More than Academics

I love the holiday season. Although it can be really hectic due to holiday parties and searching for the perfect gift, I try to focus on the reason for the season. It is a time for me to remember to appreciate everyone and everything around me. Today, I was really reminded of how much I appreciate my life and one of the fundamental purposes of school.

A few weeks ago, one of the special education English classes read the book, The Boy Who Carried Bricks. The students were so moved by the author's story they wrote letters to the author. The author was so moved by one of the student's letter he came and spoke to them personally. He told the student he will put his letter in the next printing of his book!

His story was so powerful that admin asked if he could come speak to our entire school. As Alton Carter spoke to an auditorium full of teenagers, I was reminded of why our students need more experiences like this one.

Today, our students were reminded that they are not defined by their current circumstances. Our students saw someone who was just like them share how he is always working to improve. Our students realized sometimes people are going through tremendous pain and may cause others pain to cope. Our students were reminded of how powerful our words can be so choose them wisely. They learned that forgiveness is more for them then the person who hurt them. Finally, our students were reminded to be thankful as they enter the holiday season.

Unfortunately, in school we can focus so much on the standards and the test that we forget that learning is more than facts and figures. We are molding people which means we need to help them connect with something greater than themselves. Today, I am so thankful we had Alton Carter speak to our students. Tomorrow, I am going to work to have more Carter moments for my students.

How do you or will you create Carter moments?

A Journey in Reflection

I love the 8 essential project design elements established by BIE. I love them because they are all familiar teaching practices that can stand alone in a classroom. However, when they come together, they become a powerful model for enduring learning.

There is one element that has always plagued me---Reflection. According to BIE's Gold Standard rubric, effective implementation of reflection is when "students and teachers engage in thoughtful, comprehensive reflection both during the project and after its culmination, about what and how students learn and the project's design and management." I am deeply reflective practitioner analyzing students learning and adjusting my practice throughout a class period.  Yet, I didn't know how to help my students internalize this valuable practice.

Enter my 1st level of implementing reflection as a main practice in my classroom. As I was reading Leaders of their own Learning a few years ago, I saw a great tool in this book that has students analyze their errors. I used it as it was stated in the book and then changed it as my understanding of what I wanted students to do changed. Here is the latest version of the form:

Although I loved the printed form, I wanted something electronic that could allow me and students to see their reflection over time. As I was searching, I stumbled onto a company called Sown to Grow. I am in my second year of using this tool. I absolutely love it! It allows me to see how students feel about their learning at a given time, see their scores and plan of improvement in one location. As a result, I am working to have students start the reflection process with paper form. My students are now in the process of putting the process in digital form. Some of the success I am seeing are promising. 

One success is the honesty students are stating about how they feel about the score they received on an assessment. or how they are feeling in general. Below is an example of how students stated they feel in general about their learning:

Right now I am able to see the results and talk with students the next day. My goal is to get the task completed early in the class period so that I can get to students before the class ends. 

Another success is each time we use the tool, more students are reflecting in the tool. At first, students just typed their score or they do not provide enough reflection. My next goal is to get all students to provide reflection so that I can give them feedback on a regular basis. 

As I work to increase the practice of reflection, my next steps is how to incorporate the tool into my projects. I need to see how I can incorporate it daily in my classroom in a way that is seamless. Finally, I need to find more strategies for reflecting so that I can expand my toolbox.

Stay tuned for my progress.