This is the year for "Community!"

I have to admit that although I feel that in the past I have had positive relationships with the students in my classroom... personal connections etc. I am not sure that my students truly had a community. I have learned in the past year that the true idea of community is not just for ME as the teacher to build connections, but for the students to connect with each other. Before masters I guess I assumed that in a small school that the students already knew each other. But I have come to realize that this is simply not true. I am excited to treat building community as an intentional goal from the get go. I did try to use some of the ideas and strategies throughout the year as we experienced them in masters but now I get to do the real deal. It is worth the investment in the beginning of the year to work and focus on community. Really if you don't establish that... what do you have? 30 students working independently, as they sit next to one another. I have always felt that my "beginning of the school year" was missing something and now I know what is was. True community building activities. Perfect Classroom is really a good reflective piece for these thoughts to be cemented and better yet steps and action taken to avoid similar habits from repeating over and over again. I celebrated by 34th birthday this week and I cant believe how fast time flies. I'm half of 70. Older and wiser... at least about community!

PR and Reflection

So much to do.. so little summer! Boy its nice out... but I have a hard time reading on the deck in the BRIGHT SUN. Too bad I guess Ill have to work from inside.

This weekend was great fun! Did allittle saw sharpening with Grandma's Marathon... running myself the half in 2:12 which is my PR (personal best--whoo hoo) plus being there and cheering on my group of running girlfreinds as they completed their first marathon in a fabulous time of 4:43!!

I was thinking a lot (because I didn't have anyone to talk to...) about how far I have come as a teacher in my short 9 years and I decided to celebrate myself (for once) and allow in the thinking of I am doing a damn fine job. Surely there are things that are not perfect... and surely their will continue to be bumps along the way but this community has allowed me the opportnity to see my profession and self with a new lens. We have a lot of work to do, but honestly I don't mind spending some time focusing on becoming a better teacher and working on my AR and BD and PC. They are very meaningful and useful assignments. Time to get back at it!

Reflection over,
Zhukov OUT!

COOL IDEA... a "HEAD to HEAD WRITE OFF!"

Im really trying to stay focused on doing just my ROL but in the process I keep finding cool teaching strategies and ideas and I get side-tracked! Thought I would further delay working by sharing something with you to use for a partner activity with your students. Hope your progress on your ROL is "uninterupted!"  

PARTNER STRATEGY: “HEAD to HEAD WRITE OFF!”

Directions:

1. Students are paired off and turn desks to face each other in head-to-head fashion.
2. Teacher poses a question… (controversial or essential questions work best)
3. Students consider the question and each respond to it in writing for 2 minutes

When time is called, partners exchange papers and have two minutes to read what their partner wrote and respond to it in writing. (no talking). The exchange is repeated, creating a back -and-forth written dialogue (sometimes arguments, depending on the writer’s viewpoints) The number of exchanges can vary depending on the topic’s level of controversy and complexity. Following the final exchange, partners are given up to five minutes to talk about their responses and clarify their opinions. At this point, partners are often bursting at the seams to talk! Follow up with a class, whole-group discussion.

MY NEW AR (action research)

THE AFFECTS OF IB (inquiry based teaching) 

(don't you hate educational acronyms) 

Essentially I see many 3 SENSED NEEDS in my classroom. My students lack leadership... so I am looking researching leadership skills and how to teach them effectively and why they are important. Secondly, my students lack skills in working together in a positive way... so I am researching collaborative grouping and how to teach and implement these groups and why they are important...  and lastly my students are just not SCIENC-Y enough for me so and I am researching the idea of essential questions and how to teach them and why they are important for student learning. 

My thought is: How will using an inquiry based style of teaching affect or change my classroom? 

During my research and reading today I came upon a LIST (and you know I like a good list) but these are

other teaching strategies that work well in conjunction with the ESSENTIAL QUESTIONING style. 

The idea is... if you are going to implement EQs successfully you should also be doing these things. 

Here goes: 

1. WAIT TIME (after you ask) & WAIT TIME II (after a student responses)

2. THINK-PAIR-SHARE

3. RANDOM CALLING (using a fish bowl or sticks) or STUDENT CALLING

Also periodically ask someone else to summarize what another student just said or their main point. Students begin to take ownership of clarifying and restating contributions!

4. CLASS SURVEYS—thumbs up/thumbs down, small white boards to write answers on an hold up (then choose someone or pair with an opposite viewpoint and explain your position) wireless polling, clickers,

5. MORE THEN ONE ANSWER—push for at least 2 or 3 different answers 

    then probe to invite comparisons and testing of ideas on the table.

6. USE PROBING QUESTION (for THINKING and SUPPORT)

To push students thinking and meaning try these questions: 

--What do you mean by…________?

--Why?

--Can you elaborate? Tell me more.

--Could you rephrase that? I don’t understand your point

--Could you give me an example or analogy to explain that?

--How does this relate to (what was said before, what we read last week)?

--Can we come up with another perspective on this?

--What are you assuming when you say that?

--Do I understand you to be saying… _________?

To ask students for SUPPORT and JUSTIFICATION try these questions: 

--Why do you think that?

--What’s your evidence?

--What’s your reasoning?

--Can you find support in the text/data?

--How does the data support your conclusion?

--But earlier, didn't we say that ______________, which seems to be at odds with

   what you are saying now. Can you clarify?

--How does that square with what the text says on page _____?

 7. DEVIL’S ADVOCATE. Try these questions:  

--I disagree. Convince me.

--How would you respond to those who say… ?

--Have you considered another perspective?

--Who as a completely different idea or reason?

--Is it really either, or? Might there be different “right” ways of thinking about this? 

Many people have laughed at me (easy to do) during small group or SAGA time when I have shared that I would be a person that would have to have a LIST of nice things to say to students or positive praise... and OK I understand that one... but I am seriously considering making a laminated sheet or bulletin board of these EXTENSION QUESTIONS in my classroom as I think it would help to PUSH my students thinking forward! Happy reading. Steal the list... I cited it in my AB (annotated bib) haha. 

Time for CHANGE

CHANGE IS HARD! THE YEAR in REVEIW 

This year was chalk full of challenges and change. First and foremost I taught a new class 7^th grade Life Science. Your thinking… what’s the problem their seventh graders right? Wrong. I agreed to this in advance of course.  I knew about it and I thought I prepared. I read the standards. I mapped the textbook and correlated the chapters we would cover for the standards. I planned some great hands-on activities and bought each student a notebook to keep in the classroom for note-taking. 

But in reality, it is very challenging to teach a new class and a new grade level. What’s worse is that the class was not really a “new” class, and not really “mine” at all. For years seventh grade had been taught by another teacher in our district. And it turns out there were many expectations that really got me down. I was expected to do a bug project. I was expected to do month long units on both the metric system and winter survival. I was expected to teach and collect two month’s worth of sap from area maple trees. This information was not discussed and there was very little mentoring or planning in advance. 

There were however a lot of hard feelings throughout the year. This complete lack of communication really slowed me down, played with my psyche, and my squashed my creativity as a science teacher. I continuously felt like I was wrong and behind. What’s worse is that I did not stand up for myself. I did not stand up for my students, the academic standards, good team-work, positive change or growth. I let someone else and someone else’s opinion(s) into my work. What I learned is that I need to continue to work on my confidence, my communication skills, and my planning. Seventh graders need time to process labs and do things repeatedly for understanding. I will have a chance next year to remedy some of the mistakes I made and I will try my best. But also, I will do what is right by me and by my style of teaching for my students.   

Out with the old...

As I work hard cleaning out my classroom I am considering how I want to approach grouping my students next year. Should I use lab groups?  level students so there's a high two middles and a low? Should I group by personality meaning like minded people at the same table or really mix it up and put one personality type of the four at each table? Food for thought... I have the large, black lab tables... So I am stuck with 4-somes. Any thoughts or ideas let me know. Best practices??

Last day!

Went to the graduation ceremony after school on Friday!!
Was a long day, talent show, collecting books,  saying goodbyes and good lucks.
 Before the ceremony I had some time in my classroom and I was able to grade all my finals grade all late work and post grades! Felt good. After the graduation (after five years) our staff  had a get together at a local teachers house! We chatted and snacked... had refreshments and a bonfire with s'mores! It was great. I am hopeful that those kinds of activities become more frequent and help BHS get closer and build the community we desperately need! We shall see...
Next year I need a good, easy, effective way to get some daily news articles on scienc-y stuff either local or national worked into my classes.
Anyone have a favorite way?? Let me know???