Reading Suggestions

Reading is a passion that I don't have enough time to enjoy.  I didn't realize I enjoyed reading until I starting teaching and starting sharing all the books I've read.  As an administrator, I haven't had a daily audience to share my enjoyment.  I do share with some of my teachers when I can, but it's not the same.  The following are three books that I enjoyed over the last month.

Everyone has a challenging student or two but why are they so challenging.  Most of us go to our own experiences like: my mother would have, or I wouldn't have been able to sit down for a week if I said that.  Students don't wake up in the morning and decide to be a challenge to you.  So why are they such a challenge, Behavior Code attempts to give you strategies to decipher patterns and behaviors so they can get back on track.

The Behavior Code 

 A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most

 Challenging Students

Jessica Minahan and Nancy Rappaport, MD

Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout

Radioactive-Marie-Pierre-Curie-Fallout

Why, because am a curious learner and they changed the 

world we live in today.  Their discoveries help my beloved 

smart phone and of course help end World War 2.  Your time

 will not be wasted with this great read.

Knucklehead-Almost-Stories-Growing-Scieszka/
Why, Stinky Cheese and The story of the Three Little Pigs from the perspective of the Wolf, he wrote them.  A very quick read that helps you have hope for those boys in your class that don't seem to be paying any attention to you.  They too could turn out to make a living as an author.

A very strange group of books, but they will feel you with hope, inspiration, and something to talk about.

Stan

Balance became overloaded this week at the GaETC conference.  The Georgia educational technology conference was full of time grabbing ideas.  Ideas that having a learning curve that takes time.  I planned and went at the conference with a focus BYOD and things I could bring back to the teachers, IDEAS.  I learned a lot about BYOD and it's not about students bringing technology to school.  It's the new pencil and paper on hyper speed.  BYOD is really about teachers engaging their students differently.  Our students today have grown up with digital devices - tv, video games, smart phones, apps, and the list goes on.  However, the question is are teachers and administrators growing along with the students. Not sure?  If that were the case, it looks like they would be begging for more devices.  The problem is what is occurring to me at this moment- where to start - what can I commit too - and what is worthy of our time  - my vote is for true engagement.   Every cross grade level meeting I in the same thing keeps coming up - the students aren't retaining the information.  Second grade teachers adding and subtracting, but when they get to third grade they don't know how and the same thing goes all the way up and down the spectrum.  I think BYOD is the answer to engagement along with the new common cores focus on explaining (why?). This is my how for the moment.
My plan is to start engaging our teachers with not technology tools but engagement activities.
1.  Todaysmeet to get our feet wet.  Stop over planning and try things---- Every meeting we have introduce some with the idea of better engagement as a learner.
2. Focus on BYOD with Susan and Will - every week make sure something is progressing.
3. Ipad plan - teachers?  bring their iPad and discuss
4. Twice a month have a technology meeting with Mrs. Vick - invite all staff that would like to share and learn - back channel the focus of the meeting.
5.  Push Twitter and a school account. - call Evan

October 22-26

This week was very crazy!  Barely a moment to take a breath and remember what I'm doing.  However, I did get to complete some great interventions with a 5th grade student.  He's not a great reader and we used You tube to research a topic and he was able to get some great supporting details for his paper from videos.

Another bright spot, our school received some good kudos for RTi.  I think the auditor liked how we focused on Tier I instruction with tier 1 and then intervened with interventions for students not meeting those benchmarks.  We even did training to support the teachers on the Tier I instruction over five years.  We still need to get better how we analysis student problems and how to do classroom interventions.

I was able to sneak out for a short Professional learning seminar at our county about teaching common core math.  Power point of meeting.  The discussion was about the mathematical practice and not the standards.  A big part of the change to the common core is stressing how our teachers are teaching.  This was a great presentation to help make sure we are emphasizes the process before we ever start worry about the new PARCC or Common Core assessments.

The ART and SCIENCE of teaching

Ted talk above only 14 minutes - Good listen to start you thinking about the art and science of teaching.

RTI - response to intervention
Next week our RTI process will be audited by an outside agency.  I don't like be audited because I know that everything we do at school is never documented on paper.  What educator has time to document everything we do.  Yes, I try most days to document interventions and strategy discussions about students; however, no general protocol is followed or process really in place.  We have one rule, treat every student like they were your own.  That rule has teachers intervening with all students.  You could say that our classrooms are already Tier 2, so it's very hard to implement something new for tier 3 because they are already doing everything they can possibly do for that student.
I become frustrated because I know that we should be making the next move toward understanding the science part of education, but we do not.  Collecting data with 24 8 year olds in a classroom can be challenging when you are learning new content to teach.  Teachers need more time to practice stop and listen to feedback like a sports team practices or a broadway production prepares for a performance.
Last year we used Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov to add some new techniques to their tool box.  I could walk the building last year and see teachers trying the techniques, I talked with them to see if they thought they were helpful.  I did everything an administrator could do to support them.  Well this year two new programs have been thrown at them Daily Five and the new Common Core standards have made them forget to work on those techniques.
With those ideas in mind, now through in a behavior problem on top of someone trying to understand how to design their classroom with educational science.  My analogy is what happens at the World series if someone runs on the field, that person is surrounded by security and removed from the field.  However, in the classroom, we have to learn how to differentiate or create a new behavior plan for that student.  Don't think of this as a compliant, because I love it.  The public and the people creating a lot of policy, my opinion, do not understand how challenging teaching is today.
Our best teacher by the art method has trouble filling our a tier 2 strategy sheet and our best teacher by the science method makes parents mad monthly.  Then I spend my time correcting those things instead of pushing forward new ideas.  It's like asking the University of Alabama to not have a football team next year because they have such a great team.  If you're very successful at what you do, but you want me to do something differently with less time and money.
I'm trying to start a dialogue that isn't about complaining but balancing science and art to make teaching work today.  That involves using technology, creating rti - researched based tool boxes, classroom mgt techniques, and discussing the fine points of the art of teaching.

Tonight
Leadership 2.0 with Eric Sheninger and Joe Mazza 
I really enjoyed listening to fellow educators that are making social media work for them.  I believe starting and getting the engine going is the hardest part.  I'm going to work on a plan tomorrow to set up a school twitter account,  work on google forms for collecting lunch counts, and get back to work on my RTI google site.  
I have to be the role model and leader to get teachers involved with social media and one more to do is get the BYOD classrooms ready to start after Thanksgiving.

Trying - Leadership 2.0 edweb.net free online seminars tonight.
Leadership 2.0 Free Webinar

Balance - Friday in the cafeteria I taught a kindergartener how to balance his spork (spoon and fork together) on his finger.  I explained that you had to find the fulcrum.  I showed him and he keep repeating the word fulcrum over and over.  I loved it and he did too!  He had learned something new and he immediately had to share with everyone he could at the table or adults walking through the cafeteria.  On the flip side, I get so excited reading twitter feeds and blogs that my mind started to spin.  Just like the kid in the cafeteria, I want to share, but share what?  Who has time for another idea?  Another task? Another program to learn?  Everyone seems to just be keeping their heads above water daily, when are we supposed to learn something new? I tried Voicethread, which didn't open on most computers in the building.  Our google docs stall and the message trying to reach google comes up.  I've decided not to scream and throw all computers in the lake.  Instead I've decided to write a blog.  Why? Because the new connected world is about sharing and it's time to start.  My goal is to create focus and balance in my professional life.  If someone once walked between the twin towers, I can at least give the tools of our new connected world a try.