Diverse Learning Needs

February 16, 2013February 18, 2013 Carmen.Oliveira Celebrating Success, Differentiated Instruction, Learning in a Real Life Context, Literacy, Planning, Resources

Discovering Our Inner Poet

I love teaching writing. Let me be more specific. I loved teaching writing except when it came to poetry. For some reason, I’ve always managed to bring to life the other writing formats and genres with engaging lessons set upon a backdrop of real world contexts. The students, for the most part, ate it all up and asked for more. That is, until I mentioned we would be exploring poetry. The good times would come to a screeching halt as their faces reflected what I had also thought of poetry as an elementary student: boring and challenging to understand (how did I know what so-and-so meant by this-and-that?…and who cares?). So of course, with my determined and stubborn personality, in the past few years I’ve focused on learning how to breathe life into this wonderful writing genre. It hasn’t always been an ocean of roses but, for the most part, the exploration has led us to a whole new level of appreciation and learning.

We have just completed our poetry unit (which will continue informally throughout the year) and I can honestly say that the class thoroughly enjoyed it. I’d like to share with you a few of the activities and resources that made the experience engaging, meaningful, and memorable.

If you haven’t already done so, I strongly encourage you to purchase Classroom Events Through Poetry by Larry Swartz (just purchase any of his books on poetry and drama and you’ll be well on your way to an incredible teaching/learning experience). It’s a practical and concise book that provides easy and meaningful activities to explore poetry in our classroom and our lives. We started by looking at poetry in books, researching it on the internet, and sharing it with each other in daily poetry circles. We created newspaper poems by cutting out words and phrases and ordering them to try and create a themed poem. We took 2-4 sentences from a favourite poem and created a graffiti wall on our classroom door (the students thought this was very cool!). We acted out poetry, sang poetry, and shared the lyrics of our favourite songs after listening to them together. We learned about different structures by having groups of students become “specialists” as they taught the class the structure, gave examples, and had everyone try to create their own.

The culminating task involved creating a poem in the structure of their choice and presenting it at our Poet’s Cocktail Party! This was no ordinary party! Invitations were sent out, the poems were displayed all around the classroom, students dressed up, and food was ordered (grapes, cheese, crackers, cupcakes, and grape juice in place of red wine). As jazz music played, students mingled by reading each others’ poems and discussing their thoughts and opinions. A few students shared their poems and we snapped our fingers in appreciation of their work (yes, we snapped fingers, not clapped because that’s apparently what poets do).

A few students decided that they wanted to enter the Urban Voices poetry contest and their poems have been sent off. How special would it be to have a winner come from our class! Keeping our fingers crossed.

We cut out words and phrases from newspapers and ordered them to create a themed poem.

Students took 2-4 lines from favourite poems and created a graffiti wall on our door.

This poem was presented at our poetry cocktail party.

January 28, 2013January 28, 2013 Carmen.Oliveira Diverse Learning Needs, Equity, Mentorship, Professional Learning and Growth, Social Justice

Equity Work: Difficult and Transformative

I am currently taking a Mentoring AQ course that is really impacting my understanding of equity in education and how I can work with my colleagues to explore this topic in our teaching practice. I truly believe that it is necessary for all of us to take a step back and explore equity as it pertains not only to our classrooms, but to our schools, communities, and personal lives as well. I have decided to share some of my learning and wonderings as I take a closer look at the “Equity Continuum” from OISE’s Centre for Urban Schooling and the TDSB’s Equitable and Inclusive Schools site.

OISE Centre for Urban Schooling: http://cus.oise.utoronto.ca/

TDSB Equitable and Inclusive Schools: http://www.tdsb.on.ca/_site/ViewItem.asp?siteid=15&menuid=570&pageid=452

Just some food for thought…

“Fairness does not mean everyone gets the same. Fairness means everyone gets what they need.”-Rick Riordan, The Red Pyramid

This very simple and yet profound quote set off a critical unit of inquiry around equity in my Grade 6 classroom last year. Over the span of a few weeks (and subsequently the school year), we explored, discussed, questioned, challenged, and brought to light this important understanding that, in order for everyone to experience success and a strong sense of self, they would not necessarily need to be treated exactly the same. The best part of this experience was my own journey as I grappled with my previously constructed schema around equity and fairness in all aspects of my life.

I vividly remember coming back after a supply teacher had been in the classroom during this period of inquiry and having my students astonished and fuming at her reaction when a student asked for extra time and a quiet space to complete a task. She said she had to be fair and that everyone would need to hand it in at the same time. When the students let her know that fairness is when they have the right to learn the way that is best for them to be successful and in our classroom that means people may need different treatment, she completely disagreed in a manner that undermined what they had come to understand as being “fair.” Our conversation was lively, to say the least, and their questions were ones I have come to ask many times since then: “How can we get people, especially in education, to think about fairness as a way of everyone getting what they need?” and, “How can we create a positive space where teachers, students, and parents question, challenge, voice their own opinions, and feel that they have the right to self-advocate?” (Theirs were in kid-friendly language, of course).

After looking at the “Importance of Equity in Education” from the TDSB’s Equitable and Inclusive Schools page as well as the “Equity Continuum” from OISE’s Centre for Urban Schooling, I came to realize that, for me, the reasons that make equity work personally and professionally difficult are the same as those that make it transformative and fundamental if we are to move forward in education.

Whether it be with friends, colleagues, mentees, students, or parents, I find that when a conversation begins to challenge the status quo, challenge stereotypes, or involves having to critically look at ourselves, our beliefs, our expectations, or our practice, discomfort can quickly build up and the outcome takes the form of people shutting down, becoming outwardly upset, and unfortunately not evolving or learning from the experience. I feel that at the core of this difficulty in equity work is the reality that all of us are complex beings having been influenced on so many levels in so many ways by so many people throughout our lives therefore often making us oblivious to how our own story is projected in what we think, say, and do both personally and professionally. We seem to jump at the opportunity to try and convince others to take our viewpoint and find it easier to criticize those who do not share our beliefs. However, looking at and inside ourselves is a whole other story. Thus, the difficulty lies in welcoming discomfort as we tread the path of looking at equity not only by having others explore it but in also working through it ourselves.

The beauty and transformation in equity work comes about when we all courageously welcome the discomfort that arises in questioning our belief system as it pertains to our own culture and that of our school, classroom, and global community. When we are willing to question the status quo, challenge stereotypes, critically think about how our experiences and schemas influence our pedagogical practice, hold all students (and anyone connected to education, for that matter) to the highest standards and expectations regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, linguistic competence, etc., we begin to pave a path toward open-mindedness, acceptance, respect, and transformation not only within our personal lives but in our professional practice as well. When I began to take a deeper look at the Equity Continuum, I came to the realization that, even though I honestly believed I understood equity and had infused it in my teaching, there were so many other layers to it that I had not yet begun to peel back. In the world we live in today, this may be one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves as educators, parents, leaders and global citizens, “How will we work to ensure that everyone gets what they need to live a dignified life?”

I now know where my focus on equity will take me: unlearning what I have over time come to believe as the truth when it does not support the idea that everyone can be held to the highest standards and expectations regardless of their cultural background, race, gender, socio-economic status, etc. I’m willing to get my hands dirty as I explore the topics, ideas, beliefs, experiences, and realities that continue to shape my understanding and practice of equity within our education system.

As Will Durant commented, “Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.” I chose this quote because it can provoke discomfort by having us admit that we may be ignorant while also noting that the path to discovery is progressive which to me signifies that learning happens when we entertain that which may make us uncomfortable. Learning is messy business. That’s what makes it transformative.

January 26, 2013January 27, 2013 Tina.Ginglo Assessment, Differentiated Instruction, Diverse Learning Needs, Literacy, Planning, Questioning, Use of Technology

Using Audio for Self-Assessment

I have added a new layer to the writing process in my third-grade writing workshop. As I wrote in a past post, our writing workshop process begins with students writing in their Writer’s Notebooks. When a writer completes a piece of writing, they then meet with their assigned writing partner and/or me for a writing conference. At this conference, writers review the success criteria for their writing assignment and then identify two ways in which they have successfully met the criteria. Writers then identify one criterion that needs to be developed further. They then transfer their writing to their laptop keeping in mind the feedback they received and making their revisions as they type their second draft. Ultimately, writers post their narratives in their writing group on Edmodo.com where they receive more feedback from their group members.

Using Audacity software and a set of headphones with microphone, my third graders have learned how to read and record their personal narratives. Once recorded, students listen back. They then ask themselves two questions: “In what ways does my story sound like a real story?” And “In what ways can I make my story sound more like a real story?” Students enthusiastically record their stories. This component of the writing process engages those auditory learners who could benefit from this new component of the writing process.

I have changed the way I phrase these reflection questions. At first I instructed students to ask themselves, “Does my story sound like a real story? Yes or no?” If yes, why does it sound like a real story? If no, why not?” I found that this self-assessment exercise wasn’t making a significant difference in their writing. I concluded that it wasn’t the process that was ineffective, but the questions I was asking writers to consider. These yes/no questions left writers basically rating their narratives as “good” or “bad.” Their narratives either sounded “real” or didn’t. These questions didn’t allow students to identify the strengths in their narratives and where it could sound better. Realistically, all of my writers’ stories sounded a tad real, some more so than others. The goal here is to make everyone’s writing sound better. Using these new questions should ultimately improve the writers’ craft.

I am also thinking of adding audio to the writing conferences with writing partners and teacher. Some students struggle to give feedback on other students’ writing for a number of reasons. Perhaps a student’s penmanship is difficult to read or spelling or punctuation is interfering with comprehension. Listening to a story as it is intended to sound eliminates those barriers to comprehension.

I am proud of my third graders. Each day they are becoming more independent writers. I believe the secret to their success is that the students understand the flow of our writing workshop and, thanks to clear success criteria, they can identify their strengths as writers. They see themselves as writers! I am fortunate to have access to audio technology. In reality, you don’t need computers or even headphones to make this happen in your classroom. You can go “old school” with a mini cassette recorder. Some old cell phones have recording devices. One of our goals is to teach our writers to write like readers and read like writers. Using audio is one way to get there!

January 21, 2013January 21, 2013 Katie Pryde Building Inclusion, Diverse Learning Needs

Goal Setting…Even in Kindergarten

Upon the return to school after the Holiday Break, I thought it would be interesting to see how goal setting might look in Kindergarten. We had a little discussion as a whole class about goals, and how at this time of year many people create goals for themselves. We brainstormed some common goals some people may want to make for themselves. Then, I made it specific to school, and my students brainstormed some ideas of Classroom Goals we should have for the 2013 school year. I have attached our goals for each Track that I teach. Some were very similar, but some were very creative and inclusive to that Track only. I was very proud of my students for coming up with such amazing goals.

I also got each student to write about what they would like to learn about for this upcoming year. Again, I was shocked and and so proud of the goals many of my students came up with!

See these goals at: https://mobile.twitter.com/class_pryde/status/289774661540147200/photo/1

https://mobile.twitter.com/class_pryde/status/289774263022534656/photo/1

Goal-setting can happen…. even in Kindergarten!

December 5, 2012December 5, 2012 Tina.Ginglo Literacy, Planning, Use of Technology

Writing Workshop and Technology

I am pleased with how our third grade writing-program is evolving this year. Students are at the point in the term where they are working independently. They know when they need to meet with their writing partner. They know when they need their laptops. They are learning how to publish their personal narratives using Microsoft Word, and use tools such as grammar and spelling to edit their work.

Our writing workshop is a simple process. First, all writing begins in the Writer’s Notebook. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I began the year introducing students to the narrative genre with “small moments.” Small moments are short pieces of writing that use action, dialogue and thought/feeling sentences. I provided writers with a number of strategies for generating ideas for writing, providing time for writers to practice each strategy. After several weeks of practice, I then introduced longer personal narrative writing. Students have a strong understanding of the success criteria for personal narrative writing.

Success Criteria:

You have written an effective personal narrative when:

your story has a beginning, middle and end;
the main character tells the story using the personal pronoun “I”;
you have included action, dialogue and thought/feeling sentences;
your story is a “seed” story, not a “watermelon” story;
you have correct spelling and punctuation.

Those familiar with the Lucy Calkin’s Units of Study resource will recognize the idea of small moments, seed stories and action, dialogue and thought sentences.

When writers feel they have finished a piece of writing, the next stage in our writer’s workshop is for writers to meet with their assigned writing partner. I decided to match writers who are writing at the same stage of development rather than pairing stronger writers with more dependent writers. This way each partner will benefit from the feedback they receive. Writing partners refer to our success criteria when giving feedback to their writing partner. I expect writing partners to provide two “glow” comments and one “grow” comment to their partner when they meet.

Following their meeting with their writing partner, the writer begins their first revision. Most students choose to type their narratives on Microsoft Word. As they begin to publish their narratives, they make revisions to their first draft, keeping in mind the feedback they just received.

In addition to meeting with their writing partner, I call writers for writing conferences each day. I usually wait until writers have completed their first revision on their laptops. I decide on a teaching focus, for example, using correct punctuation when using quotation marks, for our conference. A writer will walk away from our conference with a skill to practice as they continue to revise a piece of writing or when they begin a new piece of writing in their Writer’s Notebook.

For many, the most exciting step in writing workshop comes next. After writers have revised their personal narratives, they log in to Edmodo.com and post their narrative in their assigned writing group. I have created five separate writing groups on Edmodo.com. There are four to five students in each writing group. These groups are more heterogeneous. When writers post their narratives in the writing groups on Edmodo.com, they ask members of their writing group as well as their teachers for descriptive feedback. It is the responsibility of each writer to read their colleagues’ personal narratives and provide them with descriptive feedback in the form of glow and grow comments. Students’ writing partners are not assigned to the same writing group. Therefore, each writer in our class receives descriptive feedback from five to six of their peers as well as their teachers!

We are now at the stage where writers are reading their feedback on line and returning to their posted piece for a second or third revision. They then repost their narrative to share with their group members. Ideally, I would like my third graders to learn how to leave a piece of writing. They can start a new piece in their Writer’s Notebook and perhaps return to earlier published pieces later in the year.

Integrating Edmodo.com into our writing program revealed additional benefits I didn’t anticipate. Edmodo is basically acting as our class’ private server. Students can access their stories from any computer at school or at home. This eliminates the need for flash drives. If students want to work on a piece of writing at home, they simply log into Edmodo.com. I also have easy access to student writing. I can provide feedback to students at my convenience without having to carry writing folders. Parents can also see what their child is writing at school. When parents log in using their assigned parent access code, they only have access to their child’s posts.

I promise that not all my posts will be about Edmodo.com, but it is really exciting to see students engaged in the writing process. It is amazing how this technology enriches our writing workshop. However, our writing program is not dependent on technology. If the technology were to disappear, our writing workshop would continue, just less efficiently.

December 5, 2012December 5, 2012 Alison.Board Building Inclusion, Classroom Management, Diverse Learning Needs, Learning About Your Students, Planning

Making Adjustments

As I read the previous additions by fellow bloggers, I look for connections to my own classroom, and what I see is the constant of change. We are all working with different age groups, but consider similar topics, such as adjustments to integrate technology, outdoor education, or making learning meaningful. Like others, I am continuously reflecting on my practice and making adjustments. As I am teaching in a new Full-Day Kindergarten classroom, there are many changes that the ECE and I have made in the last 8 weeks.

In September, our days were focused on establishing routines and building a community with our 27 children. The biggest routines were entry and dismissals, learning centres, and independent reading/quiet time. Then, as the children settled into these routines, we constantly re-assessed our schedule. We found that our children are so social, that independent reading is more like a book club with sharing and discussions. So, we now lead meditation and quiet breathing and stretching exercises after our reading block. Some of the children struggle with stilling their minds, while others have embraced it and look forward to this part of our day.

Adjustments to the classroom are also a constant in FDK. As interests in certain areas increase or wain, I change the spaces to accommodate the children’s interests and needs. I also change the materials. The basics in each learning centre remain the same, such as the blocks in the building centre, however, I may add recycled materials, clipboards and paper, or figures to encourage new relationships with the materials.

The planning has become one of the most challenging aspects of the FDK program, as there is no time for the ECE and I to sit down and exchange ideas. I continue to plan weekly with my Kindergarten teacher partners, then I convey ideas to my ECE while we are in the classroom together. I started off the year with my weekly plans in a binder on my desk (as I always previously used them). Then, I realized that it was more beneficial to enlarge them on an 11 x 17 inch page and hang them in the centre of the room where the ECE, and the Special Education Assistant can access the daily plans with ease. We are also using a web diagram to document the big ideas that are emerging in the classroom and the connections to the curriculum, which is visible to all.

Every day at our gathering circle, I start by asking the children, “How do you feel today?” As the children share their responses, I get a better understanding of what adjustments I can make to ensure it is a successful day for all of us. Making adjustments is just another way of being a reflective and responsive teacher.

November 24, 2012November 25, 2012 Katie Pryde Diverse Learning Needs, Learning in a Real Life Context, Professional Learning and Growth

Outdoor Education

Outdoor education is something I have been trying out this year in my Grade 3 classroom. I have tried giving my students opportunities to use the outside world to explore and learn from it. As our first social studies unit was First Nations people, we decided to go for a class walk to a nearby forest/pond area near our school. We took some time to explore and look around at the environment we saw around us. After some exploration, we came together and had a community circle to discuss things we have seen. We pretended to be First Nations people, and discussed things we would use in our environment to survive (trees for building our homes, ducks for food, water for drinking water, etc). It was a great experience, and students were able to make social studies connections to the environment around them.

Although I have been trying out some of the outdoor education ideas, I felt I needed more. So, I signed up for an Outdoor Education Workshop. It was called Outdoor Education: Look and Learn, which was provided to me through my school board, Halton District School Board and Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, Ontario. The day started off with us playing some outdoor games, which came from the Project Wild resource book. Then, we went on a hike where we were able to use our 5 senses and explore the environment. We all used our cellphones, or were given cameras to take pictures of things that interested us. It was a rainy/foggy day, so we were able to take some beautiful pictures. After some exploration, we were given some birds seed and these chickadees flew right down to us and ate the seeds from our hands. As adults, we were so excited about this, so I could only imagine how our younger students would have enjoyed this.

We were all assigned to choose a few leaves that stood out to us and share what types of activities we could do with them. The leaves were so beautiful with bright orange and red colours. Some ideas were to sort them leaves based on different properties, use the leaves for art (making leaf turkeys for Thanksgiving, or leaf rubbings) and using the leaves for math by looking at symmetry.

It was a wonderful workshop, I learned many things and felt more confident about doing outdoor education with my students. We also were given some wonderful resources. If you are interested in reading more on Outdoor Education, please check out:

Into Nature: A Guide to Teaching in Nearby Nature
http://www.back2nature.ca/resources-research/education

Happy Exploring!!!

November 15, 2012November 15, 2012 Tina.Ginglo Building Inclusion, Diverse Learning Needs, Social Justice, Use of Technology

Equity and Access to Technology

I am committed to equity and inclusive practice. Each day I “check in” with myself and ask those important questions: Do all my students feel included in the classroom? Have I excluded any students from the learning I have planned today? With technology these questions are particularly important to consider. In particular, I want to address the concerns around students’ access to computers. As I mentioned in my last blog post, my students and I are fortunate to have unlimited access to technology, specifically, laptops, wireless Internet and digital cameras. Access to these tools presents us with endless opportunities to make learning meaningful and engaging for students. The students are so excited about learning. They want to take their flash drives home to work on writing projects and they log in from home to contribute to their Edmodo groups. However, there are some students who don’t have computers at home. What about these kids? These students can quickly feel left out if they are not part of the “virtual” in-group, so how can I make the most of the technology I have and not marginalize any of my students?

I have been working closely with one of my mentors since October. He has helped me create a vision for my class use of computers. I want to get my students to the point where they decide when they need the computers and when they do not. At the beginning, I had all the control. I directed students when to take out the laptops and when to put them away. In the first few weeks, you could walk into our classroom and see all the students working on their laptops at the same time, doing the same thing, like a computer lab. This didn’t feel right for me. Now, more often, you could walk into our classroom and see some students on laptops, some not. The students using laptops will likely be doing different activities. A few may be logged on to Edmodo contributing to their discussion groups, some may be working on a second or third draft of writing, others could be reading or doing research, while others could be engaged in an on-line lesson from Ontario’s Education Resource Bank. I believe that this kind of learning environment helps students develop independent work habits, increases student engagement and by allowing students to have some control and choice in their learning, I hope to see an increase in student achievement and a decrease in classroom management issues. I also believe that such an environment will allow all students to participate in and keep up with on line learning during the school day. It may not completely resolve my access concerns, but I am sure it helps.

November 3, 2012November 3, 2012 Alison.Board Building Inclusion, Planning, Resources, Social Justice

Social Justice Begins in Kindergarten

I am using the literature-based resource kit, Social Justice Begins with Me (ETFO), to introduce various themes to my Kindergarten students regarding social justice. In the first lesson lesson we used the book, The Colors of Us by Karen Katz. It is the story of a little girl that paints a self-portrait and wants to use brown for her skin. Her mother takes her on a walk in their neighbourhood where she learns that there are many different shades of brown.

Before reading the book we compared and discussed the sources of colour used in the book, such as cinnamon, chocolate, and honey. After we read the book, we used red, yellow and black paint to mix and create various shades of brown. The children were engaged in the process as they observed then commented on whether their shade was a light or dark brown. Some children were using the words from the book in their descriptions, such as “It looks like cocoa!”

For the final activity, each child looked at the shades of brown and selected the one they identified with as the colour of their own skin. We made a display of “handprints” for display in our classroom, one for each child. As they picked the shade of their choice, they made comments such as, “My hand looks like honey” or “She is that shade of brown (pointing).”

During the week we spent on these lessons, we were also asked to paint a canvas for one of the Character Traits that our school recognizes throughout the year. The canvases are hung with pride at our school entrance. Our class was given the task of creating a canvas for the trait, Co-operation. The ECE and I thought why not have the children use their selected handprint not only as a symbol of identity and self-esteem in the classroom, but as part of one panel to demonstrate how respect for one another is the first step that leads to co-operating with one another. Our canvas became a culminating activity for lessons we learned about social justice.

October 20, 2012October 24, 2012 Alison.Board Diverse Learning Needs, Learning in a Real Life Context, Planning

Integrating Art in Kindergarten

As mentioned in my previous post, I have been working on an Art Studio for the classroom that will provide enough space and materials to meet the interests of all the children in my class. Even though I have set up a physical space called the “Art Studio” there are other centres in the classroom where representational art is also taking place. At the Messaging Centre, many children are graphically representing their ideas with pictorial images, and in the Building Centre children are using the blocks to create designs and structures. We have a table where play dough is often provided, and this too allows the students to represent their ideas in 3-D form.

By integrating art throughout the classroom, I can access many areas of the curriculum in a way that is engaging and accessible for the children. For example, one of the first overall expectations in Science that I like to plan for is “demonstrate an awareness of the natural and human-made environment through hands-on investigations, observation, questioning, and sharing their findings.” Children need support to develop their observation skills and really notice what is around them, rather than assume an image that they picture in their mind. When you ask a child to draw a tree, they often draw the same straight trunk with a round green top on it! By taking students outside to touch the bark, notice the texture and observe the branches, children will develop an awareness and reflect their observations in more accurate representations.

Strengthening visual discrimination in young children can be done at the art centre by providing an object to observe and represent. I often select a natural and aesthetic piece such as the vase of hydrangeas pictured below. A basket of leaves could also be used at this time of year. Then provide a controlled palette of materials. So for the hydrangeas I only set out pencils for drawing and coloured pencils that match the shades of the actual flowers, stems, leaves and vase. The children still have choice, but their selection is from a realistic palette that they will identify as they look at the object with discrimination.

Rather than make art for art’s sake, planned centres can be used to support skill development for visual discrimination, fine motor, and representational as well as integrate many subjects such as Science, Language, and Math.