Personalized Learning Via Tedx-Like Talks...The Joy of Being a Facilitator!

My 4th graders are working on TEDx-LikeTalks.
Yep, they are creating TEDx Like Talks.
I posted this assignment in the "ALL DONE" folder on our Schoology page, and they all gravitated towards it like moths to a light.

I posted a few TEDx-Like Talks by kids, asked them to watch at least one, choose a topic, and then create their own.

It has been amazing watching them work.
I have watched them create speeches.
Edit speeches.
Add images.
Add video.
Collaborate.
Research.
Discuss.
Add speeches to the teleprompter.
Practice.
Did I say collaborate?
Take this thing seriously, "working on it at home", seriously.
Come to me for a little help and apply what they take away from me.
Go back and work some more on topics like: "Why We Should Have Music Programs in School.", and "Youth Tackle Football is Dangerous."

"Mrs.Mims, can we work on our TEDx-LikeTalk during... ?" I willingly give whatever time they can squeeze in after testing.

At one point, I suggested to one group that they create a survey, using Google forms, so they could see how others feel about their topic
I showed them how to set it up and moved out the way.

They created the questions.
Used the "Go to this section"(with a little facilitating from me.)
Everyone has a survey now.:)
(Shout out to my colleagues and Twitter PLN!)

Can anyone say Common Core Standards? Oh yeah, they are being met!!


They will practice using the Swivl I won during Teacher Appreciation Week2016,(Shout out to Recap!)

I have to let them present on stage before school ends. Can't wait to see the finished product. The journey in itself has been great.

I am excited! They are excited! They are learning! And I? I am just the facilitator.:)

Just Because Our Students Are Living in Poverty...

Ban Ki-Moon

Many times we allow stereotypes to rule our perceptions of others, whether it's race, gender, or socioeconomic status. We allow these perceptions to cloud our judgment, and we make decisions based on these misconceptions. We believe if it is true of one, it is true of all. How unfair to the students who walk into our classrooms every day.

A child "living in poverty" seems to be a hot button issue right now, and rightly so. But how much do we let the fact that any of our students are living in poverty affect how we relate to them? How does the fact that our students are living in poverty, change the way we teach ALL of our students?

I'm just thinking out loud. We need to make sure that we put the "brush" away, and see our students as individuals, and not a statistic.

Just because they are living in poverty, it does not mean that:

• we should not have high expectations of them, and only expect minimum effort.
• their mother is an addict, Dad is absent, and no one has a job.
• they can't read, write, or do math.
• they can't make it to school most of the time.
• they are not gifted.
• there is not anyone at home who wants them to be successful.
• they will behave poorly in class.
• they should be provided with limited or non-equitable resources,
• they can't compete with other students.
• they are unable to participate in any extracurricular activities. (STEM, Mystery Skype,etc...)
• they are only capable of test prep, higher-order thinking escapes them.
• can not graduate from high school or college.
• we are better than them, that we know better than them.
• they don't want more, from their teachers, their community, their world.
• they don't dream BIG.

Living in poverty comes with many struggles, but we should still provide our students with an education they could use to escape it.

Please take a moment to listen to this TED talk by Mia Birdsong," The Story We Tell About Poverty Isn't True."

Sharing and Caring: This Can't Be Found in a Textbook!

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in curriculum, pacing guides, and standardized tests,that we forget that there is so much more we can teach our students. Or better yet, allow our students to learn.

As I mentioned in my last post, when students contact me, none of them remember how much math I taught them, or what they scored on tests. That's not the lessons learned.

Every Monday, during Morning Meeting,I share a Kid President video with my 4th grade students.A quick 3-4 minute video that engages my students, and starts their week off with laughter and/or a message.

It was the end of October, and we watched the Kid President video about Socktober. My students decided they wanted to participate. Of course, I said yes, but on one condition. I would be the facilitator, I would not be in charge. This was their baby!

I could go through the standards and demonstrate how they met a variety of them with this activity, but I won't. Instead I'm going to share the hard work they put into making this happen.

They ....

• chose a chairperson and created a committee
• turned in a letter with what had to be done and when it needed to be done
• wrote the letter to get permission form the principal.
• wrote a script and created the video( so cute!) that was posted in Smore and emailed to the staff.
• made "Socktober" posters and hung them all over the school.
• wrote a message that was read over the loudspeaker during Morning announcements.
• decorated paper boxes in order to create "Socktober" boxes that were placed in the front of the school.
• picked up the socks from the front office every day
• took photographs
• hung up names in the front of the school thanking the people who donated
• counted out the number of socks in each box
• chose another chairperson to head up sorting the socks by men,women, and children.(It was funny watching and listening to them figure out which box they should go in.:)
• COLLECTED OVER 400 PAIRS OF SOCKS!!!!!
• wrote the final thank you message to the school and read it during Morning announcements
• will  present the socks to the representatives from the homeless shelter

And Most of All... cared enough about their fellow human beings to do this!

I am proud to be their teacher.I am happy that I was open to giving them the opportunity to do something that can't be found in a textbook!

How Will Your Students Remember You?

I have taught for 30+ years, and over the years, I have connected with former students.

On the street, their jobs, emails, and visits. Last year, 3 siblings surprised me with a visit. I had each of them in my classroom. One had graduated from college and was working in D.C, one was in college, and one had just graduated from high school.They not only thanked me, but they talked to my students, gave them some of their wisdom and let them know how fortunate they were to have me.:) A student from one of my 3rd grade classes in the 80's, found me on Facebook, and remembered her experience in my classroom.

Hearing about the impact I have had on their lives makes me proud. Proud as in "I am so happy that I have made a difference", not "look what I've done."

Presently, I work with one of my former 5th grade students, she is a para in my classroom.She told my husband that I was good, because I was the only teacher she still remembered.

Here are some things I have done over the last thirty years that I believe has affected the relationship I had with my students.

I was not mean.
This does not mean I never raised my voice, or laid them out. It doesn't mean that I never let loose with sarcasm,(I have really become a lot better at controlling this!). It means what it says, I am not mean. I have never spent day after day, belittling students who have very little control over what happens in their lives. I have never made them feel like less.

I loved them.
And they knew it! It didn't matter if I was fussing, angry, impatient, they knew that I loved them. There were times I did not like their behavior, (to be honest there were some that were hard to like), but nonetheless,I loved them like they were mine. My expectations for them were high. I treated them the way I wanted teachers to treat my kids.

I engaged them.
Oh yes, pre-computers! Back in 19something or other, I used to take a huge cardbox and drag it into my room. I am not making this up. I would turn out the lights and we would time travel during Social Studies. The other kids would put their heads on the desk.The kids would "wake up" and we would be wherever I was teaching. No computer necessary! I used to write plays and have my students perform them.(Aaaah,. pre-standardized testing days).

Be human.
Dance. Sing. Smile. Laugh. Tell them about your kids. Your husband. Your life.

I was, (and still am), a life long learner.
It doesn't matter what your profession is. The minute you stop learning, you are done. If you are teaching from the lesson plan book you used in 2010...(and you brag about it???) Keep it fresh.

I adapt.
If you keep doing the same thing the same way you've always been doing it... I'm paraphrasing, but you get my drift. I always switched it up because a bored teacher means bored students. Should I refer back to the lesson plan book from 2010? This is why tech and I are besties right now, completely transformed the way I teach!

I was passionate about teaching!
Everyone who is teaching does not feel the same way that I do. To some, teaching is just a job, a means to a paycheck. Others, really enjoy it, but at the end of the day, they are done. Teaching has been my passion since I was a little girl in my friend's basement with an easel and some neighborhood kids. It's in my blood, as my girlfriend says, I am a "teacher's teacher." It's just something that I love!

Yesterday, via Facebook, I realized that one of my former students had become a teacher. She has been teaching for 9 years. I congratulated her, and she responded, " I always think about you and Ms.Turner and hope I'm doing half the job you did!" What a wonderful way to be remembered!

Google Voice Typing- YES! or BOO!?

When Google Voice Typing was announced all over the Blogosphere, I rejoiced!
And just like a teacher, I thought about how I could use this in my classroom, and I was happy.
I introduced it to my class the other day, and they were happy.

BUT, now I'm thinking... am I interfering with their ability to learn how to write?
Am I interfering with their ability to navigate a keyboard?
What about spelling? Will it help them become better/worse spellers?

I guess this is one of those Pros and Cons type of things...

I'e watched students struggle to write a single sentence. It wasn't because they didn't know what to write, it's because they couldn't write.

I think about all those assignments that take forever to turn in because the kids have to type them.
And I mean forever!

The other day, a student who is usually very, very, quiet surprised me. First, he said, "Mrs.M, don't forget to turn off the speaker, because otherwise it will type anything you say." Loved that he discovered it, love even more that he decided to share this, out loud. When he was finished "voice typing' his story, which by the way, he had already written in his notebook, he came up to my desk, HUGE smile, to tell me his story was published, and how happy he was with Google Voice typing!

I think I will still have my students, who are capable of writing, write their stories in their notebooks, and then "voice type" them. The ones who can't write, they can use "voice type" from the beginning. It's difficult for me to think that they should sit and struggle to write 3 sentences, when they could "write" 2 paragraphs in that time.

I'm going to have to give Google Voice Typing a YES! 
Your thoughts?????

Now let me go and work on my Great American Novel, it should be out next week! :)