Building a Teacher Practice Network

How do you connect with other educators? There are only so many hours in a day, and who has time to reach out to other educators to see what new and innovative things they are doing, when you have so many lessons to prepare for the next couple of days! What about just trying to see if you are heading in the right direction? That's what summers are for right! Haha!

Other than Twitter, Schoology, and Pinterest, what are some other social media platforms that you utilize to engage with other educators whether it is weeknights, weekends, or even summer days?

HAVE A GREAT REFRESHING AND REJUVENATING SUMMER!

Guest Blog: Jamie Wright "The Best Year Yet!"

missjamiewright.blogspot.com

The Best Year Yet

Wow! This school year is just flying by at the speed of light.  Sitting at home today on our 14th (I think) snow day, I realized that I haven't updated my blog in some time.  I feel like I am constantly on the go, and have just let this fall to the wayside.  Today, I'd like to take some time and reflect on the roller coaster ride I've been on this school year!

This school year has been a unique year in the sense that I am teaching in a way I have never taught before.  As I was completing my coursework to become a teacher (just 5 years ago) I never could have imagined that I would be where I am today. 

This school year, we launched a K/1 Fusion.  This K/1 Fusion concept was a crazy idea that my amazing co-teacher Michelle Beitzel threw out last year.  She shared the idea with me and pitched it to our principal, Joel Moore.  Sometimes I think Joel thinks we are absolutely nuts with the ideas we throw his way, but always lets us try them.  After much brainstorming, discussion, and planning, the K/1 Fusion was born.  In our K/1 Fusion, I work side by side a kindergarten teacher (Michelle Beitzel) and a first grade teacher (Whitney Fry).  Together, we teach a group of 43 kindergarten and first grade students at Conesville.  We have worked hard this year to create pre-assessments, formative assessments, summative assessments, personalized learning opportunities, and much more to support our students' unique needs.  It has been a whirlwind of a year, but I have enjoyed every minute of it.  You can follow our K/1 Fusion journey and learn more about us on our BLOG and FACEBOOK.

I have also had the opportunity to visit other teachers' classrooms.  Visiting other teachers' classrooms gives me the opportunity to gain resources, knowledge, and reflect on my own teaching.

 I visited Amy Fox's 4th grade math classroom.  Although she teaches a completely different grade level and curriculum, I was able to gain valuable knowledge that I was able to apply to my own teaching.  After watching Amy instruct and interact with her 4th graders, I was able to adjust the way I was teaching place value and comparing numbers at the kindergarten and first grade levels.  It just wasn't sufficient anymore to teach kids to have the "alligator eat the bigger number."  Students need to understand WHY a number is greater or lesser than another number.  After observing Amy, I changed my plans and ideas for teaching this concept.  The kindergarten and first grade students had to explain how they knew a number was greater or lesser based on their base 10 knowledge.  Instead of just drawing the < and > symbols toward the correct numbers, they had to tell me why they did it and explain how they knew the number was greater or lesser.   

I also visited Emily McIntire's 2nd grade classroom.  Emily and I were co-teachers last year, but she teaches at a different school this year.  Although her classroom was small, she was able to set it up in a way that was positive and useful to student learning.  She had established many routines with her kids, so the day flowed very nicely.  Students had differentiated morning work to work on when they first entered the classroom.  After morning work, the students went to the tech lab for a half hour.  Emily had set up Moby Max accounts for the students.  Within Moby Max, Emily assigned each student activities and work that was custom to their level.  She also worked with them to set goals for themselves.  The program also allowed the students to track their progress.  The students were very engaged and excited about working toward their goals.  This program seems really beneficial to the classroom because each student had the opportunity to work at their individual level and set goals to monitor their own learning.  I want to explore the Moby Max program further and possibly implement it in the classrooms that I work in.

The next amazing thing I have been a part of this school year is our district's Assessment Literacy Team.  This team is led by our fantastic curriculum coordinator (Tracey Herron) and awesome tech coach (Christie Ireland).  While on this team, I have had the opportunity to learn more about effective and efficient assessments.  I have learned how to create quality assessments that reflect my teaching and student learning.  Having good assessments is crucial for instruction and student learning.  I have been able to implement many of the things I have learned on this team into my teaching, especially in our K/1 Fusion classrooms. 

I am also taking Teacher Leadership classes through Ohio Dominican University this school year.  In these classes, I have been able to learn more about leadership and take leadership roles through the projects.  The key point I have taken away from this class that everything revolves around RELATIONSHIPS.  Without relationships, you don't have anything.  I believe this to be so true.  The relationships you build with your principal, co-teachers, paraprofessionals, cooks, custodians, bus drivers, and students are crucial for success.  This concept of relationships brings me to my last point.

This year, I work with an amazing staff.  I absolutely adore my job and the people I work with.  And, like I said earlier....It's all about the relationships. 

I work for a principal who always has a vision.  He supports our visions as teachers and allows us to move forward with our crazy ideas.  He inspires us to be better and do better constantly.  He creates an environment for staff and students that is welcoming, loving, and warm.  He is always challenging me, which allows me to constantly learn new things and think differently.  He makes me a better educator.  

I work directly with 4 amazing teachers who help me grow as an educator.  They inspire me to do great things and have helped make me who I am as a teacher today.  Without Michelle, Whitney, and Kim, and Teri, I would not be able to do what I do on a daily basis.  They are the most supportive, hard-working, innovative people.  I can't begin to imagine working without these folks.

The staff that surrounds me at Conesville is more than a bunch of co-workers.  We are a family.  We love each other.  We take care of each other.  We support each other.  We know each other well.  We are friends outside of the walls of school.  We build each other up.  We celebrate each others' successes.  We help each other.  It has been truly a blessing to work with such an amazing group of people.  It makes going to work each day fun and exciting. 

All of these same things go for the students that we have walk through our halls each day.  We are a family.  We love each other.  We take care of each other.  We support each other.  We know each other well.  We are friends outside of the walls of school.  We build each other up.  We celebrate each others' successes.  We help each other.   These kids bring excitement and joy to me as I am blessed to be a part of their lives. 

As I said at the beginning of my post, it has been a roller coaster ride this school year, full of excitement, fun, and success.  I can't wait to see what the rest of the year holds for us at Conesville.  I can't imagine it being any better than it is right now.  It's simply the best.

Email: jamie.wright@rvbears.org

Twitter: @misswright06

K/1 Fusion Facebook

K/1 Fusion Blo
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Self-Assessment in Kindergarten

Today, I gave my first Self-Assessment to my Kindergarteners! My phonics group is working on digraphs, so we talked about what they know, and what they still need to learn. (See below)

They all were concentrating so hard to really see if they knew it. On the first section with telling if they know what sound each digraph makes, they said the letters, gave the sound and motion for each sound, and colored in the smiley face. One little guy was concentrating extra hard, and said, "s-h, man, I always confuse that one!" - he then colored the straight face! Another student had indicated that he sometimes had a hard time reading words with digraphs, and when we were done with our phonics lesson (focusing on 'sh' and reading words with digraphs), he said, "Boy, I am actually pretty good at reading these words!" 

They were so honest with themselves, and learned much more about what they were learning and how they were learning it!

Own Your Learning!

Like many other classrooms, we have to do testing to show student growth. In our district, one of the ways we measure student growth is with the use of STAR Early Literacy. My students look forward to this because they like tracking their own growth! They get upset with me if I do not give them their reports right away. We talk about their "bubbles" (scores), and why they went up or down. We have had many fantastic conversations about our scores that have impacted instruction.

ANYWAY, the other day during the testing window for the Spring Tests, a child came up to me during playtime and was all excited because "Derek" was taking a STAR test, and she wanted to take one too! I squeal, "Noooo!" Thank goodness, he had not actually started the test yet! (We had already taken ours, and you are only allowed to take it once during the window!) When I asked him why he was taking a STAR test, his response was, "I wanted to see my bubble grow again! ...... So, I can't take one now?" Bless his little heart. The other child was disappointed as well!

Now that is real ownership! I NEVER would have thought children would be excited to take a STAR test, but when you show them how important it is, they see how the test works into their instruction and learning, and THEY track it themselves, it is POWERFUL stuff!