4C's for Relevant Teaching

I feel like I am drowning in the letter C. First the message was, "Make sure students can COMPREHEND what they read." Then I was told to, "strengthen CORE instruction through CORE reading programs." Next I heard about teaching 21st CENTURY skills through, "COMMUNICATION, COLLABORATION, CRITICAL THINKING, and CREATIVITY." Now, the whole nation seems to be getting involved with the adoption of the, "COMMON CORE state standards". Are there any more C's left? This blog attempts to put all the recent talk into a simple plan.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has built a simple framework of lessons that blend these C's into four main topics:

1. Communication: Sharing thoughts, questions, ideas and solutions

2. Collaboration: Working together to reach a goal - putting talent, expertise, and smarts to work

3. Critical Thinking: Looks at problems in a new way, linking learning across subjects and disciplines. One sample lesson suggests students visit www.kiva.org and select a person to support. Each group creates a presentation to persuade classmates to choose that proposal.

4. Creativity: Trying new approaches to get things done equals innovation and invention.Help students bring the text to life by visiting these sites. Google Lit Trips provides a new approach to reading. There is also Google Historical Voyages and Events for history teachers.

For the iPad generation and those who educate them, what does it mean to be literate? Yesterday’s definition is no longer relevant and tomorrow’s definition hasn’t been created. Given the ever-changing definition of literacy, perhaps it is easier to define the set of skills needed to be literate rather than defining literacy itself.

Keep in mind, each C requires a lot of modeling, practice, and facilitation. Without a teaCher, C is just a letter. Let me know how you use these four C's in your classroom.

Figurative Language

Everyone is looking for a fun and creative way to introduce figurative language to their students. Don't recreate the wheel, York Township's elementary teacher, Katie Haun, has done the work for you. Check out the two videos she made for free on animoto.com:

Video One

Video Two

If you are interested in using animoto.com, check out the blog post that explains how to create your own videos in just 5 easy steps.

3 Ways to Ring in Spring with Twitter!

This is a guest post written by Katherine Haun, a third grade teacher at York Township Elementary School.

Tweet! Tweet! Tweet!

By now, you have heard of Twitter. You’ve seen the hashtags, like #edchat, and the @ symbols. You’ve even got your own account and username. But what good are they to you? Here are three reasons to ring in spring with Twitter.

First and foremost, build your Personal Learning Network (PLN). As an educator, the fastest way to learn about new topics in education is to follow other educators. You will feel even more connected if you join in a Twitter chat session with other educators. Scared to join the chat? Start easy, by reading others’ tweets, marking your favorites to reference at a later time. Then, tip-toe a little farther by retweeting something that is interesting to you that your followers might also be interested to read. Once you’re comfortable with that, start tweeting! Share useful websites, your own blog updates, even your animoto videos. To read others’ thoughts and resources on education topics, here are some hashtags to search on Twitter: #edchat, #edtech, #edpolicy, #edreform, and #digitalliteracy. The following are some people I follow on Twitter for ideas about education: @peteandc, @thenerdyteacher, @AngelaMaiers, @edutopia, @ChrisBiffle, @readingrockets, @readingsecrets, @web20classroom, @globalearner, and @kathyschrock. These are just a few to get you started…

Second, get your students involved! Create a class Twitter account and invite student volunteers to tweet a 140-character or less summary of each of your lessons throughout the day. Get your parents involved! Have them follow your class. Make sure that you adjust your privacy settings appropriate for your grade level, send home permission slips, and double-check your school district’s acceptable-use policy.

Third, are you interested in topics aside from education? I don’t know about you, but I basically missed the #GoldenGlobes. Now that football season is over, I’m not up-to-date with the most recent #NFL news, either. How often do you read before bed? Or over your morning coffee? Try searching your favorite topics on Twitter this spring, and I bet you’ll find that you will be reading for pleasure much more often than you did during the winter!

If you like this post, join our mailing list for more digital literacy tips. I would love to hear how you use Twitter for your classroom so take a few minutes to join the conversation on my facebook page.

4 Easy E’s: Creating a Student Managed Classroom Blog

This is a guest blog from Kristin McFatridge, a 4th grade teacher at Central York School District. We would love to hear about your newest technology discoveries and how you apply them to your classroom.
Creating a blog doesn’t have to be a hair pulling experience. It’s supposed to be a fun way to engage students on the road to becoming lifelong 21st century learners. By following the 4 Easy E’s you, and your students, will become certified bloggers in no time. PS. If you’re reading this you, you’ve managed to find and identify what a blog looks like and you are already a step ahead!

1) Explore The teacher’s job is to explore and read all types of blogs (during all that free time we have ). Check out educational blogs, fun blogs, anything that may interest you! Pinterest.com has a lot of great starter ideas. One of the most popular, FREE blogging sites that I highly suggest is blogspot.com. Sign up and create your own classroom blog; navigate throughout the site and play around with all the buttons. Ask yourself questions, “What is that little icon for”? TRY IT OUT! You don’t have to publish anything yet. Trial and error is the key. Attempt to post at least one blog for the students to view when you introduce them to the concept of becoming 21st century Bloggers.

2) Engage “Attention all 4th grade Bloggers!” Don’t be scared by the blank stares, most of them will have no idea what you are talking about. Introduce them to the concept of blogging (if anything, they’ll get a kick out of the word “blog”). Show them how to access your classroom blog and read them your very first post. For 100% student engagement, include a picture of the class and throw some of their names into the first post. Kiddos love seeing themselves advertised on a computer screen and they won’t be able to keep their eyes off of the blog. Here comes the kicker, explain THEY will be taking over and be in complete control of the content of the classroom blog. They will become official Bloggers.

3) Experiment Give students time to play around; a little guided discovery never hurt anyone. The best way for students to learn how to blog is to have them teach themselves and learn from each other in “kid language”. Gather a small group of students and show them different aspects of blogspot.com (how to change the font, upload a picture, etc.) and those students will become the experts, the go-to students when a problem may arise. Give students time to post their own blogs and read and evaluate each other’s progress.

4) Enjoy Sit back and relax. Trust your students. Give them a rubric or check list as a guideline, but don’t take away their voice. You’ll be amazed how quickly your “net-generation” students grasp technology. Add the link somewhere easily accessible, like a classroom website, and advertise your blog to parents and other teachers. Become the facilitator, but leave the blogging for the students.

Join the discussion on facebook.com/myreadingsecrets.

Fast reading isn't good reading?

Hey, this is your brain here. I need to talk to you. It really bugs me when you assume I can do all the reading myself. Reading is a two way street. It takes both me (the brain) and you (the reader) to make meaning from these squiggly lines on the page.

You read too fast. What do you think I am, a NASCAR? After awhile, I’m so confused I crash. I take all that new information and throw it into the junkyard. If you expect me to remember, you need to adjust your reading speed and apply strategies to keep me from thinking about other things.

We have a long road ahead of us. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride!

If you agree with this post, leave your comments below or share how you adjust your reading speed on facebook.

Course Correction

Did you know while an airplane is in flight, it’s off course 80% of the time? Let’s say you are going to take a flight to Hawaii. If you arrive at the right destination at the right time, you would say it was a successful trip. What you don’t realize is that for 80% of the time, you were actually off course. Luckily for you, the autopilot realizes there are outside influences that force the plane off course. The plane flies for a little and then checks to see if it’s still on course and if it’s not, it makes a course correction. Then it flies a little more and makes another course correction. This continues until the plane lands at the correct destination.

Creating a radical routine is great, but it won’t get you to your destination. It’s time to make some course corrections by evaluating your radical routine and making adjustments. It may take a few weeks to work out scheduling conflicts until you get use to making school a priority. Here are some helpful tips when adjusting your radical routine:

· Do you have a long chunk of study time? Studying is a sprint, not a marathon. Research shows the brain does better with short bursts of studying. Keep your scheduled study time to 20 minutes of intense, distraction free studying, and then reward yourself with a break. Doing this allows the brain to process information and transfer it into long-term memory.

· Are you specific with which class you are studying? It’s easy to avoid reading if you aren’t committed to a certain class. Review your radical routine and make sure you list each class 3 different times throughout the week. Research on the brain has found, “one could increase the lifespan of a memory simply by repeating the information in timed intervals. The more repetition cycles a given memory experiences,” the easier it is to recall the information (p.100, Medina, 2008).

· Are your study times as close to class as possible? Again, brain research has discovered that, “a great deal of memory loss occurs in the first hour or two after initial exposure,” (p.130, Medina, 2008). In other words, if you begin to study new information right after class, the easier it will be to transfer this information into long-term memory. If you wait even one day to begin studying, you may not remember what you learned in class. This schedule also establishes opportunities to get help. When you study, make sure to mark questions you have or concepts that are confusing. Then you can contact your teacher prior to the next class and get the answers you need.

Keep in mind some classes need more study time then others depending on your ability and interest in the content. Let me know what course corrections you make to your radical routine. Leave your comments below or share your thoughts on my facebook wall.

Resource:

Medina, J. (2008). Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School. Seattle, WA: Pear Press.

Automatic Pilot

The idea behind creating a radical reading routine is that it shifts the student from being reactive to being proactive. As Cal Newport explained, “I no longer have to expend any scheduling energy to make sure I accomplish all of these regular tasks. They run, in effect, on autopilot — getting done when scheduled.” When you set aside time to read, you can’t make excuses for not reading. As a result, the reading gets done. If you missed the blog explaining how to create a radical routine, click here.

The radical routine establishes three key ideas:
Guidelines: Everyone has 24 hours in a day, but its how you choose to spend your time that matters. Creating a radical routine limits your options and removes the stress of making decisions.
Boundaries: You can’t be everything to everyone. When you don’t have boundaries, you are more willing to do things for other people and push school work until the night before its do. The radical routine forces you to honor study time and removes the stress of feeling overwhelmed.
Discipline is defined as a regiment that develops or improves a skill. If you hate to read, do it every day. Instead of having to make a decision to read, you establish a daily reading routine. As a result, you train your brain to anticipate reading at a certain time every day and remove the stress of procrastination.

Are you having trouble with your radical routine? I am here to help you work out the rough spots so you can get shift school work into automatic pilot. Leave your comments below or share your thoughts on my facebook wall.