Home with the kids....

So, I thought it was time for me to get back on the blog after what seemed to me to be a very long 3 months. It is definitely a very strange transition to go from working full time to being a full time mom of 2 for 2 and 1/2 months. I just thought I would share a bit about my experience with my 4 year old during this time.

About 2 weeks after bringing my new son home I started to set my 4 year old up on the computer and started marking her sites under "Favorites". We started with Sprout Kids and Disney Playhouse and added; Littlest Pet Shop, My Little Pony, Barbie.com, Nick Jr., Noggin, Build-a-Bear, and more. What amazed me is how it took me 2 seconds to teach her the mouse, the arrow keys, space bar and how to work the "Favorites".

-By the way, the inventor of these sights was no dummy! When you favorite a children's site, a small icon (colored) is placed by it, so there is no need for children to be reading to go to the star and scroll down to the site they want to go to!

Anyway, I started her using the computer to try and get a little down time to spend with my son while she was occupied. I had no idea she would turn into a .com kid. She loves it and figures out how to do everything on these sites. I was truly amazed watching her figure out all the puzzles, games, coloring books, dot-to-dots etc.

She has since learned to spell: play, print, color, and more. She knows how to click the red X in the corner when she is done. She even taught her 6 year old cousin how to use the computer! I just couldn't believe the ease and speed that she picked it up. Why didn't I do this sooner???

Anyway, the other day Grandma came over to visit and my daughter said, "Hey Grandma, I want to show you all of my .com stuff on the computer. Grandma what do you like?" Grandma told her that she loved gardens and gardening to which my daughter responded, "Grandma, I bet they have a garden.com, let's go see."

At 4 she already realizes the Internet can offfer everything. It has been an awesome 2 months watching her mind work :)

These made me laugh, especially the second one. Happy Holidays :)

I am always inspired to evaluate myself when I read what you all wrote :)
Reading Ms. Davis's blog inspired me to do a semester survey with my students asking them to respond to 3 questions that I have been pondering. I asked them to name the class activities in which they feel they learn the most (e.g. feel like they walk away really knowing the material, how to use it, etc.) I also asked them to respond to late work and if it soely promotes laziness and the third thing was they had to write 1-3 thinks they would change about the class.

As usual, some of their answers made me rethink some of my procedures and some of the answers are just surprising. So... I wanted to share a little of what the students shared with me!

1. They love graphic organizers. All of the students responded that organizers help them connect information and put their thoughts and ideas together.
2. Songs and memory helpers. ALL students responded that those little chants/songs are life savers in memorizing necessary rules of language.
3. Almost ALL students responded that late work should not be accepted, or only accepted ONE day late! INTERESTING I know. (They said editing should be allowed if the assignment was turned in on time and good effort was put forth.)
4. A few students thought it would be helpful to do more "busy work" (and yes those are their exact words.)

21st Century has inspired me to constantly ask for feedback from the students and what they think about the LEARNING in the classroom. I think that checking in with students every sememster is a great tool in assessing my teaching. In addition to the others, I would also like to thank 21st Century for encouraging me to constantly evaluate myself, my classroom, my assessments, everything.

Reviewing the Google Docs Vision Ideas
As I look at all of the ideas that the various groups have generated so far for the vision of what we would like AHS to be in the future, I have some conflicting opinions/views.
First of all, I still believe that school should expose students/kids to a variety of everything. (Again, this is just my opinion) But I truly feel that school should expose students to various ways of thinking, problem solving, and different educational atmospheres/situations. This allows students to try a great deal of different contents, styles, ideas, and classes and figure out where their true passions really lie and to learn stradegies to succeed in many different settings.

As I have said before, I think the key to a quality school and teacher is to engage students and get them active in their learning. However, I think that some of the ideas in the shared document could actually hinder learning and the facititation of learning.

Some of my concerns are with the following ideas from the shared document:
- No walls? Anywhere? - this seems like it wouldn't facilitate a good learning environment for anyone. Noise? chaos? Good discussions where we can hear one another?
- No bells? Again, seems chaotic. Just go by our watches? Come and go as you please? Finish just whenever you get done? I think we do need schedules (but maybe I am just old school?)
- Catering to students 19 and over? I do think there needs to be a limit to a "high school" there are other institutions and choices for students who need more time to get a GED or need to attend a vocational school. In other countries the students at 14 years of age either go to high school or go to do an internship or attend a vocational school.
- Classes more comfortable to create creativity? Do all jobs have murals on the walls and couches? Doesn't creativity come from within. Do couches, slouching and putting your feet up creat creativity or does it create more of a lackadaisical attitude and work ethic. When I go to work on the couch with my laptop I end of dozing off and relaxing.

I am not trying to be negative, but I just think that some things truly don't facilitate and increase learning. Does anyone else have questions about some of these ideas? Maybe I need to loosen up :)

The shift of blame...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-03-07-forum-students_x.htm This is the Internet site of a recent article I read about placing work ethic back on the students. The article discussed the shift in attitude from the student being responsible when they don't learn the material (10-20 years ago) to the teacher now being responsible.

This article got me thinking a lot about our 3 questions.: What we want students to learn (our big picutre/essential learnings)? How we will know when they've learned it (common assessments)? And, what will we do when they don't learn it? The third question is what the article discussed in detail. And I must somewhat agree with the argument. When did the shift happen that it is now almost 100% on the teacher's shoulders when students don't learn material presented, practiced, applyed, synthesis and assessed?

"When asked to identify the most important factors in their performance in math, the percentage of Japanese and Taiwanese students who answered "studying hard" was twice that of American students." - USA Today

I think this is so interesting. Why do American studnets tend to blame or credit their success to the teacher, but in other cultures studnets credit their success to "working hard and studying"?

I would love to hear other's thoughts as to when this shift happened? Why it happened? And is it realistic that without the students effort to work we can assure that all students will learn?

I want to tach them to dance in the rain, not just survive the storm...

So lately my struggle has been the ridiculous amount of excusses that teenagers can come up with. Excusses why they couldn't come in to see/talk to me, why they couldn't do the homework, why they can't study for a quiz on 10 words, why they couldn't complete a blog that they had two weeks to do, and why they don't know what is going on.

I truly pride myself on creating an active classroom where the students are continually engaged in their learning. However many of them see school as a struggle. A storm to get through (if you will :) My question is how do I get my many of my students to stop thinking about school as a storm to get through and create the intrigue, love for learning and self engagment to show them to enjoy the learning? So instead of just getting through their "storm" they can enjoy the journey and dance in the rain :)

I know that I am being completely idealistic to believe that I can truly instill the love of learning and self motivation in all of my students (especially the love of learning language), but isn't the love of learning and discovery what truly creates an autonomous, life longer learner. And ultimately isn't this our goal? (That students leave with the will and want to inquire and apply new knowledge and skills.)

So I guess I am continually struggling with how to light that fire for 35 kids, 5 different classes, all intrested in different things and at different levels. Yet maintaining some constistancy in vocabulary and skills so they are able to use Spanish to communicate with each other. (Without any of the same vocabulary conversation in the language is almost impossible.>)

I think what I am hoping for this year in 21st century is to learn new methodologies (preferable with technology) that get my students "dancing" so to speak. I think that PLNs could be a great start to get them personally involved in the world and their learning. I am hoping that cohort 2 can get some more information on integrating PLNs in the classroom with the students to get them engaged and creating their own learning. Is this in any of our upcoming agendas? Also I also would like to really dive into the logistics of having students construct their own learning and how it looks in a foreign language (or any classroom). What does the accountablity and assessment look like with a completely constructivist classroom. (I assume it looks nothing like A, B, C, D, F).

Not much to say...
I know a huge suprise, but I haven't had a lot to share and blog about lately. Maybe it is because I am pondering too much information right now and am constantly reading other blogs and responding to them. I agree with what many of the others have been blogging wondering if my students are motivated, engaged and honestly somewhat having an enjoyable time in my classroom.
I try to constantly ask my students, "why, explain it back to me, explain your thinking, is this lack of understanding or lack of effort". I am really trying to give prompt specific feedback and take notes when I am grading on mistakes that the students (as a whole) are making. Doing this helps me see my holes in teaching and where to step back and review or practice more. I am trying to get to the core of who doesn't understand what and how I can really work on what I am doing if a student doesn't know what I consider to be essential. However I guess I am constantly struggling with how to ensure that all 110 year 2 Spanish students master the essential learnings and are truly ready to succeed and tackle Spanish 3.
Hopefully next time I can be a bit more thought provoking. Sorry :)