My first #Edcamp!

I was very excited to attend my first EdCamp on Friday, especially since it was for Kindergarten teachers! What better way to learn, than from a room full of educators who all teach the same grade as you? I had never been to an EdCamp style pro-d before and I wasn't 100% sure of what to expect. I had heard a lot about EdCamp from people on Twitter, but had never had the good fortune to attend one. Even though it was not a pro-d in Surrey, I applied for funds to cover my TOC so I could attend this workshop in Abbotsford hosted by Michelle Hiebert (@MauiMickey) and Meg Unger (@MegUnger).

To Michelle and Meg's surprise, they had 43 participants from 5 different school districts! A Fantastic turnout! The participants ranged from student teachers to teachers with 30+ years, a great mix for sharing and learning.

 For those new to EdCamp style workshops, participants and organizers suggest topics and people "vote" with sticky notes to show interest in a topic. The organizers then take the top workshops and organize them into time slots and rooms. The EdCampKinder day ended up being slightly different as there were a few tech workshops that all had some interest so those topics were housed in one room, while the remaining 6 most popular topics were in other rooms throughout the day. The sessions then ran by people sharing their thoughts and ideas on the topic of the session. Some sessions were "guided" by teachers with lots of knowledge in the area, while others were more free-flowing.The great thing about teachers, there is never a lack of leaders in a room to run a chat!

The first session I attended was about ideas for math. This session was held in a kindergarten classroom and led by that teacher. She shared with us all the ways that she makes her room rich in math. This particular teacher approaches number sense the way most of approach letters - a number of the week. She spends a whole week on 1 number and does different activities with the number throughout the week. This is something that I am planning on adding to my classroom after spring break. They explore the number, make it different ways (using manipulatives), draw about it, makes stories about it, journal about it and make a class poster of what they know about the number.

She also spoke about  the students exploring addition using a balance scale to come up with difference numbers that balance (equal) the scale on both sides. This is a phenomenal manipulative that I am hoping will be added to my classroom soon.

This allows children to learn and understand why things happen, and not just that 2+4=6 because I told it is. This video shown a Kindergarten student explaining his learning about math.

Here are some items around the class that inspired me!

The front of the snail made with tissue paper to show the pattern

The back of the snail to show pattern

Using a 10 frame to show the number on the calendar

Sign in board

The great thing about EdCamp is that it is a fluid day. You are free to move around between sessions, so when this group started talking about document cameras (something I know a lot about), I left and joined the conversation about apps in a different room. In this particular conversation, I became the leader as everyone else at the table was fairly new to iPads. We had a long conversation about the educational value of iPads and why they are great for kinders before I started sharing some of my fav apps. The table was blown away when I shared with them what my class last year had done with book creator. Here is the blog I wrote on that. 

Before we knew it 30 minutes was up and it was time to move on to the next session. I made my way to sharing session on behaviour strategies in the classroom. This is an area where a teacher can NEVER have too many ideas. The thing that stood out the most to me is that in Abbotsford, each district behaviour specialist has a TA attatched to them and your school based team can request that the TA comes and spends 6 weeks with a student that is having a tough time behaviour wise. I also learned that in Abbotsford, they have a special program called TKRP (Therapeutic Kindergarten Readiness Program) for children under 6 who have already been diagnosed with mental health issues such as anxiety, depression and post traumatic stress. When I googled this organization, I was shocked to find that while it falls under the Fraser Valley Child Development Center, it was only available to residents of Abbotsford.  

As a group, we shared things that we have tried with varying degrees of success in our rooms to help students with behaviour  issues, here are some of my favourites: 

•  a 30 cm ruler voice --> show kids how long a 30 cm ruler is and then explain to them that is how loud their voice should be inside. That only people 30 cm away  (or less) should be able to hear them. We talked about how a child uses the volume of their voice as for control. There are not a lot of things that a child can control 100%, but their voice is one of them. 
• "Are you making the situation bigger or better? --> demo this using a balloon. Blow up a balloon and talk about how the balloon can only get so big before it pops. 
•  Ask student “if your body could talk, what would your behaviour be telling me?”

• Provide a quiet place, such as a tent where children can go to calm down.

The conversation then turned to the differences between tattles and reporting and we ALL had lots to share, especially at this time of the year. A couple of things that I might try in my room are:

• A "Tattle Toucan" - a stuffed animal where students can tell their tattles too. Sometimes, the kids just want to be heard. 

• The  5 B’s of Tattles - don't come and tell me first unless you barf, are bloody, being bullied, have a bee sting or a broken bone.  

My final session of the day sort of "backfired" on me. I had suggested the topic of play-based learning and lots of people signed up for the session. I think we all wanted to learn more about play-based learning, the problem was that none of currently do it in our rooms.We all had ideas of what play-based learning was and had heard about it being it done in other rooms, but all of came to the session looking for info on how to transition from a more "traditional" style classroom to a Reggio Emilia play-based one. We all agreed that a play-based model based on the  approach would be fantastic, but none of us were such where to start to make sure that the learning was both child centered, but still manageable for us as classroom teachers. We ended our discussion talking about ways that do incorporate play into learning everyday in our classrooms.

For me, the BEST part of Edcamp, was being inspired the 42 other Kindergarten teachers that attended. The one that that has really hit me over the past few weeks is that we all do amazing things in our classrooms that we take for granted as they are part of our daily routines.  This video by Derek Silvers sums it up best.

Being able to share those things, it what inspires growth and change in our practice. I am so fortunate that for the last 2 Fridays, I have been inspired by so many wonderful people who have amazing ideas. It is my students who will benefit most from all of this sharing! 

Here are some pics of things around the school that inspired me! 

 

My day of learning with @MauiMickey

THE best thing that I have done for my teaching practice over the past 18 months was to join Twitter. On Twitter, I am able to connect with so many inspirational teachers from ALL over the world. Twitter is like sitting in the staffroom and sharing the BEST ideas and meaningful conversations on a daily basis. While the district has set specific professional development days, I feel that I am learning EVERY day with my PLN (Personal Learning Network) on Twitter. We share ideas about projects, have meaningful conversations about best practice and even "vent" in private about the challenges we face in our classrooms.

I have been very fortunate to meet many of the members in my PLN in person and I jumped at the chance to spend the day in one of their classes last week. Michelle Hiebert (@MauiMickey) and I have been chatting about our classes on Twitter, over text and even in person. We have been trying to find a day where one of us is in session and the other isn't so that we can visit.....well the stars lined up for me on Friday! Surrey had a Pro-D, but Abbotsford didn't, so I drove the 35 minutes east on Highway 1 to spend the day at Prince Charles Elementary.

The biggest differences between Prince Charles and Georges Vanier are the ages of the kids and the size of the school. Vanier goes up to grade 7 and had 510 kids and Prince Charles has 220 kids and goes up to grade 5. Michelle informed me that her class has 19 students and all but 1 of them are native English speakers. This also is a big change from my class of 20 where over 60% are English Language Learners.

One look around Michelle's class and you can see that the room is designed and decorated with the children in mind. There is student work posted on every available wall inside and outside the class.

Twitter Buddies

Looks like a #Geniushour project to me

Winter Art

Guided Writing on Friends

Goal Writing

Buddy Writing

Michelle has a smart board in her class and she uses this technology ALL day long from the moment the kids come into to the end of the day in free choice centers. The board is installed low enough so they kids can easily access it for items like attendance.

Twice a week parent helpers come into the class and take out 2 small groups for guided reading practice. The remaining kids work with Michelle doing a guided writing activity for about 15 minutes and then they switch. Each child gets small group time in both reading and writing. Since the theme for the month is Friendship, today they were writing about their best friend. Students enjoyed lying on the carpet and working with a small group on this project. Each student wrote 2-4 sentences about who their best friend was and what they enjoy doing together. This is something that I would like to try with my kids in the spring. My students have just started writing words with their pictures, but I see HUGE value in using the small groups and parents to help with this.

                     Working hard on their sentences

Finished work

One of my favourite things I saw (and I am SO thankful Michelle copied these for me) was the use of Wii Dance Party through the smart board to add some EXTRA fun wiggle breaks. The kids (and Michelle and I) had a great time dancing to 1 Direction and trying to keep up with the choreography on the video! Thank you Michelle for literally sharing this with my by downloading them ALL onto my flash drive!!! Party in Mrs. Pulvers' class tomorrow!!! I just need to figure out how to project this so that my kids aren't dancing in front of the projector.

Learning the choreography for "That's What Makes You Beautiful"

Story time was made extra special when Michelle projected a fire on the SmartBoard. The kids just ate it up!!  The laid by the fire, making sure to not get too close because "its hot by the fire". My comment was that if they had hot chocolate, it would be perfect - file that idea away for another time!!! 

 After recess we worked on the people for the bus for "Fin's Friends". This is a program that the Vancouver Canuck's support to help students learn about building character and social responsibility. While it is too late for this year, I am going to look into this free program for next year. I forgot to take a picture of the really cute people we made, but here is the bus that is located outside the class, but here is the blog link. 

Next was a stop in their Big Buddie's room to work on lanterns for Chinese New Year. This was a grade 5 with some very creative teachers!! I managed to convince one of the teachers (the other is the principal) that they need to come to Vainer for a visit with Michelle in April. I will write another blog about how the principal implements the science curriculum, but lets just say I was inspired by it!!! 

                                                                        

One really neat idea that I will share was their penny museum projects. With the penny being phased out, student were to make a project that could go in a "museum" to share with future generations. The project was entirely open ended and allowed the students to share their creativity. Here a few samples of their creativity: 

My day ended with the kids in center time before they went to gym with another teacher (at this time Michelle and I eagerly shared app ideas for our classes). I thoroughly enjoyed just watching and listening to the kids play. The special helper of the day was allowed to use the smart board, 2 students were on the iPad and the rest of the class was engaged in meaningful play. 

 

I am so glad that I was able to have this day to go and learn from Michelle and her students! I have so many great ideas spinning around in my head and I can't wait to get back to school this week and try them! I will be checking in on them on their class blog, Kinderpals, to see what they are up to. This was probably one of the most meaningful Pro-D days that I was experienced in a while. Going into a different class and being able to share ideas is a fantastic way for me to bring new ideas into my class. All day I was questioning my practice, questioning what I can do better and thinking of new ways to help my students be the best they can be! I cant wait until April when Michelle comes to Vanier!

"Genius Hour" for Kindergarten? Is that even possible?

"Genius Hour" is a relatively new term in education, but has been around in the business world for a few years. Organizations such as Google have an 80/20 work week, where employees are given 20% of their work week to "explore" things that interest them. Many brilliant ideas have come out of that 20%.

The short version on the education side goes something like this: In July of 2011, Daniel Pink wrote a blog about how a Credit Union in Washington was using "Genius Hour" with their employees. These employees were given time each week to use as a "Genius Hour" to pursue their passions. Angela Maiers saw this blog and re-tweeted it and suggested we need this in schools for teachers.  Denise Krebs spread this information via Twitter and her blog, both of which were discovered by Hugh McDonald  and Gallit Zvi  who were keen to try the idea in their classrooms. I work with Gallit and Hugh and their passion is contagious! More info about "Genius Hour" will be included at the end of this blog.

Gallit is my buddy teacher and our classes often do projects together. The more time I spent with her and Hugh and see how engaged their students were during "Genius Hour", the more I contemplated trying it with my class. But I was plagued by thought like, "They have ideas, but they can't research them...they can't even read" and "how would they share their learning when they can't write sentences yet".  I am very fortunate to work with an amazing group of people who are always making me question my practice and push me to try new things. My co-workers are always encouraging me think outside the box and they never let me "get away with" excuses like the ones mentioned above. Many of our conversations end with "well, why can't you do this?" These conversations make my head spin, leaving me to come up with ways to modify things to the K level. As my principal Antonio Vendramin,  tweeted last week, "It's all about the What if... rather than the Ya, but..."

I am not one to back down from a challenge, so driving home one day thinking about how to make his happen - it hit me! We can use our buddies to help us with the "research" and we can use the Book Creator app on the iPads to create books about an animal that  interests them. I knew I would need more help, so I recruited our amazing teacher-librarian Anna Crosland and asked her if she wanted to be a part of this "experiment" with my K class. Anna jumped on board and the 3 of us (Anna, Gallit and I) developed a plan. This activity was done in April/May of last year.

1)  I would make a Sample eBook with my class. This took about 3 lessons. For this book, we used Penguins as that was the last animal we studied and we made a pages for habitat, food, enemies and 3 interesting facts. We took pictures and recorded the sentence using the Book Creator app.  Here is our class book.

2) Gallit had her class write and produce stories using Book Creator to share with my class as way of teaching them how to use the app.  My class LOVED "reading" the stories their big buddies made on the iPads. Here is a sample of a book written by our buddies!

                                     

3) I asked each student in my class to pick an animal that they wanted to know more about. I gave the list to Anna, and she pulled many books on each animal for us. We set aside a 45 minute block for the next 5 weeks where both classes would meet in the library to develop their books. The idea was that the big buddies were there to guide the little buddy through the research part and assist them with putting their books together. We came up with criteria for what information should be included in the eBook and that each page needed to have 3 components: 

1. A photo taken by the little buddy.
2. A sentence scribed by the big buddy.
3. A voice recording by the little buddy talking about the page. 

I was a bit skeptical at first as to how well this project was going to work, but looking back on it now, EVERYONE  was on task and excited to be learning. The big buddies were so happy to "teach" their little buddies and the little buddies were so excited to be "researchers". There was no fooling around, no conversations that were off topic and everyone was learning something! All the doubts I had were erased when I saw how hard everyone was working and how upset they were that the work period was up! Here are some samples of finished work.

When this student started the year, she was just learning English and wasn't that comfortable speaking. Listen to how confident she sounds now talking about Cats.

Adaptations were made so that every student could participate. Here is a wonderful book from student with Autism, who has come so far since the start of the year. Here is a video of his Elephant book.

After working hard on our eBooks, we took the time to share each and every one of the books. The students were all so proud of how hard they worked and sharing their books was a highlight for everyone. What is the point of making a book, if only the teacher is ever going to see it? Having an authentic audience gave everyone a real purpose for completing the task to the best of their ability.

This is a project that I am going to do with my students again this Spring. I am so excited to give them ownership of their learning. After all, they should be learning about their passions, not mine!! With a bit of thinking outside the box, modifying for the needs of the students, anything is possible in a Kindergarten class - even a modified Genius Hour!!

For more information on Genius Hour, follow Gallit @gallit_z, Hugh @hughtheteacher and Denise @mrsdkrebs on Twitter. Also check out #geniushour chat on Twitter the first Wednesday of the month at 9pm EST  and the Genius Hour wiki. Gallit has also posted some articles on her blog about integrating technology and introducing Genius Hour. 

The tie that binds

This has been a very emotional week for me for many reasons, but as I was driving to the gym tonight I started thinking about why this week has been such a rough one for me. Then I realized one of the big things that I have been "putting off" dealing with is the passing of my grandfather. This has come to the forefront this week as my mom is in South Africa visiting her mom and brothers and one of the things they will be doing on Sunday in the unveiling of the headstone.

As is customary in Jewish tradition, the headstone is unveiled somewhere between 6-12 months after someone passes. This gives people time to grieve and this ceremony is to help provide some closure. For my mom, I know that this weekend is going to be especially hard and I wish that I was there to give her some support. I am hoping that she will read this and know that I am thinking of her, and everyone else I love who are half way around the world.

This time of the year last year was the beginning on a series of unfortunate events in my family, My mother-in-law was ill, my mother fell at work and broke both her shoulders and then my grandfather passed shortly after "our birthday". Due to her injuries, my mom was not able to travel the long distance to be with her family. I know how heart broken she was to not only lose her father, but to also not be able to be comforted by her mom. While it was difficult for her, it was difficult for me too, but for different reasons.

While I hate my December 26 birthday (it always seems to be lumped in with something), it was special to me as I shared it with my grandfather and my uncle (my dad's sister's late husband). While the 3 of us never actually celebrated together, there was a special tie that bound us together. When my uncle passed away 12 years ago, it was difficult, but I knew that every year on my birthday I would think of him and "our day". A birthday highlight has ALWAYS been the phone call from South Africa where my Oupa and I would wish each other happy birthday. I now know that last year was the last of that, well...actually the year before was the last as this past December he was sick and I had to send my birthday wish through my granny. Although I knew I would always be the last of the "Boxing Day babies", the reality of it is finally hitting me.

While I wish that I was there at the unveiling, I am seeing this blog entry as my own personal unveiling. A way for me to grieve the loss of a wonderful man who's army picture hangs proudly in my classroom. A man who I never fully got to know due to the distance between us, but someone who will always have a very special place in my heart! 

Goal Achieved!!!

My very first blog post was about my goal of running a 5km. Today I did just that! Nothing fancy; just me, my iPhone and the road! It wasn't my plan to run 5km today, it just happened! Somewhere around 3.7km I was feeling good and I convinced myself I could do it! And I did!

Just in time too...as a new challenge starts tomorrow!!!

You are who you teach! :)

I must admit that the last few hours I have been acting like a giddy 5 year old not someone who is almost 35! For those of you who know me well, this is just a small a step up from my "usual" energy level! Add in a FEW happy dances and you have me the past 3 hours :)

People have always told me that I am high energy and that it makes sense that I teach Kinders, as I can keep up with them! I LOVE to have a great time, but I also take time to appreciate the small things in life! My classroom is full of dancing and celebrations, usually for things that kids have accomplished, achieved or celebrating. Birthdays are a BIG deal in my class, but sadly, I never get to celebrate mine in class as it falls during winter break!

Well...this year I will have a little something extra to celebrate!!! My class will not get to be there with me, but I will be taking LOTS of pictures as I get to meet Hope, Nelson, Tofino, Lillooet , Steveston, Sechelt and Salt Spring; the African penguins who call the Vancouver Aquarium home (only 5 pictured here).

Words can't even begin to explain how happy I was when my mom called to tell me that she had arranged this for me! A few months back my mom mentioned that she used to work with a guy who is highly involved at the Aquarium and that she was working on getting a behind the scene tour for me. Not wanting to get my hopes up, I put this thought aside until today when I got a phone call saying that it is arranged!! In December, I will get to go behind the scenes and do a "meet and greet" with these animals that I have been in awe of for so many years! Words cant describe what a thrill this is going to be for me.

One of the things that not many people know is how much my mom does "behind the scenes" for my class. When I was teaching in California, so would regularly send Canadian postcards, pins and stickers for my class. They always got such a thrill out of this! The past 2 years, she has come and spent a day in my class helping out with a project and she often buys things that she thinks they will enjoy for me to bring in to them. This year I owe her and EXTRA BIG thank you as she also arranged for my class to go an fully paid for (I think) field trip to the Aquarium. I am hoping to confirm the details soon, but needless to say there are not enough words to say to her. With 1 simple email, she has made my year and hopefully the year of 20 wonderful 5 year olds!

If this is how my school year is starting, I can't wait to see what else it holds for me and the students I am working with this year. As for me, I will continue being 35 going on 5 by "counting the sleeps" until I get to meet these magical feathered friends! 

A new year of wonder

Today was the first day of school...technically! Although I didn't get to spend much time with the 70 new Kinders today, I am super excited to spend some quality time with 18 of them tomorrow. I cant wait, even though I will admit I am probably just as nervous as they are!

There is something truly magical about the first day of school! I am so fortunate to work at a school where the staff and students are AMAZING!!! Although it has been 10 weeks since I have seen many of these faces, it seems like we never left. Conversations around the staff room tables seemed to pick up where we left off in June, except now the stories are about all the exciting things we did over the summer! As has become the tradition at my school, we all submit pictures of a summer memory to share at our welcome back meeting. It is a glimpse into our "real lives" and seems to bring the staff even closer together. Being around such great people and hearing their stories really does " re-charge my battery". My summer was exciting and busy, but had its bumps along the way! Listening to all the great things others did has inspired me to add to do list for next year.

One of my favourite part of the day was seeing some the familiar faces from last year. Although it has only been 10 weeks, so many of them seemed to have "grown up" over the summer. They seem so much bigger and mature then when I saw them last. I received tons of hugs, lots of "Can't I be in your class again?" but most of all, I saw that familiar look in their eyes. The look of excitement and wonder! They were excited to be back, excited to learn and excited to see what this year will hold for them.

 As for me, tonight will be a "sleepless" night wondering what tomorrow holds for me! If today was any indication, it is going to be a GREAT year. A wonderful day at school followed by an AMAZING (but sweaty) workout! I am so excited to see what I am going to learn from the 20 or so new faces in my room. I am sure that each one of them will change me in some way and I am looking forward to seeing how! The best part of teaching is that everyday, every class, every year is different!