Get the Picture? Freak the Mighty Does

When you are reading, do you get the picture? If not, why are you reading, or as Chris Tovani says, fake reading? A conversation with a student yesterday in Reading Workshop caused me to think about the point of reading.

Then, as I watched Kevin tutor Max while reading King Arthur in Freak the Mighty a connection shouted out.

As Kevin says, "every word is part of a picture. Every sentence is a picture. All you do is let your imagination connect them together." These interconnected pictures then become the movie that plays in your mind as you read a book. This is the basis of comprehension.

The student I talked to yesterday has spent her whole life fake reading. She chooses books she can't read, or that are so difficult for her that there are no pictures when she reads.

Why? She can read any book she wants. All last year she could choose her own SSR book. Yet she continues to choose books that she doesn't "get." Hopefully someday she will realize that she has a movie ticket, and just needs to turn on the show.

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The 2nd Click is Worse Than the First

What happens when a student in Reading Workshop misses a question on Study Island?  They click on the next choice, of course.



This is how it works:

1.  A student logs on to Study Island and chooses the topic.
2.  He looks at the question and then skims the essay.
3.  He rereads the question and answer choices.
4.  He clicks on the one that sounds right.
5.  He says, "shoot, I missed it."
6.  Then he goes mouse crazy--Click, Click, Click

Somewhere along the way, he gets the right answer.  After all, there are only four choices, so he has to get it right sooner or later.  For some reason, after students miss a question, the rate of answering speeds up. 

WHY???????????

When a student misses an answer, they need to

S    L    O    W        D    O    W    N!

The key to good scores is to missing as few as possible.  When a student misses with their first choice, the odds increase from a 25% chance to a 33% chance of getting the question right.  If a student uses the skill of eliminating nonsensical answers, at the worst he would have a 50/50 shot at answering the question correctly. 

I am not sure why missing an answer causes students to go click crazy and start guessing, but I have seen it happen over and over.   For students that want to be successful on Study Island, missing an answer means it is time for super slow motion.  Reread the essay. Reread the question.  Find the place in the passage the question is focusing.  Eliminate bad answers.  Then you will be ready to get the answer right!
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Who Am I?

You Need to Start Acting Like a First Grader

I just happened to be walking down the first grade hallway when I overheard one of the first grade teachers talking to a little boy. Although the teacher said it in a nice way, the implications were clear. It was time to straighten up. This little boy had better correct his actions or bad time were ahead (see the title).

This caused me to start to think about expectations in Reading Workshop. I had to be out one day last week. The students had an assignment to write a comment to a blog post. Although I usually don't assign commenting to a post, I decided this would be a great opportunity for a writing assignment.

When I started to read the comments, they were horrible. There were mistakes everywhere. Words were misspelled. Capitals were missing on proper nouns and to start sentences. The grammar was like something from a language arts horror film.

Needless to say, when I got back the next day, I was irked. Although I am usually a poster child for happiness and joy, I put on the ugly face. I screamed and shouted, grunted and groaned, and made all kind of mean remarks. I showed examples and made examples of poor work.

Amazingly, that day, I got the best work I have had all year. Words were spelled correctly, Sentences had correct punctuation and capitalization. Students' writing made sense and made the reader think and wonder. The overall quality was excellent.

What does this tell me? Students will work to the level of expectations. If I expect the impossible, and won't accept any less, they will raise the quality of their work all the way to the stars. Get ready kiddos--you proved to me that I need to expect the impossible, and you will come through!

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Study Island and Who Wants to Be A Millionaire

There were two boys in a sixth grade classroom and they never watched the show, Who Wants to Be a Millionare. Every day in Reading Workshop, they got on a computer and did a session on Study Island. This is an online learning program that their school used to help them learn indicators that the state of Ohio's Department of Education deemed important.

Now both boys were hard workers, who did all of their assignments and got pretty good grades. They didn't cause problems in the classroom, treated their classmates with kindness, and seemed to be pretty good students. All of their teachers liked them, and saw them as role models to their peers.

One day, an intervention teacher pulled them out because their reading teacher noticed a weakness in a particular area. These boys obviously were not Millionaire fans, because they hadn't used their lifelines. As the teacher worked with them, she noticed that they kept missing the same types of questions, over and over and over and they never asked for help.

Now, being the smart person that she was, she asked them about it. Neither had ever asked anyone for help. In about 30 seconds, she explained how to correctly answer these types of questions.

If these two boys had watched Millionaire, they would have used their lifelines. They could have started with 50:50 and eliminated half of the answers that didn't make sense. Although the couldn't phone a friend, they could have asked a classmate for help. They also couldn't ask the audience, but they could have asked the teacher.

This story could be a fictitious account of what might happen in a classroom somewhere, sometime. There is a chance that it might have actually happened to students in a school somewhere. The point--if you don't get it, get some help. Ask the teacher, ask a friend, stop and think. Whatever you do, do something. Don't keep missing questions.

If you want to be successful at Study Island, and in life, when things are going wrong, figure out why, get help when you need it, and fix the problem!

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Relay for Life BBall Kickoff

Last year the Circleville Relay for Life raised $39,444.10 for the American Cancer Society. Of that Laurelville Elementary raised $2855.35, McDowell raised $2148.02, and Logan Elm High School's student union raised $524.00. That totals $5527.37, which means that Logan Elm schools were responsible for raising 14% of all of the money collected in 2008. We should all be really proud of that.

To jump start this Mrs. Amy Colburn, McDowell guidance counselor is organizing a collection this Friday at the boys' basketball game. We will have separate containers for each of the six Logan Elm schools, along with one for Bloom Carroll. Help us get a great start to this year's Relay.

You can read about last year's Relay here.

Students and parents, let's see who can collect the most money Friday night. Jump in and support the Relay and show your school support, too.

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Searching Successfully

As we return to persuasive essay projects this week, some students are still attempting to find more information to support their position. All good opinion papers have specific details, fact, and statistics to support their point of view. Finding and organizing the data is often the most challenging part of this writing project. This takes hard work, and some Internet savvy.

At some point during the school year, almost every student has jumped on Google to find information. Because each student has their own PC, they quickly become use to using them as a tool, whether they need to find information, as a dictionary, or thesaurus. However, when searching for specific information, it takes slightly different skills.

One area of focus is the use of key words. Students must try a variety of search terms, and skim through the results to find the most relevant information. Also, when searching for facts about a topic, using words that relate to for or against an issue is imperative.

Examples of words that show support of an issue include:

for, pro, benefit, agree, positive effect, good points, reasons for

Examples of words that demonstrate disagreement with an issue include:

against, con, no, disagree, bad, problems with, negative effects

Just including one of these words usually narrows search results, helping find usable facts and statistics to support an opinion.

In addition, students watched this video on Google basics.

A persuasive essay will only be as good as the research that supports it. To convince the reader that you are right, you have to have the facts to make your point.
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What Makes a Good Teacher #2

In a previous post, I discussed What Makes a Good Teacher. There was an overwhelming response with many interesting comments, and opinions on this blog, and several others. With this in mind, and help from well-thought out suggestions, here is another look at what makes a good teacher.

1. Knowledge of Content
Effective teaching demands that the teacher be knowledgeable in the subject area. The teacher must have a detailed understanding of what it being taught. This includes an understanding of the entire course of study and how concepts should build upon each other throughout the students' education.


2. Mastery of a Variety of Instructional Techniques
No two classes, or two indicators are identical. An effective teacher understands this and differs instruction based on what will assist the most students be the most successful. Key concepts are presented in ways to enable visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners grasp it.

3. Dedicated to the Craft
The best teachers spend their entire career improving their ability to teach. They read and explore the techniques used by others in a never-ending effort to better themselves and their skill. The see teaching as a lifelong journey of continual drive to improve instruction.

4. Effective Classroom Manager
Discipline is not an issue. Students understand class rules and expectations, and adhere to them. When discipline is necessary, it is not vindictive, but just a consequence when a student does not do what is required.

5. Individualized Instruction and Approaches to Students
Every student is different, and at times their needs reflect this. To effectively teach all students, the teacher must understand this. The teaching and interactions with students must reflect the needs of each, with the understanding of each as an individuals.

6. Highest Expectation For the School, Teachers and Students
Only the best is good enough. Quality is expected, and nothing less is acceptable. Passion for excellence is a driving force each and every day. A good teacher makes the school better by being a part of it. He pushes himself to be the best. Failure is not an option for the teacher or the students.

As I stated in the previous post, I would never claim to do all of the things in this list. All I can hope is that I spend each day trying to live up to these ideas. Writing a post like this is the easy part, living up to it is every teacher's challenge.

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Where am I #8?

Ready for another challenge? The winner, if it's a student will get 7 million stones of extra credit. If the winner is not a student, the prize is in the quarry.




Each day I will add another clue or two. Post your answers in the comments.


Vacation spots
aren't always at the beach.
This one is
within one day's reach.


Where am I?
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A Don't Care T-shirt

I didn't notice the shirt when he walked in the room. In fact, I probably wouldn't have ever noticed it if it hadn't been pointed out to me. When I first looked at it, I didn't even know what to say. It was probably bought as a joke, by a parent or family member just trying to be funny. Or maybe they thought it was cute.

Students wear shirts all of the time with sayings on them. Sometimes almost every shirt in the room has something on it--at the least a company logo. Shirts with sayings are so common that no one really pays that much attention to them any more. But what if the saying is a badge that a student wears bragging about failure? What if the motto is one that the student lives?

I don't think I like this T-shirt. I don't like it when a student slacks, and bragging about it irks me. Hard work and a positive attitude mean a lot in this life. Living with passion means even more. You might say I am being irritable and grouchy. You might say I need to lighten up and have a sense of humor.

Well, I say, you should have cared yesterday. You should care today. And I sure hope you care tomorrow. Live life to the fullest. Work hard and play hard. Live with life with a gusto. No matter what you do, go for it.

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Blog Comment Rubric

More and more teachers are using blogs in the classroom. Writing a blog gives students the opportunity to write to an audience. Commenting provides the chance to evaluate the writing and ideas of someone, and then respond. Both types of writing on a blog require stating a thought, idea, or opinion, and then supporting it in a way that will cause the reader to agree or respond.

Blog posts are an abridged version of several types of writing. Some are persuasive essays. Others are informational reports. Many of my favorites are memoirs that share a meaningful event from the writer's day in the classroom. Occasionally a blog post is a letter or note. Often times, blog posts are a combination of several types of writing.

Likewise, comments are condensed versions of all types of writing. This makes them a valuable task for students. If students are going to comment, then their work deserves to be scored. Although commenting is not used frequently as an assignment in Reading Workshop, students will at times respond to a specific post as part of their classwork.

If it is important enough to take time in class, and if a certain standard is expected, students should have something to measure their work. As with most assignments in Reading Workshop, a rubric is used to score comments.

You can see the entire Blog Comment Rubric on the wiki. Here is the standard for an A.

	Blog Comment Rubric
Score	Basis for Scoring
------------------------= 4 or A	Concise (3 -4 paragraphs) with a specific focus Shares thoughts, ideas, or opinions Opening grabs the reader's attention while introducing the point of the comment. Specific details support information in the comment Has a "So What?", theme, lesson, or specific point that attracts the readers' attention Demonstrates detailed understanding of the blog topic Positive tone engages the reader Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization is correct

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Comments That Count

Commenting is a competition. You are vying for the reader's attention. Plus, you want the reader to listen to you over other commenters, and you want to sound better than others. If you care enough to write, then you care enough to want to sound intelligent. You are trying to make others agree with you, and know when you disagree with them. And, you want your writing to make sense, and to share your thoughts and feelings in a way that wins over the reader.

So how do you win this competition and get the readers to read your comment? How do you get your point to be the one that sways the readers?

Here are some tips for being a top commenter:

1. The first sentence MUST grab the reader.

2. The first sentence should give the reader an idea what the comment discusses.

2. Less is more. Comments longer than three paragraphs lose the reader.

3. A positive tone wins over the reader, a negative tone drives readers away.

4. W's (Who, What, When, Where, Why, & How) mean everything. Throwing out a statement without telling why it matters, or how it impacts others, or what significance it has to the reader is worthless.

5. Specific details and examples give your writing credibility.

6. Mistakes, especially in grammar and spelling cause the reader to move on to the next comment. Readers assume if you can't write correctly you are not intelligent enough to be worth reading.

Occasionally someone will say that they only comment because they want to share their point. I DON"T BELIEVE THAT FOR A SECOND. Anyone who takes the time to comment wants their comments to be valued and appreciated. They want readers to be awed or inspired. They want to be seen as smart, with-it and creative.

If you are going to take the time to comment, take the time to do it right. Win the comment contest by writing a fabulous comment that makes readers think, or wonder, or smile, or cry, or agree, or disagree. Write a comment with meaning.

Bloggers love comments. All comments are appreciated. However, nothing beats a comment from someone that is intelligent and makes a great point.
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Education Like Burger King

Have it your way,

have it your way,

have it you way,

at Burger King.

If you ever heard the jingle, once you heard it, then it bounced around in your head all day, driving you crazy. Well, what if education was like Burger King? What if you could decide how you wanted it? So much of school is based on tradition, but what if it didn't have to be? What if you could design education and your school to suit you?

How would students be assessed? Would there be grades? Would there be the same classes/subjects? Would students switch classes? Would students have one teacher or several? What would the schedule look like? What would be the school hours? Would everyone attend at the same time and the same number of hours? What role would technology play? Would any learning be online? Would there even be a Reading Workshop?

For those who have never seen the Burger King commercial, here it is.

If education was like Burger King, what would your order be?

Image from http://flickr.com/photos/ambrosianapictures/3142319248/

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Is Handwriting Yesterday's Skill?

Handwriting is still alive, but should it be? With all of the emphasis on curriculum, the need to cover the course of study, and prepare for the OAT, one must consider if handwriting is just a distraction. Although this is still a skill taught in school, one could question if keyboarding is a more relevant skill.

My handwriting is terrible, at best, even though my elementary teachers did their best to teach me penmanship. If I take my time, it is legible, but never without a struggle. When I write, it is almost always on the computer. When I read something, it is almost always digital. Anything that has been hand-written is usually brief, and most likely informal.

Recently, a post on the Core Knowledge blog explored this issue. Much of the argument stressed the need to continue teaching and using cursive writing. By the time I finished reading it though, I had this "do as I say, not as I do" kind of feeling. Even those that advocated the need for handwriting seemed to admit that they seldom used it themselves.

When I think about the careers that students in the sixth grade are most likely to have as adults, I am not sure that I can picture anywhere handwriting plays a vital role. However, technology will most-likely be an integral part of most jobs, if not when they graduate, surely throughout their lifetime.

There is a problem though. As long as students are in school, they will need to write legibly. Tests and journals will be written for grades. If teachers cannot read the writing, or have to struggle to understand it, students' grades will suffer. Even though handwriting is not graded, it could affect many scores.

What do you think? Should schools still focus on handwriting? Or should more emphasis be placed by schools on catching up with the rest of the world?

http://flickr.com/photos/bg/1532769756/
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A Newspaper's Role in Education

Recently I posted about the poor grammar used by a worker at a local restaurant. A teacher today brought in a newspaper from the town where the Wendy's is located.

Here is a headline from the paper.

Utilities work to restore power
Some have went without electricity for five days

As the voice of the area, and the written daily record of history from the county, a certain level of responsibility might be expected with the proper use of the English language. However, the dialect from an area is bound to creep in, especially if writers for the paper grew up locally.

For the most part, lack of proper grammar is not a hindrance here. "Me and" and "we was" are not even noticed in most casual conversations. In fact, overcoming common usage is one of the biggest problems students face in language arts classes.

So this brings us to the question. What is a newspaper's role in education? Should a local paper's language reflect the area, or should they serve as an example to all readers.

Image from http://flickr.com/photos/drb62/2054107736/
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Carnival of Education

Steve Spangler is hosting the Carnival of Education this week. You can see all the latest here. This week's Carnival includes the post from The Reading Workshop, You Don't Want No . . .

Day in the Life of a Technology Coordinator

John Rundage, the Technology Coordinator for Logan Elm Schools described his routine and responsibilities at a presentation at the Ohio eTech Conference. In his informative session he discussed how he keeps the district running, maintaining the hardware and software while also planning, budgeting, and training teachers.

As he states on the Logan Elm Technology Blog I have a daily routine that starts before I walk in my office. I get up at 4:30am and get ready for work. By 5:15, I start the coffeemaker and pickup my Blackberry to look at the messages that came in overnight.

From this early morning start, until the end of the day, Mr. Rundag attempts to keep the districts computers running. The fact that he is, for the most part, responsible for 800 computers and 10 servers, in six buildings running Windows, Linux (Ubuntu), and Mac operating systems is an unbelievable task. At the same time, that he is maintaining the system's security, he is also installing software and building a library of video tutorials for teachers.

As Rundag continued his presentation describing the progression of his day, Tech. Coordinators from around the state of Ohio listened in, grabbing ideas to use in their own districts. Many seemed amazed that one person could do all that John is doing, while still finding time to explore new ideas.

The fact that Laurelville has such a strong technology-centered approach to education is only possible because of the support we receive. Very few schools have a computer for every student in their language arts classes. Without Mr. Rundag's never-ending help it would never happen. The details from A Day in the Life of a Tech Coord show how much hard work goes into making technology work at Logan Elm Schools.

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Blending Learning and Technology

Wesley Fryer, an educator and agent for the combination of learning and technology in schools spoke at the Ohio eTech Educational Technology Conference. As the author of the blog, Moving at the Speed of Creativity, Fryer frequently posts about applying innovative techniques in the classroom. His presentation is available here.

Attending a conference, most people hope to bring home one or two ideas that will help improve on what they are doing. Listening to Mr. Fryer, it quickly became obvious that his message during the keynote address to open the conference had numerous thoughts and ideas for educators.

The need for integrating Web 2.0 into the daily lives of students was mentioned throughout the speech. Collaboration and connectivity were main themes. Fryer modeled this using videos, personal stories, and time for sharing with peers.

As we move through the second half of the school year, following his lead and thinking, students will have numerous opportunities for exploration and growth. Currently students are working on writing posts for the blog, and commenting on online journals. This is a great start, but only the beginning.

As we follow the ideas set forth by Wesley Fryer, students will have numerous opportunities to use technology to increase their learning. He commented frequently about blending technology and learning. This is what makes Reading Workshop engaging for the students and the teacher.

Before the end of the year, students will have chances to incorporate research, with music and videos while building a digital portfolio, including guest posts on this blog, of their writing that will travel with them as they move on towards Jr. and Sr. High School.

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When the Cat's Away, Web 2.0 Saves the Day

I am attending the eTech Ohio Educational Technology Conference on February 2-4. As anyone who has ever been a classroom teacher can attest, one of the biggest problems of being out for professional development is school still goes on. The teacher must write plans for the substitute teacher, explaining the daily routine in detail, and plan lessons so that the sub can understand them (lucky for me that I have a great sub. Thanks Mr. Fraley), and in such a way that learning will still take place.

This is a tremendous challenge for all teachers, to the extent that many just choose not to be out of the class. However, many of the best ideas I use in my class every day originated at the eTech conference. In fact, I wrote a post previously, discussing many of the contributions the conference has made to my school and my classroom. Consequently, I find myself traveling to the 2009 conference.

So when the cat's away, the mice will play. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for the mice er students, in Reading Workshop, everything they are doing while I am gone can be tracked. Thanks to the Internet, and using Web 2.0 in the classroom, all of their work is "out there."

Students took a Study Island Benchmark Test today. Great job to Lily, Bree, Austin, Makayla, Christian W., Desire', Heather, Rachael, Ryan, Jessika, and Kayla. As I sat at home and looked at your test results, I can tell that you worked hard. In fact, GREAT JOB! If you are one of the students I just named, you will be successful. You obviously do not need a teacher breathing down your neck to make you work. You are succeeding for all of the right reasons.

Students had the option of commenting on the blog when they finished with their benchmark test. Some students had insightful comments that were worth reading and thinking about. Thanks to Heather, Desire', Christian W., Bree, and Sam. However, there were a few comments that students would never have attempted to post, if I had been there. That tells me that these students need to raise their standards, for their own sake, instead of just doing a good job when the teacher is watching.

Tomorrow students are writing a letter about their SSR book. This is an assignment that they have done a few times in the past. They know how to do it. The key will be, how much effort they are willing to put forth to do a good job. If they save their work on LEWriting, our Google Writer website, I can easily check their progress.

Students are also logging on their online journal on wikispaces each day. In just a few seconds, I can check and see how much they read, their response to what they read, and if they are comprehending their SSR book. Plus, if someone (like Rachael) decides to make the extra effort and log on at home, I will be able to check this, and know a student deserves credit for putting forth the work to be successful.

Thankfully, I can spend three days learning, and still know everything that takes place in the classroom. A connected classrooom leaves no doubt in my mind what students accomplish each day while I am gone. When they cat's away .... some mice keep working hard--WOW, do they deserve a good job.

Image from http://flickr.com/photos/swissbones/327559662/

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A School Climate that Thaws Snow Storms

Over half of the teachers in the building were at school on Friday. It seemed like they had a variety of tasks. Some were getting caught up, while others were planning ahead. Two were already considering plans for IEP students taking the Achievement Tests in April. It seemed like one might have shown up just to argue politics (See the State of the State post to see the right/optimistic side of the discussion).

So, what's the big deal, you ask? It was a snow day. School was canceled. The roads were nasty, and it was cold and windy. The teachers did not have to be there. The fact that so many 4 - 6 grade teachers battled the snow and ice to come to school is reflective of the attitude at Laurelville. Teachers want to be there, and want to do well. There is an interest in seeing the students succeed.

There's more to it than that though. There is a certain hominess to the building. In a day when schools are facing so many challenges, this building is different. There is a distinct feel to the building. Teachers feel a part of the school and want to be there.

School climate was a hot topic a few years ago. School climate is the learning environment of the school and how it makes students feel. Lately that has been forgotten with NCLB and all the emphasis on testing. The focus in education is on scores and achievement, and intervention, and the School Report Card.

When you are in a building where there is a warm climate, where people feel a part of the school, you know you are part of something special. There is an attitude that you can feel. It is hard to describe, but when you are lucky enough to be a part of it, you know it's there.

The road conditions were way too bad to have school. I can't help but wonder though, if we had told students, come on in if you can, how many would have showed up. Maybe a few would want to do some research for their persuasive essay. One or two might want to work on their online journal. Some might have wanted to come in and trade books, and just read for a while.

How about it students? Would you have stopped in for a while? Would you have spent a little time just hanging around and catching up? It seems to me like some days it's sunny enough on the inside to thaw out even the worst of the snow storms.

Image from http://flickr.com/photos/28603429@N06/2667617304/

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