Parent Math Night

My school had our first Parent Math Night this week, and I was in charge. That's what happens when you share your vision at a leadership team meeting and people like what they hear. I've had this vision for three or four years now, so even though it's taken some work to pull off, it's rewarding to finally see it become a reality.

My vision originated from the very first night of MTI (Mathematical Thinking for Instruction) provided by my state. (Pre-Common Core, Idaho required all math teachers to take this course.) The very first thing my instructor did was give us a math problem to solve in any way, shape, or form. I believe it was a 3-digit problem, but I can't remember if it was addition or subtraction. While we were computing, he was moving around the room, interacting with teachers, and asking certain ones to write their strategies on the board. Once there were about five strategies up, he asked those teachers to describe their thinking. There was much interaction between the instructor and the group as he facilitated making connections between each strategy. This whole experience kind of blew my mind. I got great grades in math but was a huge rule follower, so I had no idea there were so many ways to solve a problem. I was immediately won over and could envision giving the same experience to my own mathematicians. And I did just that. I still do.

This is what I also wanted for parents. While parents want and need strategies for helping their kiddos, more importantly, they must be won over. They must understand why math looks different now than when they sat in a math class. They must be able to see the rewards of their own children learning a different and better way. With all the negative voices on social media adding to their already growing confusion, teachers must give them a reason to not believe everything they read and hear. What better way to be won over than to experience a piece of it themselves.

We only had the parents for 60 minutes, and we crammed a lot in. Here's a simple outline.

* We asked them to quickly jot down a math memory (good or bad) and place it on a happy/sad continuum, followed by a great discussion.

* We asked them to solve the problem 61-19, sent certain parents to draw their solutions on the board, and asked those parents to explain their thinking. Most importantly, we then had a discussion about the benefits of experiencing math this way.

* We asked them to read some research about math instruction, and we facilitated a conversation about what they thought.

* We showed them a video of children in a 6th grade math class learning about area and perimeter in a real-world, engaging, hands-on way, and we facilitated a conversation about what they noticed.

* We shared specific grade-level tips and typical models and asked for questions regarding both. (Each grade level presented on their own. This was the only part of the presentation that was grade-level specific so that no matter what grade level a parent went to, they basically experienced the same presentation. This definitely helped solve the problem for parents who have children in multiple grades.)

* We asked parents to fill out a reflection form so we could know what they found most helpful and where they still need assistance. That way we can prepare for next steps.

Here is the slide presentation. Click on the graphic to view. Notes are also included.

This is the first parent handout.

This is the research page that parents read, copied onto the back of the first page.

This is the first grade tips and models page. Each grade level had their own version of this sheet. 

The models were handwritten. You'll see first grade's below.

This is the reflection page that parents filled out.

Click here to see these parent handouts.

Our numbers were smaller than I would have hoped, but we didn't invite children, who are typically good at dragging parents to events. (We did provide childcare though.) This night was all about meeting the needs of parents, so we wanted them, as well as teachers, to be free of distractions. Regardless of the small crowd, I've heard positive feedback from those who were there. 

Our parents really do deserve to be educated, so my hope is that we do something similar in the future. At the present, parents are stuck in a place of ignorance, which is not their fault, and ignorance leads to frustration for both them and the little people who they are trying to help at home. Schools have a responsibility to step in and change that.


P.S. I had a helpful team of people helping me along the way too. Our instructional coach was a great collaborator on the event.

Saturday Sayings: A Whole-School Priority

I've seen the writing standards beyond my own grade level's, but admittedly I haven't studied them with much intent. Recently, I read some enlightening points from Calkins about what the standards require of my writers not too many years after they leave my room. It solidified this passionate stance I have about the vertical alignment process and why the whole school has to be on board when it comes to writing instruction.

Calkins makes the point that K-4 writing standards build easily upon one another and really don't stretch the writers too much. That doesn't mean we K-4 teachers are off the hook. When our writers hit 5th grade, it all changes. The standards between grades 5 and 8 are astonishingly steep. There is no feasible way the writers who step into that 5th grade classroom will be able to meet expectations unless each previous grade level does its job and does it well, starting in kindergarten. 

I believe that long before Common Core arrived, there's been a great need for writing to be a whole-school priority. Pockets of quality writing instruction interspersed throughout a school or district have never been sufficient. I'm thankful the Common Core has propelled writing instruction to the top of the list for many districts and schools, not simply for individual teachers. Writing deserves this new-found attention.

Saturday Sayings: The Lone Ranger

Writing instruction must be on my brain, because while perusing for the perfect quote this morning, I realized I had a dream about it last night. As is often the case, the particulars are hazy, but I do recall having a conversation with a young high school teacher about the importance of the writing his kids were doing in his non-Language Arts class. The CCSS truly does make this one thing clear. All teachers must be writing teachers. And wouldn't it be even more helpful if all teachers had a similar belief of what writing instruction looks like.

The Lone Ranger writing teacher is a common problem. An early elementary teacher has their work cut out for them if the writers they receive at the beginning of the year think that writing is filling in the blank ("I like to ____.") or writing letters to represent missing sounds on a worksheet. That teacher can make huge gains with those writers but can surely imagine how much further along they would be if they had arrived with a different skill set. Those young writers might then head to another grade where writing is solely directed by teacher prompts and topics. The writers will grow in that place, but they might lose a bit of their motivation or personal connection to the process. In the situation I've described, as writers progress from one writing environment to the next, I believe the disconnect between foundational practice can impede student progress. 

I am the last person to say that all teachers must be on the same page. In fact, that's one of my least favorite teachery thoughts of all time. I do believe in the importance of being on the same pedagogical page though. I agree with Calkins that vertical alignment and agreement about best teaching practices is vital. The CCSS is raising the bar for our writers, and I believe it's totally within their reach. They just need their writing teachers to step up their game and give them consistent excellent writing instruction from one grade to the next. Anything less is simply impractical.

Saturday Sayings: Teacher Leader

This last week I remembered I have a math series, because I had to haul it down from its dusty position above my cabinets. The safety inspector was coming to town, and the two feet between the top of my cabinets and the ceiling is supposed to be clear.  (Only twenty-five perfect of my walls should be covered too.  Yeah, crazy.  I left that one alone.)  Needless to say, the safety inspector is gone and I was given permission to return my neglected published materials back where they belong - out of my way.

That math series was purchased before Common Core Math Standards came along.  New standards obviously brought a need for updated materials.  My district chose not to buy us a new math series.  I'm unsure if that decision was purely financial or whether there was a pedagogical influence as well.  Either way, three years ago we were thrown into a phase of making highly informed interpretations of standards. Writing units and developing lessons became a priority for grade level teams.  Digging into the standards and understanding every concept became a necessity.  Searching for sound tasks, reading professional books, and collaborating became essential.  Even though the ground work was laid three years ago, we've continued to revise units based on our continually evolving understanding of the standards and our mathematicians.  Our district opened the door for teachers to lead the way.

There's been a bit of murmuring at times about this whole process.  It takes time and commitment to do what we've done.  Some have wished the district would have supplied us with a complete math curriculum magically aligned to the Common Core.  I've chosen to keep my mouth shut during these conversations, because that's the last thing I would wish for.  I didn't want someone else leading me - telling me what my math units should look like.  I rarely have faith and trust in the faceless publisher.  I wanted to find out for myself what works and doesn't work; what I'm supposed to teach and how to teach it.  This way takes more work, effort, and time and it can be a little messy, but it's so worth it.  I know I'm a better math teacher, and I'd like to think my students are better mathematicians too, which is why being a teacher leader is thoroughly worth the hassle.

Saturday Sayings: Celebrate

Over the past four years this math teacher has been put through the wringer, in the best possible way.  My State started pushing me toward better math practices before I even knew there was such a thing as the CCSS.  Needless to say, I've been through a lot of math professional development.  Just when I think I kind of have an idea of what's expected of my mathematicians, I find myself yet again awakened by the depth of mathematical practice my kids need before they can accomplish what's expected of them in the next grade, not to mention throughout the rest of their schooling career.  It has the potential to feel quite daunting, but I don't think it has to be that way.  

Yesterday I finished up another math workshop and was asked to reflect on what other teachers new to the process might need to know.  In a room full of mostly strangers, I wasn't bold enough to raise my hand, but I really wanted to.  I wanted to be the person in the room who said, "Let's resist the urge to be overwhelmed.  We can't ignore the fact that we're in the midst of a big learning curve for teachers and kids alike, but look how far we've come already.  Despite the fact that I still have a lot to learn, each year my mathematicians are so far better off than the ones I taught the year before.  They're more flexible, courageous, persistent, and verbal mathematicians who have a better understanding of what they're doing.  Sure, it seems like every time I sit down to learn more about being a better math teacher, I discover a deeper level of understanding my kids are lacking, but I have faith that I'm going to get there.  Honestly, it might not happen this year, because this kind of lasting change isn't immediate, but I'm encouraged.  I'm going in the right direction.  Let's celebrate how far we've come and all the things that our mathematicians are doing along the way that we never thought possible before.  Amen."  Yep, that's what I wanted to say.  

A Little Look at 2012

Here's a little look at 2012 with the help of Christina at Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge.  Click on the link to visit her blog and link up too.

I'm not sure if this is the best of my blog from 2012, but it's what was looked at the most.  See each post and find freebies by clicking on the pictures.

#1: First Grade Common Core At-a-Glance

The Common Core can be hard to manage.  This document makes it a little bit easier to see what's expected of me.   

#2: Handwriting with Purple and Green

I teach handwriting with purple and green crayons.  It sounds crazy, but it actually works pretty well.  

#3: Table-Sized Anchor Charts

I was inspired to turn certain anchor charts into small versions for each table of kids. 

There are some blogs that I'd love to brag about too.  You'll see their links on the right side of my blog as you scroll down a bit.  Pay them a visit and you'll see why I love to brag about them.

I'd especially like to thank Lori from Conversations in Literacy who reads and comments on every single post I make.  She always has something encouraging to say about my thoughts.  In addition, she is the kind of teacher you'd want your own children to have, so you should definitely drop by and tell her I sent you.

Thank you so much for joining me this past year.  I'd love to see more of you in 2013!

 

Saturday Sayings: Is Integration Enough?

(Yep, that's gum.)

I totally believe in integration.  I have a worry though, and it's been nagging at me for months now whenever I hear the words "writing" and "integration" used in the same sentence.  (Please wait a sec while I climb up on my soapbox.)  

I don't believe that expecting kids to write throughout the day is enough.  My fear is that some teachers believe they teach writing simply because their students write.  They write in response to reading.  They write during science.  They write about their social studies topics.  They write on worksheets.  I could go on.  Granted, it's better than no writing at all, but learning the craft of writing is the missing piece.  The Common Core is expecting great things from our writers and rightly so.  They will be expected to use their writing skills throughout the day for various purposes, but they must first know how.  Lucy Calkins is so right.  Our kids need a protected daily writing time where they can learn and practice what writing looks like in various genres, receiving that all-important guidance and feedback as they work through the writing process.  So yes, let's integrate, but it will take more than just writing throughout the day to make sure our kids are successful writers.  (Okay, dismounting the soap box now.  Thanks for listening.)

Saturday Sayings: The Best in Us

What's on my mind these days?

I shall make a list.

(Warning:  It's ever so slightly opinionated.)

• I'd like to thank the Common Core for letting me decide how to teach the standards.  (Regie would approve.)
• Becoming familiar with the Common Core takes time and is a bit messy, but it's a given that I should know and understand what's expected of my learners.
• I'm grateful for an administration that believes in my ability to design a Common Core curriculum that best fits the needs of my students, and I'm thankful they give me extra time to make that happen.
• I can't count on a program, a series, or a teacher's manual to fill the gaps.
• Developing curriculum is a lot of work, but it's better than being handed a product that I had no say in making and might not even believe in.  
• Developing curriculum improves my understanding of the standards.
• Developing curriculum requires me to know my students better. 
• Developing curriculum gives me ownership of the teaching and learning in my classroom.
• Developing curriculum makes me more reflective.
• Developing curriculum makes me a better teacher. 

Making the Common Core my very own is not easy.  In fact, it's far from it and sometimes stretches me to my limits, but the process is worthy of my time.  When all is said and done, I believe it should bring out the best in us, not the worst.

Saturday Sayings: Shoehorning

(Click above for previous Saturday Sayings.)

We teachers are masters at shoehorning.  When it comes to new curriculum, sometimes shoehorning seems like the only tool we have at our disposal.  Unfortunately, it doesn't necessarily lead to the best teaching or the best learning.  There's little time for little else than squirting.  (Read here to learn more about this.)  With the adoption of Common Core upon us, we certainly don't want to revert to the squirt method.  Neither do we want or need to throw out and abandon all the practices we know are best for our kids.

So if something needs to go, what is it?  That's not an easy question to answer.  It's hard to let go, and don't we believe that everything in our classrooms is there for a very important reason?  

"Sometimes I think that if we, as teachers, want to move on, we need to take carloads of curricula to the dump.  It is only by cleaning out some old things that we can give time and space to new ones."  Lucy Calkins, The Art of Teaching Writing 187

I don't believe all old things are worth cleaning out if they've stood the test of time as best for kids, although constantly being in a state of reflection on how those practices can be improved upon is essential.  On the other hand, there are some old things that could be more efficiently taught in new and better ways.  Take this little guy for example.  

Remember the phonemic awareness/spelling worksheets filled with examples like this?  Some teachers have had a hard time fitting writing workshop into their busy day, yet there's a block of time designated for sheets like the one above.  It might not seem like there's room for writing workshop, but replacing activities about writing with an actual writing workshop, allows the students to practice their phonemic awareness and spelling skills in a much more practical and authentic way.  Sometimes the new fits perfectly into our day simply by reflecting on how the old might be taught in a more efficient and meaningful way.  The lack of shoehorning will give us, our kids, and the curriculum some room to breathe no doubt.

21st Century Approach

This is an example of what my handwritten lesson plans have looked like for 18 years.  Of course the content has changed, but the neatness has never wavered.  When people look at my writing, I fess up that I'm a freak of nature.  My world is naturally symmetrical and just so.  When it comes to writing lesson plans, this is a time consuming way to be, so this summer I've had a goal to do away with the lesson plan book and try a more 21st century approach.  I'm going with the lesson plan binder, and I'm typing my plans.  My little fingers on the keyboard are sure to save me some time.  

This is my binder cover.  (My pastor's been saying that we're highly favored, greatly blessed, and deeply loved.  There will be days when I'll need this little reminder.)

This is page one of my lesson plan template.  I've got a Mac, and I found out after much trial and error and some wise advice that Pages was the best program to use for this project.

This would be page two.  A lot of information is missing.  I'll have to wait until August to know more specifics of my schedule. 

One thing I like about a lesson plan book is the ability to look ahead and schedule things for future months.  I decided I'd have to include monthly calendars for this purpose.  Fun for First inspired me to include a note section with each month, although check out theirs.  They're so much prettier than mine.

I created some first grade at-a-glance common core documents that are perfect for my binder.  It's nice to have all the standards on one or two pages.  This is the math one, which is all yours in one click.  (Click here and here to get copies of the first grade ELA common core in the same format.)

Brian Cambourne is going to hang out in my binder as well.  These are his conditions for learning.  It might be nice to keep handy.  (Click on the picture for your own copy.)

Have you heard of Brain Rules by John Medina?  It's a great book.  Anyway, I want a reminder of what brains need in my binder too.  (Click on the picture to get yours.)

I'm guessing this binder of mine will collect more as time goes on.  Hopefully it will help me to be a more efficient and better teacher.

Common Core Short and Sweet (Freebies)

If you're not becoming good friends with Common Core yet, don't worry.  Sooner or later you're bound to meet up.  I think one of the biggest challenges is simply becoming familiar and comfortable with it.  So far I've seen it in several different formats.  They're all useful in their own right.  Amanda from Teaching Maddeness shared another format that I thought would be handy as well.  She created a document with only her 2nd grade standards for each strand.  It's short and sweet and easy to keep in her lesson plan binder for quick reference.  There will be times when more information is nice to have, but I can see the benefit of something like this as well.  I was so inspired that I whipped  them up for first grade too.  (Okay, so it took more than a little whipping.)  Please help yourself to them.  Click on each picture for your own copy.  I apologize for the small font, but I wanted to keep it to as few pages as possible.  (My 40 year-old eyes aren't complaining...yet.)

  

ELA: Literature, Informational Text,  Foundational Skills

ELA: Writing, Speaking & Listening, Language

Math: Operations & Algebraic Thinking, Numbers & Operations, Measurement & Data, Geometry

Thanks Amanda for the inspiration!  If you teach 2nd, she'd love to share her documents with you.  She has also included some additional organizational guides she keeps with her lesson plans that you might be interested in as well.  Head on over and see.

(If you're interested in reading my "deep" thoughts about learning and living with something new like Common Core, go here.)