Support Within Creative Expression
In the early days of the school year, I developed a vocabulary workbook on Google Slides for our first CIA book, Shiloh. In order to learn vocabulary for each chapter, we would go through a list of words, pictures, definitions, and example sentences from the text. Then, students would be instructed to write their own original sentence using one or more of the vocabulary words. Many students floundered — they didn’t understand the expectations or the assignment. Many of them copied the sentence directly from the text. The next time we did the activity, I modeled my thinking as I created my own example sentence. I asked students to share some initial ideas with the class. Then, everyone wrote their own sentences! Once I implemented the “I do, we do, you do” method, student contributions improved with every practice. Soon, students were delighted by the opportunity to read their work aloud for their peers.
Consistency and High Expectations
In addition to maintaining an invariable daily order of events and establishing a protocol for participation as well as student expectations, one of the most critical aspects of developing consistency and high expectations within the classroom is the use of a few recurring learning platforms. In an in-person setting, this would take form in the use of certain types of anchor charts, learning games, and group work. In this new virtual setting, this was another thing that teachers had to reimagine; these consistent learning platforms now moved online. Over the course of the year, I have developed expertise in a few of these platforms that students enjoy and which can be used as effective tools throughout lessons across subject areas.
For example, there has not been a single school day this year that we have not used a Google Jamboard. In addition to using Jamboard for our daily mid-day meeting, I have centered Jamboard in lessons on mathematics, ELA, science, and social studies. In math, Jamboard can be used very similar to how one might use a physical whiteboard or chalkboard; it is where I demonstrate how to solve problems for students, and where students work together to discover the solution to a question posed to the class. In other subjects, the “sticky note” feature of Jamboard is immensely valuable to our classroom conversations. I write a discussion question at the top of the page, and each student fills out a sticky in response. Then, after each student has had time to think and write, students are called on to read what they wrote and discussion evolves from there. Starting the lesson with pre-made “stickies” with each student’s name already written increases accountability for all kids during the discussion; no one wants their “sticky” to remain blank!
Other important learning platforms include Nearpod, Jeopardy, and Kahoot. Nearpod has become a great tool for direct instruction in all subject areas. One of the best aspects of Nearpod is how many opportunities there are to embed checks for understanding, science experiments, virtual field trips, and discussion questions directly into the presentation. Students enjoy seeing their contributions pop up on screen, and have really responded to opinion based polls that offer a low stakes way to check for understanding as we move through the presentation as a class. Of course, students also enjoy playing online learning games such as Kahoot and Jeopardy. Both of these games function as great ways to review material before a quiz and gauge how prepared students are for upcoming assessments. In my class, students play Jeopardy in groups, and I have been frequently impressed by the quality of discussion as students debate between two possible answers, consult materials from previous lessons, and come to a group resolution. Often, students who struggle to demonstrate their knowledge in traditional quizzes come alive during these games and really show off their knowledge and potential. Giving students the power to illustrate their capabilities in various ways is an important element of maintaining high expectations because it shows them that there is more than one way to meet those expectations. Though we have been transitioning back to in-person learning for the past couple of months, I feel that these online learning platforms have become integral to my teaching style, and plan to continue to use all of them throughout my career.
Focus
As a new teacher, I have a lot of ideas, and it is tempting to try them all at once. When I crafted my first ELA unit last fall, I was overwhelmed by the opportunities. The Jane Yolen texts we were reading were so rich, and I could not wait to dissect them with my class. I got to work lesson planning, trying to incorporate all of my ideas into six lessons. My unit had no real direction, and my students were confused with the amount of material we had covered. As I reflected at the close of the unit, “I think one of the biggest challenges of learning in this unit was that there were a lot of moving pieces. In the span of a few lessons, students were introduced to new texts, and covered several kinds of figurative language as well as mood and theme. All of that information was covered in a couple weeks, and with a holiday break in between! Frankly, I think I was too ambitious with the content for this unit and I overloaded them with information. Some students are incredibly quick and were able to catch up, but many succumbed to the pressure of trying to keep track of everything that was going on.” While this was not my most successful unit, it resulted in an epiphany for my lesson planning. Since then, I have planned using the backwards design model; I start by developing a few key goals that I want my students to achieve throughout the unit, and then I consider my students, their prior knowledge, their skillset, and their interests. Only then am I able to design a plan to meet my students where they are at and help them achieve the goals I have set for the unit.
