I Did It Again

 

Today is Part 3 of our #CyberPd event. We will be discussing chapters 5 and 6 of Who Owns the Learning by Alan November. Laura Komos will be hosting the event today on her blog, Ruminate and Invigorate. Be sure to stop by and add the link to your post and check out what others have to say.

Why is the title of this post, "I Did It Again" you might ask? Well, it is because I did again what I often do when reading a professional development book(s). I let myself become intimidated by the ideas in the book I was reading and began to feel like I could never do this - or never "catch" up with all of the learning that I need to be a good teacher in this time of major change. Phrases like "global audience", "global communicator", "synergies", and "the legacy of student contribution" had me feeling like this was all too much or too big to be able to handle. (I was going to add "in a primary classroom" to that last sentence but it is a lot at any level.) It didn't help matters that I also was dipping into several other professional books at the same time while reading blogs and tweets. All of this converged and I felt like maybe I could not do this job anymore.

Random bits of paper and gum wrappers used as bookmarks show how quickly I was grabbing books to read and putting them back down again.

But here's the thing. I can do this job and I want to do this job (this blog is called My Primary Passion for a reason) so I had to slow myself down and think. I read a few blog posts and watched a few TED talks that helped me think about slowing down. Here are a few samples:

Unhurrying the Hurried Educator: A Convo about Personal Learning and Passion by Pam Moran
Why you should set soft goals for your classroom this year by Vicki Davis
The art of having your own back by Sarah Berry
TED Talk: Cloudy with a chance of joy by Gavin Pretor-Pinney

Now these links do not have anything to do with the reading that we did this week but I think it is important that we all take care not to overwhelm ourselves. It is especially important when so many things are being requested of us by so many people. (Or when we are even being overwhelmed by people reminding us to slow down and have fun.)

So how do I normally handle these feelings? I STOP. I stop letting my thoughts spin. I take a break from twitter, blog reading and professional book reading. What happens for me during this time is that ideas percolate in my brain and begin to come together for me. I did just take a break like this and when I was done, my family noticed that I was extra chatty during dinner about all of the things that I was going to try this next year in school - the ideas began to come together for me. Taking that break allows me to remember that I am me - not Alan November, not Kathy Cassidy, not Kylene Beers, not Frankie Sibberson, not Cathy Mere, not Laura Komos - even though I love these teachers and the ideas that they share. I am me and I will never be able to be exactly like anyone else.

What works for me is to read and read and read without really taking notes or highlighting or anything. Then I let the ideas simmer for a while in my mind and play against each other. Then I create my list of things that I would like to try in my classroom. This list is always just a suggestion of things I can try. I do as many as I can when I feel like the time is right. I also often notice things happening in my room that I can attribute to my reading and thinking but that were never on my official list. If I let go of my need to do it all, I end up doing a lot.

So what are a few things I want to put on my list for next year? Here are a few ideas from this week's reading that I am sure I will add to as the summer progresses:

• Create a class Twitter account to begin to connect more with other classrooms. (If you have a class Twitter account, I would love to know your thoughts about how it has worked for you along with your Twitter handle.)
• Actively work on building a global audience for my students using twitter, blogs and possibly epals. (We do have an audience outside of our classroom but it is still rather small.)
• Create a research folder of apps on our classroom ipads to make researching ideas easier for my primary students.
• Reread and browse the #cyberpd Pinterest page that Cathy created for all of us to contribute to and use.
• Participate in more Skype calls with other classrooms, authors, grandparents, etc.
• Think about the "big picture" of what I want students to know and be able to do using tech tools to make sure that I am being purposeful.
• Breathe. Every month. Every week. Every day. Let things happen and be willing to go with new things that come up even if they feel scary.

Our #cyberpd event consists of multiple parts:

July 3rd: Chapters 1 and 2 - Hosted by Cathy Mere at Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community

July 10th: Chapters 3 and 4 - Hosted here at My Primary Passion

Today: Chapters 5 and 6 - Hosted by Laura Komos at Ruminate and Invigorate

July 22nd: Final chat about the book on Twitter using the hashtag #cyberpd

 You can participate in several ways:

• You can write a blog post with your thoughts about the section we are reading for the week and add the link to your blog in the comments of the host blog.
• You can add your thoughts directly in the comments of the host blog.
• You can share your thoughts on Twitter using the hashtag #cyberpd.
• You can come up with another way to share you ideas. We would love to see a new, creative way to join the conversation.

We hope that you will join us as we read, reflect and share our ideas about this book.

If you are interested in past #cyberpd discussions, here are some links for you:
2011 #cyberPD:  Conferring:  The Keystone of Reader's Workshop
2012 #cyberPD:  Opening Minds
2013 #cyberPD: Who Owns the Learning (posts from the event so far)

The Beginnings of a Plan of Action ~ #CyberPD Part 2

 

Today is Part 2 of our #CyberPd event. We will be discussing chapters 3 and 4 of Who Owns the Learning by Alan November. I am hosting the discussion here today so if you have a blog post or ideas to share, please add them to the comment section below. Throughout the day, I will be updating this post with a list of links to the other posts that people have shared. So be sure to check back and see what others have shared. The comment sections of each blog have been filled with wonderful conversations that you won't want to miss. #CypberPD is also a great way to find others to follow on Twitter and follow more of the conversation there. You can follow me at @jillfisch. You can leave your Twitter name along with the link to your post in the comment section so others can follow you, too.

The chapters today dealt with having students act as scribes or researchers in your classroom in order to benefit the learning processes of all of the students in the classroom. The example of a scribe was having a student take notes from the lesson of the day and post them for the rest of the class (or others) to access. Having a student act as a scribe may be a bit of a stretch in the primary grades but reading the chapter did cause me to think about how I could adapt this to my situation. The chapter on students as researchers was not as much of a stretch and gave me lots to think about. So for this post, instead of focusing on my questions, I am going to focus on the beginning of my plan of action for the upcoming school year.

Beginnings of a Plan of Action

• Students as Researchers - I love the idea of having a student sit at a computer to immediately look up answers to questions that come up during the day. I will probably modify that to have iPads placed strategically around the room so that students can grab one to fact check or look up information quickly and easily. At the beginning of the year, they will need a lot of support with this but as the year progresses, they will become more independent.
• Teachable Moments - I don't think I will do a series of lessons on checking the reliability of a site but I will use those teachable moments that come up as the students are acting as researchers to teach some of the more basic ideas of site reliability and validity.
• Students as Scribes - This one had me stumped for a while and I am still not sure if I will use this "chore" in first grade or not. We kind of do this now when students write posts for their Kidblogs about what we have learned in class but it is not set up in a formal way. I could also go back to the idea of having "guest posts" on our classroom blog so that it is a more systematic way for students to share and explain what we have learned in class. I stopped this once each student had their own blog but there could be value in starting it back up again. (It would certainly draw more parent attention to the classroom blog.) I am still thinking about this one.
• Students as Tutorial Designers - I definitely plan to continue to do this with my students. It is very beneficial to other students, to parents and to me (as an informal assessment of what a child knows and can do). I am beginning to play with some apps (in addition to ShowMe) that might provide more options to the tutorial creators. I am also toying with the idea of housing them somewhere other than each child's Kidblog but I am not sure whether I will do this or not. Having them on the Kidblogs has been working very well for us so I am not sure that I want to add another "place" for the students to have to visit. As we all know, many times, less is more.

I am excited to read the last chapters and add more to this plan of action. I am sure that it will continue to change and grow over the summer as I continue to think about all of this and then it will change even more as I begin to work with my new group of students.

I am looking forward to reading your ideas from this section of the book. The conversations have been so thoughtful and productive so far.

Our #cyberpd event consists of multiple parts:

July 3rd: Chapters 1 and 2 - Hosted by Cathy Mere at Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community
Today: Chapters 3 and 4 - Hosted here at My Primary Passion

July 17th: Chapters 5 and 6 - Hosted by Laura Komos at Ruminate and Invigorate
Date to be determined: Final chat about the book on Twitter using the hashtag #cyberpd

 You can participate in several ways:

• You can write a blog post with your thoughts about the section we are reading for the week and add the link to your blog in the comments of the host blog.
• You can add your thoughts directly in the comments of the host blog.
• You can share your thoughts on Twitter using the hashtag #cyberpd.
• You can come up with another way to share you ideas. We would love to see a new, creative way to join the conversation.

We hope that you will join us as we read, reflect and share our ideas about this book.

If you are interested in past #cyberpd discussions, here are some links for you:
2011 #cyberPD:  Conferring:  The Keystone of Reader's Workshop
2012 #cyberPD:  Opening Minds
2013 #cyberPD: Who Owns the Learning (posts from the event so far)

The posts for this week (these will be updated throughout the week):
 Co-host, Cathy Mere, at Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community shares her thoughts on the answer to the question of Who Owns the Learning in her post Growing the Learning #cyberpd.  The subtitle of her blog gives us a clue about her thinking.

At The "Rudd"er, Amy Rudd, shows us what it looks like to be a connected learner. She includes lots of links and makes many outside connections to our reading. Stop by and take a look at her post,  Further Down the Trail Cyber PD #2.

Katherine Sokolowski, at Read, Write, Reflect  joins the conversation this week and shares her thoughts on how she plans to make some changes in her classroom this fall. See her ideas in her post, Who Owns the Learning #CyberPD.

Over at Catching Readers Before They Fall, Pat Johnson, shares how her thinking has changed as a result of reading the blog posts shared in last week's #cyberpd event. Her thoughts can be found in her post,  Continuing the conversation about Who Owns the Learning?

Like Amy Rudd, Tony Keefer also synthesized his learning by combining ideas from two sources (Energize and Who Owns the Learning) to create some great ideas to try with his students. You can see his thinking in his post, #cyberpd: Who Owns the Learning (Part 2) on his blog, atychiphobia 2.0.

Maria Caplin, at Teaching in the 21st Century, shares her thoughts about "learning (that) happens anytime, anywhere" - something that we, as adults, are comfortable with, in her post, Who Owns the Learning? Ch. 3-4 #CyberPD.

In her post, #CyberPD--Who Owns the Learning, Ch. 3-4, Mary Lee, shares a couple of her "flops" when trying out new ideas involving technology in her class along with her ideas for how to make these "flops" better next year. Check out her post on the blog, A Year of Reading.

LitProfSuz reminds us that while the actual tasks we ask students to do may not be a radical change, the shift of control over the learning environment is. Check out her post, Shift of Control, on her blog, In the Heart of a Teacher is a Student.

On her blog, Ms. Victor Reads, Erika Victor, shares how she decided to join the #cyberpd discussion after reading Mary Lee's first blog post about it - the power of #cyberpd is in the connections and discussions. Check out her post, Cyber PD Chapters 3 and 4.

Stop by co-host, Laura Komos' blog, Ruminate and Invigorate, for a nice chat about today's reading. While I have never met Laura in person, I love "hearing" her written voice ooze throughout her post. You will feel like she is sitting right there with you as you read her post, Who Owns the Learning? #cyberPD Part 2.

Linda Dilger joins the conversation today by sharing some of the challenges she will face as she begins to try new things this fall. She has a great attitude about it all as you can see in her post, Who Owns the Learning? by Alan November on her blog, Room 5.

On her blog, Teacher Dance, Linda Baie, shares her thoughts about how to help students take on the roles of scribe and researcher at her school. See her thoughts on the post, Exciting Chapters in Cyber PD.

Rose Cappelli, pulls some wonderful quotes from this week's reading to use a "jumping off point" for her thinking. In her post, Continuing the Journey, on her blog, Mentor Texts with Lynne and Rose, you will see how she uses these quotes to extend her thinking.

Over at Literacy Learning Zone, Michelle Nero, synthesizes her individual thinking along with many of her online resources and mentors. Read her post, #cyberPD Part 2: Who Owns the Learning, to see an example of a "21st century learning specialist" in action.

Anna Sexton, at Technology Tips, reminds us to "let go of the control" and move "beyond just grading the work".  You can read more in her post, Who Owns the Learning Book Study #2.

Taking a beach break to share her thoughts is Barb Keister, at Reading Teachers/ Teachers Reading. Barb shares her experiences with having a teacher scribe during a recent professional development opportunity. Check out what she noticed in her post, CyberPD Week 2 - Who Owns the Learning.

Jamie Riley shares her ideas for how to incorporate critical research skills into the library/media center. Check out her post, #cyberpd-Who Owns the Learning, Ch 3-4 on her blog, Rethinking Media Centers.

On her blog, Wondering Through 2012 and Beyond, Barbara Phillips, makes the connection between wondering and owning the learning. I wonder if you will see the connection, too, when you read her post, Who Owns the Learning? #CyberPD - Part Two.

Rola Tibshirani, at Learning in Progress, shares how she shifts control of the learning to her upper elementary French Immersion students. Take a look at her post, Who Owns the Learning Chapters 3 & 4 to learn more.

Julie Balen is playing with new tech tools and sharing her thoughts about them in her post, #Cyberpd 2013: Chapter 3. Be sure to visit her blog, Write at the Edge, to see how she is trying out her new learning.

Over at Primary Perspective, Deb Frazier, shares her thinking about having students act as scribes in her first grade classroom.  She shares how her thinking shifted as she read and how she has a new perspective on the idea now.  Stop by and check it out.

Lesa Haney shares her learning and a collection of online resources in an online flyer that she created at smore.com, called Who Owns the Learning.  Another great tool to take a look at and great ideas of resources to use for each learning role .

Questions, Questions, Questions

Today marks the opening of our third annual #cyberpd event. This year we are discussing the book Who Owns the Learning by Alan November.

The first chapter gives us a definition of a digital learning farm. According to Alan November, a digital learning farm is based on the idea that in the past children provided much needed help around the farm by doing jobs that they were capable of doing. Mr. November says that this filled a need in the children - the need to be of value or the need to be needed. A digital learning farm is set up in schools to give students jobs that need to be done and that they are capable of doing. The jobs are often using digital tools and are focused on supporting the learning of others.  Chapter 2 focuses on one of the jobs possible in a digital learning farm - the student as tutorial designer. The two chapters for this week left me filled with questions so I thought I would organize this post around them.

Question 1: Are there more good examples out there of students/teachers solving a problem or filling a need in their community?

I would love to see more examples of the type of multi-disciplinary, solving real problems type of learning mentioned in Chapter 1 (the student created ways to share community health information). I would especially love to see this in the primary grades. I know that my students are very capable of the kind of critical thinking that is needed to solve these types of community issues. I teach at an Expeditionary Learning School and a big focus of ours is service learning within our community. So far the youngest learners at our school have been able to provide a service within our school community. While this is very valuable, I would like to begin to think of ways to branch out to surrounding neighborhoods or even our town like the older grades do. I need to find ways to bring community issues to the attention of my students so we can consider ideas for this type of learning.

Question 2: How do I prioritize what my students should spend time on during a school day?

I feel that this question is very specific to primary grades. A large part of what we do in first grade is to teach students to read, write and do mathematics so that they can participate fully in this type of learning now and in their future. I fully agree that primary grade students can and should do some of the work involved in a digital learning farm but the question for me is always how to do it most effectively. I try to blend the learning of reading, writing and math with the technology learning but there are always times (especially in the younger grades) when you must focus on one more than the other. It shifts back and forth, but this is something that I am always aware of and thinking about - how to determine what is most important for this group of learners at this point in time.

Question 3: How do I allow myself and my students more freedom to just "go with" the learning that presents itself?

I feel that I am getting much better at following the interests and needs of my students but I still always have to have that conversation in my head telling myself that it is okay to follow the lead of my students and ignore whatever curriculum piece might have been on the agenda for the day. Let me tell a story that might illustrate this a bit for you. I have my students create tutorials for each other using the iPad app ShowMe (similar to what Alan November suggests). However, I did not start with this idea in mind.

I began using ShowMe as a way for me to assess what my students know and are able to do. I wasn't all that sure that they would be interested in watching ShowMes created by other students. I was very wrong. We began creating ShowMes and posting them to each student's blog. Over time I began to notice that trends would move through the ShowMes. When one student began to use a variety of colors to illustrate a point, others did, too. When one student learned how to clear the screen all at once, others did, too. I began to hear students asking each other how they did certain things in their ShowMes. The best thing that happened was when students started to quote from each others' ShowMes during discussions in Math saying things like "I like how Cutter explained this in his ShowMe" and then going on to share Cutter's thinking.

I learned that when I let students figure things out on their own, they would and did. So what I am left wondering is if I can let students figure out a way to solve a problem in our community just by giving them some time to explore problems that might exist in our community. I am still struggling with how to "find the problem" with primary grade students. They have shown that they are good at solving problems that come up in our classroom but how do I expose them to problems that exist in our community that are still developmentally appropriate for primary grade students to grapple with?

Examples
Student created Math ShowMes
Student created Reading ShowMes
Student created ShowMe about how words are spelled
Video of a student teaching others how to create a multi-page ShowMe


Our #cyberpd event consists of multiple parts:

Today: Join the conversation about chapters 1 and 2 - Hosted by Cathy Mere at Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community
July 10th: Chapters 3 and 4 - Hosted here at My Primary Passion
July 17th: Chapters 5 and 6 - Hosted by Laura Komos at Ruminate and Invigorate
Date to be determined: Final chat about the book on Twitter using the hashtag #cyberpd

You can participate in several ways:

• You can write a blog post with your thoughts about the section we are reading for the week and add the link to your blog in the comments of the host blog.
• You can add your thoughts directly in the comments of the host blog.
• You can share your thoughts on Twitter using the hashtag #cyberpd.
• You can come up with another way to share you ideas. We would love to see a new, creative way to join the conversation.

We hope that you will join us as we read, reflect and share our ideas about this book.

If you are interested in past #cyberpd discussions, here are some links for you:
2011 #cyberPD:  Conferring:  The Keystone of Reader's Workshop
2012 #cyberPD:  Opening Minds

The #CyberPD Book Choice is....

We did it! It was challenging but we made the final decision for our #cyberpd book choice. We were so inspired by all of the lists that everyone shared. We each found several more titles that we have added to our lists. We had some great discussions about lots of books and found it very difficult to choose this year. There were so many great books to think about.

Our choice for the #cyberpd book choice this year is Who Owns the Learning? by Alan November. We saw this pop up on several lists and we were all intrigued so we checked it out. We think that this book will generate lots of great discussion and help us all to rethink how we currently teach. I am really looking forward to reading this book.

If you would like a little background information on the topics that may be discussed, check out the TED talk below that was given by Alan November. I loved it.



Our #cyberpd event will consist of three parts:

July 3rd: Chapters 1 and 2 - Hosted by Cathy Mere at Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community
July 10th: Chapters 3 and 4 - Hosted here at My Primary Passion
July 17th: Chapters 5 and 6 - Hosted by Laura Komos at Our Camp Read-A-Lot
Date to be determined: Final chat about the book on Twitter using the hashtag #cyberpd

You can participate in several ways:

• You can write a blog post with your thoughts about the section we are reading for the week and add the link to your blog in the comments of the host blog.
• You can add your thoughts directly in the comments of the host blog.
• You can share your thoughts on Twitter using the hashtag #cyberpd.
• You can come up with another way to share you ideas. We would love to see a new, creative way to join the conversation.

We hope that you will join us as we read, reflect and share our ideas about this book.

Summer Book Stack - Professional Reads

Every summer I always have a stack of professional books that I want to read. This summer is no different. I am so glad that now I have the whole #cyberpd community to share in this reading with me. My stack is not really a stack so far this summer but here are the books that I am planning to read, wanting to order and read, or wanting to reread.

Books I Plan to Read
I have tried to limit myself a little this year and have refrained from ordering every book that I want to read. I currently only have three books in my "plan to read" pile. You can click on the photo of the books to read more about them. They are:

I couldn't do a traditional "stack" photo because I have Connected from the Start by Kathy Cassidy in e-book form and it will be a while  before Connecting Comprehension and Technology by Stephanie Harvey, Anne Goudvis, Katherine Muhtaris, and Kristin Ziemke arrives. It has an estimated publishing date of 6/15/13. All three of these books look so interesting to me that I can't wait to get started.

Books I Might Order
There are several other books that I would love to read and may order soon. I am holding off on ordering any of them until I see what book we select for #cyberpd this year because I may learn about other books I want to order, too. They are:

 

Books I Plan to Reread
Of course, there are several books that I love to reread all or parts of each summer to help me refresh my thinking. They are:

I also plan to search through my collection of professional books and reread any books or parts of books that have to do with word work. I want to make some changes to this part of our day and want to go back and sift through the ideas in the books I already own.

Now it is your turn to share what professional books you might choose to read this summer. There are many ways to share. Here are a few ideas:

• You can share your list in the comments of this post.
• You can share your list in the comments of Cathy Mere's post at Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community or Laura Komos' post at Our Camp Read-A-Lot.
• You can share your list on your own blog and link to it in the comments of one of the blogs above or on Twitter using the hashtag #cyberpd.
• You can post a photo or list on Twitter using the hashtag #cyberpd.
• You can come up with another way to share. 

 Cathy, Laura and I will go through all of the lists that are shared and select one book to read for #cyberpd this summer. We will then let you all know about the dates and details of the event so we can all read along together and join in a blog/twitter conversation about the book we have selected. Be sure to share your list soon and then check back for more details about the event.

Time to Read, Reflect and Recharge

It's that time of year again. The time of year when we all look back at our year and reflect on how it went and how we can make things better next year. Often this means looking for inspiration through reading professional books. Two years ago, Cathy Mere, Laura Komos and I were chatting on Twitter about this very thing and decided to read a book together and share our thinking. That turned into the first #cyberpd book club. The first two books we read together were Conferring by Patrick Allen and Opening Minds by Peter Johnston. It is time to choose another book to read together this summer.

The process begins next Wednesday, June 12th, with everyone who would like to join in sharing their book stack or list of books that they hope to read this summer. You can share it by tweeting a photo of your book stack, writing a blog post about your book stack or leaving a list of the books you hope to read in the comment section of any of our blogs - Our Camp-Read-A-Lot, Reflect and Refine:Building a Learning Community, and here at My Primary Passion.

You can follow #cyberpd on Twitter to keep up with all of the lists and posts and new information on dates and the final book choice.

It has been so much fun to "meet" new people through #cyberpd and to share ideas with each other. I know that it always leaves me feeling refreshed and ready to head back to school with lots of new ideas to try. Please join us again this year. You won't regret it.

My Goals for 2012 - 2013

For the last week of our #cyberpd, Carol Wilcox will be hosting a wrap up of the event over at Carol's Corner. Some will share their take-aways, others will share their goals, some will share their language "cheat sheets," and some will share how their thinking has changed over the course of the event. Since tomorrow is my first day back to school for professional development (students come next week), I thought that I should clarify my thinking about my goals for this school year. As I look at my notes, I see that many, if not all, of my goals can be connected to Opening Minds and what I have learned through participating in this event. Many of them are things that I have already been working on but want to improve.

Goals for 2012 - 2013

1. Create a Dialogic Classroom.
   According to Peter Johnston, "a dialogic classroom is one in which there are lots of open questions and extended exchanges among students." (p. 52) I want these conversations to carry across all content areas and times of the day. I want to teach students to listen to each other, respond to each other and not need the conversation to go "through" me. I want to teach them how to have a conversation in groups that is responsive to the speaker and that alleviates the need to raise their hand to gain the attention of others.
   
   Why? "Thinking well together leads to thinking well alone." (p. 96)
   
   How? By having a list of language to use with students that will help facilitate these types of conversations available to me at all times. Possibly try to have one of these conversations with other classes in the building or outside the building using Skype.
2. Increase student reflection and build a sense of agency.
   My hope is to take more time to ask students questions like: "How did you do that? How did you know that?" (p. 31) to begin to help students reflect more on their own thinking processes and to help them build a sense of agency.
   
   Why?
   "This narrative makes what might have been a series of unplanned and unconscious steps into a packaged strategy linked to a goal - a strategic action that can later be invoked for planning and refining." (p. 32)
   
   How?
   By expanding the use of ShowMe to provide another avenue for students to share their thinking and by increasingly using student blogs as a way to share deeper ideas and thinking. Possibly add using Skitch to label a photograph with ideas and thinking.
3. Allow more time for exploration/experimentation/play.
   I plan to add two new areas to my classroom this year: a Build and Create center and an Explore and Wonder center. The purpose for these new areas is to provide students with time and space to follow their interests and passions.
   
   Why?
   This will give them more things to think about and share with others and will sharpen their thinking in less academic areas. I always begin the year having students share what they are passionate about and these passions can fit into these new areas. An added benefit is that students will find these areas fun and engaging.
   
   How?
   I have begun collecting items to place in these areas: rocks, shells, coins, blocks, gears, magnets, etc. I will also ask the students to share their collections and ideas for these areas.

These three goals reflect my most current thinking. I have kept a sticky note by my computer all summer and as thoughts ran through my head I would jot them onto the note:

• add Explore and Wonder Center
• add Build and Create Center
• don't add more tech tools - use the ones I am currently using in better ways
• okay, learn to use Skitch, Evernote and Shelfari - think of how these can connect to other goals
• expand use of ShowMe to include deeper thinking
• connect more with other classes
• learn to have conversations
• have students reflect more

So this post has allowed me to take my sketchy goal ideas and flesh them out and really consider how to achieve them during this school year.

I do have one thing that I would like to share with you before I end. While reading Opening Minds, I have been reminded of the book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink several times. I read this book a while ago so I had to go and find the RSA Animate of the book and watch it at least three times during this last month of #cyberpd. I have embedded it below to share with you. There are so many great connections here.




Thanks Carol for hosting this final session. I am so glad to have the time and opportunity to think about these things.

Reviewing the Whole Conversation
If you are just now joining this conversation about Opening Minds, here are some links you might be interested in checking out:

July 11: Chapters 1-3 Hosted by Cathy Mere at Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community

July 18: Chapters 4-6 Hosted by me here at My Primary Passion

July 25: Chapters 7-9 Hosted by Laura Komos at Our Camp Read-A-Lot

July 26: Twitter Chat using #cyberPD

You can view all the parts of the conversation in one place at the Opening Minds Jog the Web created by Cathy Mere.  This includes the Wallwisher, all of the participating blog posts and the Twitter Chat archive.

Also, Cathy Mere had a guest post on the Engage blog of the International Reading Association called Professional Learning Conversations: #cyberpd. In this post she gives a detailed description of the entire event, how it started and how it has grown over time.

Opening Minds ~ Chapters 4-6

The conversation about Opening Minds by Peter Johnston continues today. I must say that I have really enjoyed the conversation so far. It is fascinating to read all of the posts and comments to see what parts of the book have made an impression on others. Thank you to all who are sharing their thinking in this conversation. Reading all of these posts causes me to change my own thinking again and again. Thanks also to Cathy Mere for hosting the conversation last week and to Laura Komos for hosting the conversation next week.

This week's chapters were filled with many deep and thoughtful ideas about how to use language to change the classroom environment. I have chosen to think about how I can use four of these ideas to change my teaching and the way I speak to my students.

Inquiry
I teach at Renaissance Elementary Magnet School (a public school). We are an Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound school. Rather than trying to explain what that means, here is a list of words that we use often at our school: inquiry, discovery, critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, service learning, real world issues, case studies and fieldwork. The ideas in Opening Minds completely connect to all the things that we are trying to accomplish in our school. So this is not really a change in my thinking but a reminder of what I believe in and a push to do it better. I am not an expert in Expeditionary Learning yet but reading books like this inspire me to work harder at my goals.


Uncertainty

"It is the perception of uncertainty that enables dialogue. Dialogue, in turn, sustains uncertainty. If there is certainty, or only one view, there is nothing to discuss and nothing to learn. Uncertainty is the foundation of inquiry and research." p. 59

Exactly! This is where I really need to continue to work in my classroom. Last year I read Math Exchanges by Kassia Wedekind and began to change the way my students thought about math. I wanted them to see that there were many ways to solve problems or think about numbers. It was hard work but they gradually improved at talking and listening to each other about the ways that they solved problems. I want to continue to work on this in the coming year and I want to continue to expand this type of thinking to other content areas.

Another way that I want to encourage comfort with uncertainty is to do the activity mentioned on page 60 and 61 of Opening Minds. I want to create a collection of unknown or random items. In the book they used a polygraph pen, a hair dryer attachment and a piece of a dog's chew toy but it could be anything. During morning meeting several times a month, I could pull out an item and ask the students to think about what this item could be used for. This will encourage creativity and openness to new ways of looking at objects and ideas.

Feedback/Feedforward

"...the more process talk becomes part of classroom conversations, the more strategy instruction will be occurring incidentally, without the teacher having to do it." p. 40

I love this idea of having strategy instruction occurring incidentally in the classroom. One way that I will try to increase this in my classroom is by continuing to use the iPad app ShowMe. I tested this app out with my students this past school year and I was very pleased with how it went. At first, I put the app on the iPads and asked students to figure out how to use it (this was mainly because I didn't have time to figure it out myself but an added bonus was how empowered the students felt by being given this task). After we all knew how the app worked, students created ShowMes to "teach" other students math concepts that they knew well. These ShowMes were then posted on the students' blogs for all to see.  While I like the sharing and learning and assessment (I could see just what each student knew and was able to do) that went on with these, I want to take them to the next level and do some deeper thinking and sharing. I want to move more into problem solving rather than just basic math content and I want to expand the use to other content areas, too. I am also re-framing my own thinking about these ShowMes as a way for students to articulate their own strategy use and that will increase their sense of agency. Below is an example of one ShowMe created by a student last year:

I also love the idea of using the term "feedforward" instead of "feedback," because we are all trying to move forward as a result of this information.

Teacher Language

"The hardest part for most of us is then keeping our mouths shut and not judging what children say." p. 76

I have a little homemade notebook that I have in my classroom and it is filled things I want to remember while I am teaching.

One section of my notebook is for language that I gleaned from Peter Johnston's first book, Choice Words, that I want to remember to incorporate into my own language. I need to add a page now for language ideas from Opening minds. In addition to remembering to talk less, I want to add:

• yet p.11
  
•  "You found a good way to do it; could you think of other ways that would also work?" p.38
• "Hmmm....." p.57
• uncertainty markers: maybe, perhaps, I wonder and other ideas from the chart on p.56
• mental verbs: imagine, feel, believe, wonder, want, like, need, know p. 76

So, as Peter Johston would say, "What are you thinking?" p. 76

(After writing this post, I continued to read other blogs with their thoughts on the first section of this book. Katie Keier wrote about the "cheat sheets" she used to help her learn the language from Peter Johnston's other book, Choice Words. Check out her post for more on this idea: Opening Minds: Summer Cyber PD.)

Please Join the Conversation
There are several ways to join the conversation. You can add a comment to this post or to the Opening Minds Wallwisher. You can write a blog post on your own blog and add the link to the comment section of this post and I will create a list of linked posts in this post as they come in - it is never too late to start. Cathy Mere will also add each post to the Opening Minds jog - a collection of all of the posts from this whole event. You can also comment and share with others on twitter using #cyberpd.

Check back here often to see the list of posts by others. You won't want to miss out on all that is shared.

Next week (July 25th) the final part of the conversation will be hosted by Laura Komos at Our Camp Read-A-Lot.

Participating Blogs
Laura Komos from Our Camp Read-A-Lot shares her favorite quotes in Opening Minds Part 2. This week she reflects on how we discuss our reading with each other as adults and how we should allow students to have the same opportunity.

At Thinking Stems, Tracy shares her vision of how her inquiry workshop will work this year in her post, Opening Minds...Cyper PD... Part 2. Her idea of providing a special time for inquiry gives us all something to think about.

Maria Caplan reflects at Teaching in the 21st Century. This week she reflects on how she makes inquiry, dialogue and wonder important parts of life in her classroom in Opening Minds Ch. 4-6.

In her post, #CypberPD - Opening Minds Using Language to Change Lives  by Peter H. Johnston, on Literacy Toolbox, Dawn Little reflects on her thinking chapter by chapter pulling favorite quotes in along the way. She finishes with a thoughtful list of things she would like to accomplish this year.

Stop by Literate Lives to read Karen Terlecky's thoughts in Opening Minds #cyberPD - July 18. Karen shares her doubts about the language that she had been using in the past and reflects on the changes she plans to make in the future.

Amanda at Snapshots of Mrs. V reflects on feedback in her post, Opening Minds Ch. 4-6. She points out that the goal of feedback is to create lifelong teachers as well as lifelong learners.

LitProfSuz finds a unifying theme in this week's reading at In The Heart of a Teacher is a Student. She points out that the overall focus of the chapters is shifting the responsibility for learning away from the teacher and on to the student in her post, #CyberPD Opening Minds Chapters 4-6.

Drop by Cathy Mere's blog, Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community to read her thoughts on feedback in Changing My Frame: Opening Minds #cyberPD (Part 2). Cathy also shares her lists of quotes, questions and language for the classroom.

On her blog, Inspired to Read, Amy Meyer takes a look at the language she uses in her feedback in her post, Opening Minds Chapter 4-6. She has already begun practicing her new language on her daughter and shares her process with us.

Mary Lee Hahn makes a connection to a upcoming picture book in her reflection, Cyber PD -- Week 2 on A Year of Reading. You should definitely check this out. The cover art, title and Mary Lee's review make this book sound like a must read.

#cyberPD Opening Minds: What am I saying?!?  is Tony Keefer's reflection on atychiphobia 2.0 this week. His title says it all as he reflects about the language he uses and the changes he needs to make. His voice in this post makes this post enjoyable to read.

Katie DiCesare of creative literacy considers her use of praise in Opening Minds #2 #cyberPD. She charts the changes she plans to make in her language. A helpful offering for all of us.

Over at Wondering Through 2012, Barbara Phillips focuses her reflection on the inquiry and uncertainty sections of the book in #CyberPD Opening Minds - Part 2. She points out that students have many things that they wonder about and we just need to focus in on those to engage them.

Valerie Ruckes from The Sensibly Savy Teacher realizes that while she is not where she wants to be yet with her language, she is on the right track. You will want to stop by her post, Teaching Them to Teach: Opening Minds - #CyberPd Part 2 and check out the Wordle she created using language from the book.

The blogging duo of Amber and Lisa at FOCUS: Clarity through Collaborative Reflection share another thoughtful post, Bring on the Neauralyzer! Feedforward Here We Come! With a title like that, you just know that you have to read it for yourself.

Rose Capelli of Mentor Texts with Lynne and Rose shares the aha moment she had while reading this section in Reflections on Opening Minds Chapters 4-6. Perhaps it will lead to an aha moment for you. (It did for me.)

Over at Carol's Corner, Carol Wilcox shares how Opening Minds is impacting her as a teacher, as a literacy coach and as a parent in her post, Cyber PD. She also shares one bit of skepticism that provides some good food for thought.

Julie Johnson shares her thoughts about this week's reading in Opening Minds #Cyber PD Part 2 on her blog, Raising Readers and Writers. She leaves us with her list of goals for the upcoming school year.

In Opening Minds...#CyberPD...Part Deux on Miss Sticker, Jacquelyn Sticca shares her three new project ideas based on her reading for this fall.  Her light bulb moment makes this a must read.

Michelle Nero of Literacy Learning Zone shares her dream of having a classroom where students have conversations without her in #cyberPD: Opening Minds - Part 2. She also shares her cheat sheet and other ideas to help make this dream come true.

Over at Two Reflective Teachers, Melanie Swider reflects on the language she uses as a teacher in Opening Minds CyberPD Part 2. She, too, is working on a cheat sheet of language that she wants to incorporate into her teaching days.

Opening Minds ~ Chapters 1-3

It is finally time to read Opening Minds by Peter Johnston. I always reread parts of Choice Words (another of his books) every summer to refresh my thinking about the language I use with my students so I was excited to learn he had written another book on this topic. So far this book has been all that I had hoped for. It is a short book but one that needs to be read slowly in order to provide time for the ideas inside to really sink in and become (hopefully) part of my own speech.

The first chapter sets the stage for thinking about the language we use with our students and just how important every word we use can be. I love the idea of shifting from the negative "I can't do this" to the more positive "I can't do this yet" with just the addition of one single word. This one word has the power to reshape the attitude of the person. While I do work hard to apply this when speaking with my students, I realized that I need to continue to work on applying it to myself. "Using this language does not come easily to me yet."

Chapter 2 explains the difference between the fixed-performance frame and the dynamic-learning frame from Carol Dweck's research and subsequent book, Mindset. People using fixed-performance frame type of thinking usually assume that ability or intelligence is fixed or you are born with skills or abilities in certain areas. Those with the dynamic-learning frame believe that ability or intelligence is always changing and is especially influenced by hard work. The language that we use with our students can put them into one frame or the other. Our goal should be to use language that moves students to the dynamic-learning frame because they will feel more control or agency over their learning and more open to doing things to that will help them learn.

In the third chapter, Peter Johnston talks about the value of change and stability. Understanding that we change as we grow and learn helps students see that they have control over what and how they learn. Stability in the form of a routine (that can be changed at times) is good because students need routine and structure so that they can be free to explore and change their thinking.


Things I Want to Remember/Practice in my Teaching

• Remind myself that "Using this language does not come easily to me yet."
• Use language that points out the ways that students are changing. "Remember how we did this at the beginning of the year...", "Have you learned a new way to solve this problem?", "Do you notice how we have increased our reading stamina?", etc.
• Use language that gives students a sense of agency or control over their own learning.
• Continue to have a regular daily routine and discuss any changes to the routine with the class before they happen.

My biggest hope is that this type of language will begin to permeate all of my interactions with my students. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the book and the thinking of others in their blog posts or comments.  Cathy Mere is hosting the conversation today. Please drop by her blog, Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community to join us.

Opening Minds ~ Schedule of Events
We would love to have you read and chat with us. The schedule for the event is:

July 11: Chapters 1-3 Hosted by Cathy Mere at Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community

July 18: Chapters 4-6 Hosted by me here at My Primary Passion

July 25: Chapters 7-9 Hosted by Laura Komos at Our Camp Read-A-Lot

July 26: Twitter Chat using #cyberPD - time still to be determined

How to Participate
There are several ways to participate. You can:

• post your thoughts about each section of the book on your own blog. Then add the link to your post in the comment section of the host blog.
• simply add your thoughts as a comment on the host blog (or any of the blogs).
• share your thinking on Twitter using #cyberPD at any time during the month.
• add your thoughts and comments to Cathy's Wallwisher page on Opening Minds
• come up with your own way to participate and add to the discussion.

Opening Minds ~ Book Chat

Last year Cathy Mere, Laura Komos and I hosted an online book chat about the book Conferring by Patrick Allen. We all learned so much by reading together and sharing out thoughts that we decided to do it again this year. After sharing all of our summer professional reading book stacks, we noticed that many of us had the book Opening Minds by Peter Johnston in our stacks. So that will be the book that we will be reading and sharing this summer.

We would love to have you read and chat with us. The schedule for the event is:

July 11: Chapters 1-3 Hosted by Cathy Mere at Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community

July 18: Chapters 4-6 Hosted by me here at My Primary Passion

July 25: Chapters 7-9 Hosted by Laura Komos at Our Camp Read-A-Lot

July 26: Twitter Chat using #cyberPD - time still to be determined

There are several ways to participate. You can:

• post your thoughts about each section of the book on your own blog. Then add the link to your post in the comment section of the host blog.
• simply add your thoughts as a comment on the host blog (or any of the blogs).
• share your thinking on Twitter using #cyberPD at any time during the month.
• come up with your own way to participate and add to the discussion. 

We can't wait for the conversation to begin and hope that you will decide to join us. It is a great way to do a little summer professional development and it is a great way to "meet" new friends and colleagues. 

Summer Professional Reading

Even though the school year is not quite finished yet - this will be my last week - I am starting to think about what professional books I want to read this summer. My mind is spinning with end-of-the-year details but I know that soon I will let it all go and be ready to read and think about next year.

Last year around this time, I was on Twitter and chatting with Laura Komos and Cathy Mere about summer reading plans and we decided to have an online book club of sorts. We decided on a book, Conferring by Patrick Allen, and started #cyberPD. For our #cyberPD, we took turns hosting conversations about parts of the book on our respective blogs and had a twitter chat when we finished. Many people joined in and it turned out to be a great experience.

We are planning on doing it again this year. So to get things started, we have decided to share our summer professional reading book stacks and see what we have in common.

 

You can probably see that I have already been reading bits and pieces of some of these books by the sticky notes sticking out of the top of the books. These are all books that I really want to dive into this summer and read deeply instead of just skimming and scanning them.

I also always reread Choice Words by Peter H. Johnston every summer to really prepare myself for the new school year. This year I think I will add two other books, Math Exchanges and Catching Readers Before They Fall,  to my reread pile because they also really reflect my personal teaching philosophy. 

If you have a summer professional reading book stack, please share it in the comments below or on Twitter using #cyberPD. I am always looking for great books to add to my stack. Cathy, Laura and I will be filling you in on the details of this summer's #cyberPD soon.

Be sure to visit Cathy's blog, Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community and Laura's blog, Our Camp Read-A-Lot to see their summer reading book stacks.

Components of Conferring "Conferring" Blog Bookchat ~ Part 2

We are in the middle of our discussion of "Conferring" by Patrick Allen. Last week we discussed the learning environment necessary to be successful with conferring with students. It has been very interesting to read all of the various reflections and think about all of the different viewpoints. Thanks to all who have joined the discussion. This week we will talk about the various components of conferring. You can join in this conversation, too. Here's how:

1. Leave a comment at the end of this post.
2. Write a post about your reflections, and place your link in the comments below. I will then update this post to include a link your blog.
3. Comment on Twitter using the hashtag #cyberPD.
4. Visit other blog reflections and comment.

I was very anxious to read this section of the book because I wanted to really learn more about the ins and outs of conferring. While I did pick up some new ideas, I think the most important thing I gained was a sense that maybe I am better at conferring than I give myself credit for. I always feel like I should be doing more with each conference than I currently am. Reading this section made me really think about how beneficial it is for students to do less but to think about it more deeply.

Reading the conference scripts in this section made me reflect on exactly what my purpose is when conferring with a student. I have decided that the main purpose is to notice where the student is and help them grow a bit in their thinking. I often felt like since I couldn't meet with each student every day that I needed to make the most of this short time with them and pack as much as possible into the conference. I will be trying to slow myself down during my conferences in the future and focusing on one thing at a time.

The other topic that I was very anxious to learn about was note-taking and/or record keeping. I, too, have used many, many different types of record keeping but I noticed that I really didn't refer back to my notes. After reading the section Conferring Versus Collecting (pages 107 and 108), I realized that I need to stop taking notes just to have notes and that I need to think about exactly what information I would actually use if I recorded it. I haven't quite figured this out yet but I know that I will be thinking about it a lot as we get closer to those first few days of school.

One thing that I have noticed about my conferring in the past was that when I did get frustrated with my various note-taking systems and just gave up on them, my actual conferring was better. I wasn't distracting myself with thinking about what I was going to write down at the end of this conference. I think that if I create a plan or list of notes that I will actually use, it will also free me up to really listen to the student I am conferring with and not be collecting a series of notes that I won't use. So before my first conference this year I need to generate that list so my students will get my full attention.

One quote from this section that I just loved and I think pretty much says it all (for me) was by Bev Bos:

What your children take home in their hearts is far more important than what they take home in their hands. (p. 139)

Today's Discussion

• Karen from Literate Lives notices in her post, Conferring reflection - Part 2, that the book Conferring is so comfortable and easy to read that it is almost like having a personal conversation with Patrick Allen. She also notes how important it is to have another teacher you can talk to about how your conferring is going.
• We are so happy that Deb Frazier of Primary Perspective is able to join us for this discussion. Deb shares with us her note-taking system and lets us know what she has learned and will be adding to her system to make it work better for her in her post, Conferring The Keystone of Reader's Workshop ~ Part 2.
• Tony Keefer from atychiphobia was able to skillfully connect Patrick Allen with the punk rock group The Ramones in his reflection, Learn to Listen: #cyberPD. You will need to check this out to see for yourself but I will let you in on the secret that it is all about the importance of listening.
• In Conferring: Improving Conversations with Readers, Cathy Mere from Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community begins at the beginning by sharing with us how her Reader's' Workshop is structured. She then talks about the reasons for conferring, the challenges of conferring and her plan for conferring in the future.
• Laura Komos, from Our Camp-Read-A-Lot, reflects on the language we use with students when we confer with students in her post, An Open Mind and a Listening Ear - Conferring Part 2. She also hops up on her soap box for a rant that we can all appreciate.
• The "D word, data" and the "C word, children" are the focus of Shelley Carter's post, Reflections on Conferring - Part 2, on her blog Thoughts of a Teacher. Shelley wants her conferences with students to center on the "C word, children".
• Barbara's post, Reflection... Conferring The Keystone of Reader's Workshop: Part 2 (Rigor) on her blog,  Love to Teach Reading and Writing is all about rigor. Barbara shares her plan for how she will promote rigor in her classroom this year.
• On her blog, Reading Amid the Chaos, Chris talks about how we as teachers need to "shut up and listen" in her post, Nurturing and listening to our reading apprentices. She points out that the things we learn when we listen to our students speak are the things that are great to share with their parents.
• Julie from Raising Readers and Writers, discusses the struggles that we can face when trying to find a system to keep track of our conference notes in her post, Cyber PD Conferring: The Keystone of Reader's Workshop. She reminds us to be patient and willing to tweak our system until we find the one that works for us.
• Carol talks about sharing our theoretical grounding with other teachers in her post, Conferring Cyberclub - Part 2 at Carol's Corner. She also makes a very good point that the type of listening we do in a conference with a student is the same type of listening we should do as parents.
• In her post Conferring: The Keystone of Reader's Workshop Part 2, Mandy from Enjoy and Embrace Learning shares with us her thinking about the challenges of implementing any type of conferring in kindergarten. She is taking on the challenge and creating a new system of note-taking to help her along the way.
• Michelle, from Literacy Learning Zone, tells us that she feels that her reading conferences in the past would sometimes "just skim the surface like a rock skipping across the pond" in her post, Cyber PD: Conferring - Part 2. She then lets us all in on her 5 conferring goals for the upcoming year.
• In her post, Conferring Part II Reflection, Nicole from Nicole's Book Nook, shares how reading Part 2 helped "clear up" her thinking about conferring in kindergarten. She also mentions that some of her new goals for conferring are some of the same things that she has been working on during other parts of her day.

The Schedule of our Discussion:

July 6th
Part 1: What Brings About a Good Conference, Anyway?
Hosted by Cathy Mere at Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community

July 13th
Part 2: What are the Essential Components of Conferring?
Hosted by me at My Primary Passion

July 20th
Part 3: What Emerges from Our Reading Conferences?
Hosted by Laura Komos at Camp Read-A-Lot

To Be Announced
Twitter Chat