Spring has Sprung

The first of the season. How can something so small and beautiful be so hardy? A sure sign that spring is on it's way!

Classroom Facebook?

At a recent faculty meeting in my preschool, many of the teachers were complaining that parents never read the bi-weekly class letters. The letters, which are posted to our school’s Moodle site, contain information about the current classroom themes and recent events and projects, as well as upcoming events for parents' calendars. Teachers often include wonderful photos of the students engaged in learning or exploring something new. What parent wouldn't want to check this out, right? Well, the problem is that they aren't. We don't have any great answers as to why not, other than Moodle is cumbersome/impossible to check on a handheld device, which is how many of our parents stay connected.

This got me thinking. Why not use Facebook as a way to communicate with parents? After all, most of our parents are already on Facebook. Half jokingly, I suggested this idea at that same faculty meeting. I say "half jokingly" because I knew that it would not go over easily. Like all schools, our administration and faculty are greatly concerned about internet safety and privacy, especially for our youngest students. But is the idea of Facebook as a means for a classroom teacher to communicate with families such a far-fetched idea? Many of the teachers at the meeting immediately began discussing the "how-to’s" of such an endeavor. They immediately recognized that "yes, in fact, parents would read a Facebook page". But almost immediately, the concerns too came up. How would we make it secure, how would we limit access to just our parents, how would we ensure that our parents used proper etiquette while on the classroom page?

So, I’ve recently been given the task of figuring this all out. Is it possible for our preschool to set up Facebook pages for each of our classes? I would love to hear from any of you who have ideas or suggestions that might help me along in this process. If you are a teacher, how do you currently communicate with your parents? Or if you are a parent, what would you think of a Facebook page for your child's class?

You might also check out one of Christopher Dawson's recent blogs, "Will it ever be time for Facebook?" It is an interesting read, but the comments that follow are where the real discussion takes place. Let me know what you think.

Taking a Lesson from My Children

Several weeks ago, my two younger children, Chloe, age 8, and Mac, age 10, came to me with the request to go to Toys 'R' Us. It seemed they had finally found the perfect use for the Christmas money that their grandparents had given them.

After stalling for as many days as I could (let's just say that Toys 'R' Us is not one of my favorite places), we arrived at the store. Within moments, they vanished down an aisle in search of the coveted toy. By the time I found them again, they each had an "electric" guitar and a guitar strap in their hands.


They explained to me that the guitars were called Paper Jamz; I, of course, had never heard of them. Nonetheless, they seemed to know all about these guitars. Not surprising since my children, like many children, love to watch the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, which are rife with ads for every new toy to come along.

However, what was really interesting about this whole episode was that my children had REAL information on the Paper Jamz. Chloe told me that although she liked the look of the style 5, she wasn't going to get it and had decided instead on style 18 (shown on the right). When I asked why she had decided against 5, she informed me that she had read the consumer reviews for the guitars, and the reviews for style 18 were more favorable. At this point, my son chimed in and said that he agreed. And besides, according to my son, the YouTube videos that they had watched clearly showed the superiority of style 18.



Amazing!! These were not two children who were merely going to the local toy store to buy the latest and greatest toy. They instead had become proactive in their purchasing. Had they been influenced by advertising? Certainly. But, were they passive consumers? Not hardly. They were now informed consumers. They had used resources within their means to research and investige a product before buying it. I would love to take credit for this series of events. I would love to say that I had actively modeled this behavior for them. But I can't. I can say though that I was really proud of them!

Feeding our Curiosity

I don't have any official leadership titles at my school, but I have taken on a leadership role of sorts. For the past few weeks, I have been collaborating with a fellow teacher (and member of my PLP cohort), Dana, on a weekly professional development for our Lower Division teachers (3's through 5th grade). We borrowed the idea from our Middle School colleagues, one of whom is also a member of my PLP cohort. Like the Middle School, our PD is called Breakfast Boosters, and the idea is that once a week for a half hour in the morning, we meet with half the teachers in the Lower Division and present a topic for discussion or exploration or just a "show and share" of something cool going on in one of our classrooms. Then the next week, we present the same topic to the other half of the faculty. Sometimes the topic is technology-based and sometimes it isn't. For the first few weeks, Dana and I will facilitate the discussion, but our hope is that after a few weeks, we will have other teachers volunteer to present topics. Our goal is to create an atmosphere in our division where teachers share ideas, teach one another, and try new things. And it's called Breakfast Boosters because, of course, there is always yummy food.

I would love to know what great ideas you have presented to colleagues and co-workers. What topics do you think would make for a great discussion among teachers hoping to learn and grow together? I welcome your comments!

Wordle is Wow!

I have been playing with Wordle and Tagxedo. What a great activity! I had so much fun. I can imagine that students will love this. Wordle is very easy to use. You simple copy and paste your text, and then you can play with the font, color, and layout. Tagxedo allows the user to create a custom shaped Wordle design. It is not as user friendly as Wordle, but with a little bit of playing, I was able to create a baseball-shaped Tagxedo using my son's report on his team's run in the playoffs a couple of years ago. The best part was that I had a great time creating my designs.

Here are the links to my Wordles:



my delicious tags and my daughter's report on Roger Sherman

Waiting for Superman

Last night I went to see Waiting for Superman. I wasn't sure what to expect, because everything I had read and heard about the movie was so conflicting. I was told the critics were raving, but somehow all the "smart people" that I follow on Twitter seemed to have nothing but distain for the film. In fact, I was somehow almost convinced that it would be disrespectful to my profession to even see the movie. But the curiosity in me won out. That and the offer of a free ticket sent via a former student's parent who is now a mentor with the SEED School of Maryland. How could I not at least take a peek.

Well, I am glad that I did. I am not saying that I thought everything in the movie was logical and made good sense. But the film is passionate, heart-wrenching, and thought-provoking. One of my favorite parts was listening to Michelle Rhee. What a dynamo! She is someone who seems to be doing what she feels is in the best interest of the students in DC, making hard decisions that have earned her many enemies along the way. Regardless of where you stand on the issue of teachers' unions, Michelle Rhee is one bold woman.

I also was so intrigued by Geoffrey Canada, president and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone. His story, and the passion with which he now leads the charge for Education Reform, is nothing less than inspirational.

Although, I was thoroughly engaged during this movie and inwardly cheering for the children whose journey through the charter school lottery process was chronicled in the film, I nonetheless was left with questions after it ended. First of all, I wonder if charters schools see such success rates because the children whose parents enter them into the lottery in the first place are motivated, caring parents. Doesn't that already give these children a leg up over other at-risk, inner-city kids? How successful would these schools be if their constituents were a random sampling of the at-risk, inner-city kids? I know that may not be the point. As long as these schools are saving some of the chilren, then success is success. I think this is true to a point, but we need a solutions for all these kids, not just the ones with motivated parents.

I also did have to wonder about the lack of teacher voices and school representation in the film. Why were not the teachers interviewed; why did we not see the inside of the these failing schools? Are we really to believe that little Bianca's school would not even let her participate in the closing exercise just because her mother was a little behind in her payments? Or is there more to the story that the film maker wasn't willing to show us for sake of his storyline.

None of these questions that I have are reason to not see the film or even to be moved or motivated by it. We all need to ask these questions. We all need to look for the answers, as hard as it may be to find them or agree on what they are. These is not an issue limited to just a certain group of people. This is America's issue. We all need to care. If our schools fail, we fail.

multi-dimensional reading

A colleague of mine has been using Google Earth with her students this year. They use it in their reading groups to follow the characters' travels in the books that they read. I thought, what a wonderful way to help the reading come alive for the students!





And this got me thinking. Why not do the same thing in my own personal reading? I love to read historical fiction, mainly books that deal with English history. Right now I am reading The King's Grace, by Anne Easter Smith, which tells the story of the two princes in the Tower during the reign of Richard III. I have for a long time recorded the interconnectedness of the historical figures that I encounter. I have a large family tree, which helps me keep track of how each is related to one another, and I use it to even connect historical figures from one book to another. I also like to use Wikipedia as another source to add background to my reading.





But now I am thinking that I need to add a new dimension to my reading. I want to try following my characters' travel through Google Earth. How wonderful it will be to know where Middleham is in relation to Westminster Palace or Sheriff Hutton, for example. And who knows. One day I might just have the opportunity to actually visit some of these places!