Friday Focus

Each Friday, our principal sends out an email to the staff titled, Friday Focus.  It includes the typical planning type information--next week’s happenings/calendar, our upcoming Great Expectations Life Principal, where we should be in our campus goals, etc.  She also attaches all the Twitter feeds our campus teachers send out each Thursday showing the learning occurring within our classrooms, among our students.  And then there are the videos!  Oh my; what amazingly thought-provoking, uplifting, hilarious videos our principal sends.  Some she gets from teachers, some from her own research, but all are uplifting.  And when you get to each Friday, a teacher needs to be uplifted.  Teaching is hard and exhausting!  Is it worth it?  NO DOUBT!  I LOVE TEACHING.  (Do you notice all the capitals I’m using for emphasis?)  To have a principal who helps us celebrate our successes and gives us a belly rolling, laughing moment is priceless.  I want to remember to always spread that type of encouragement wherever my teaching path may lead me.

Tuesday's Twitter

Our school district recently started a Tuesday Night Twitter where teachers and administrators from all campuses enter into a six or seven question, hour-long discussion each week.  To facilitate questions, one of our campus principals hosts each Tuesday Night Twitter.  Early in the year, my campus principal hosted so I participated in that week's discussion.  Although I'd had a Twitter account for a while, I had yet to do anything with it.  It was an interesting discussion and I learned much about the art of tweeting, such as you can only use so many characters or it won't post!  Oops.

This past Tuesday, I received a tweet indicating our Tuesday Night Twitter would be starting in five minutes, and that the discussion would be facilitated by one of our high school principals who had asked his students to submit the questions for the evening.  I was intrigued, so I logged in to Twitter and joined the discussion.  Not only were the questions insightful, but the dialogue was amazing!  I learned so much from other teachers and dug deep within my own thinking to answer the questions posed that week by students.  Questions such as:

• "When you think of why you became a teacher, does it still inspire you?"
• "How do you keep yourself refreshed to teach the same material every year?"
• "When you think of how you were taught, how have you made it better now that you’re teaching?"
• "How can teachers be better at helping us to understand the bigger picture of what we are learning?"
• "How can you assure your students that what you’re teaching them will actually prepare them for college/life?"
• "If life will be about how well we use resources, why can’t I use notes on my tests?"
• "What is one change you would make to your school to improve it for the students of today?"

What hit me the most, however, is how our district's teachers where so humble and perceptive in their answers. They saw the big picture of education, thought outside the boxes they are often encased in by limited funds or state regulations, and were open about their classroom, flaws and all. Wow! What I can learn from these teachers.  I am not alone in the quest to be a better teacher by continually growing and modifying how I teach my students. This was an important lesson for me to take away . . . don't grow stale; don't settle for "it's good enough"; continue to personally learn and strive to be better each year for my next group of students.  Thanks #risdchat!  I appreciate Tuesday Night Twitter.

Web Search Surprises

The other day, one of the 6th graders was having trouble searching for scientific information about electrons on her iPad using Google.  She said in a frustrated manner, "Every time I want to find something out about electrons, all it gives me is way too complicated stuff I don't understand."  I answered, "Have you tried typing in the words 'for kids' after your search title?"  She hadn't, but proceeded to do so as I stood there.  "Oh," she said.  "That works!"  I hadn't even thought about what would occur when my students do a simple search on electrons and find high level science information.  This experience is making me stop and think through how much our students and I DON'T know about searching info over the World Wide Web.  I do it all the time so I've become better at problem solving my search efforts through default.  Yet, I've never had formal learning on the best way to search for information needed and, it appears, most of our students haven't either.  I wonder if our tech department would be willing to do a lesson during computer time on how best to acquire specific information using search engines and the Boolean searching methods?  Just a thought.  I have to go online now and "search" for tutorials for my students and me on the subject.   I'm seeing a trend here . . . I more I learn, the more I realize how much more I need, and want, to learn!

Eyes Are Watching . . .

This Friday marked my last day to teach 6^th grade Science/Math before moving onto 5^th grade Math.  As a thank you/goodbye gift, my team gave me a basket full of teacher supplies.  Inside the basket, there was a notebook full of student letters.  These letters were handwritten in cursive by every 6^th grade student thanking me for my time with them.  I was so overwhelmed that I started crying, and have laughed and cried as I’ve read them over the weekend.  Talk about affirming me!  It was a beautiful way in which my team showed me how important I am to my students as a teacher and how much influence I have over these students and their learning, not just in content but in character.  I will NEVER forget that fact after receiving these letters!  Students are watching me as I interact with them all day.  

Team Cohesiveness

I love my 6^th grade team’s cohesiveness!  Even before the school year began, these teachers purposefully worked together to clearly define their student expectations. They examined strengths and weaknesses from the previous year and made any needed modifications.  During the first weeks of school, they clearly communicated these high expectations to their students as well as parents.  Now, at each lunch and many conference periods, the 6th grade team can be seen discussing student issues that arise relating to these high expectations and they address them as soon as possible.  It is a privilege to see them in action.

In 6^th grade at our elementary school, each student rotates with their own schedule, not as a homeroom class, in order to prepare them for middle school.  It would be so easy for these five different core subject teachers to have five separate sets of student expectations and choose to not communicate with each other, especially with the fast pace of teaching.  Yet, as my 6th grade team chooses cohesiveness for their method of classroom management, their actions lead to learning benefits for all.  Our students come to understand that their teachers are all communicating and working together on a daily basis for the common good.  Students learn to anticipate the same ideals to be upheld in each of their classes, which offer them safe boundaries and familiarity with what’s expected, which in turn typically provides easier classroom management for the teacher.  It's a win-win cycle.  More time can now be spent on students’ critical learning aspects—gaining knowledge, enhancing social interaction, lesson engagement—rather than on behavioral issues.

Note to self:  Wherever I end up teaching once certified, I plan to foster team cohesiveness as far as it is in my control to do so.

Wednesday's Wonder

      As I was helping a student with her math homework the other day, I asked, “How did your math teacher explain this concept to you today in class?”  Her reply, “I don’t remember.”  I probed further. “Did he explain it using proportions or straight division or strip diagrams?”  “I don’t remember.”  I paused, then asked, “OK. Tell me what you do remember about class time.”  Her reply, “Mrs. Selle, I don’t remember anything about any of my classes today.  We get so much information thrown at us each class and then, before I can even take it all in, it’s time to move to the next class where they just give us more information that I don’t have time to take in.”  She didn’t say this meanly or rudely, just factually with a side of frustration.  Yet here she was still trying to complete her work.  She’s not yet hopeless, even in the face of what seems like a hopeless cycle for her.  What do I do about this situation?  How do I help her build in time to process all the information she is offered every day in every class so she can see progress in her learning?  This is quite a question, one to which we all need answers.  It's especially important when the amount of content material we are obligated to cover is increasing and TEKS are being pulled into younger and younger grades, all naturally resulting in shrinking student processing time. 

Welcome

________________________________________

Welcome to my ePortfolio!  Inside you will find my reflections, ideas, and post-worthy articles relating to the Four Domains of Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities. These are my contemplations as I begin my journey into full-time teaching.  I just completed my semester as a student teacher in 5^th and 6^th grade science and math classrooms at Amy Parks-Heath Elementary in Rockwall ISD while taking my alternative certification capstone course through Texas A&M University – Commerce.  I will be a fully certified EC-6 Generalist teacher by January, 2016, and plan to be an engaging and creative STEM teacher. I have included links to my background and resume for your perusal. Enjoy my blog and always feel free to comment on my posts.  ~Harriet Selle

________________________________________