Celebrations: the one where vacation begins on a high note

This was a beautiful work at week. I am heading into vacation energized by my students. Not only did I have students in the library learning, creating and making during traditional classes but I also had classrooms in for collaborative projects. 

The crème de la crème? 

Friday was pajama day, for the entire school. 

This was the first time we have had a school-wide pajama day.  I see fifth graders and second graders on Fridays. The fifth graders are working on book trailers for the Mock Caldecott books. I did not want to lose this day as part of the project, even though it is the Friday before vacation, so I decided to wear regular clothes for the morning to help the students understand that we would still be working hard (she questions her own thinking here...).  

Prior to coming to the library for classes, I hosted all three classes in the library for a presentation by Jim Parks from Wingmasters.  I looked around at a the engaged, respectful audience of pajama clad students (and teachers).  I quickly ran to the bathroom and changed into my pajamas (which I had brought for the afternoon of second graders).  I am so glad I did. I loved being part off a community of pajama wearing learners.

The fifth graders worked just as hard as if I had stayed in work clothes. (Now, as to my own work ethic, it was a little less than normal -- shluffing around the school in monkey slippers, snowman bottoms and an Elephant & Piggie shirt was just way too much fun!)  I had the best day teaching in pajamas, which is why it is my Saturday Celebration (a meme started by Ruth Ayres, over at Ruth Ayres Writes.)

Wondering who I should thank for this awesomeness...

This rocking Lunch Lady apron 

arrived in my school mailbox today.

My students LOVED it!

As you can see, 

I am planning on cooking up 

some great lessons!

Thank you!

I want to be an astronaut when I grow up....because I like to travel

Oh.My.Word.

Another incredible collaboration fell into my lap this week.  A first grade teacher wanted a way to connect a Jan Brett author/illustrator study and a Lucy Calkins Persuasive Writing unit. 

She brought this idea to me: "Why not have the students use Hedgie blasts off as a model for what they want to be and connect it with Lucy Calkins by having them explain why they want to be that idea/profession/person when they grow up?"

"Perfect!" I responded. "Let's use Kid Pix.  They can draw themselves showing what they want to be and then record themselves talking about the slide."

Demonstration of understanding the task, expressing an idea, and practicing public speaking. This is good stuff. 

I wonder how many will still want to be an astronaut, teacher, veterinarian, art teacher, doctor, scientist, or lawyer when they grow up? 

When given the opportunity to shine...

...children (and people) will do just that.

Picture this, fourth graders, mainly nine and ten year olds, sitting on the rug, reading and discussing Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown, and not just reading and discussing, but closely reading and discussing the words and pictures.

It would have been easy for them to be less engaged with only two days left before winter break and the fact that six inches of snow fell yesterday and that they can sled on the hill during recess, but these students have taken on the role of a Mock Caldecott Committee.  They are taking their role seriously.

Nothing new here.

The shining part is the depth of their comments, the connections they made, and the small details they noticed.

One of the "aha!" moments came when a student pointed out that the ways in which Mr. Tiger initially goes wild in the city are mimicked in the wilderness.

The students commented on:

++ facial expressions (that Mr. Tiger sure does look bored and disgruntled);

++shifting emotions; 

++the shift in tone about three quarters of the way through the book; 

++the effect of the color palate; 

++the use of white space; and,

++the impact of the direction in which Mr. Tiger was facing at one point.

They loved:

++the end papers;

++the tiger-striped and textured cover;

++the color palate;

++the shapes and textures in the wilderness;and,

++both the humor and seriousness of the message - not being "wild" as in crazy, but "wild" as in finding ways to be true to oneself.

Their reaction at Mr. Tiger's wildest move was perfect and caused quite a spirited debate!

The conversations through all four classes were so animated that I had to cut them off for lack of time. If my students grades 2-5 had any choice, Mr. Tiger would have a significant amount of company in the wilderness. They love this two-page spread as much as I do!

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Fourth graders are reading and discussing the books and they are filling out an evaluation on Google Forms. At the end of five weeks, they will review the books, look over their evaluations, participate in discussions, and place their votes. 

These kindergarten students knew what they needed

 This is ultimately what it looked like in my library yesterday:

As I said, these kindergarten students knew what they needed - I didn't.  We started a snowy books unit last week. You can read here about how the students learned about the fiction and nonfiction snow-related books in the library as well explored the Caldecott Medal using the book, The Snowy Day.

I was ready to pick right up where we left off.

BUT...It's the Tuesday before vacation. They've predicted a snow storm to arrive midday. They are kindergartners.

After introducing the lesson, I was reading the next book, No Two Alike by Keith Baker, to begin a conversation about wonderings about snow (more of my wonder wall lessons).

I began to feel queasy, akin to being sea sick. I felt almost as if I were at sea because bodies were moving back and forward and side to side in front of me. Seriously, these kindergarten students could not keep their bodies still.

It was #timetoshowsomeflexiblity.

Telling them that I sensed a disturbance in the force, I scrapped part of the lesson and gave the students three options:

1. You may read books on the rug
or, inspired by the book we just read, you may:
2. create a snowy scene using Kid Pix; or,
3. create a snowy scene using pen and paper.

The students happily moved into their choices.

For the next three classes I began with the same introduction referring to last week's lesson, but I moved right into having the students share their wondering about snow.  I explained that we will use our Wonder Wall books to learn more about snow and explore these wonderings after vacation. We have a lot of learning to do in January! 

Seriously, you have to read these wonderings:

"How does snow get made?"

"How does snow get its pattern?"

"How does so much tiny snow cover so much a a lot of trees?"

"Why does snow fall at different speeds?"

"How do animals come out at snow time? How do foxes and owls come out at night?"
"How does the snow keep animals warm underground?""How do snowflakes become snow"

"How does snow melt?"

"How does snow turn into ice?"

"How does snow get fluffy?"

"Where was the first snow?"

"How does nature form snowflakes?"

"How does the sun melt snow when it is freezing outside?"

"How does the sun not melt all the snow because it is so bright and hot?"

I then explained the options for creating a snowy day picture and explained that I was going to read a book that would help inspire them.  I read No Two Alike. 

The students headed off to browse and borrow and/or create their pictures and/or read. The rest of the morning was fabulously fun.

I was surprised at the breakdown of students and activities.  On the whole, about half the students chose Kid Pix, one quarter paper and markers and one quarter reading books quietly.  it was incredibly cool to watch five-year-olds owning the library, making their own choices, and navigating their options.

One thing that I worried about and that come to fruition for about five students all morning is that they had to browse and borrow first and then go on to the next activity.  These five students went straight to Kid Pix and then wanted to browse as the rest of the class was lining up.  I am thinking that a visual of the choices - almost like a felt board - might be a good idea.

Slice of Life: On Perfecting a Craft

What I have appreciated most about participating in the Slice of Life Writing Challenge is the opportunity to play with and ponder themes, ideas and experiences each week.  I sometimes start thinking about my Tuesday slice as soon as I have posted the last one! Seriously, I do sometimes have an experience in my library on a Thursday or Friday, which experience sometimes gathers momentum and energy over the weekend, and then, it is suddenly Monday and I know what it is I want to write about.

Case in point:

Friday, December 13th.

I was working with my 5th and 2nd grade students.  They are in a wonderfully messy stage of the Mock Caldecott unit. I say, "wonderfully messy" because that's the way it feels and that's the reality.  It is this way, partly because I am trying new things and trying new things can be messy, but this kind of mess is always wonderful because it is about learning new things, for both the students and me. 

The 5th graders are creating book trailers for the Mock Caldecott books.  I tried to put too much into one lesson (per usual) and by the third 5th grade class on Friday morning, I had perfected my explanation of the activity (earlier lessons contained too many assumptions that lead to gaps in understanding) as well as slowed down the pace.  In this experience, the third time was the charm, but all three classes were still wonderfully messy.

During the afternoon, the second graders donned their Mock Caldecott Committee hats and got to work reading and evaluating books. After the first 2nd grade class,  I realized the language was too much of a reach and was not as clear as I hoped.  I quickly revised the lesson to provide more modeling. These students were incredibly patient and worked hard. Another wonderfully messy experience.

Fast forward to Sunday. 

I am out shoveling three inches of heavy, wet slush (this is redundant, but I will leave it in for emphasis to help you can understand my pain, back pain that is). I am shoveling slush - heavy and wet by definition -  while looking back at last week and forward to this week.

I was playing with the idea that teaching is a craft and not a profession.  I first heard this at a faculty meeting about eight years ago.  A young teacher was arguing his case for thinking about ourselves as craftsmen. As a new teacher, I don't think I could appreciate his passion. Today, in my tenth year of teaching, I lean more heavily in this direction when thinking about my experience. I often leave work thinking about how teaching is a life-long learning experience, about how each day I have learned something new, both with and from my students.

I will say that I have chosen the finest and best profession (teaching), but I also know that each day I am working at perfecting my craft as a teacher.  Each day is driven by questions, like: "How can my students learn "x?" "How can I best help my students learn "y?" New understandings bring about adjustments throughout the day, class to class, and from week to week we are growing and learning together.

Yesterday was such a day. 

With four classes back-to-back, I hit two more stumbling blocks in my Mock Caldecott rubric.  

Stumbling block one:
The first graders had never seen a rubric.  Not only did I need to help clarify the language, I also need to find language and strategies for explaining rubrics, demonstrating how each row should have a check mark in each column, drawing my finger across the page to demonstrate.  

Stumbling block two:
Even though we have spent a few weeks crafting and practicing using the Mock Caldecott Criteria, it was too big a leap to go to print.  This lesson ladder was missing a few too many rungs.  In this midst of the lesson breakdown, I drew faces to help clarify, somewhat, average, above average and extraordinary.  These seemed to help.  

I apologized for making it more confusing than I intended. Some students were fine, others needed help, but no students got frustrated, to their credit. Meanwhile, they'll be back after vacation and I'll have a new rubric. We'll start fresh-ish!

I am thankful that there is the space within this profession to perfect my craft, I hope I never stop learning how to be a better teacher and learner.
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Every Tuesday, Stacey hosts Slice of Life at the blog, Two Writing Teachers. If you want to participate, you can link up at the Slice of Life Story Post or you can just head on over there to check out other people's stories. For more information on what a Slice of Life post is about, go here.