So as the spring winds tear apart the neighbours’ shingles and test our hedge, I’m r fleeting on how the winds of change are everywhere right now.

My students feel it. The grade 8s are looking ahead to high school. They are frustrated with their less focused peers and eager to move on. A few are nervous too, and that manifests in grade fluctuations and ‘off’ days.

The grade 7s are feeling the pressure too – feeling the weight of grade eight and high school pressing down on them. It shows in the little things – skipping extra help sessions, snarky comments, and tearful moments when the frustration peaks.

But I see other changes. The doors that are held for others. The ‘thank yous’ exchanges between peers. The admission of ‘I need help with this one…’ and the willingness to ask a peer for support.

The changes are small, but they demonstrate growth. My school-kids are growing. They are moving towards independence in their own baby steps, and every day – everyone of them — makes gains.

So I pledge here – for my readers (all six?) to see – that I will not forget to celebrate the growth and affirm the kids who need me right now, even as the end of year rush engulfs me. I will keep working for my kids, just as they keep working for me.

The winds of change will ruffle my skirt, but they won’t blow me over.

My kids will keep me strong.

MPJ

Last week I cried “Uncle.”

For an A-type teacher like me, that’s rare. I usually try to power through no matter what. But I have realized something important:

When you ask for help, you sometimes get it.

And it’s AWESOME!

I am NOT a primary homeroom teacher. Which means when I have kids modified to grade 3 or 4 math, I struggle. But I have discovered people in my building who ‘get’ primary math. And the benefit is stunning.

By advocating for myself, I advocate for my kids. Arranging a group of 5 kidlets to go and receive small group support achieved multiple successes:

1. My most needy kids got the support they needed

2. By having five less kids, I was able to get to all of my remaining kids for math check ins.

3. By having my kids experience a different teaching style, I a) better addressed the needs for some, and b) helped the others appreciate me. 🙂

And I had more energy the next day to do my best.

The lesson?

1. When you are exhausted, ask for help.

2. If it takes a village, your kids should be able to benefit from the whole village.

3. Showing kids that you need help models advocacy – which kids need to see.

4. Modelling a need for support normalizes needing support – which builds community

5. Learning from colleagues builds your own capacity.

Glad I went back to school.

MPJ

Had a brainwave today…

Background:

I started playing with bullet journaling last fall. I was attracted by the pretty pens, the lure of little bound books, and the excuse to justify my constant doodling. I really liked the x use it gave me to stop the world and be purposeful for a few minutes each day. As a scrapbook supply addict and staff meeting doodler, and someone who loves organizational supplies but is horribly disorganized, BUJO had it all. So I bought a dot grid journal, found a few pens, and dove in.

While my first attempts were cautious and self-indulgent, they helped me get used to the ideas. I played with icons and abbreviations, decided charts and grids suited me best, and started exploring lettering and brush pens. It’s now become my daily little creative break to take stock in my calendar events, add something artsy, and feel as if I’ve accomplished something for myself. It brings me a little joy mid-day.

Present:

Its poetry month. Many of my kids shudder to think about poetry – mostly because the stylized forms and structures don’t appeal to them. Today we did a 20 minute stream of consciousness writing activity – just to force their writers’ brains out of park. After the time was up a few actually said “wow, that felt really good.” They enjoyed the catharsis of getting bits and bobs of ideas out of their heads and onto the page. A-ha moment time.

BUJO!

I quickly pulled up multiple sites on Bullet Journalling and journalling in general.

They were interested.

So I talked about how a purposeful list could be a poem.

A list of 10 things I swish I could ask my Gramma….

A list of 5 places I want to be when I want to run away…

A list of 16 reasons for not liking sixteenth notes…

Heads popped up. From the back corner I head a “….huh…!”

And so it begins. Tomorrow we will set aside some time for bullet journalling. Whether they make a homework list, make a plan for next week’s studying, or explore script and doodling, it will show them another aspect of writing that might appeal to them. Their interactive language journals will work fine for these explorations, and remind them daily that BUJO is writing. BUJO is reflecting. BUJO is a way to keep your head above water. BUJO is a way to combine language and life and art in a way that engages your brain and maybe, just maybe, brings some calm to the chaos.

And I’m going shopping for more journals. Wanna come? I can add it to my weekly page layout in blue felt tip I use for “fun errands” and then ….

MPJ

And I’m not just taking teaching materials. I mean, what if your current teaching practice isn’t working, what is worth keeping?

I like to think of myself as a reflexive teacher who adapts to the needs of my students. I follow IEPs to the letter, differentiate like a pro, and run multiple grade level programs in one room without batting an eye.

But sometimes even that doesn’t work. And lately I’ve been feeling frustrated because – no matter what I try to do, I always feel like I’m left a few kids fall through the cracks.

So I dealt with the easy – physical – stuff first. Every day I teach from my webpage. Everything the kids see in class is filed digitally online for kids and parents to access at home. This allows total transparency for my program. This is something in which I believe firmly. As a result, I haven’t accessed a bound book of black line masters in years. Most of my content I create on the fly to suit the diverse needs of my kids in a given year. So everything paper, or skill and drill, on my shelf could be recycled. Or burned.

So that cleared four shelves.

My massive collection of classroom novels could be thinned. Anything ripped beyond repair went home with individual kids. Novels too far below my grade level moved on to new teachers starting first classrooms. Everything else can was reorganized by genre and inventoried.

That emptied 3 more shelves.

But what about my “in my head” pedagogy shelves? What can I purge from there? What have I been holding on to of my practice that needs to go? Bennett strategies? Action research? Foldables? Inquiry based learning?

I have been frustrated this year, trying new things constantly and trying to evolve with my kiddoes. But I’m not sure if what I am doing is all worth keeping.

I have always focused on aiming for the future and bringing kids toward the specific goal – whether that be math fluency or writing skill or grade nine readiness. However, as the years move forward I see the gaps between my strongest and my weakest kids growing. I’m scrambling to pull kids up and working hard to keep others engaged, and I’m run thin. So what has to change?

I think I need to focus less on what strategy and which method, and focus more on where they are. I don’t need to bring every kid all the way to mastery, as long as I bring them as far as I can. In order to live this in the moment, I need to authentically represent what I value in education every single day – so here is my new teaching philosophy.

Talk to every kid every day.

Live your duty of care, everyday.

The kids are the life in your room. You need them more than you need colourful borders and posters.

Get a living creature into the kids’ hands. It grows empathy.

Have plants for kids to tend. It gives them responsibility.

Give them the responsibility of independent learning, but build in myriad supports to catch them when they fall.

Because they will fall.

Leave them better than you found them.

Proactive communication is good teaching.

Call parents, email often, and make the effort to celebrate the successes more than the struggles.

Always remember: parents relive the horrors of their own schooling when their kids go to school. You build trust when you acknowledge their fears. You exorcise demons when you teach a child well.

Have a life outside of school that forces you to learn.

Join a band.

Take a class.

Learn a new skill.

Keep connected to how it feels to struggle.

Remember that learning is hard. This will keep you humble and connected.

And most of all, when you are spent, worn, and broken, because you have given more than you have, ask for help. And let your kids see you ask other teachers for help. Model that learning. Be a student in your own room.

This is my new “future goal” for my kids and my teaching. Big ideas can include remembering why I’m teaching. Sometimes our goals have to change to meet our kids’ needs. Change is good.

And keep showing up every day. They all need you.

And you need them.

MPJ

I work hard to stay current and challenge myself: as a mom, as a teacher, and as a fairly intelligent woman and fairly balanced wife.

Every summer I revamp one of my subject-area programs. Throughout the year I revamp units as they unfold based on where kids struggle, where I can differentiate, and where pedagogy has evolved. I have taken on new projects to boost my morale, help me feel valuable, and celebrate my unique gifts.

Every Friday I come home with a head full of ideas about things I desperately want to tweak, redo, do better etc. But then family kicks in and I worry more about how to be a better mom, wife, and me. And sometimes I find time for me.

So change is all around me. I encourage my children to embrace change. I beg my students to take a risk and be open to change. I support my husband and kids when they take risks and try new things.

But. I am afraid. Fundamentally. Of change.

I was a student in public education for 13 years. Yes, I changed schools a few times, but my focus – do amazingly well – never changed. Then I started University. And I was terrified to leave. So for fourteen years I did amazing things, had professors encouraging me to keep going, and earned four amazing degrees of which I am very proud. And after 14 years of hiding in academia, I left the university teaching world and found my own classroom. And for 13 years I have been in full-time public education. 12 of those years have been in the same school.

13 years. 14 years. 12 years.

I may have found my interval.

Maybe that’s why I’m so unsettled. Maybe that’s why I’m craving change.

Maybe. Just maybe. It’s time.

Mpj

Alternative teaching spaces are all the rage. Teachers are swapping desks for tables and chairs for yoga balls. Tables are fabulous for collaboration, and having flexible open workspace with no seams is amazing, but…
…where do we put their stuff?
Pinterest and the net are full of handy organizing tips and fun solutions, but instead of putting the stuff in a different place, I’m thinking its time to toss the stuff.  I’ve already switched to using backpacks more like portable desks, but how can I retool the rest?
So this is what I’m pondering now.  Where to stick the stuff and what to ditch entirely.  How does that system work… if it doesn’t bring me joy…
Mpj

It’s the night after the third day of  the new school year, and I’ve already had seven parent emails, phone calls, or conversations about helping kids study and keeping them organized from day one. And since I firmly believe in reassessing my own classroom practice constantly, I ripped apart my Book of Knowledge and reinvented it. Again. 
Here’s the premise: teens need to be led to organize their work, and supported in study habits, until it becomes routine. I have ex-students who are now ion university who still use the BOK as a tool to keep themselves on top of their work. I make the daily how-to mandatory, and lead them through every entry, graphic organizer, and not note until it all becomes second nature. And somewhere in the process they start to find it helping them study, review, and learn. 
The cover page:

It’s nothing special, but I try to add ideas about what ‘could’ go in the BOK: vocabulary, anchor charts, graphic organizers — etc. 

The E-sheet:

An Eisenhower grid is a fabulous tool to help students plan tasks and prioritize assignments. The four quadrants cover tasks to be completed today, tomorrow, this week, and within two weeks. Students add individual tasks to sticky-notes and move them around the grid to help get the most urgent work done first. 

The ‘placemat’:

These two double-sided anchor charts hold specific mini-notes for language, math, and an essay organizer. 

Math section:

I always begin with vocabulary. Each day in math class, I highlight new temeinology. Each night, as review, students rewrite vocabulary and definitions into their BOK. Next, I add anchor charts for each strand as we come across them. Everything from formulae sheets to matrix charts have their own spot. Everything is easily accessible when the students need to double check a process or find a better strategy. 
How to help them USE it?

Every night, check the website and add any new vocabulary to the BOK. Practice that vocab at home with your child until they know every word solidly! Review the anchor charts. Have them pick a blank graphic organizer sheet from the website that focuses on vocab and fill it out based on a new word. Add the completed organizer to the BOK for review later. Focus on the language and the math literacy will follow.  
Next time? 

How to use the language section. 

I was in the middle of supervising the hockey station at our outdoor Carnaval in honor of Franco-Ontarien culture. I was watching two multi-grade teams have an absolute blast, playing a game outside while blurting out French phrases here and there. 

And I actually said it out loud: I could do an activity day just with music. 

Before you jump to picturing a hockey-musical (for that, download ‘Score’ — it’s awesome), imagine this:

10 music activities planned, organized, and ready to be lead by senior students. 
A whole school split into multi-grade ‘sections’ or teams, rotating through the 10 activities.  By the end of the rotations, everyone in the school would have a common shared experience. 

Just take a moment and think about that not only from the team-building side, but more importantly from the music education ‘side’ — a whole school that has 10 musical activities in common. Everyone, in one single day, would get the same lesson on beat vs rhythm. Everyone would known the same ‘syncopa’ figure. Everyone would have the same experience of learning the school song. 

What could that do for music learning in a school? With common shared background knowledge, teaching new musical idioms could start from one point of commonality. ‘Remember when you all did ‘my paddle’ on the Music Sharing Day? What was that special rhythm called?’ Boom. Syncopa is locked in for an entire class and away you go. Imagine, as an intermediate instrumental teacher, the benefit of communicatng 10 essential, fundamental understandings or experiences in one day which you know will contribute to the forward motion of the senior program. 

What would you choose to teach?
And so I began thinking about 10 key experiences I would want all students to have from their PJ music programs before they hit a 7/8 program.  When I taught K-8 music, there were key ‘must haves’ for each grade in my own program. But what exactly does a  7/8 program need kids to own from their early years in order to be successful? 

1.Beat vs rhythm. Every year when I start up my bucket drumming program in my homeroom, this is where I start. We learn a simple song by rote and keep the beat with our feet while we sing. Then we beat the ‘rhythm’ of the words with our feet while we sing. It’s a kinaesthetic way to fix the difference in student brains. 

2. The physicality of rhythm. Getting kids to internalize the beat with their whole bodies, and layering subdivided movement on top of that.  Clapping songs and body percussion give students a chance to learn this unique kinaesthetic aspect of music making. Everything from Miss Mry Mack to the Lousianna Mudslap can convey these skills. 

3. Listen and respond. To hear what one person does musically and respond to it, and in turn have someone respond to you. This key sense of being ‘in the middle’ of a musical intent is vital. Call and response, improvisation, stagger breathing, etc. The aleatoric Rain activity is a perfect example of listening and responding that even the youngest kids can engage with. 

4. Deconstructing and reconstructing- composition. Using the musical futures approach, breaking a pop tune into its parts and having students build it up again.  Giving students that sense of ‘building something Musical’ is what makes composition seem possible in those later stages. 

5. Repeat after me and add to the end songs. Musical term Simon Says! These fun camp songs and action songs help build musical memory and support later skills in additive compositions. 

6. Partner songs and Polyphonic listening. Maintaining your melody when you hear another. Autonomy and collaboration simultaneously. 
7. Ostinati. Learning that by isolating a repeated figure, you can participate in music making. Having a group of students work together to link and layer ideas using simple Orff instruments encourages listening, retention of musical figures, following a conductor, etc. 

8. 2 and 3 prt rhythmic reading. Even using simple figures and language, I want kids to have played a different rhythm than their peers and still be able to hold their independent part steady. To hear the interplay between two parts over a fundamental beat, and feel that groove lock in is vital to supporting effecting ensemble listening later on. 
9. Valuing popular music. These activities could include Karaoke to current pop songs, or a March-madness-style tourney that pits pop songs against each other in an attempt to crown the school’s favourite song. You could also feature rotating staff performers in a ‘School’s Got Talent’ feature. 

10.Communal music making. The school song. Together as a whole school. The hair-on-the-arms-standing-up sensation of being in one voice with 400+ kids. 
So it’s official. We are going to start with workshops at 9:15, rotate through sessions until 2, and wrap up the day with a mass concert in the gym.  I’m training my choir and homeroom students as Session-leaders. Other students from grade 7 and 8 will lead teams, making sure everyone participates and has fun. I’m making demonstration videos so any leaders who want can follow along on the classroom smart board, which will allow me to float the day-of and trouble shoot where needed. 
And Music Monday will and event at our school. 😉 Cmon down! May 2, 2016, at Riverside Public School in London, Ontario. 

So our board is supporting  Learning Commons.  (Commonses?… Commonsi?) The libraries are being revamped to include research areas, collaborative spaces, creation spaces and maker spaces. As I have been collecting more information and going to more PD I have begun collection my reactions and ideas as honestly and truthfully as I can.

1. Collaborative Learning Environments

My librarian was always shushing me when I was in school. I wasn’t good at being silent — ever. But especially not in a creepily silent library. For some reason that was where I laughed, sneezed, exclaimed or fell down in an hysterical and noisy fashion.

Well, low and behold we get to talk in libraries now.  To each other! I know it sounds nuts, but kids get to talk to each other about stuff in the library. It’s amazing! Imagine five kids gathered around a big screen monitor, talking about what to find next and how to find it.  Just today I heard this exchange between my students:

Ann: so where do we start?

Brian: we need to look up geography tools to start, you know – things used by Geographers

Ann: ok so (typing) “what are some tools used by…”

Brian: (interrupting) not as a question. Just type key words. You’ll get better results.

Cathy: yup try ‘geography technology examples’

Ann: ok (types) hey look, there’s lots.

Brian: ok now let’s pick good ones. Find something with a site that ends in .edu

Cathy: why?

Brian: those are usually university or academic sites. Better chance the facts are right and current.

Ann: cool.

So they learn the ‘stuff’ that they are supposed to be studying, but by working with each other collaboratively they learn about so much more. It’s alive and exciting and real. Sign me up for SOLE stations and collaborative learning!
But it’s noisy. A good noisy, sure, but it will take some adjusting to.

2. Mess-Making Maker spaces

Think back to being a kid in kindergarten, and combine that with being a teenager in shop class. That’s what a maker space is all about. The general gist involves collecting a bunch of stuff that kids can use to build things and solve engineering and design problems. It includes everything from Lego to robotics kits to collections of cardboard and straws. You need a place to store projects in progress, finished builds, and all the bits and pieces that will inspire children to create and problem solve. It cries out for wall space and cupboards and bins and low maintenance flooring.

Again, not quiet. Kids don’t giggle quiet.

3. Creating, recording and production spaces:

Think claymation, video recording, green-screens and storyboards.  With the ease of iPads and the availability of apps for a fraction of the cost of video studios, children can film PSAs, book reviews, short films, documentaries, and a multitude of modern media.  Traditional art supplies find their place too, as does mobile media such as chrome books for research during the planning stages. I’m thrilled to see what they can come up with

4. Books?

Yup, the books are still in the library.  Fiction is especially needed in library spaces, since it inspires creativity and play and ideas and joy.  Non-fiction is trickier, because anything too out of date might not fit our new norms of content, perspective, and validity.  But those books still have a place in our hearts, and our LCs.

But how does it all go together?

And this is where we’re at right now.  How do we take a space that used to be for books, and make is a space for books & collaborative learning & makerspaces & video & claymation & construction…. It’s still the same space.

I’m currently thinking tables that move and flexible groupings are the way to go, and using those library shelves as dividing walls to partition some areas. We’re not sure what it will look like when it’s done, but we know it wont look like a traditional library anymore.  I personally can’t wait ’til the unveiling. 🙂

MPJ

…because I really do. Every day. The bell goes, I grab my purse, and I hit the parking lot. I often have to encourage parents who are parked in front of me to move so I can beat my daughter’s bus home. And some parents yell, saying I should still be at work and shouldn’t get to leave…

But here’s how I see it – and how I leave everyday with just my purse.

Morning workflow

8:00 am At the computer:
I arrive at work, and turn on my classroom computer. I open a series of tabs in this order:

1.My webpage

2.webpage management area

3. Google drive

4. Google classroom

5. My wordpress homework blog

A Side note about planning and teaching through my webpage:

Where a traditional teacher would find or make handouts and sort them into folders for the week, I find or scan information, assignments, rubrics and assessments and upload them to my website by subject & unit. Every day begins with a student going to the smart board, opening my website, selecting the web link for whatever subject is first, and pulling up the lesson for today. Everything we need is on my site – including text to respond to, a task to complete, or a link to a google doc they we can build collaboratively.

So on a typical day…
Once those tabs are loaded, I check my day planner. Every day begins with math, so I flip to my web site, scroll to ‘student stuff’ and then to ‘math.’ Then, because my daily work is taught through an interactive notebook, I click on the link for my interactive notebook to which students have viewing rights and I have editing rights. I scroll through to today’s lesson, add any clarifying notes that I need on the ‘right’ side page, and check that the student engagement task in the ‘left’ side is ready to go. I collect whatever manipulatives I need and pass them out.

With math prepped and ready to go, I take a few moments to make a cup of tea and interact with our class pet ‘Peaches,’ an 8-month old bearded dragon. With her fed, and my tea on board, I sort marked work from yesterday into the hand back mailboxes. By this point my students have started to trickle in for extra help so I busy myself with them, heading outside for yard duty at 8:45. At 9:00 my students arrive, and while I do attendance, one of my kids pulls up the math notebook on the smart board. Since I teach from the webpage, the kids see the same organization at home as I use in class, so finding content becomes intuitive. By the time I do attendance the announcements are on, then we stand for the anthem and get straight to math. I teach the quick mini lesson. We add examples to the notebook as needed, or as we invent them as a class. Once we work through examples, and identify the goals, I turn them loose to create their ‘left’ pages in their notebooks. This is where they write the lesson goals in their own words, explain the process we are working on, and try practice questions. Then while students work, I float between tables coaching, documenting evidence of learning with the iPad (using Confer), and encouraging kids as I go. I try to conference with at least 6 students each day for math. I make notes in my math planning binder as to what I need to move on to tomorrow, and document what strategies I used today. I make sure to add any math practice as homework to the WordPress blog. Before I know if the recess bell rings and I have duty.

After recess I am blessed with a prep period. During this time I check my school mailbox, and then plan for my period 4 & 6 science classes. Again, from my web site I pull up the next PDF copy of the pages in our science text book, make a quick note of any materials I need, and set up for class. I open a google doc named after the lesson on which to collaboratively record class notes, and save a link to it on my website. I add the questions and vocab to be mastered for homework to the WordPress blog.

When the bell rings and my class arrives, I hand the wireless keyboard and mouse to a student. It’s their job to record notes as we work through the text book page and debrief the content. By flipping back and forth between the text and the GoogleDoc I can model how to take notes, while creating a class resource at the same time. We finish class by completing the check your learning questions collaboratively. I ask them to read tomorrow lesson as homework, and dismiss.

The bell rings, and I have 20 minutes for lunch. At 12:05 most of the kids head outside but my grade 7/8 choir files into my room for rehearsal.

I park myself at my piano keyboard, and use my wireless mouse to pull up the choir warm-ups on my web page. I created these music notation files using flat.io, which imbeds music notation files (that are playable) into my webpage. We warm up, I bring up the first piece and rehearsal in earnest begins.

At 12:45 my choir kids leave and my homeroom returns, ready for their science class. I mirror the morning class exactly, working hard to keep both classes aligned throughout the year.

At 1:25 our science time ends and my kids transition to history/language or geography. Again I start at the web page, pull up the next set of history notes, and begin teaching, adding points from our discussion as I go. If I show videos or visuals I add links to the website as I go, so students can access the same content at home. Then students begin their independent and collaborative tasks to show their understanding, and submit them to me. As each task comes in I assess it quickly for language, and separately for history/geography content. I enter the marks into my Google sheet mark book as soon as I assess them. I add any history vocab or tasks to the WordPress blog.

Language and geography tasks are managed through Google Classroom, where I make different sections for levelled texts, so that students always have access to both collaborative peers and text appropriate to their abilities.  Collecting work through Google classroom keeps me paperless for language, and allows me to really foster inquiry skills for geography. I use mixed-ability collaborative inquiry groups for geography, and the students really enjoy the chance to work together on creating a polished demonstration of their learning.

When students complete their tasks for the day they dig into their independent novels and reading journals, while I assess history and language. At 3:00 we pull out planners and add the day’s homework and review needs to the WordPress blog. Some students copy this into paper planners, others snap a picture with their phones, but most simple follow a link to the blog once they’re home to make sure they get everything done in preparation for tomorrow.

(Every night kids are expected to add new vocabulary to their Book of Knowledge  under the correct subject sections. They are also expected to review the day’s notes and compare to the website to make sure they are complete. Posting both homework online, and an interactive Book of Knowledge makes this relatively easy, and excuse-proof.)

At 3:15 the bell rings, I set the timer for the lizard’s lights, and I leave. All I take is my lunch bag and purse.

At home, once the kids are in bed and the husband is watching tv or playing a video game, I surf Twitter and Pinterest for teaching ideas. I draft neat ideas into lesson plans in google docs, saving them for a rainy day. I try new apps to improve my tech skills. And I read teen lit — for fun.

The next day I drop my own kids at their schools and then open my room. It’s essentially the same routine. I get the computer booted up and load my tabs. I look at student emails from the night before and address any needs that arose in math and then build those into my math plan for the day. I pick an inquiry question based on yesterday’s practice that ties into today’s lesson, and search for quick reinforcing video or toss a few questions onto plickers as an exit slip for class.

My kids arrive early and I coach and conference with them. Duty calls and I parade around the Tarmac chatting with kids. Math class starts and attendance is taken. Recess gives way to prep, where I prep for science. To do a quick science check-up I make a short 10-question quiz in a Google form and post it to my website. I enable it to be graded and returned automatically using Flubaroo and Autocrat. (Kids who have tech at school can do it in class, while the others can do it at home. Either way the results automatically land in my google drive.). Lunch is quick as usual, and my guitar ensemble arrives. After rehearsal my homeroom returns for science, followed by a double language class. We break into geography groups to learn about settlement patterns, collaborate to identify factors that could help the spread of the zombie apocalypse, and construct an apocalypse preparedness plan (check out zombiebasedlearning.com). We document our learning using technology, using Confer, explain everything, and other apps we smash together.

And I don’t have to stay late.

So what’s the secret? There are a few key essentials to make this work:
Teach from a webpage
1. Use apps and add-ons in Google Drive to make life easier
2. Use prep time wisely, not socially
3. Work while your kids work. As they start practice questions in science, prep the next step for tomorrow. As they work on a collaborative geography task, create the application task that comes next. When they ask a question, that tells you something about their learning. That *is* assessment. Record it!
4. Set reasonable goals for assessment. 6 math conferences each day is reasonable. Likewise, 6 language conference is achievable too. And the data I get out of an 8-minute conference is more valuable than a marked quiz.

How do you make the switch? Try it for one subject. If you have a subject where the school owns digital copies of the text or student handouts, that’s the best place to start. Upload that digital content, and make a google doc for class notes that parallels each digital page. Then live-create your class notes as you would the old fashioned way. When it starts to feel natural, add another subject or strand. You’ll find it gets easier and easier to create on the fly, and you’ll feel more involved in your lessons because everything is fresh and based on what your students really need. The real joy happens next year, when you go to start these lessons with a new class of students, and find so much already there, just asking to be tweaked. It’s one of those teaching moments where you really see your life coming back to you. And you say out loud — “it will only get easier from here.”

Give it a shot! Just one unit in one strand. Tell your kids it’s an experiment, and that it might flop, but that you want to try it. They will help with the technical stuff. They will be excited to see you try something new. And they’ll be thrilled to be able to get their class materials at home too.

Need a resolution for 2016?

This is it.

Mpj