Influencers

Last year I had a student in my class who was an influencer. He was someone who the other students looked up to, and I saw him lead the other students to new heights in reading and writing. Being a native speaker, the only male native speaker in the classroom, the other boys looked up to him and followed what he was into. (He negatively influenced them at times as well, but I will always remember him for pushing the other boys to read more often and more challenging books.)

This year my class lacks someone like that. I have a few who can influence negatively, and I have to watch out for them and keep them engaged or their attitude spreads, but I do not have anyone in the class who is pushing the other students.

Can an influencer be created? Is there a way to foster this kind of magnetism in a student?

Creativity

My coworker sent me a link to this awesome resource. This Prezi presentation entitled Tech Tools to Support Creativity in the Classroom has links to many online tools to use in the classroom.

When I clicked on "What is your definition? [of creativity]", I was a little disappointed at the responses. I don't know what I was looking for, but answers like "think outside of the box" is a mundane answer to a question about creativity. I think if you surveyed 100 people about what creativity is, more than 90 would say "think out of the box".

So what is my definition? [In terms of teaching] I think creativity is taking something and making it exciting. I don't think an idea has to be "out of the box" necessarily.

Imagine you met a teacher who taught engaging lessons. You went in and saw that person and were blown away. Now imagine you found out that person took their ideas from someone else. Would that make this teacher less creative?

Puppets

My [non-native Japanese] students are creating puppets to use in a movie to practice some of their grammar and to talk about themselves.

I love how the boy with the yellow background took the time to cut as close to himself as he could. It really makes a difference.

Unit Planning

This is in response to the question posed on Teaching Paradox: How do you plan your units? The ideas are coming fast and furious, so forgive me if this does not make sense.

When I first started teaching inquiry-based units, I viewed the Investigation Points as the main targets, or big ideas of the unit. As a result I would try to divide the units by three or four and go from there. I felt it was a good way to go.

As an aside: if units were planned this way, maybe they should all be five weeks with "blank" weeks in there as padding to either finish projects, special weeks like International Literacy Week, or maybe there is something you wanted to spend more time on; that week could give you time to review. I would also like to see two weeks in the beginning of the year being out of the unit schedule to get to know the students and have them learn routines and rules.

Last year I talked to a guy while taking an IB course and he said that he planned around the PYP Key Concepts. For example, taking my current unit, he would change the questions and use them to drive the unit.

Unit Name: The Ever Changing Earth

Central Idea: The natural features of the Earth have been formed over time and are still changing

Investigation Points: 1.The different landforms that make up planet Earth 2.How the Earth has changed, and is continuing to change 3.Why the Earth changes 4.Landforms dictate the way people live

- Form - What is it like? - What is it like when the Earth changes?
- Function - How does it work? - What makes the Earth change? or How are landforms made?
etc.
etc.

I tried this way this school year, and I found it works OK, but I find myself not really following those questions. I feel that this is a good way to plan activities however and it helps me brainstorm.
For my current unit I have gone back to the first way, but I noticed that the Central Idea is very similar to Investigation Points 2 & 3 and I was a little worried as I started the unit, but something funny happened; the students started getting very involved in it and began asking questions. Some of the girls even started crushing rocks during recess. How can you plan for that? Other students have brought in books and rock samples from home for display in the classroom.

So I have gone with the students and have let them take me to where they want to go more than I have in past units. I don't know if it is what I am doing, or if it is the content, but I feel the kids are really loving this unit.

I want to use learning targets more in the class, but I think those are more for activities rather than the unit.

I would also like to hear more feedback and opinions about how teachers plan their units. One thing I know I would love to do more of is collaboration. Maybe I could make a wiki for teachers to help each other plan their units.

iPad Apps I Think I Will Use

A few months ago now my school bought 20 iPads for the students to use in the classroom. It is a great idea, and I am looking forward to using them.

I was able to take home one of the iPads during our spring break and I plan on asking to do it again for Golden Week (a week-long national holiday here in Japan).

I only had it for that brief week, but I tried a ton of apps and knowing my students, I came up with this list.

I am looking forward to actually trying them in class.

Garden Geometry

Last week I took my students outside to create a garden. I gave them a task to measure off what I thought would be the shape of the garden.

After we went outside, I used the opportunity to teach perimeter and area.

The first activity on perimeter worked really well with my current class. The second one was much more difficult for them. After going through these exercises I edited the presentations so I can use them again in the future - and in the future I will run into new problems.

It was interesting to watch those were were engaged, and those who were not. There were also some who were "on and off". This is how it usually is in my classroom, but I expected them to all be interested in this. When we go out again tomorrow, weather permitting, I am going to have them work in teams and check each others' measurements.

It was also interesting to see who had forgotten how to measure from when we learned this in the beginning of the year.

This is how I want to teach - by doing first, then learning about why it works.

Exploring at Recess

Here are some of my students doing their rock cracking during recess. I think it is great that the girls are showing an interest in the Earth - I was afraid it would only be the boys in the beginning. On the first day I read the book How to Dig a Hole Through the Earth, and the boys were hanging on my every word, while the girls did not show much interest at all. Fortunately this changed.

I think what happened was one girl showed an interest, and some others followed the lead.

This herd mentality has happend before in my class this year. I remember I was reading a book and not many students were interested in it. All it took was one of the bigger personalities in the class to become excited, and before I knew it, most of the students in the class were excited too. I should do an experiment about that.

While I think it is great that the girls are taking what they learned in class and acting on it in their own time, I think it is time for them to do more than just crush rocks. I am thinking about having them do a picture presentation showing what the rocks look both on the inside and outside. I would also like them to identify the rocks.

Now I need to think of a way to get them as excited to do a presentation as they are excited about their rock exploration.

Stifling Creativity

Today all the elementary students in the school (only around 40) had a chance to have a Skype session with the author Mem Fox. It was a great experience not only to hear the students' great questions for her, not only to see the book she has yet to release, but to hear her thoughts on writing.

One student asked her what kind of a graphic organizer she uses. She replied that she did not even know the word. The student rephrased the question to ask how she organizes her thoughts. What Mem Fox said had my mind racing all day.

I think that outlines stiffel creativity.

Wow.

I see where she is coming from. In fact, I have been wrestling with this for the past few weeks. We are required to make unit plans that outline the activities we are going to do. My current unit is about the Earth, and the students are really into it. They have so many questions and have started their own inquiries and activities.

The picture above shows one of my students during recess. I saw her carrying a concrete block (officially referred to as a concrete masonry unit I just found out). I walked over to see what she was doing and she was using it to crush rocks to see what was on the inside.

I talked to the students about rocks when I was leading them on a tour throought the center of the Earth. How was I supposed to know that the students would get into rocks? In addition to the girls crushing rocks, one of my boys brought in a book about rocks in Japanese along with a box of rock samples. That is a great resource not only for my class in general, but also for two of my students who are in the early stages of learning English and are still learning to read.

I could fill in the unit planner with ideas knowing that they will change, but it does not feel right this time. This unit is different. This time I feel like the students are truly leading the unit and I am helping them get to where they are going.

The main idea of this unit is that the Earth is made of landforms and is always changing. I will not steer away from that point, but if the students really want to learn about rocks, isn't it my job to tie rocks in to the central idea?

Abstract Poetry

My coworker had a great idea for a different kind of poetry called "Abstract Poetry". You cut out words from magazines and newspapers and string them together.

This student was hooked on it, and whenever he has time, he rummages through my stack of National Geographics, and he goes to work.

Catching this kind of spark is exactly what I want to do as a teacher. I just wish I had thought of the activity to begin with.

Geometric Shape Art Using Kidspiration

When we started our geometry unit, I brought my students into the computer lab and had them open up Kidspiration. Under the Math menu, there is an option for Pattern Blocks.

This allows the students to select shapes and put them on the canvass. They can rotate the shapes and change colors.

I told my students to go ahead and make anything they wanted using only shapes (my next idea is to have them make a picture using only one shape instead of many). May idea and what I modeled was for them to put a bunch of blocks onto the canvas and then move them around and see what they would find.

It did not work out that way. Many students copied my bird although one made a really interesting bird from the front.

Then I saw one student who had this. Awesome.