Dig deeper to go further!

Tonight I made myself go out and run! It's so easy to come up with excuses, but not tonight! It's been a crazy two months, but I have to make myself get back to a routine of working out and running. My intent was to run about 2 miles, I just have to ease back into it, right? When I got to the 1 and half mile mark, my legs felt like rubber. Did I want to quit? Absolutely! However, I told myself, "Nardi, you have to dig deep and keep going! You can do it!" So I kept going! I hit the 2 mile mark! I kept going! I made myself dig deeper and go further! My goal of 2 miles turned into a 3 1/2 mile run! I felt great!

This caused me to think about teaching and my students! Don't we want this for our students, to dig deeper and go further? Of course we do! How do we ensure that? We, as teachers need to dig deeper to go further to take our STUDENTS further? Don't we want to be the best we can be so our students can be the best THEY can be?

While on my run, I was reminded of a situation that occurred with one of my students just this past week. This student is part of my tutoring group. With the FSAssessment next week, I had her take a computer "practice" FSAssessment. This particular student worked so hard, used all of the strategies I taught her during the year. She was nervous to click the "submit" button, but with her eyes tightly shut and her finger on the enter key, she pressed submit. She squealed with excitement as she read her score 90%!!!! YES!!! 90%!!! This is HUGE for this student! After the excitement, she sat down and stated, "My head hurt from all that thinking." I replied, "Yes, but look at the results!" Needless to say she was beaming, smiling from ear to ear!. That's what it is all about, teaching our students to dig deeper to go further!

This time of year I reflect on my teaching, what worked, what didn't work. I begin to search for (and research) other strategies, programs, books, workshops, etc. Consequently, I'm so excited to be part of our Aspiring Coaches Cohort next year which will begin with a four day training June 8th - 11th. This will give me the opportunity to enhance quality teacher instruction (including my own) at my school. Why do this? To dig deeper to go further in order to reach ALL of my students!

It's tough to learn new strategies and use them in the classroom with our students. We want to revert to what we know, what we feel comfortable with. Case in point, our fourth and fifth grade teachers implemented DBQs (Document Based Questioning). Let me tell you, it was TOUGH!!!! I wanted to close the book, put it away, and go back to what I know. But I didn't! We dug deep, pushed further than we ever have before! We didn't see the positive results until about the third unit! (Although we did see gradual improvement throughout the DBQ process). It took perseverance on the teacher's part AND the students' part. Now I have some students who can write a three page paper analyzing documents WITH citations! These are nine and ten year olds! I would like to say 100% are doing this, but I can't. However, I can say 100% of my students show growth in their reading and writing! How? By digging deeper to go further!

So, how do we dig deeper to go further? I can only share what I do and what has worked for me. First, I get to know my students! How do they learn? What excites them? The knowledge I gain about my students directs me to books, strategies, workshops, and trainings where I can discover new ideas that I can use with ALL of my students.

Yes, all of this takes time, but I have to dig deeper to go further in order to reach ALL of my students!

My Summer Reading List!

Reciprocal Teaching

Our goal as teachers is to release the "gathering" of information to the students. We want our students to "do all of the work".  One of my favorite strategies that allow this is Reciprocal Teaching!  This "high yield" strategy incorporates making predictions, asking questions, clarifying words or phrases, and summarizing.  I introduced this strategy to my students about the second or third week of school with many weeks of practice and modeling.  There are many ways reciprocal teaching can be implemented in a classroom.  The following is what works for my students.  

My students are already placed in heterogeneous groups of four. Each student is given a reading passage to read. Before students read, they create a sideways Classifying Map.  The title of the Map is the title of the reading passage.  The branches of the Classifying Map is: Prediction, Questions, Clarifications, and Summary. 

A placemat is placed in the middle of each team for reference.

Before reading, the students preview the passage and make a prediction.  Students must use evidence to support their prediction. For example, "I predict I will learn how St. Augustine was established because the picture shows ___________ and the subheadings state ____________". While reading, students can adjust their predictions.  After reading, the students must confirm or reject their prediction with evidence.  

While reading, students must record at least three questions about the reading (or questions they feel their team mates may have) and three words or phrases they need clarified. Finally when finished reading, students write a two sentence summary of what was read.  This is all done independently.  I circulate and help where needed.

(I allow 10 - 15 minutes, depending on the passage) 

After independent reading, the students participate in a discussion.  I randomly select a discussion facilitator for each group.  This student begins and facilitates the discussion beginning with predictions.  The facilitator begins with his/her prediction (including his/her confirmation or rejection) then asks each team member to share his/her predictions.

The facilitator continues with questions and clarifications. When students share their questions and clarifications, they must include a page number or paragraph number so his/her teammates can refer to the text.  Students answer the questions and use context clues or prior knowledge to determine meaning of words.  I circulate and listen to groups discussion and assist where needed.

Finally, each team member shares his/her summary. 
Students are then encouraged to revise their summaries with any new knowledge they gained.

Because each student contributes to the discussion, all students must make sure their classifying map is complete. This ensures 100% engagement.  

Bananas and Science!

Nothing excites me more than to watch my students discover learning while exploring the world around them!  One of my favorite fruits to eat is the banana!  I posed the question, I wonder, what percentage of a banana is edible?  We began the activity with an anticipation guide!  This consisted of four true and false questions.

1.  The banana is a berry?
2.  Bananas grow on trees?
3.  Pound for pound, bananas are the most widely sold fruit in the United States.
4.  Bananas are highly nutritious and easily digestible.

These questions made for a very friendly and respectful debate. Next, each group of three - four students received a passage on the banana.  Students then participated in "Reciprocal Teaching" to gather information about bananas.  Groups then organized their thinking in a thinking map to share with the class.  Students then "revised" their knowledge regarding the banana.

The next day, I posed the same question, "I wonder how much of the banana is edible".  Each group of two received a banana, balance scale, and "gram stackers".  First students estimated the percentage of the banana that is edible.  Several students said 50%. Students then discussed with their partner how they think they will find this information.  Students worked together and came up with a plan to find the percentage of the banana that is edible.  Their plan MATCHED mine!  Students first found the mass of the entire banana by placing it in the cup on one side of balance scale and gram stackers in the other cup on the other side of the balance scale.  Once the scale was balanced, students counted the gram stackers to calculate the mass of the entire banana.

Students then peeled the banana and found the mass of the peel and the "meat" of the banana.  Students recorded the data on a data sheet.  At this point we spoke about accuracy in our measurements.  

I demonstrated that if we take the mass of the peel and the mass of the "meat", it should equal the mass of the entire banana!  Some groups were exact while some were not.  We then discussed why some of the measurements were not exact.  

Next we found the percentage of the banana that is edible by taking the mass of the edible part of the banana and divided it by the total mass of the banana!  

This led to a conversation about purchasing bananas.  I posed the question, is it better to buy bananas that are a little green and not yet ripe (where the peel is thicker) or should we wait until the bananas are a bit more ripe?  Most of my nine and ten year olds figured out that if we purchase bananas that are not quite ripe, we would be wasting money because the percentage of the edible portion is lower!  

Now, I wish I could say this activity is all my idea, but I can't!  This activity comes from Aimes Education Foundation.  Here is a link to the activity!  Hope you can use this in your classroom!