Options, Objectives, and Optimism: Breakthroughs with Action: Snip It #3

I have always said a makerspace offers endless opportunities. It is a great tool to use for warm-ups and brain breaks. You can create buckets of what you want students to use or find. You can leave it a mess to allow for more spontaneity, or you can label each container, for easy use and inspiration. My makerspace, although at times gets organized, tends to me like me, whimsical and a little 'on the fly.' My students usually have to dig around for inspiration- but they always find the gems. Today, I strategically placed some items, for them to find, in order to lead them, where I wanted them to go.

I placed, sandwich bags, pipe cleaners, pieces of yarn, tooth picks and beads. On the board I wrote five words: nucleus, chromosome, allele, gene and DNA. Then I told them to make a model to 'show me' that they knew the organization of these components of heredity. This is what they came up with. A 3- minute activity that was a quick, informative, visual, active way for them to clear up the fog they had about these words. They are one of the most common set of terms that students get confused with in the unit. It was a good warm-up.

Google Doodle-Creating Genetics Mini-Lessons: Snip It #2

Today's Google Doodle is about Har Gobind Khorana, the Indian chemist who shared the 1968 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, with Marshall W. Nirenberg and Robert W. Holley, for research that showed the order of nucleotides in nucleic acids. This ties into our classroom topic for today, perfectly. Heredity. As I read the Google Doodle this morning, I was inspired. How much fun would it be to have students create some Google Doodle’s for our current unit? A mini-lesson is born.

                                                      (Picture created by Google images)

Students were placed into 10 groups of three. Then assigned 4 vocabulary words within the Genetics unit. They have to use, these 4 words and create a mini-lesson they will teach the class, each consisting of: a scientific article regarding their words (sharing a summary of the article), a diagram explaining how the words are connected, an analogy for each word and finally a Google Doodle (cartoon and brief summary). On Friday students will have purposeful collaboration and will share their lesson with the class. This lesson brought to you by Google Doodles. Thank you Google.

Preference Persistence: Getting Students to be More Flexible in Their Seating: Snip It #1

We are all set in our ways, to some degree. We have a certain routine and procedure, to our organization and framework, for the day. Students generally, sit in the same desk, put their backpack, in a similar location, even layout their supplies, on the table, in the same grouping. I have noticed this a lot, lately. If someone tries to upturn the apple cart and actually sit in a different seat, this throws off everyone around them. Sometimes to the point, where they will stand there and argue with one another, "You know that I always sit in that desk." Finally, reluctantly, the new comer, will vacate the seat and order is restored.

I wondered, "How can I get my students, to be more flexible, when it comes to their seating?" Flexibility comes from a sense of security and a place of compromise. To stir things up, I moved the desks around to completely new locations. I still let them sit where they wanted, a flexible, student-centered classroom is still, in full swing. However, just taking the tables and placing them in long configurations, like two giant dining room tables, has seemed to open up their minds, to a more  collaborative outlook. It has gotten them talking to people, they usually don't talk to. The new configuration, has them placing their backpacks, up against the wall, and out of the way. Finally, it has them moving seats from day to day. They are now more flexible, with where they sit. All I had to do was bring them closer together.

A Rising Tide, Lifts All Boats

There have been such uplifting and transforming blog posts lately: about reflection and growth, looking ahead and moving forward. The - #oneword2018 - campaign has energized many, to look at themselves and their role, in education and social awareness. This crusade has taken what often seems unattainable and distant, and narrows it, to something accessible and reachable. A concept not determined by others, but a conceptualization bubbling up, from a fire, deep within our bellies. Eager to get out.

I have been in a state of awe this last week, just reading the blogs of my eduheroes: Spiri Howard, Laura Steinbrink and Alana Stanton, just to mention three. There are so many, I am truly blessed to be an educator, at this time. An hour of independent, distinctive ideas, mingling with a deep rooted landscape, of commonality and integration. These three women, write from such a beautiful place, that, their words of wisdom and strength, resonate with everyone, who reads them. Each of them,  a powerhouse, galvanizing a movement. Carrying with them, a shift of self, that only a sense of community and unity can evoke.

Reciprocity can be observable and distinct or still and serene, often going unnoticed. Kind words, a smile, a simple gesture of acceptance, or a brief click of the mouse. In real life, exchanges are discernible. However, in the vastness, of the social universe, they are less so. Likes and Re-tweets, in the Twitterverse, are seemingly insignificant to some, but mean acceptance and recognition, for others. A reply, requires thought, examination, attention. In the hustle and bustle of life, many situations are tugging and prodding, us away from replying. Simply clicking a like or Re-tweet, is far quicker then writing a response. But, many of us do. I know for me when I get a response, no matter how short, I feel connected, accepted, and valued.

If you have read any of my blog posts, or been in a Twitter chat with me, you know that as a child, I was severely bullied. I felt isolated and abandoned, by my teachers especially, often being ridiculed by them as well. I hesitated getting on social media, Twitter in particular, for fear of a similar atmosphere. But, I did. It was a slow process, it took months to find my groove and figure out the terrain. But, hill or valley, I traversed the medium and found my community, my network of fellow travelers, my kindred spirits. I have been judged, a few have not been kind, but they are in the minority. Twitter is all about networking. You have to put yourself out there, for better or worse. You have to have faith, that you will find your PLN.

My PLN, has built a foundation for growth and confidence, on which I thrive. No walls, no ceiling. A canvas, on which I express myself through words. Growing up, I always kept a journal, wrote poetry and short stories. None of which, were shared. I have a steamer trunk, filled with them. Buried and covered in dust. They were my solace, escape, liberation. But, now, they are echoes, of who I was. At some point, we all need to find our bearings and break free. Twitter and my PLN has allowed me to do just that.

Having a forum like my blog, has reinforced my love of prose and expression, only the written word provides. Its a language that may seem universal, but having the choice of sequence, continuance and stream, makes all the difference. Order and effusion are everything. They are how words become story and story becomes reflection and realization. Every blog personal and global: each connecting us as educators. Reading the stirring words of other educators, makes me better. They may drudge up the sediment of my past, but they also allow me to find the harmony, in which to allow them, NOT to settle back to the bottom. Rather, to be carried on the current and incorporated into the framework of my mindset. One, built on augmentation and evolution.

Today, I am a kayak, in a tide of insurmountable possibility. I bounce and float in the ebb and flow. Below a sky, full of sea birds and albatrosses. I have an auspicious bearing, both local and unbounded. I get to look up at the ships that stir the waters, all the while, rising with the weight of their enormity and prodigiousness. A rising tide, lifts all boats. But, if we do not put our oars in the water, we will never find the current. The prevailing, undertow of change and progress. I hold the line, anchoring me, to the dock. Where, even the strongest of gales, will not divert me. I may get jostled and shaken in the storm. But, calm seas always lie ahead. I will lean in to the squall, knowing the coast guard is always near by.

Batter Up: A Swing and a Miss: Classroom Fouls, Strikes and Home Runs: 2017 in Review

Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is. -Bob Feller

2017 was definitely a year to remember. I spent a lot of time reflecting and writing. Both, with my blog and on Twitter. I even started my book- "The Shape of Things." I read many, many fabulous books, each in turn, inspiring my own writing, evoking emotions and ideas, previously unknown to me, and motivating me, to keep pushing the boundaries. Every day was a new adventure. Each class period, a new opportunity, to listen and learn, apply and adjust, and grow, in every way possible.

I tried many new things, inside my classroom and out. Yoga, which honestly, is not for me. I tried numerous times, just to be sure, but the stretching and posing is just painful. After a session, I would feel sore and exhausted, not relaxed and rejuvenated. So, I chose one pose, lotus, and switched over to meditation. Now, I find a quiet, calm, place, burn some incense and simply lean in, to the art of introspection and self-examination. 

This rumination, has the opposite effect of yoga, it renews my outlook, centers and balances me and relaxes my spirit. In fact, it is quite addicting, a daily indulgence. I only say indulgence, because it is a challenge sometimes to find the time, but I do. Like chocolate or coffee, it has become, a simple pleasure that makes me feel better.

During these reticent and reserved moments, I either close my eyes and simply stay still and meditative, or I write. Writing to me has always been reflective and tranquil, but in my serene, soothing place, it is even more so. My never-never land, Shangri-la, paradise, may change, but the result is the same: if I commit to the restoration and awakening of my spirit, it finds me and I am always replenished.

There are three types of baseball players: Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen and those who wonder what happens. -Tommy Lasorda

I have never been an extrovert. I tend to be a wall flower, simply listening and waiting for someone to ask me a question. I prefer taking it all in, at least when other people are around. I am definitely not a side-liner, or follower either. I am a conundrum. I take action, I welcome challenges and accept change easily. If it is in my classroom, I let loose and try new things, experiment and take-risks. My classroom is a venue I can control, one I am expected to control. But, if I have to convince people to do the same, I shy away.

In 2018, this will be, one of my main goals- to be someone who makes things happen. Not only in my classroom, but in my school and beyond. Every player on a baseball field has a role, without the interaction of these roles, the game would not exist. Each has to participate, be engaged, anticipate multiple outcomes. Baseball, may seem to be a simple game: hit ball, run around bases, score a home run. But, as with any sport, the potentiality of striking out or failing to make it, around the bases, is what makes the game worthwhile. 

A classroom, the field of education, brings with it the same myriad of outcomes: a lesson is successful, a home run, and the crowd cheers. A swing and a miss, a strike out, where the lesson needs to have a different pitch: curve ball, fast ball or slow ball, depending on the needs of the team. Teachers might take on the roll of pitcher frequently, but they need to also be faced with the pitch. The role of catcher, players and even the fans, may seem to be purely executed by students, but the roles must rotate. It is all a matter of perspective, are you as a teacher, in front of or behind the ball.

One of the beautiful things about baseball is that every once in a while you come into a situation where you want to, and where you have to, reach down and prove something. -Nolan Ryan

I have swung and missed many times this year. When one takes the mound, more often, than one steps up to the plate, one loses sight of the pitch. I have been hit by the ball or been struck out, more times than I can count. But, upon reflection, they were misses, because I either gave too many instructions, taking away my students control. Or, they were overly complicated and frankly, more designed to accomplish what I wanted them to achieve, rather than, what they should have been able to decide for themselves. 

The base hits were numerous: some made it to the outfield, while some were grounders, barely making it to center field. Most lessons were successful, in the sense that, students learned something, they were engaged and they actively participated. The important thing though, with my many fouls and strike-outs, is that I dusted myself off and after a quick respite in the bullpen, I walked back up to home plate, picked up a bat, and waited for the pitch. I became a hitter rather than a pitcher. Allowing my students to choose the angle of the curve, the degree of difficulty and slope of the action. Opening me up, to a more observatory role. I became a true fan of student-centered academic athletics- my classroom became even more flexible and crowd based.

The classroom dynamic, became more fluid and organic. However, what I discovered, after students took the district cumulative exam, was that at the time, students absorbed the information, but the content lacked a firm footing. It didn't resonate enough, for them to remember it months later. I decided at the end of the semester, that I would step away from the pitchers mound and home plate and be even more, of a spectator. 

I made a conscious choice, to incorporate after each inning, rather than, keeping the same line-up, or to simply wait for the 7th inning stretch, a recalibration. After each play, as a class, to review our strategies. To focus on our game errors and on how to eliminate them. When a team, as a whole, watches the playback and sees where improvements need to implemented- the club becomes cohesive and no player is left behind.

Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal. George Will

Strategies that work: one minute check-in's, makerspace/STEAM activities, collaborate pairs, the graffiti wall of big ideas and flexible seating. Not all strategies are created equal. Strategies that didn't work or were not utilized to their full potential: Podcasting, blogging and the connections board. I just had students do these a few times, they will definitely occur more frequently, in the spring semester. Students need more experience, in order to, get better, at both blogging and podcasting. 

The connections board, requires students to find articles and artifacts to connect with yarn and make an evidence board. This I admit, I didn't keep up with. Now that we are no longer focused on the human body, it will be more fun to make those larger connections with topics like: Genetics, Adaptations, Ecology and Ecosystems. The most difficult thing, for a teacher to overcome, is time-constraints. Budgeting our time in the classroom, takes balance and planning. For me, I try to do too much and it often backfires.

Goal two: simplify and stream-line. The best lessons are not overly complicated, nor are they too easy. They have found the right balance of skill, curiosity, and length. I need to create lessons that are doable, in a class period. That way, as a class, we can have more fun and explore more avenues. I tend to try to make things multi-layered. Sometimes, a base hit is okay, because it leaves room, for the next player, to fill the bases and the next player after that, to bring everyone home. It is a team effort, after all.

The best thing about baseball is there's no homework. Dan Quisenberry

Like a Baseball field, a classroom, is a diamond in the rough. It is maintained not by one groundskeeper, but by a myriad, of like-minded, architects, each with their own idea of perfection. The turf is mowed, the sand raked, the stands cleaned, all leading up to game day. Spectators file in, students take their seats. The pitchers are on the side lines, stretching their muscles, practicing their skill. Teachers are reviewing standards and creating activities.

Players suit up and motivate one another. The bull pen, may seem like a resting area, but it is one of constant support and camaraderie. A player can not fill their full potential, without the support of their team. Teachers need to have a tribe, a company of colleagues, who support them on the field. Like athletes, we as educators, need our team, our bull pen, our professional development, to push us to new heights. To hit it out of the ballpark.

There are wins and loses. No hitters and home runs. But, there are also, games that are uneventful. They are played, with little fan fare. But, they are finished, none the less. While some days, our classrooms are vibrant and energetic. Others, are quiet and routine- we need these kind of days. If we didn't have days where we bring everything together, where we reflect and build off of what we have learned, we lose sight of the content. This happened many times throughout the first semester. I now understand, that simple, deliberate, contemplative days are necessary, in order for the hustle and on the edge of your seat days, to exist.

Every day can't be game seven, the only way to make it, to the World Series, is to play every game, like you are already there. Luck, is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. As teachers, we know this. The cool thing about being an educator, is that homework is optional. The best thing about being an educator, is that growth is inevitable. Being in the classroom, will change you. You will learn from your mistakes, if you recognize them. Teaching is a pitch. Keep swinging. Whether you make contact with the ball or it whizzes by, if you don't swing, you will never hit a base run, or a pop fly, or a home run: each essential to the game of education.

A Small Fish in a Very Large Pond

Listen-
From deep within
a spark
either extinguished with doubt
or expanded
with determination
and curiosity
it speaks with
a gentle tongue
calming
focusing

We all hear it
whether
a big fish
or a small one

if embraced
it will open the
doors we close from fear
and
pave the way for
personal enlightenment
a confident tenacity
a spiritual strength
a perseverance
only we can
utilize

Size is irrelevant
whether minuscule
in the scheme of things
or at the height of popularity
internally
and
individually
stealth and camouflage
allow us to traverse
the landscape

A very large pond
seems infinite, dark in
its recesses
yet the edges are well-defined
it is a choice to swim near the surface
lights illuminating
or to dwell in the shadows
safe in the
obscured

To delve into new terrain
follow the pack
leave our habitat
is worrysome
it feels dangerous
but if we remain in solitude
we fade
if we make our presence known
we flourish
we experience
we grow

A small fish can weave in and out
unnoticed
safety in numbers

large fish are recognized
appreciated
even valued
to be a big fish one must
take risks
adhere to the adversity
and
push against the current

A small fish has purpose
and
can make even the biggest
of ripples
with a single
swish of the tail

Both large and small fish
change the course of
dialogue
conversation
and
transformation
each in their own way
with their own
focus
and their own expectations

I remain a small fish
for now
looking forward
to the possibility of growing
in size
all the while
swimming through the coral
learning new strategies
listening to the echolocation of the bigger
ocean dwellers above and below me

Twitter
an ocean of strength
for educators
each with a role in the bigger ecosystem
each contributing to
the web of
knowledge
innovation
and
reality of being a
teacher
writer
groundbreaker
trailblazer
pioneer

Three Spirits of A Learning Environment: A Visit from Classroom Past, Present and Future

“The happiness he gives is quite as great, as if it cost a fortune.”- Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol”

Time, family, friends, simple gestures of kindness and joy: these are all free and effortless, but often they feel, like they cost a fortune. Not because of any other reason, then that they make us see ourselves in the bigger scheme of things. That by just partaking and participating, in the life we have built, without desire of return, we truly become balanced: and that balance becomes happiness and happiness becomes reality.

There are many holiday movies, that resonate with us, this time of year. "It's a Wonderful Life," "A Christmas Carol," and 'Miracle on 34th Street," just to name a few. These are the films that make us remember our lives and remind us, to continue, to see the silver lining. They trigger both reflection and optimism: showing us we can always improve our lives and those of others. That we impact so many, who revolve around us, just as they make an imprint, on us. When we understand that every action has a counter reaction, we begin to strategize and rationalize, about our own behavior and its effect and repercussions.

The holiday spirit, often, orbits around our personal lives: how we embrace family and support our friends. It is about recognizing why we love and cherish, those we surround ourselves with. The essence of these few weeks, is about giving of ourselves, enjoying the moments of comfort, delight and festivity, we are deprived of, the rest of the year. As the holly and mistletoe are hung with care, the tree is decorated with the lights of renewal. We are blessed with an assemblage of our loved ones, who arrive to celebrate and reminisce about the previous year, and the new one, that is upon us.

“No space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunity misused” -Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol”

Reflection is a gift. In times of hustle and bustle, we often neglect to open the package. We place it under the Christmas tree, or in the pile of presents, to be opened later. During this time of year, as teachers, we so desperately need a respite from our classroom. We need to venture away from campus and breathe. Take in the crisp air of freedom and simply welcome in our personal lives. It can be challenging for some, me included, because back in the recesses of our minds, lies not sugar plum fairies and candy canes but our students and the learning environment, we have built, to make a difference.

Where New Years has a built-in remembrance meter: telling us to write our resolutions.  These we often toss to the side, within a few weeks. As the feeling of overload and strain, returns to our lives. Christmas, just lets us soak it all in. The holidays, provide the opportunity for a reboot of mind and spirit. I have been doing just that: being mindful of my time and devoting it to laughing and playing with my children and family. Just enjoying every moment. This blog post is being written as everyone is out shopping and I am sitting in the coolness of the Albuquerque air, watching the sun creep over the Sandia’s. A perfect time to write and reflect.

“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” -Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol”

Last night, as I played a board game with my children, I reveled in the ease of contentment. The free flowing, organic, sensibility of knowing each other so well, brings. Trusting one another, delivers a level of honesty and vulnerability, that is often only embraced, within a close-knit family. This got me pondering, as I have been doing a lot lately, that this same level of emotion and mindset, is not limited to family. It is a way of thinking, that educators employ as well. It is a commonality, found in every successful classroom.

I have made it my goal as a person: a mother, wife, teacher, colleague, friend, to not just listen, but to be present and engaged, with those around me. To offer mindfulness, in every action, I perform. If I neglect to recognize where I have come from and what has led me to this place in my life, I can become too comfortable in my surroundings. If I allow myself to become too relaxed and satisfied, then I can also allow myself, to become stagnate. The only way to be truly happy, humorous and full of laughter, is to continually seek, the unexpected and stimulating. The spontaneity of life is contagious. Irresistibly so.

Whether we are gathered around a table full of holiday treats with family and friends, or a makerspace full of interesting and challenging academic delicacies, with our students, the result is the same: discovery, excitement and joy, at the opportunity to collaborate and share common experiences. Life is as breath-taking and provocative, as we make it. The holidays highlight this. They make even the most mundane, seem magical, because we are with family that we love. In our classrooms, the community, the family, when emblazoned with laughter and good humor as well, will make every day irresistible.

“I will live in the past, the present, and the future. The spirits of all three shall strive within me.”- Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol”

I have been reflecting a lot on my various classrooms, over the past 15 years. I can hardly believe I have been an educator for that long. Seems like only yesterday, I entered my first arena, a month in to school. It was a difficult time for me, I was ill-prepared for what would face me. There was no sense of community in the room, rather a sense of abandonment, of a very free-spirited teacher with virtually no discipline. I am sure she figured she was leaving and just had fun, with little behavior management. I never did get that class fully cohesive. I was fresh out of my student-teaching, and had no sense of myself as a teacher, let alone as a disciplinarian.

The next few years were much easier as I taught 7^th and 8^th grade and thus had the same students for more than a year. This is when I was fully immersed into a classroom community. Yet, still my true voice was not unleashed. I was holding back. There were strict guidelines as to how to teach the curriculum, and my energy and self-expression, just did not fit into their model. It took a change of schools, my second of three, to unleash my exuberance and animation as an educator. This was when I committed and let loose, and it showed. My classroom was full of laughing, active, interacting, students: both eager and equipped to jump in to learning.

I admit, it took me at least seven years to become a good teacher. At least three more to become an even better one. I am still a work in progress. I have great days, where the synchronicity is there and others where the lesson falls flat. I have activities that students are still talking about months later and others, where they have forgotten them, by the time they reach the door. I always try to change things up and every year, take on something completely different. 

What works, works, but can always become better, more engaging and more meaningful. With each year, comes new faces, new personalities and new interests. I look back a lot on classroom past. I have only two, this is only, my third school in fifteen years. Each has brought challenges and rewards but my current one, has been the most so, in both categories.

“Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead,” said Scrooge. “But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me!” ― Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol”

The future classroom is yet to come, but I am certain, it will be at the same location. With the comfort and coziness of my current academic abode, also comes the continual battle to innovate and inaugurate new ideas. To be the pioneer, through the vastness of judging eyes and threatened stagnancy. When we push through the barrier, we often topple, an old regime. We must be prepared to take fire, even when the landscape seems barren. If we have shield and armor, we can truly conquer any opposition. We must lean in, to the siege, for only then, will we see success on the horizon.

The holidays are upon us, each with a unique tradition of familial joy and delight. As we traverse this time of wonderment and bliss, may each one of us find our inner peace. May we raise a glass to the experiences of 2017 and carry what we have gained, with us into 2018.

Hurricane Harvey, a new President and more tragic events than can possibly be mentioned, have fallen upon us this year. But, through them all, we have been given insight and enlightenment, that have shaped our outlook and follow-through. We are leaders not only of our families but of our community of educators: both on-line and on our campuses. We are pathfinders, trailblazers and explorers. We share, we read, we accept all opinions and insights, with a sense of curiosity and marvel.

I am so honored to know each and everyone of you. Whom, on a daily basis, inspire and humble me. I send three spirits to all of you: classroom past, classroom present and classroom future, hoping they will bring forth, for you, a sense of calm and pride, as they have done for me. May holiday cheer embrace you and bring you jubilance, good cheer and solace, that with every day you are making a tremendous difference, in the lives of your students, family and friends and that you truly are, a Christmas miracle, not fading with the season, but enduring throughout every challenge, obstacle and encumbrance that lies ahead.