Teachers are Coaches

Let it be known that I am a huge (talking Mount Everest huge) Ohio State football fan.  Yes I bleed scarlet and gray.  And yes I am busy every Saturday starting in Sept. through November watching my Buckeyes.

Our family on the MI shoreline - celebrating OH-IO!

“Did you push yourself to be great today? Because if you didn’t you lost a day.” Urban Meyer, 2012 

Now that you are familiar with my background,  last week I watched ESPN series: All-Access: Ohio State Training Camp.  It was 5 shows 30 minutes long that allowed the viewer on the inside of training camp.  I thought I was watching the show because I love my Buckeyes, but on Friday after the last show I walked out of the room thinking about the words the coaches used to encourage the players.  I am huge proponent especially after my summer virtual learning with Opening Minds about how our word choice impacts our students.  Here are some analogies football vs. classroom.  Really we are not too far apart.

Here is a video to help you understand "juice."

Opening Minds Ch. 7-9

Isn't it fun when you choose to read a new professional book like Opening Minds and as you are reading you realize that some of the suggestions that are made you are all ready doing in your classroom?  I felt this way as I read the last three chapters. There were quotes and ideas that reinforced what I need to focus on for the upcoming school year.

 I was reminded that "Learning is fundamentally social." That is important for me to remember as the year gets crazy and faster paced.  The time clock is ticking and I feel like I just need to keep teaching.  As I have OLW (reflected) on my class this past year, I believe I did not foster the social development as well in past years.  I had to teach lessons in smaller groups which I believe hurt my whole group community, and I do believe it effected my classroom.  I want to be more aware of that when school starts in the fall.  Already I am considering how to set up my room for of a community area -- one that fits everyone on the floor around the smartboard/chart so we can develop and continue to build a community feeling.

Another quote that caught my attention was "the depth of engagement." When I looked up these two words in the dictionary,  I found that depth is defined as complexity or obscurity, as of a subject.  Engagement is defined as a pledge, obligation or agreement. As I think about these terms in relationship to my class, I know that I need to do a better job in the complexity of the questions and pledge to focus on higher level thinking in all subject areas. 

Another quote that was a positive reminder was "making thinking more visible." That automatically created a light bulb moment with me from last year, when I spent the summer reading Making Learning Whole in addition I am reading Making Thinking Visible this summer.  Both of these books really helped me think differently about how to structure learning as a whole in addition to share thinking aloud.  "When children are thinking together, they generate strategies, and the strategies become available for others to use." In my career, typically the students strategies are the ones that make the most sense to other students.  They are able to explain as well as teach their friends coming full circle making learning whole.  Finally in Chapter 9, point #3 hit home:  We have to take seriously the fact that the adult is not the only teacher in the room.  I believe that however,  it is an excellent reminder as I begin to think about plans for next school year.

Thanks to Laura at Our Camp Read-A-Lot for hosting the final week of #cyberPD. Thanks to everyone who took the time to write comments.  I have to admit I felt like a child in a candy store when I opened up my blog and saw that I had 5 comments in one day.  On the flip side of the coin, I learned so much from reading other blog posts, and I would stop and wonder how did I miss that key point?  What a wonderful learning experience!  

Opening Minds Ch. 4-6

As I continue my virtual learning journey with Peter Johnston's book:  Opening Minds. I read through the next three chapters and again noticed the same pattern for me.  It is not what we say as teachers it is how we say it.  I am continuing to highlight and circle the page (my personal text connections) if there is a phrase that I want to add to my index card so that next school year I can begin to alter my choice of words.  I need help with the key phrases, so I will put the card on my clip board until the phrases become my own.

As I previewed the table of contents when I started the book, I automatically wanted to read Chapter 5: Any Other Ways to Think about That?  Inquiry, Dialogue, Uncertainty and Difference. Those four focus words caught my attention, but I waited until I finally got to chapter 5.

Inquiry:  Automatically in my mind I think of Wonderopolis and building wonder in my classroom.  Inquiry is the basis of questioning and learning. Johnston connects "Uncertainty is the foundation of inquiry and research." I envision this statement like a chain locked fence and all three together build a higher level foundation in my classroom.  I also was reinforced as he discussed the importance of teachers allowing students to see them be uncertain, to ask questions, to admit that they might not know the answer.  I am all about that in my class already! Another powerful tool he suggests is sticky notes, to allow students the chance to wonder.  Leaving a picture book open to an illustration and have students leave their thinking on the note and then come back later to continue reading the book.  I loved how that gives every student a voice in my classroom.  Finally I think I have my first bulletin board heading:  What does a conversation sound like if there is confusion?  Reinforcing the idea that confusion builds learning and inquiry.

Dialogue:  "A classroom is one in which there are lots of open questions and extended exchanges among the students." This opening sentence made me stop to pause and reflect.  The key for me goes back to my opening paragraph and key phrases that allow for open questions.  With the extended discussions, students are able to comprehend more difficult texts (ie: van den Branden)  which connects with Common Core.  The students would be focused on meaning and taking responsibility for their own learning through extended dialogue conversations.  For those students who are not connecting, I am thinking about using the sticky notes differently this year so all students have a voice in conversations.   For example, post an opening day question allow students to reflect, post and then begin the conversations later in the day.  Finally another bulletin board idea might be:  What are the tools for growing minds?  Something else for me to reflect on as I read the next three chapters.

This week's #CyberPD is hosted by Jill Fisch at My Primary Passion.  Thank you for hosting this week. I am very excited to read the other blog posts and continue my learning.

Opening Minds Ch. 1-3

I am so excited to be actively involved this year in #cyberPD. Last year I read all the blog posts and also followed the conversation on twitter but did not blog.  The book:  Opening Minds by Peter Johnston was chosen by Cathy, Laura and Jill for this summer's virtual conversations.

Chapter 1: Choosing Words, Choosing Worlds as I read this title I automatically connected back to Johnston first book:  Choice Words.  His opening statement, "as teachers we choose our words....the worlds we construct offer communities and constraints."  I began to wonder about the constraints in my classroom. Where did we have problems? Could I help to change those constraints next fall in my classroom?  Also his quote, "Teaching is planned opportunism." made me stop and reflect. The best lesson plans in the world can alter drastically with the conversations in class.  I plan on going down path A and one student takes path B yet another conversation is meandering along path C.  He ends the paragraph with the idea of intentional talk--uumm that is not anywhere in my lesson plans.  Now I am thinking it should be. 

Chapter 2:  Learning Worlds: People, Performing and Learning.  In this chapter, Johnston defines fixed performance (characteristics are permanent) and dynamic theory (ability grows based on the situation).  These two traits are defined well in this chapter, and I had to reread it to understand how these thought patterns in students really do effect the way the think, speak and behave.  There are 3 major points of influence that helped me understand these points.  #1 What we choose to say  #2 the way we frame the activities #3 how we teach students about how their brain works. Providing more of a dynamic classroom would be my goal in the fall, and I know that I would have to start first with my words and responses to my students. 

Chapter 3: Changing Learning Narratives. His opening quote grabbed me, "Turning attention to change rather than stability makes a difference in all kinds of learning." I love stability and thrive on it in my classroom but after 23 years I am focusing on moving towards change. His next idea, "Deciding which things in life are essentially fixed (can't be changed) and which things can be changed is constant tension." AMEN! With all of the changes coming in Common Core, student behaviors, state assessments, diagnostics I really need to focus on my own changes-those changes that directly impact my students' learning in my classroom.  After all even if it's a tiny bit - it is a change.

As I get ready to read the next three chapters, I have many ideas to ponder.  Thank to Cathy at Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community for hosting this weeks cypberPD.