Visiting Tennessee 11/28 -12/4

We arrived in Tennessee in the pouring rain but we didn’t let that stop us. We spent the first day shopping at outlet stores and looking for bargains.

The next day we had dinner with two friends that we had met on a cruise last January. This is the second time we had met up with them and we had a great time! I’m so glad we stay connected through Facebook.

One day we drove to Knoxville and Maryville where I found some yarn stores and antique stores. On the way back, we decided to see if the roads were open in the Smoky Mountain National Park since they were closed that morning from the snow. They were open and the views were spectacular. Icicles on the rocks shone as we drove by. Trees were coated in ice and snow. It was a beautiful winter wonderland. What a perfect way to end the day.

One day we drove to the Bush Beans Plant in Chestnut Hill, TN. After eating a fabulous lunch at the Family Café, we went to their visitor center. After watching a movie about how it all got started, we walked through the museum with wonderful exhibits. As we were leaving, we even got to meet Duke (the dog who wants to sell the secret recipe). I would highly recommend this place which is great free entertainment.

Then we stopped at the Smoky Mountain Knife Works. I have never seen a bigger knife collection than what was here. There was so much to see that we will have to go back to finish looking around. The store had tons of neat stuff to look at too.

When the weather warmed up and the sun came out, we finally got to do some hiking. We went to Laurel Falls and enjoyed the scenery. You can see so much more in the winter when the foliage is not blocking your way. We had a great time! Then we stopped for soft serve ice cream at Cades Cove before doing the 11 mile loop road. I was surprised that we only saw a few deer but we saw a lot of turkeys. Unfortunately we didn’t see any bears.

Well, that ends our week in Tennessee. We had a great time!

Things I Learned this Week:

1. Don’t let the weather stop you from doing things.

2. Ask local people about things to see and do in their area. Many people enjoy telling you about the great things you don’t find out about at the visitor centers or online.

3. Winter is actually a great time to go hiking. The views are so beautiful and you can see a lot of different things that you can’t see in the summer.

Original image by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 12/2/11

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

The Wild Classroom – videos and podcasts to use in the classroom

The World at 7 Billion – find out where you stand against the other 7 Billion in the world.

Kerbel Space Program – “Kerbal Space Program is a multi-genre game where the player can create his own space program. In KSP, you must build a space-worthy craft, capable of flying it's crew out into space, without killing them.At your disposal is a collection of parts, which must be assembled to create a functional ship. Each part has it's own function and will affect the way a ship flies (or doesn't).So strap yourself in, and get ready to try some Rocket Science!”

Reading Bear – “teaches children to read by introducing phonics principles painlessly and systematically, while teaching new vocabulary.”

Cite This For Me – “is a free generator tool designed to help students prepare their whole bibliography or reference list quickly and easily. It uses the Harvard referencing style, one of the most common referencing styles in academia.”

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original Image: Pat Hensley

Keep On Doing What Works

In Ripped Game Pants and the School Improvement Dance from Cool Cat Teacher Blog , Vicki Davis writes,

“We need to focus on fixing what is wrong about our individual schools and leave what is right. Just help improve what is right.”

She gives great examples of ways that the school changes things that are already working and messes things up. Rather than fixing anything that is broken, it is creating more broken things.

This had me thinking about my own experiences in school.

In my classroom, I had a token economy system that was extremely effective and I used it for over 20 years. It never got old or outdated and worked at every school and every age student that I worked with. I’m glad that no one ever tried to get me to change this. No one told me that “they don’t do this anymore” or maybe they did and I didn’t listen. I did make changes to the system so that they met the needs of the students but the basic program was the same every year. Students earned a “salary” for the work they did in their job as a student. With their “money,” they could buy things that were meaningful to them. Yet like in real life, there were deductions in pay for certain negative behaviors and there were also bonuses for positive behaviors. The students saw the how this related to the future and responded well to it.

I individualized math and reading lessons for my students according to their needs. I still met the standards that were required by the state but the students were able to work at their own pace and accomplish so much more. Many times I would teach a group lesson but the individual activities and assessments were geared to each student. Other teachers wanted to know how I was so successful in my classroom so they would come observe me. After seeing all that I do, they would walk away stating that it was too much work. Then some teachers started to come up to me privately asking me to stop what I was doing because I was “making them look bad!” Boy, was I shocked! No way was I going to stop doing what was working in my classroom. Luckily no administration at any school tried to stop me either.

Next door to me was another teacher who could not control her classroom. She would change her behavior plan practically every two weeks. At the end of the day, she would come to my class and tell me that her plan wasn’t working and the next thing I would know, it was changed. She never let the plan go on long enough to let the students get used to it. Without having consistency, the students never knew what to expect so the result was constant chaos.

Sometimes I feel that this is what is happening in schools. We would have a big meeting and told that we would be doing a new program schoolwide. Then it was never implemented or followed through so it fell to the wayside. If we had a program that was implemented, it never lasted more than a year. This happened so many times that when we were called to a faculty meeting to discuss a new program, we would roll our eyes and guess how long it would last. It became a constant joke and no one took new programs too seriously. The problem is that maybe one of them might have been effective but we would never know.

Then if we did get a program that everyone liked and was effective, along the powers that be come along and introduce something new to replace what we had. It was truly frustrating so everyone was afraid to invest too much time and energy into any one program.

So I want to encourage you to stand up for things that work. Don’t let them fall to the wayside. If something is working, then we need to stand up for them and insist that we keep on doing what works. Many times I hear teachers say that no one is listening to them. Then we need to make them listen. We need to keep talking and make ourselves be heard. Maybe no one is listening because we give up too easily.

What things have you tried that works but was told to change? What were you told to change but kept doing it because it worked? Please share!

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Image: 'Determination'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27547391@N02/2897189903

Opening Doors For Students

In We Need to Teach So that Kids Will Care from Education On The Plate, Deven Black states,

“The first reason is because we don’t have to teach them the things they do care about. They learn those things with or without us.

…We have to teach kids things they don’t care about so that they will care about things they don’t know about yet.”

I totally agree! Kids will learn about the things that interest them and that they enjoy learning.

But let’s face it; all of us have had to do things we didn’t like. Sometimes we had to do it or the consequences were not something we wanted to face. Sometimes we do things for survival that are important but may not be fun.

My husband and I do a lot of hiking but I don’t like learning about what to do if we are lost or hurt. I guess I like to pretend that I will never be lost or hurt but that is like putting my head in the sand. It could happen so I need to be prepared. We watch videos and read articles about things that would improve our survival rate if we were in a bad situation. Now, my husband loves this stuff and loves to learn it but I really have no interest in it. Yet I understand it is important for both of us to know this stuff.

I never liked cooking when I was growing up or even when I was grown up and had a family. I cooked so that my family would be fed but that was the only reason. Now that I’m retired, I am starting to look at recipes and experiment. I wish that someone had taught me to care about this more when I was younger.

I wish that I knew how to use tools and could build things. I am having to learn this stuff on my own because when I was in school, only boys could go to shop class and girls had to go to home ec class. I wasn’t interested in sewing and cooking back then. I wanted to create things but girls were not encouraged to build things like boys.

I work hard to expose my students to different things and explain to them that they might not care about it today but someday in the future, they may be glad that they learned about this. I have introduced my students to many new things such as learning how to mat and frame pictures, build a worm compost system, baking and making dough ornaments, landscaping the school grounds and so many other things. I’m sure many of the students didn’t care about this at the time, but years later, I hear that some of my students have gone in the landscaping business, the framing business, and into culinary arts. You never know what the future may hold for the students so we need to open doors for them.

We cannot waste time only teaching them the things they care about because they don’t know what they might care about later.

My parents would introduce me to new food by asking me to take 2 bites out of it. If I didn’t like it, I didn’t have to finish it but I had to give it a try. I do the same thing with my students. I ask them to try new activities and complete them the best that they can (give it their all and not a half hearted attempt). I am not asking them to work towards a career in this field but just get a taste of the world out there.

By letting them just learn what they want to, then we are keeping them in the same building instead of moving out into the world. As teachers, we are taking our students on a journey and showing them the many doors that can be opened to them. On this journey, they may find doors other doors that interest them but we hadn’t seen. This can be a fantastic journey for them and lead them into having a successful future.

How do you get your students to care about learning new things? Please share!

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Image: 'Porţi'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23837911@N08/3025002382

I Want to Be a Virus!

In Are You a Virus? from The Clever Sheep, Rodd Lucier states,

“Viruses often innovate in the relative safety of a closed door classroom. If you use attempt to use technology in unexpected ways, or if you use tools before they become the norm, you may be a virus. There are many innovators out there, but most, like viruses, are difficult to see. It is only through the sharing of stories, that they become visible.

Virus can replicate but only within living host. If you are a virus, do you dare share your strategies and learning experiments with colleagues? In my experience, viral replication begins through such conversation and conversion. Open sharing may be just the thing that ensures that your district; your school; your department remains vibrant.”

I want to be a virus! I want to share and spread what I know and learn! But sometimes I get tired of always moving uphill against the stream. Sometimes I think, why bother? I get tired of hearing all the “talk” and not seeing any results. It is frustrating that the world is not moving as fast as I want them to. I even see others saying that they are through with all of the “talk”! For four years I have been hearing the “talk” and been part of the talk but we need action!

After reading this article, I realized that being part of the “talk” is action. By keeping the talk going, it is spreading the information like a virus. Maybe I am only reaching one person at a time but if all the people I know who are part of the “talk” is spreading it to one person at a time, changes are being made even if we don’t see the big picture.

So now I’m back in giving the “talk” to others. I will continue to bore everyone to death who will listen. I will keep talking about how we need to encourage technology in schools and how we need to let students bring and use their own devices in the classroom. I will continue to talk with teachers, administrators, school board members, and legislators about the importance of using technology in the classrooms. I will continue to train teachers to use tools in their classrooms that will enhance their lessons but not take the place of good teaching.

I will continue to be a virus! Will you come be a virus with me? How will infect others with your knowledge and experience?

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Image: '365-223 TUE MAY 29'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96123571@N00/520201209