Leveraging Learning

This academic year has been busy. Thanks to a colleague and time spent over the summer, we've worked through five units of math. That means 5 sets of essential questions, 5 sets of enduring understandings, 5 projects, 5 rubrics, 5 opportunities to hit the sweet spot of content and project design. Each unit was far from a home run, but I was particularly proud of the way kids started to evidence their math in each of the projects. It was work and it took encouragement, but it was there. Then, a convergence of events created the conditions that it made it impossible to begin Unit 6. The quarter ended, EduCon happened and Unit 5 ended before Unit 6 was ready to go. I was once the kind of teacher who would stay up all night and solve that, but I'm too old to pull all nighters and they don't generate good results, either. Instead, I planned a Gap Week. We had just covered operations with fractions and multiplication of mixed numbers was particularly weak. Likewise, we n...

This year's essential questions revolve around Bravery. It's hard to tell which came first - the question or the manifestation of so much bravery. Certainly, bravery in school is a thing. I think about my brother with dyslexia who had to show up at school every day when he couldn't read to get yelled at by his teachers. That took bravery. Or my mom who went back to school at night to become a nurse while raising seven kids. More bravery. Or my older son who started a new school in 11th grade - joined the teams, made friends and volunteered. Or my younger son who will stay up until 2:30 to finish a paper, go to school the next day and stay after for theater rehearsal. You guessed it, bravery. These overtly brave actions are typically easy to spot. They are experiences that shape us and help define our experience, but they are not the only manifestations of bravery. Not by a long shot. School was closed for two days this week. Philadelphia is in the grip of extreme c...

I've spent some time in the last few weeks thinking about bravery. To begin with, our faculty decided upon the theme of bravery for the Essential Questions that will drive the curriculum for the year. This is exciting from the perspective of middle school and the perspective of math - both require bravery. Recent events in both my personal and professional life have required me to show bravery, so it has been interesting to reflect upon what bravery is and how we access it. I asked some people what their experiences with bravery looked and felt like. It was a curious lesson in assumptions, because what I guessed people would say and what they actually said were vastly different. But a common thread in all of these discussions was a sense of vulnerability in showing who we are, exposing how we think and exhibiting what we create to others. As we ramp up for a new school year, we must do all of these - show who were are, expose how we think and exhibit what we create to others. This ...

It is difficult to believe that May is almost over and the school year is winding to a close. As a mom of two teenagers, I am well aware that time passes more quickly than any of us would like. That said, this year went by too quickly. I find myself looking at the UbDs and thinking "can we squeeze a little more time in to do just a little more?" In spite of the fact that this year WILL end - with all of the undone things of every school year and so many more - there have been some pretty large successes. For one, there is a school, where once there was just an idea. That's a big deal.  And I am really proud to have been a really small part of that endeavor. Along with that, there are many important things I have learned along the way. In reflecting what I have learned, I started listening to the things I say each day. These statements frame my days, but also provide a way to think the things I have learned over the course of this year, my first in 5th grade. Things...

We had some breakthroughs in math this week. It started on Monday when a student came in first thing to ask if I'd do some math with her during her Rover Time. Rover Time is a period in which students can pursue their own inquiry, practice skills, read, engage in discussion with others and present what they have learned to the class. The preferred Rover activity is to "research" - I'll blog about that later. But on Monday, Deija asked for math. We had fun. A few others joined in. A good discussion ensued and soon they were sharing explanations and thinking. I had planned to give a quiz on Friday, so this enthusiasm for math was exciting. Perhaps everyone would do well. On Tuesday, more people were interested. Excitement was building. We did math during class, math at Rover Time, math at lunch and math after school. It was lovely to see students teaching eachother, encouraging one another, sharing strategies and trying over and over again. You can literally see t...

Yesterday was a hard day for me. Post-election, I was in mild denial about what would happen. And then, it happened. At school, the kids were a little gloomy, too. They drew a sad face next to the date. They talked a little about their fears. And then they got to work. I wanted to find a way to act upon our collective sadness and fears. Many people are marching today to stand up for equality and justice. I wanted to a find a way to remind my students that they matter. Their work, their ideas, their collaboration, their sense of community - all have an impact. When I got home from school, I started writing progress notes to some of the kids who had shown leadership, kindness, determination or effort in the past week. It was a small act, but it made me feel a little better about things. I sent a note of congratulations to a student who had formed and was leading a project group. She and I had met twice over the last week about issues and needs. I was impressed with her ability...

A colleague was absent today. She is a favorite among the students and class seemed difficult without her - or so I heard. Our sub was not accustomed to our school culture. She was strict - which is fair when you have to be the sub. But her strictness felt like meanness to some of my students. I stopped in to check in with a student about an entirely different matter and was met with furious whispering. "What should we do?" "She is so mean!" My advice was simple. "You got this. Stay calm. Do your work. Be kind and remember that the sub is new." About five minutes later, I got some emails. "There is a problem. Please come back," one student wrote. "I just got yelled at and it wasn't my fault," wrote another. My reply remained the same: "Stay calm. Be kind. Remember she in new here." The reply from KP was the best: "I will stay calm." For her, this is real growth. After the period was over, they a...