Hack 2 of Hacking the Common Core- #D100BloggerPD

Welcome back to the #D100BloggerPD! #D100BloggerPD is a group of bloggers from Berwyn South School District 100 that read and blog about various education books! I'm here to give you a run down of Hack #2 in "Hacking the Common Core" by Michael Fisher. If you missed the first post, check out Kristen Richey's post on Reading and Owl of the Above. Hack #1 really takes the edge off of Common Core anxiety.

Hack #2 Close in on Close Reading

I think we are all guilty of overgeneralizing the Common Core at one point or another, I'll admit that I have. The first Common Core literacy anchor standard states:

Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

Common Core Anchor Standard 1 

In Hack 2, author Michael Fisher explains that close reading has been misinterpreted. He points out the first two words in the standard, "read closely," have been taken too literally and lead to teachers having students close read everything, rather than focusing on the key points in the rest of the standard. Much of this interpretation is driven by commercial products that push close reading. It is not meant to be a skill and kill strategy. "Close reading is an analysis of text rather than a specific skill with a prescribed formula," explain Fisher. 

Fisher isn't saying to stop analysis of text, although he does say "...just stop whatever it is your doing that you call close reading."  The problem lies in the prescribed formula that gets used repeatedly because we have been told that's how the students will meet the standard.  

So, what should we be doing? First, Fisher suggests taking a close look at the entire standard. 

Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. 

Common Core Anchor Standard 1

The standard is really asking students to determine what the text says, make inferences, and cite evidence to support conclusions. Once you have interpreted all parts of the standard, next he suggests taking a look at your curriculum to make any adaptations. As he lays out the blueprint to implement this hack, one important component is "ensuring students frequently show their thinking." Give them the space and time to make connections with text and media to make their thinking visible. Allow them a voice to express their learning. Push them to show how language can deepen the interaction between characters to develop the plot. Bottom line, students need a variety of experiences to interact with text in meaningful ways, not an overprescribed scripted structure.

Some of you may be left in shock after this post. Hopefully, after reading this you will find yourself spending some time with your colleagues and exploring the standards as well what you are doing with your curriculum to ensure the understanding and the instruction align.


Catch the rest of the hacks coming up soon. Kayla Kaczmarek is up next with Hack #3 and it can be found on her website on October 6th. Follow #D100BloggerPD on twitter and the image below has the rest of the crew that is "Hacking the Common Core" with Michael Fisher! I hope you enjoy it.

The Power of Classroom Visits

Time is always tight for educators, but collaboration doesn't have to be time set aside for an official meeting. It can be as simple as popping into a colleague's room, observing, and having a conversation. As I have seen more and more educators welcome others into their classroom, it has opened up conversations and spread great ideas. But how do you get this culture to happen?

A couple different ways have spread across my district and social media that would help teachers welcome classroom visitors.

1. Site Visits
A few years ago when our district went 1:1 Macbooks, we started to host site visits from outside districts to come see what we are doing with our program.  We received the Apple Distinguished Program honor for the work we are doing to transform learning using technology and it helped turn attention to our schools. When we first started, people asked why we would spend our time opening our doors? Why not! We have amazing things going on in our classrooms that are worth talking about. When you know visitors will be in and out of your classroom, teachers have a chance to showcase their teaching and look to always enhance their practices. Staff and students take pride and ownership in what they are doing. At the end of the visit, we invite administrators and teachers to debrief with us. This process is very reflective and allows us to keep coming back to why we do this.

We have learned so much from the visitors. Simple comments about programs used or another perspective on how to implement something could spark a great idea to make us even better. Wonderful educators like George Couros, John Antonetti, Saba Quidwai, and Carl Hooker have been able to tour many of our schools and share their expertise on ways we can improve even more.

Site Visitors interacting with students. 

Site visitors viewing students projects. 

2. Pineapple Chart

The idea from Jennifer Gonzalez, author of Hacking Learning and blogger at Cult of Pedagogy, has begun to spread across the district. She explains the charts very well in her blog post. The pineapple is a symbol for welcome. This chart allows teachers to post things going on in their classroom to welcome others to come see their lesson. At Hiawatha Elementary School and Freedom Middle School, you can find a Pineapple chart in their common area. Hiawatha Literacy coach, Leah O'Donnell wrote a blog post about how they use the chart as Hiawatha. Teachers can even put a pineapple on the outside of their door as a symbol for others to come into their class.

New pineapple chart at Freedom Middle School by Amy Gorzkowski.

Pineapple chart in use at Hiawatha by Leah O'Donnell.

3. #ObserveMe
Robert Kaplinsky has a call to action for teachers that is catching on. In his blog post, he challenges teachers to post a sign on their door inviting teachers to observe with explicit points of feedback they would like to receive. To further collaborate outside the school and spread the idea, he asks teachers to post on social media using #observeme. The point here is the feedback portion to help the teacher grow. Visitors will walk away with a new idea as well, so it's a win for both teachers. This idea is new to our district, but I have seen teachers with a sign that invites you.      

Sign on Angela Gonzales door that creates a welcomes others. 

Most teachers are humble and many are risk takers that are confident enough in their abilities to allow others to come in and give them support. Observing another teacher's classroom is a benefit for both educators involved. Try one or all of these ways and see what amazing things come from it! If you have done any of these I would love to hear your experience!

"What Teachers Make" Response to Ch 2-3 #D100bloggerPD

Welcome to the second post of the #D100BloggerPD book study on "What Teachers Make" by Taylor Mali. If you missed the first post by the wonderful Colleen Noffsinger, check it out at the Literacy Loving Gals blog! If you are new to #D100BloggerPD, you are in for a treat! We are a group of educators in Berwyn, IL. We complete books studies on educational books covering a range of topics in education and we each take a chapter to blog about. So, you can "read" some of the hottest books in education by following #D100BloggerPD on twitter and keeping up with the blog posts!  


Vignette 2 - Your Child is My Student

In this section, Mali talks of the challenges presented to teachers in the dynamic of the parent, teacher, student trifecta. He comments how children may get more face-to-face time with teachers than their parents. A tremendous amount of weight is put on teachers for students to succeed and often the failures come back to the teacher.

In actuality, it is three people that are responsible for a student's education and success: parents, teacher, and the student. When dealing with a struggling student, the three pieces must come together.

        

As I was reading this section, a few thoughts came to mind that can help other teachers build a positive relationship with parents. 

1. Openly communicate with parents constantly. With so many social media outlets and ways to communicate, parents should be receiving updates on what is going on in class and with their child. These updates can easily be sent to the whole class or individual parents through tools like Remind or Class Dojo.  

2. Assume positive intent. Most parents I have come into contact with are doing the best they can and may not know any different. Don't judge them. Share ways that they can support their child at home because they may just be unaware. 

3. Respect the parent decisions. Parents make hard decisions every day concerning their children. Whether a parent decides to put their child on medication or take them off, isn't a teacher's position to judge, our role is to adjust our teaching accordingly. 

Taking a collaborative approach with parents from the start of the school year will benefit everyone involved.   

Vignette 3- A Poet Becomes a Teacher (and Vice Versa)

In this section, Mali talked about how he attended graduate school to become a poet and found himself having a need to impact the lives of children, unlike the majority of his colleagues. He states teaching is the art of explanation. He explains, the best teachers gather the information and present it in a meaningful way and allow students to finish the ideas. 

I agree with this to an extent, but I feel the tide of teaching is changing. As education is transforming, the passing of information from the teacher to student and back again is drastically changing. The best teachers are becoming facilitators to teach students how to gather and sort information, build creativity, and allow students to create products that exceed what the teacher thought was possible!

He also explains the importance of teaching and learning in the early years of a child's life through early elementary. These years are so formative for a child. Programs have been started all over the globe to educate parents on ways to educate their children before starting school.  Because as Mali points out, there becomes a point where it is nearly impossible to get a student caught up once they are so far behind. Often this path is laid before they enter school. Another layer to an already challenging job for teachers!

He closes this section with a great line, "Everything I do is a kind of lesson, even if I'm the only person learning it."  I like this line for many reasons, but it helps me remember two things. It reminds me that I'm always sending a message with everything I do and someone is learning something from it, so share your words intentionally. Also, everything I do is an opportunity for me to learn as well, even if I'm the only one. 

Find the next installment of the #D100BloggerPD at Miss Kaczmarek's Classroom and follow wonderful Kayla on twitter! You won't be disappointed. Don't miss any of the other posts by checking out the schedule below. Thanks for reading!

          

Juxtapose Your Lesson

I just came across a great simple tool I wanted to share! I've seen images showing how areas have changed over time with a side by side picture and slider in the middle. When you move the slider it shows how the area has changed. Here is an example of two iconic Chicago theaters. I always thought it was a great visual representation, but didn't know how to create them...until now! The website juxtapose.knightlab.com will allow you to choose online pictures and "juxtapose" them!

They can be created by the teachers or students. Here are some ways I could see it being used in the classroom.

1. The change of seasons on the landscape of the neighborhood.
2. The change of students from the first day of school to the last.
3. The progress made on a project students are working on.
4. Geographical changes of Earth.
5. The transformation of a space in the school.

The website is very easy to use. Simply, put in the web address for each picture along with the date it was taken. (Remember to use images that are free to use. Check out how here.)You can upload your own pictures to Flicker, Dropbox, or Google Drive and get a link from there. Click publish and use the embed code!

  

Here is one I created of a shopping center that was remodeled a few years ago in Berwyn. I can't wait to see this in action in the classroom!

How to Create Simple RSA Animate Videos

RSA Animate videos are creative whiteboard videos that illustrate an idea. They can be simple to very elaborate. Here are the steps I used with a 3rd grade class to help the students illustrate their writing. Check out the blog post "Influential People Unit with RSA Animate and Green Screen" to see their projects. You can also check out professional RSA animate .

What you need:

• Whiteboard
• Dry erase marker and eraser
• Storyboard graphic organizer
• iPad or device that records video
• iMovie

Step 1: Write your idea
First, complete the message you would like to illustrate. Edit and revise it, so you have a final draft to illustrate.

Step 2: Create a storyboard
Using a storyboard graphic organizer or app, plan out a picture for each sentence. We encouraged the students to number each sentence and match it to a picture or write each sentence below the blank box. Draw one picture per sentence. Depending on the length of sentences, you may need to adjust the pictures. For example, you may need two pictures for a long sentence or quickly draw a simple picture for a short sentence.

Step 3: Draw and record
Record each picture being drawn. We recorded using the time-lapse camera on the iPad. It was helpful to use a stand for the iPad, but you can hold it still as well. If you do not have an iPad, you can record with a computer and speed up the videos in iMovie. After erasing a picture, stop and read the sentence with the video. This ensures the timing of the video and audio match. Make adjustments as needed by adding more pictures or simplifying some drawings. After the drawings are finished, send the videos to the computer.

Student recording RSA Animate with iPad time-lapse camera

Step 4: Put the video together and add voice
Next, put the clips together in iMovie in the correct order. Select the "Record Voiceover" feature. Voiceover the images. We used a microphone to eliminate background noise, but that is optional.

Recording voiceover in iMovie

Step 5: Publish and share
Publish the video and share your message with the audience of your choice.

The great thing about RSA animate is that you don't have to be an artist. Since you are telling the story along with the pictures, the audience will understand the visuals with the audio.

Have fun enhancing your message with RSA animate!

Influential People Unit with RSA Animate and Green Screen

In Miss Carillo's 3rd grade bilingual class the students were working on opinion writing in their writing workshop. The goal was for students to choose an influential person, conduct research, write their paragraph with examples and evidence, and create a product that can be shared with an audience of their choice.  This lesson included several engaging qualities.

Engaging Qualities

• Choice- Students were able to choose their influential person. They also had a choice in how they wanted to present their information out to their audience.
• Sense of Audience- Students were challenged to think about the best audience for their presentation. All students shared with parents and teachers at the viewing party, but they were able to choose an authentic audience to share it with online. 
• Novelty & Authenticity- As part of their choice, they could have chosen using a green screen or creating an RSA animate. These were new to the students and many were excited to try these options. 

Process

Research
The students conducted research on a project board similar to the picture below. Miss Carrillo taught a mini lesson on finding reliable sources and encouraged them to use the research tool in google docs to find reliable sources. Once they choose their influential person, they began using the project board.

Writing
Once they had completed some research, Miss Carrillo modeled putting this together  into their paragraph. As students began writing, she followed the workshop model to support them. As the students finished revising and editing, they began to think about their final product.

Determining the Final Product
The students could create a final project of their choice to publish their information. Miss Carrillo created a "Choice Board" that allowed students to choose from several options to create their product.

The most popular choices were iMovie with greenscreen, RSA animate, and presenting their speech dressed as their person.

Final Product

GREEN SCREEN
For the students that chose greenscreen, we recorded the students reading their paragraph in front of a green screen. The students then found pictures that aligned with their story and merged the videos and pictures in iMovie. As we filmed and students read aloud, they realized areas that needed to be edited or revised. For example, a student asked, "I want to change this part. Can I fix my paper and record it again?" Of course! By creating this final product, she was naturally motivated to complete the writing process through revision and editing. This can be one of the hardest aspects of the writing process to motivate students to complete. Knowing that she had an audience gave her the motivation to write to the best of her ability.

RSA Animate
Several students chose RSA animation. After writing and editing their paragraph, they had to make their paragraph visual by planning out pictures for each sentence using a storyboard. This created critical thinking of the points they had made in their paragraph. As I help students, they translated their Spanish writing to English to share their idea with me. Then we were able to have great conversations about how to make the concepts in their writing visual. Once the storyboard was done, the students then had to draw their images on a whiteboard as it was recorded in time-lapse on the iPad. Once they had their visual story, all the time-lapsed videos were put into iMovie and they were able to voice-over the images with their writing. Check out this post to learn how we created the RSA videos.

Check out this playlist of all the projects! 

AH-HA Moments

The goal of this activity was to develop the students writing and give them an audience to share. However, it turned into so much more. I was working with one particular student on her RSA. She wrote her paragraph in Spanish and translated each sentence orally to me so I could help her. She had to come up with pictures for each sentence that told the story of her paragraph. She was able to purposefully practice, writing and speaking skills and show the depth of her understanding through pictures. If Miss Carrillo would have asked the students to write a paragraph, then orally translate it, draw a picture to represent each sentence and then read it aloud three times, most of the students wouldn't have been motivated to do it. However, they enhanced their writing skills, speaking skills, and knowledge of the content by doing all those things with a purpose. This activity gave those skills a purpose and added more depth to their learning. 

Personalized Learning in Action

Check out a few of my other posts on personalized learning: Personalized Learning: Before you Begin & Tools to Personalize Learning. 

I wanted to share how classrooms are moving on the continuum of personalized learning from a teacher-driven to a learner-driven classroom.  

Meagan Bushell and Kristen Fernandez had decided to start personalizing learning with standard MS-ESS2.1 - “Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s material and the flow of energy that drives the process.” So in the end, the students needed to model the rock cycle and explain the flow of energy within it.

To set this up, we brainstormed components that could be applied to any unit. 

Personalized Learning Components

• Inquiry
• Student Centered Activities
• Flexibility
• Accountability
• Self Assessment
• Choice in Final Assessment 

INQUIRY

Creating inquiry by getting students to ask questions about the topic is a great way to peak the student's interest in the topic. To create inquiry, Meagan and Kristen started with the Question Formulation Technique. The structure of QFT can be found HERE.  

First, they had the students gather in groups. They showed the class a picture prompt as the Q Focus. In groups, the students followed the rules of QFT to create questions from the focus image. Groups then turned the questions into open questions and added the important ones to a class Padlet. Together as a class, they sorted and prioritized the Padlet and came up with three questions to guide their learning. 

Final Questions:

1. What is the rock cycle?
2. What are the main types of rocks?
3. What are the processes that transfer energy in the rock cycle?

STUDENT CENTER ACTIVITIES

Once the guiding questions were created, Meagan and Kristen created a playlist of activities for the students to choose from to reach the standard. It included text, videos, interactive websites and a hands-on simulation. The students then reviewed the materials and determined what resources they would use to start learning. Here is where common core reading and writing standards are aligned. Power my Learning is a great site with “playlists” for a variety of concepts. In this case, the teachers chose to use our LMS, Schoology, to get resources to students. 

FLEXIBILITY

Students could choose to work cooperatively, independently, or with the teacher. Each teacher arranged their rooms to include independent workstations, collaborative areas, and space for small group instruction with the teacher. Each area was clearly labeled and students moved to areas of the room with a purpose. This gave the teachers the ability to pull students that needed extra support and the flexibility to change those groups. Depending on the group of students, they may need more structure at the cooperatively learning area by using Kagan structures or other collaborative activities.  

The teachers were also flexible with the time. Students that mastered the standard quickly were able to move on when they were ready while other students could take the time they needed to master the content. It is important to keep a pace in mind and the teachers were able to meet with the students and support them if they were going over the allotted time.  

ACCOUNTABILITY

Students were held accountable to the teacher and to themselves. At the end of each period, the students completed a google form that helped them reflect on their progress and plan their next step.

They had to reflect on how close they are to mastery of the standards and how well they worked in their chosen instructional group. 

The second accountability piece was evidence of mastery. Before they could move on, the students had to correctly answer a set of questions in Quia. If they didn’t get 100%, they were able to go back and relearn the material before beginning the assessment activity. Have this done in a site like Quia, enable the students to complete this independently.

ASSESSING the STANDARD

In the final assessment, the students were given a variety of choices. They needed to complete a “Rock Cycle Dice” Simulation, then create a “My Life as a Rock” story. This was done in a variety of ways. Some students chose Keynote, iMovie, posters, or coded an Ozobot robot. 

          Student project in progress using the Ozobot to represent the rock cycle.

AH-HA MOMENTS

It was amazing to see some students learn the material and understand the standards in a few lessons. Meagan and I had a conversation about how one student could be doing so much more and with a personalized learning structure now he can! It makes room for true enrichment activities for those who need it and allows more time for others. Behavior issues also diminished in the classrooms using personalized learning. As a teacher, you have to be ready with materials for your students to move on. Personalized learning takes a little more planning on the front of a unit, but its worth it!