Creating a Graphic Organizer from Larry Ferlazzo's Ideas that Charlotte Danielson Would Love

In the October 2012 (70, 2) Educational Leadership, there was an article titled, Students Who Challenge Us: eight Things Skilled Teachers Think, Say and Do by Larry Ferlazzo
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct12/vol70/num02/Eight-Things-Skilled-Teachers-Think,-Say,-and-Do.aspxtudents   Somehow, I missed it until now!  While there are MANY powerful suggestions that I have OUTLINED BELOW (see linked article for details) one of Ferlazzo's points comes right out of Danielson's framework for teaching, http://www.danielsongroup.org/article.aspx?page=frameworkforteaching: Having students do more reflecting on their own learning.  It's an eye-opening focus! 

In this article, Ferlazzo suggests:
1. Remember that authoritative ...through listening and explaining.
2. Believe that everyone can grow.
3. Understand that power isn't finite...Give students choices.
4. Give positive messages.
5. Apologize..Teachers are human, and we make plenty of mistakes.
6. Be flexible...Help them get started...Help postpone tempting distractions...Acknowledge stress.
7. Set the right climate.
8. Teach life lessons...Including reflection on how things are going!

SO, I made myself a little graphic organizer (putting Ferlazzo's words into my own) to pop into my planbook as a reminder of effective teaching tips! 

 

 

Sharing the LOVE of Books

On Twitter THIS morning, I read about an interesting way to "share the love" for books on February 14th.   http://sharpread.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/international-book-giving-day-blog-hop/

Colby Sharp share the linnk to the International Book Giving Day Blog.  I am sharing their icon because it is adorable along with the idea of passing along books in any way you wish on International Book GIving Day! 



We invite those of you with blogs to share stories of how you celebrate International Book Giving Day via our International Book Giving Day blog hop!

"We are inviting people to celebrate International Book Giving Day on February 14th by 1. giving a book to a friend or family member, 2. leaving a book in a waiting room for children to read, or 3. donating a gently used book to a local library, hospital or shelter or to an organization that distributes used books to children in need internationally."
 

Twitter Powered Teaching

Over on Ed Week, Peter DeWitt wrote quite an argument for Twitter!  http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2013/02/are_educators_really_listening_to_each_another_on_twitter.html?cmp=SOC-SHR-TW

While Peter is 1.5 years into the Twitter revolution, I'm 8 months along the journey and still enjoying the SHARING but PETER who is a bit ahead of me on this journey is now concerned with "too much sharing and not always a lot of talking."

Peter suggests, "The way we engage with each other on Twitter has ramifications for our students."  He goes on to question, "Do we listen to our student's ideas? Do we listen to our colleagues? Or do we share our knowledge and walk away?"

YIKES, Peter, you got me thinking and questioning my own patterns on Twitter.  I usually comment WHEN I share -like today -  but not always.  I usually think and reflect a bit before passing on - case in point - but no talways.  I really appreciate the energy and information shared through Twitter.  It is an outlet and a forum that has enlarged my own PD and offered me insight into the thinking of others who are not publishing in Reading Teacher or NCTE journals! 

I will take your thoughts into consideration and not just pass on - without reflecting and commenting - unless I am in a real hurry!  Sometimes that happens you know, these are busy days for teachers!  Twitter might just be all we have time for this year! 

Safer Internet Day

Yesterday was Safer Internet Day.  I am sure I would not have heard about this except for my Professional Learning Network through twitter.  So, I am passing the information along and thinking, today, even if it is a day late, about how Google and others are helping to make this wild and crazy Internet highway safer for kids and for us, too!  nehttp://googleforstudents.blogspot.com/2013/02/safer-internet-day-how-we-help-you-stay.html#!/2013/02/safer-internet-day-how-we-help-you-stay.html
http://www.google.com/goodtoknow/
 

Winter Wonders

While driving home,

I was thinking about the raw winter wind
 howling around my car

The seemingly endless darkness,  

The temperatures below freezing
for days

The commute would be unbearable
Without my heated seats!   

Yet, as I drove by White Pond,

my spirits lifted. 

There, in the shadow of a sliver of moon,

out on a scraped surface of the pond,

were hockey players who had found a way

 to add joy and excitement to this cold winter day.  

I suspect they were wrapping up their game

Most standing around, leaning on sticks,

 They seemed happy and satisfied

with the wonders of a winter evening! 

As I stopped to take in the sight,

I realized that beyond them were others

who realized the evening was just perfect for fishing. 

In fact, the pond was alive and happy,

 just as exciting as on those hot August nights!

I'm reminded that while winter is long, cold and dark,

there are wonders if we just stop to notice. 

I'm glad I did.

I finished my commute

Made my way home

With a smile

 Reflecting Winter's Wonders!   

 

Pass the Paper, Laptops, and Tablets, Please

I used to write on yellow legal pads, drafting, crossing out, connecting new thoughts to old ones before typing and yet now, the thought of such as laborious process makes me cringe. I still drool over the brightly colored notepads that fill shelves at the end of summer.  I still use them, at times, for recording anecdotal observations and taking notes; however, most of the time I'm planning, recording and note-taking on a laptop or tablet.  It's likely our students will never know the angst of drafting on yellow legal pads or the challenge of getting 42 minutes of plans into a tiny box; however, they will likely write more than any previous generation! 

Which brings me to my argument for increased use of laptops, tablets, blogs, twitters, wikis, electronic writing (not just typing) in multiple formats,at every grade level - even kindergarten!  It's not that I do not value paper, pencils, and pens; I very much respect the need to learn to write notes, draft quick written responses and out our ideas down on paper; however, that is not the future of "writing" or sharing ideas as noted in so many readings, including the book edited by Herrington, Hodgson and Moran, Teaching the New Writing: Technology, Change, and Assessment in the 21st-Century Classroom.  http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/books/teachingnewwriting 

Not only do our students need to write electronically, from the earliest of ages, they need to know how to read critically and share safely on socially open media.  Even kindergarten students should learn not to write "hate-mail" or post one's anger over something they might just change their mind about at some time in the future! While Facebook has opened the doors for so many of us adults to connect with our old college roommates, our children need to know about how to write carefully, how much to share, and when to argue in private formats! 

As noted in Teaching the New Writing, it's not enough to foster classrooms where students write and respond to blogs.  We also need to teach how to read and respond argumentatively in persuasive yet responsible modes.  It's faster, more efficient and editing is far easier than with the old legal pad; however, the role of teacher is not lessened by the electronic format.  There are both greater rewards and greater risks in a world where the audience for our children's wriitng is far larger than "Grandma, Grandpa, and teacher."  In fact, there may be a far greater role of the teacher as an overseer and facilitator as we move into a world where the teacher might just be saying to the student designated to be the paper passer, "Pass the paper, laptops and tablets, please!"  

Embrace Kindness, Practice Compassion

Stacey got me thinking the other day with a post about "hitting the reset button."
http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2013/02/01/resetting/  Sometimes, the words jump off the page and into our hearts and this is just what happened! 

I might have been predisposed to thinking about "patience" this week as I resumed my busy life after a knock-you-off-your-feet-illness.  I guess I was already gearing myself up to "listening with my whole heart" as I watched my mother's "full body angst" as she turned the calendar to February and saw only sadness. 

So as I read the post, I felt like Stacey was talking right to me, reminding me that we can and should remember our human ability start anew on any morning in our lives (not just on January first!).  Sadness will happen and people will disappoint us; we will disagree with decisions and face challenging choices.  Life will never be perfect; however, "today is a new day." 
 
 

learning from your students

Did you know there are speakers you can attach to your IPad in order to share videos with the world? There are......and thanks to my grad students, now I know too.

hair, pear, wear and tear

I'm trying something new: a blog post from my phone. I'm learning this phone has skills I could have never dreamed of just a few years ago. I guess it really is possible to write on your phone while you are getting your hair done (refreshing its color)  and writing a shopping list while simultaneously reflecting on what I am going to wear and how long it will take for me to tear myself away from writing. Sigh. Just saying you can write from anywhere.
 

The Night I Took A Swig From My Flask

I am aware that the word flask has several definitions:

 

1. A small container, such as a bottle, having a narrow neck and usually a cap, especially:

a. A flat, relatively thin container for liquor.

b. A container or case for carrying gunpowder or shot.

c. A vial or round long-necked vessel for laboratory use.

2. A frame for holding a sand mold in a foundry.

Yet, from my perspective, the word conjures up a single, very clear image of my parents and other adults sipping on "adult beverages" to "keep warm." Let me try to explain:

 

My dad, a proud Columbia University graduate, took the family on an annual pilgrimage to a football game on what always seemed to be a freezing cold, rainy, windy Saturday when the icy gusts coming off the Hudson would chill you to the bones in minutes.  Columbia always seemed to lose, badly, and the "half time" show consisted of a bunch of former HS band students walking around the field playing some semblance of music.  I never understood or liked football as a child (I do understand the game now, thanks to Football for Dummies).  It was always a long day.  It was always a cold day.  My mother, who proudly embraced my dad's Alma matre as her own (claiming she earned her Mrs. there) passed the time by sipping from and passing around her "flask."  The vessel was always polished for the event and was monogrammed with her name.   

I have never consumed nor wanted to consume "adult beverages" from a flask at a football game or at any other event - perhaps I am not yet that grown up?  Yet, on Thursday night, as my lingering cough consumed my exhausted body, I did reach over to my purse, grab my ever present bottle of Mucinex Severe Cough syrup, efficiently squeezed and pushed the child proof top off, and as quickly as possible, took a "swig" a mouthful of the sweet, gluey substance that I hoped would quiet my cough for the next hour or so!    I was desperate for some relief and the cough drops were not working, but miraculously, the Mucinex helped just enough to get me through class! 

As we were leaving and reflecting on our writing this week, I did admit my own writing had been limited and that my still that "fighting" this pneumonia was taking its toll on my energy and ideas.  Quietly, one of my students volunteered, "You should write about how you took a swig from your flask to get through class tonight!"  Yikes, I guess I did!