tend to consume more unhealthy foods when I am stressed. I should eat a well-balanced diet of complex carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables, and lean protein to help improve my mood (and maybe a little chocolate wouldn't hurt).
• Surround myself with inspiration. I started following Jon Gordon on Twitter; he regularly tweets out inspirational quotes, stories, and videos. His tweets are motivating to me.
• Take time to reflect. At the end of each day, I will reflect on what went well and what did not go well. Then, I will decide what I need to do to make tomorrow a better day.
• Converse in a positive manner. I noticed that when I vent I temporarily feel better, but then my negative mood returns with a vengeance. Conversely, when I speak with positivity, that energy carries me through the rest of the day. 

After May 1st, I only have twenty-two days left of school. Rather than grumble and complain, I plan to enjoy my dwindling time and improve my attitude. I encourage everyone to join me, and please comment below if you have other ideas to improve one's mood.

Formative Assessments

Formative assessments are a tricky deal. The term seems to be a part of edu-speak (or common language in the world of education), but do we really understand what this means? And more importantly, do we use formative assessments as they are intended to be used?

In Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning, Jan Chappuis says, "formative assessment is not an instrument or an event, but a collection of practices with a common feature: they all lead to some action that improves learning"(4). In other words, formative assessment is when teachers assess student knowledge and use the information to guide the instruction. This seems simple enough, yet we find it difficult to find the time and resources to effectively do this.

Back in February, I taught a professional development class on formative assessments. The goal of the class was threefold:

1) walk away with a set of tools teachers can use right away

2) see how teachers can get help with formative assessments

3) learn how to give quick feedback to the students without sacrificing more time

The feedback from the participants was positive, so I figured I would provide a cliff-notes version of this class in a blog post.

Goal #1- Walk away with a set of tools teachers can use right away

All one would need to do for this is talk to a fellow teacher or Google "formative assessment examples". But here are three ideas that do not require much preparation beforehand.

1) My Favorite No- Assign students a warm up problem or two. Hand out index cards to the students. Sort the index cards into yes/no piles. Choose your favorite no response and analyze it as a class.

2) Chalkboard Splash- Numerous students respond to a prompt/question on the chalkboard, whiteboard, or a Google Doc at the same time. The teacher calls on students to elaborate on some of the topics, vocabulary, strategies, and systems they see on the board.

3) Hit the Learning Target- Have students show how they have mastered the learning target from the lesson (either verbally or written) before they leave the classroom.

Goal #2- See how teachers can get help with formative assessments

The term "two heads are better than one" can definitely be applied to formative assessments. Teachers can, and should work with others to create and analyze formative assessments, including...
1) Students

• students can assist in identifying high quality work
• they can help identify methods of assessment
• students can assess the assessments

2) other teachers

• other teachers can give examples of assessments they have used
• they look over student work examples and collaborate to make instructional changes (this is especially helpful for colleagues who teach the same courses)

3) instructional coaches

• ICs can brainstorm effective types of formative assessments for specific situations
• they can model how to implement and grade a formative assessment in the classroom
• ICs can also co-teach a lesson, so one person can assess the students and provide feedback while the other teacher facilitates a different activity (plus, they can help make instructional changes based on the data collected)

Goal #3- Learn how to give quick feedback to the students without sacrificing more time

Formative assessments should not take away valuable time from a teacher's life. Below are some strategies for saving time when assessing student learning.

• Have students grade their own assessment
• Have students grade each other’s assessments
• Simplify grading
• Example- grade on a scale of 1-5 (1= did not understand the concept, 3= in the middle, 5= mastered the concept)
• Use technology to assess the learning
• Examples include Kahoot and Flubaroo
• Have only one period do a formative assessment on a certain day, so that a teacher will only have one class set to look over.

• Focus on only one skill at a time
• Example- give 1 paragraph to write, but only focus on the summary and thesis found in an intro paragraph.
• Build time for assessing learning during class

Formative assessments should be a tool that is used frequently in classrooms and guides instruction. It should not be time-consuming, nor a discarded practice. But if used appropriately, formative assessments will improve student achievement.

Instructional Strategy - Thinking Prompts

My favorite part of my job as an instructional coach at Stilwell is seeing the innovative instructional practices of my colleagues. One example of this is Thinking Prompts. While at a training with Jim Knight (The University of Kansas and The Kansas Coaching Project),  I heard him talk about “Thinking Prompts” as an instructional strategy. Others probably have different names for these activities (Bell Work, Hooks, Anticipatory Sets, etc.), but here, I’ll refer to them by Knight’s label.

Thinking prompts are “any device a teacher puts in front of students to prompt thinking, discussion, and dialogue.” As I listened to Knight describe different types of prompts, my mind connected my colleagues’ work I have observed over the past few weeks:

• Video clips - Walk by Ben Stein’s class during its first five minutes, and you’ll see him teaching current events. His daily video clips engage students in thinking about social studies in their lives. Laws, history, politics, wars, and social issues dominate the beginning of every period. Kids are immediately engaged and primed to study Stein’s curriculum.
• Cases or short stories - Recently, Katie Ernst found a unique way to explicitly teach an implicit skill: inferencing. “Minute Mysteries” interfaced with google forms and clickers give her students a quick opportunity to study and practice one of the most crucial reading strategies. Instead of teaching reading one way, Katie uses multiple methods and devices to engage students.
• Cartoons - Right under my nose, Tammy Zenti showed an engaging thinking prompt through using comics to also demonstrate inference. Through illustration and humor, Tammy showed kids how they inference without even knowing it. Luckily, I share a classroom with her, and I was able to borrow her comics for my same lesson that day!
• Songs - As an instructional coach, I have learned so much just by walking through the halls. One day, I heard music coming from Ruth Henderson’s room. As a colleague of several years, it doesn’t surprise me to see Ruth employing higher order thinking in her students, but I hadn’t yet seen her use songs. The hilarious youtube clip was perfectly suited for her learning target.
• Quotations - Leslie Nedved shows 180 quotations that directly relate to her daily lessons. Students copy the quotes into their planners, and have a reference (sometimes historical; sometimes pop culture) to start the day. This is one of the many reasons students cite Mrs. Nedved as their favorite and most inspirational teachers.
• Poems - Another teacher who uses every school day to expose students to different thinking is Cameron Gale at Valley. Gale gives his students 180 days of culture through his use of daily poetry. In one year, his students have been exposed to more poetry than most people are in a lifetime. The poets, emotions, and beauty his students experience is undoubtedly part of the success his students feel.

When searching for Thinking Prompts, Knight recommends spending no more than 2 minutes searching. Anything longer takes away critical planning time that teachers need. So, type your topic, theme, or idea into google and briefly peruse the videos, images, and links to see if there’s something that catches your eye. Knight provides a checklist for what makes an effective thinking prompt:

☑Provocative: People cannot wait to talk about it.

☑Complex: There are many different ways to interpret it.

☑Personally Relevant: It speaks directly to individuals.

☑Positive: It fosters learner-friendly emotions.

☑Concise: It’s not too long to view or experience.

Knight recommends 30 seconds for viewing time, but I think up to 3 minutes is appropriate if combined with a series of effective questions to foster discussion - more to come on this.

I know so many other teachers at Stilwell and all WDM schools are practicing Thinking Prompts, but maybe under a different title. Use the comments section below to give a “shout out” to others using Thinking Prompts that I’ve missed here. I’ve appreciated seeing the above examples, and I would welcome the opportunity to see others and/or help incorporate them into your class!

The Power of Video, Part Two

Back in August, I wrote a post titled "The Power of Video". In the post, I talked about the need to videotape ourselves so we can gain a clearer picture of our practice. I also mentioned that upon returning from maternity leave in October that I planned to videotape myself in order to grow as an instructional coach. It may have taken a few months, but I, along with Katie Seiberling and Tammy Zenti (both part-time instructional coaches and part-time English teachers at Stilwell Junior High School) videotaped ourselves in a coaching situation involving co-teaching.

Katie and Tammy approached me a few weeks into January with a request for me to observe them co-teach their 8th grade English class. Although they felt fine about their class, they wanted to look for ways to improve their practice. So we decided that I would observe them co-teach and videotape the lesson.

A few days after the lesson, we met to debrief. We watched clips of the videotaped lesson to observe their teaching styles and interactions with the students. Viewing the video gave us a clearer picture of the lesson, and it allowed Katie and Tammy to brainstorm new ideas for co-teaching in future lessons.

To help me improve my practice as an instructional coach, we also videotaped the debriefing session. While watching the video, I listened to the conversation, analyzed body language and facial expressions, and reflected on my interactions with them. This gave me the opportunity to see what I am doing well and determine what changes I need to make to improve as an instructional coach.

Videotaping both the lesson and the meeting afterwards turned out to be very beneficial. It allowed us to observe the whole picture of what transpired, and we were able to analyze the events. Although it can seem daunting at first, we highly recommend using video as it can be a valuable tool for teachers to improve their effectiveness.

Below are links to the edited videos of the co-taught lesson and debriefing session.

The first three videos are clips of Katie and Tammy co-teaching. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfFm1sshgGs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCj4j5X6yxg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeXHkWOvYbM

The rest of the videos are clips from our meeting after the lesson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyUP4qB_X4c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y241v1eTMuc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEaT_kAwUFs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GWizQzzpkk

New Year's Resolutions

With the beginning of a new year comes new resolutions. We want to lose weight, exercise more, quit a bad habit, etc. This year, I decided to make a change nine days into 2015. My resolution? Strive to be more optimistic in my professional life. To assist in this process, I turned to the article "Teachers: Staying Positive in Trying Times". This article gives the following list of suggestions to remain positive in the field of education.

1. Pinpoint what you love about education and live in it.
2. Find others who can offer solutions, not just an ear.
3. Pick and choose the news you read.
4. Know your limits.
5. Never close your door to collaboration.
6. Be supportive of one another.
7. Pick your battles.
8. Don't get sucked in.

I also read some other great articles about remaining positive in the field of education. Based on my findings, I made a list of ways to help me achieve my goal.

1. Converse more with other educators. I plan to make a more concerted effort to collaborate and learn from my co-workers.
2. Focus on what I can do, instead of what I can't do.
3. Teach part-time to middle school students at my church, which will give me more opportunities to grow and learn as a teacher.

Teaching can be a stressful profession. It is easy to fall prey to the negative forces surrounding us. Next time something gets you down at school, don't let it consume you. Instead, figure out a way that works for you to remain optimistic and persevere.

References:

"Teachers: Staying Positive in Trying Times" 
"5 Powerfully Positive Teaching Strategies"
"Staying Positive in Negative Times"

Pinterest and Exit Slips

If someone would have told me last year that Pinterest would be one of my frequently visited websites as an instructional coach, I would have laughed. Sure, I completely understand that Edutopia, the Teaching Channel, and YouTube are bookmarked websites... but Pinterest?

It turns out that Pinterest can be a valuable tool for educators. It is a great place to go to find new ideas for the classroom. During a recent perusing of Pinterest, I found some pins on how to quickly assess student learning during the last few minutes of class (aka- exit slips). Below are just a few of the pins that are creative, informative, and fun.

• Hashtag Mania: Students summarize their learnings as a hashtag. 
• Tweeting: Using no more than 140 characters, like a tweet on Twitter, students answer a question or describe what they learned in class.
• Instagram Photo: Students take a photo they believe best reflects the learning that took place and post it to a class Instagram account.
• Vine Blog: Students create a video that captures the most important six seconds of class. 
• Exit Slip Poster: Create a poster with pockets. Number the pockets, and assign students a number. Students answer a question on a small piece of paper and place it in their assigned pocket.

WILLPower

It is the middle of December, almost halfway through the school year, and the time of year when teachers feel the most frustration and failure. It is a time when we are bitter and complain endlessly about the job. It is a time when we want to throw in the towel and say we will start anew in January.

It is precisely at this time that we can all learn from Willie Burton. Born two months premature with cerebral palsy, he cannot walk unassisted, has limited use of his right hand, and struggles with speech. Yet, Willie has more gumption and drive than most people. Despite having the odds stacked against him, Willie went out for wrestling in ninth grade and never quit. His perseverance inspires us all.

At a time when we feel the negativity overpowering us, I implore you to watch this video. It may give you the motivation you need to push through until Winter Break.

WILLPower- ESPN Video