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2021 ASCD Summer Reading List3 years ago
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I'm Blogging Again10 years ago
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Philly Teacher has a new home!13 years ago
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Monday, November 21, 2011
The power of encouragement
Last week I traveled to Philly on the train with my family to cheer on my daughter and son-in-law as they ran the Philadelphia marathon. I had been there two years ago as Cait ran the half-marathon, but this time she was running with her husband Jeff - and they we're running the full marathon, all 26.2 miles. I felt a weird combination of pride, mixed with anticipation and fear. Cait and Jeff had been training for the past year, often running when they didn't even feel like it in order to prepare for this day. In the process, Cait had developed some physical problems - Raynaud's (a very painful and debilitating condition with her toes) and a strained knee. Yet, they were committed to finishing this race. I'm not sure why I was fearful - maybe I was afraid that she would get hurt or sick, but I think I was really afraid she would be so disappointed if she wasn't able to finish.
The day of the marathon was incredible. With close to 30,000 runners and almost twice as many spectators, Philly was alive and jumping. Bands were playing music, cow bells ringing, and supportive fans carrying creative signs designed to encourage their favorite runners, such as - "Who needs toenails anyway?" If you've never been to watch a marathon I can tell you that my description so far is just not doing the experience justice. You really have to experience it to understand it. Fans line up along the street cheering on the runners. You can hear them call out the names of the runners as they pass by - "Good job Joe! Keep it up Laura!" (I have to admit to anyone who is reading this post that initially I did not know that they were actually reading the names of the runners that are posted on the front of their chest along with their race numbers - I was actually thinking, "Wow, these people certainly know a lot of these runners" for about 5 minutes the first time I watched the marathon.
We positioned ourselves strategically along the route to supply much needed encouragement and "Gu" - high energy gummi chews. About 15 minutes before we thought they would be coming we began jockeying for a good position, straining to catch a glimpse of Cait & Jeff. Their faces lit up as they spied us - their personal fans and they continued to run by, clearly focusing on the goal of finishing the race! The most exciting and nerve wracking part was waiting for them as they neared the finish line. My other daughter, Lauren had driven down with her husband and 7 week old baby to surprise her sister at the finish line. When we finally spotted Cait and Jeff coming down the home stretch, Lauren jumped over the fence and ran the last 1/8th mile along with her sister. The smiles on their faces tell it all....
I had tears in my eyes as I saw Cait & Jeff come into the home stretch, knowing that they had achieved a great accomplishment - one they had sacrificed much for over the past year. After the race I asked Cait which section of the race was the most difficult to run. She replied without hesitation, "Kelly Drive - the section along Boat House Row". Those familiar with Philadelphia know that this is an incredibly beautiful part of the course - mostly flat and picture card perfect. I was incredulous...why was this part so hard I asked? Cait answered, "There were absolutely no fans to cheer us on during this stretch, they wouldn't have been able to make it back in time to see anyone finish at the finish line."
Later that day, it dawned on me...the power of encouragement. What a lesson for all of us. Of course being an educator, I can't help but apply this to the classroom (however it can applied to all parts of our lives as well). Imagine what we can accomplish if we (teachers) would adopt this attitude in the classroom - commit to being our student's biggest fans, notice how hard they are working - even when they aren't our own students, cheer them when the going gets tough, even running alongside with them to bring them into the finish line. Just imagine what could be accomplished!
The day of the marathon was incredible. With close to 30,000 runners and almost twice as many spectators, Philly was alive and jumping. Bands were playing music, cow bells ringing, and supportive fans carrying creative signs designed to encourage their favorite runners, such as - "Who needs toenails anyway?" If you've never been to watch a marathon I can tell you that my description so far is just not doing the experience justice. You really have to experience it to understand it. Fans line up along the street cheering on the runners. You can hear them call out the names of the runners as they pass by - "Good job Joe! Keep it up Laura!" (I have to admit to anyone who is reading this post that initially I did not know that they were actually reading the names of the runners that are posted on the front of their chest along with their race numbers - I was actually thinking, "Wow, these people certainly know a lot of these runners" for about 5 minutes the first time I watched the marathon.
We positioned ourselves strategically along the route to supply much needed encouragement and "Gu" - high energy gummi chews. About 15 minutes before we thought they would be coming we began jockeying for a good position, straining to catch a glimpse of Cait & Jeff. Their faces lit up as they spied us - their personal fans and they continued to run by, clearly focusing on the goal of finishing the race! The most exciting and nerve wracking part was waiting for them as they neared the finish line. My other daughter, Lauren had driven down with her husband and 7 week old baby to surprise her sister at the finish line. When we finally spotted Cait and Jeff coming down the home stretch, Lauren jumped over the fence and ran the last 1/8th mile along with her sister. The smiles on their faces tell it all....
I had tears in my eyes as I saw Cait & Jeff come into the home stretch, knowing that they had achieved a great accomplishment - one they had sacrificed much for over the past year. After the race I asked Cait which section of the race was the most difficult to run. She replied without hesitation, "Kelly Drive - the section along Boat House Row". Those familiar with Philadelphia know that this is an incredibly beautiful part of the course - mostly flat and picture card perfect. I was incredulous...why was this part so hard I asked? Cait answered, "There were absolutely no fans to cheer us on during this stretch, they wouldn't have been able to make it back in time to see anyone finish at the finish line."
Later that day, it dawned on me...the power of encouragement. What a lesson for all of us. Of course being an educator, I can't help but apply this to the classroom (however it can applied to all parts of our lives as well). Imagine what we can accomplish if we (teachers) would adopt this attitude in the classroom - commit to being our student's biggest fans, notice how hard they are working - even when they aren't our own students, cheer them when the going gets tough, even running alongside with them to bring them into the finish line. Just imagine what could be accomplished!
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Monday, August 22, 2011
A Call for "Out of the Box" Thinking ...
When technology is used effectively in education it can engage, inspire, connect, and empower students. However, the real power of technology lies in how you use it. Technology's role in the educational setting should be to support and organize student learning. There is a tendency when creating a technology plan to focus on the "boxes and wires", rather than the people that the plan is intended to impact. A successful technology plan focuses on people rather than technology.
There is no doubt that school districts across the nation recognize the importance of integrating technology into instruction - much time and energy has been committed to writing and implementing technology plans in every district. Recently, the federal government rolled out the National Technology Plan for Education. This plan focuses on five key areas: learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity. Dr. Fishman, part of the team that authored the plan, made this important point at the University of Massachusetts Virtual Conference, "Knowing how to use technology and knowing how to use it for teaching are two extremely different skills." This statement serves to reiterate the cry among educators today that technology alone will not fix the predicament we currently find ourselves in as a nation.
While it is imperative that we establish a technology plan in each of our schools, that plan must include considerations as a result of discussions about what we teach, how we teach, where and how students learn, as well as how we assess student learning. We must have a plan in place if our schools are going to leverage the power of technology in order to move us towards providing instruction that meets the needs of each individual learner in lieu of the one-size-fits-all approach that is currently in place in too many schools.
A technology plan that is effective focuses on people - the students, parents, educators, and community to ensure that the instruction and learning environments that we create for our students include the following competencies: critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, global communication, and authenticity through real world applications resulting in assessments that provide credible evidence of learning and transforming thinking in the education process.
There is no doubt that school districts across the nation recognize the importance of integrating technology into instruction - much time and energy has been committed to writing and implementing technology plans in every district. Recently, the federal government rolled out the National Technology Plan for Education. This plan focuses on five key areas: learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity. Dr. Fishman, part of the team that authored the plan, made this important point at the University of Massachusetts Virtual Conference, "Knowing how to use technology and knowing how to use it for teaching are two extremely different skills." This statement serves to reiterate the cry among educators today that technology alone will not fix the predicament we currently find ourselves in as a nation.
While it is imperative that we establish a technology plan in each of our schools, that plan must include considerations as a result of discussions about what we teach, how we teach, where and how students learn, as well as how we assess student learning. We must have a plan in place if our schools are going to leverage the power of technology in order to move us towards providing instruction that meets the needs of each individual learner in lieu of the one-size-fits-all approach that is currently in place in too many schools.
A technology plan that is effective focuses on people - the students, parents, educators, and community to ensure that the instruction and learning environments that we create for our students include the following competencies: critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, global communication, and authenticity through real world applications resulting in assessments that provide credible evidence of learning and transforming thinking in the education process.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
An "Aha!" moment
I'm sitting here relaxing and unwinding, reflecting after presenting at an exhilarating week long workshop for Responsive Classroom in Oakland, CA. It is truly amazing to watch a group of 27 educators hailing from from Zimbabwe to California, coming together to form a community of learners. It is akin to watching the students at the end of the school year reminiscing about their first few weeks of the school year.
Every afternoon during the workshop, we gathered in a closing circle to reflect on the learning that occurred that day. On Thursday, this group of educators synthesized their newly acquired RC knowledge by reading and responding to scenarios that paralleled their experiences in their own classrooms. These were not easy. In fact, as I checked in at each table group I heard them state repeatedly, "This is hard." However, their hard work paid off as they began to grasp the strategies and put them into action.
During the closing circle, I asked them to reflect on their day. They looked tired, spent - very evidently exhausted. One of the participants shared, "One of the things I recognized today was that even though this was hard work, I stuck with it because I am so invested in really learning and applying Responsive Classroom strategies in my classroom. This was an "Aha moment" as I think about how that applies to our students. We must make learning meaningful for them so that will continue to stick with a task, even when it is difficult."
Every afternoon during the workshop, we gathered in a closing circle to reflect on the learning that occurred that day. On Thursday, this group of educators synthesized their newly acquired RC knowledge by reading and responding to scenarios that paralleled their experiences in their own classrooms. These were not easy. In fact, as I checked in at each table group I heard them state repeatedly, "This is hard." However, their hard work paid off as they began to grasp the strategies and put them into action.
During the closing circle, I asked them to reflect on their day. They looked tired, spent - very evidently exhausted. One of the participants shared, "One of the things I recognized today was that even though this was hard work, I stuck with it because I am so invested in really learning and applying Responsive Classroom strategies in my classroom. This was an "Aha moment" as I think about how that applies to our students. We must make learning meaningful for them so that will continue to stick with a task, even when it is difficult."
Sunday, May 29, 2011
What will they remember?
On Friday, I shadowed an administrator at a middle school as part of my internship for my principal's certification. It was an eye opening experience at all levels, however I learned something that I had not expected to learn...
Having taught elementary students for the past eight years in the same district, I was hoping that I would see some familiar faces throughout the day. I really wasn't prepared to see how much my former students had changed. Students can change a lot in just one year.
I honestly did not even recognize many of them as they excitedly asked, "Mrs. Kruse - remember me?" I was amazed at how much students can change in 4 or 5 years. During the afternoon, we moved into the lunchroom to supervise students. One by one, my former students gathered around me voicing the same question each time, "Mrs. Kruse - remember me?" Students asked me, "Hey, do you remember when ....?" or "I remember...." Suddenly I had a rather large group of eighth graders circling up and reminiscing about their third grade class five years ago. We smiled and laughed as we recalled events from that year.
As I reflected on this experience, and thought about this year coming to the end in just a few days , I began to wonder:
1. What will my students remember most from the 1,080 hours that we spend together in a given year?
2. What will I remember the most about them?
I found that what these students remembered the most were the every day experiences we had together - the field trips we took, favorite games and activities we played during Morning Meetings each day, our class pet - 'Willis' the hamster, etc. - the things that made our class a true community. A sense of community is something that I work hard to create with each and every class every year and that is what students truly remember.
Having taught elementary students for the past eight years in the same district, I was hoping that I would see some familiar faces throughout the day. I really wasn't prepared to see how much my former students had changed. Students can change a lot in just one year.
I honestly did not even recognize many of them as they excitedly asked, "Mrs. Kruse - remember me?" I was amazed at how much students can change in 4 or 5 years. During the afternoon, we moved into the lunchroom to supervise students. One by one, my former students gathered around me voicing the same question each time, "Mrs. Kruse - remember me?" Students asked me, "Hey, do you remember when ....?" or "I remember...." Suddenly I had a rather large group of eighth graders circling up and reminiscing about their third grade class five years ago. We smiled and laughed as we recalled events from that year.
As I reflected on this experience, and thought about this year coming to the end in just a few days , I began to wonder:
1. What will my students remember most from the 1,080 hours that we spend together in a given year?
2. What will I remember the most about them?
I found that what these students remembered the most were the every day experiences we had together - the field trips we took, favorite games and activities we played during Morning Meetings each day, our class pet - 'Willis' the hamster, etc. - the things that made our class a true community. A sense of community is something that I work hard to create with each and every class every year and that is what students truly remember.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Differentiated Professional Development
How can the supervision process be used to help successful and experienced teachers get better at what they do? Way too often I hear teachers at conferences and in-services complain, “I already do that. That won’t work, you don’t know my students. I could’ve written the book on this.” Many honestly believe that after teaching for a certain number of years that they have little new left to learn. I believe that this is a dangerous way of thinking. As Collins asserts, the minute you think you have arrived is the moment you begin to slide backwards.
Unfortunately, professional development for teachers has been a “one-size- fits- all” mentality for a number of years. Just as we realize the importance of differentiating for students in order for successful learning to occur, we need to transfer this understanding to professional development and learning for teachers. We must meet the needs of all teachers so that all teachers can continually improve their instruction. When you are improving instruction, you are impacting student achievement and learning.
Monday, April 11, 2011
"You speak our langauge!"
Today I was teaching a group of tech savvy fifth graders. I had given them some time to investigate Mangahigh, a new interactive math website that I had just discovered the night before. I told them they were my "beta-testers" and would have 15 minutes to try out some games before recess, and then we would be gathering on the rug after recess to share what they discovered and give their recommendations.
The students were so engaged while using the website that they didn't want to go outside for recess (and today was a beautiful 80 degrees outside - so outside they did go)! When we gathered on the rug to share, all of the students said that they absolutely loved the site and wanted the url and password so that they could access it from home. I asked them what they liked about it, explaining that I needed to hear more details - specifically, what did they like about it? They loved the graphics - manga is creative and colorful, couldn't get enough of the way the games interacted, they were surprised by some of the games - "not your usual math games where you figure it out and get bored after playing it twice."
After a few minutes of sharing I explained that they would be finishing their mystery stories by continuing to create SCRATCH projects to animate them. At this point one of my students raised their hand and said with a huge smile, "Mrs. Kruse, you speak our language." I honestly wasn't sure what she was referring to and didn't have the opportunity to respond before all of them began to chime in with their thoughts.
Their language is digital. I have to admit, I don't speak digital nearly as well as they do...but I do try. The sad part is that most of their day they sit in classrooms where they are not speaking their native language. When put in this perspective, it seems so sad. Imagine trying to learn, really desiring to learn, but not being able to learn in your native language. This is no fault of their teacher, it is the result of lack of resources, time, and training. Interestingly enough I have found that the best way to teach these "digital speakers" is just let them go. Given time to investigate independently with a focus they are able to do amazing things and teach me a thing or two in the process.
The students were so engaged while using the website that they didn't want to go outside for recess (and today was a beautiful 80 degrees outside - so outside they did go)! When we gathered on the rug to share, all of the students said that they absolutely loved the site and wanted the url and password so that they could access it from home. I asked them what they liked about it, explaining that I needed to hear more details - specifically, what did they like about it? They loved the graphics - manga is creative and colorful, couldn't get enough of the way the games interacted, they were surprised by some of the games - "not your usual math games where you figure it out and get bored after playing it twice."
After a few minutes of sharing I explained that they would be finishing their mystery stories by continuing to create SCRATCH projects to animate them. At this point one of my students raised their hand and said with a huge smile, "Mrs. Kruse, you speak our language." I honestly wasn't sure what she was referring to and didn't have the opportunity to respond before all of them began to chime in with their thoughts.
Their language is digital. I have to admit, I don't speak digital nearly as well as they do...but I do try. The sad part is that most of their day they sit in classrooms where they are not speaking their native language. When put in this perspective, it seems so sad. Imagine trying to learn, really desiring to learn, but not being able to learn in your native language. This is no fault of their teacher, it is the result of lack of resources, time, and training. Interestingly enough I have found that the best way to teach these "digital speakers" is just let them go. Given time to investigate independently with a focus they are able to do amazing things and teach me a thing or two in the process.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Having a "Growth Mindset"
I'm enjoying some time this weekend at the Northeast Foundation for Children; catching up with the most amazing group of educators - Consulting Teachers for Responsive Classroom, and learning about having a "Growth Mindset". Does our belief about ourselves determine our ability to succeed?
Carol Dweck has completed some intriguing research which answers this question with a resounding, "Yes!" She has coined the phrase "Growth Mindset", which she explains can be developed in both children and adult learners. When people have this mindset, they believe that they can develop their brain, abilities, and talents. People that have a "Growth Mindset" care more about stretching themselves and challenging their learning. They are OK with not knowing everything. This mindset can influence both behavior and achievement.
Learning environments and learning tasks can be designed and presented to help learners develop a "Growth Mindset", which in turn, can lead to short-term achievement, ultimately resulting in long-term success.
Take a few minutes to watch this video that explains this research:
Carol Dweck has completed some intriguing research which answers this question with a resounding, "Yes!" She has coined the phrase "Growth Mindset", which she explains can be developed in both children and adult learners. When people have this mindset, they believe that they can develop their brain, abilities, and talents. People that have a "Growth Mindset" care more about stretching themselves and challenging their learning. They are OK with not knowing everything. This mindset can influence both behavior and achievement.
Learning environments and learning tasks can be designed and presented to help learners develop a "Growth Mindset", which in turn, can lead to short-term achievement, ultimately resulting in long-term success.
Take a few minutes to watch this video that explains this research:
This research has profound implications for teachers. Dweck offers some concrete suggestions to help teachers create learning environments and meaningful learning tasks that will encourage students towards developing a "growth mindset": creating a classroom culture that supports risk-taking, providing specific feedback when giving students praise or encouragement, emphasizing deep learning rather than fast learning, directly teaching students how the brain works, personal goal setting, and evaluating student work with "growth mindset" criteria. While I don't believe that having a "growth mindset" will cure all academic ills, I can envision benefits for both adult and student learners; such as increased motivation and effort as they are nurtured in an environment that values "becoming" rather than "being".
Some of the questions that I'm left with to ponder:
Am I creating a risk taking environment for my students?
What does this look like as I work with adult learners?
How am I cultivating a "Growth Mindset" for myself?
Interested in finding out more about Dweck's research? Check out her book: Mindset or her website for kids: Brainology.
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