To learn is to change. Education is a process that changes the learner. ~George Leonard

Greetings,

As part of the SAM program, one of my new goals is to schedule participation time in classrooms and provide quality feedback to staff members. The block for the participation time is 30 minutes, and the feedback is in the form of a scheduled 10-15 minute conversation. As compared to walkthroughs, these intentional, yet informal and active visits provide deeper insight into the classroom to support student learning.

This past week found me in kindergarten working with a group of five students in the writing center. As I entered the classroom, our kindergarten teacher-the fabulous Dianne Herrmann, motioned me over to the center and quickly provided direction. This was an interesting reversal of roles and I quickly sought clarification – boy she talked fast! After describing my job and tasks, she moved to other centers within the classroom checking in with individual students. Working with the kindergarten students provided knowledge as they wrote (copied) and colored their pages. When the finished, they brought their sheets over to me to staple into a book and then each student read their book to me. While working with them, I had to change some of my vocabulary in order to make what I said meaningful to the students. The best part of participating in kindergarten that day was watching how seamlessly everything took place. The students knew what their jobs were and how to go about getting them done. This was quite impressive considering the age of the students. The next day, I had the privilege of talking with the kindergarten teacher and debriefing about my visit. A meaningful conversation ensued about individual students and his or her academic and social needs. It was quite rewarding! The funniest thing was as the kindergarten teacher was leaving my office she commented that she enjoyed giving me direction and liked the role reversal – ha!

I also had an opportunity to team teach with our multi-talented music teacher, Jennifer Troy. I joined her for lesson on identifying different types of symphony instruments utilizing the SmartBoard. She had selected several excellent sites and it was great teaming with her to lead the kids through several different games. The students were highly engaged in the lesson. The learning will definitely support their upcoming field trip to the symphony. One student commented on Mrs. Troy’s blog how much he enjoyed the lesson.

Before spring break, I wrapped up the second 4th grade lunch bunch with a Diary of a Wimpy Kid 3 bingo game that I created on the SmartBoard. We had over 70 of our fourth grade students participate! I am working with my SAMs to look at future book clubs at different grade levels for the 2009-10 school year.

Last week my second grade guided reading group began reading The Chocolate Touch by touring the Hershey Chocolate Factory in Pennsylvania. The students enjoyed this field trip and we never left the building! Yesterday, I introduced the second grade guided reading groups to literature circles. We will be practicing the roles as we explore the text. The vocabulary describing the roles for lit circles has presented a slight hurdle for me. Since the students haven’t been exposed to the process for literature circles and roles for Discussion Director, Vocabulary Enricher, Checker and Literary Luminary, I have spent some extra time creating activities to build the students background knowledge for these roles.

For the past few weeks I have been entrenched in observations for tenured staff members and I have one scheduled at least every other day. Needless to say, these have been busy days, but I am fortunate enough to have two amazing SAMs who support me in so many ways. Speaking of support, two teachers filled my bucket today. It definitely needed some filling since I was addressing a turbulent discipline issue all day. A first grade teacher asked me if I had some time next Tuesday and I said sure. His class is practicing interviewing skills for a book and they would like to interview me. Then, when I went to check my mailbox, I found a gift-wrapped package with a literature unit guide for The Chocolate Touch. Enclosed was a note, “I saw this while I was out and thought of you! I use these books a lot for guided reading/literature circle ideas. Thought maybe you could get some ideas for your guided reading group. Hope it helps! Happy Wednesday!”
The actions of these staff members provided sunshine on a cloudy day. Sometimes, it is important for us to slow down and remember our blessings.

Always grateful,
Anastasia