Category Archives: Inclusion

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My “New York Minute”* Continues

*In a New York Minute – Definition: “Equates to a nanosecond, or that infinitesimal blink of time in New York after the traffic light turns green and before the ol’ boy behind you honks his horn.” (World Wide Words)

I just got off the phone with the producer at MSNBC that is my contact with The NBC Education Nation Teacher Townhall, and she informed me of the following: I will be onstage with Brian Williams and John Hunter of  The World Peace Game Foundation in the second 1/2 hour of the 2 hour Teacher TownHall talking about innovation (It begins at 12:00pm EDT). There will be 3 sections to our time: 6 minutes, 7 minutes and 6 minutes long that will include Brian Williams asking us questions – and questions and comments from the teachers in attendance. I’m considering how to make my opportunity valuable, hoping I learned something from my short panel yesterday on how to be more concise (yeesh).

Yesterday I had an enjoyable time at The New York Times – Schools For Tomorrow conference, and I want to thank them for their hospitality and for running an informative and generally wide ranging conference with differing points of view. There seemed to be a good balance of opinions (I did not see every panel discussion, but close to it). “The Teacher Perspective” panel I was on with AFT President, Randi Weingarten and Jeff Piontek, was an “add-on” panel that they set-up in response to complaints of a lack of teacher voice – therefore it was a frustratingly short panel discussion. We each got to make some short comments and the time was up. They assured me that this was their first attempt at this, that they do plan to do it again next year and they have learned from this initial production.

Learning is messy!

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Getting to Know You

Each year one of my favorite first week of school activities helps me figure out my first quarter seating arrangement while also helping students get to know one another. I’ve done this with 3rd graders through seventh graders. I don’t have a name for it, but here is how it works:

The first day of school as students enter the classroom they are instructed to find a seat anywhere they want. My classroom, by choice, has tables instead of desks because I like the collaborative nature of a shared space. What tends to happen is that we mostly end up with “Girl Tables” and “Boy Tables” with an exception here or there. This year (I’m teaching 6th grade) there were no exceptions, all the tables were boy or girl tables.

The second day of school after we have settled in for the day, I explain that we are going to change seats, so gather up your things. Next I explain:

1) You may not sit with anyone you have already sat with. 2) You may not sit at a table you have already occupied. 3) All tables must have at least one boy and one girl. 4) You SHOULD try to help by being willing to move so things can be worked out if someone is having trouble finding an appropriate seat. (Note that back in the day when I taught 4-5-6 multi-age classes you had to have at least one 4th grader, and fifth grader and a sixth grader at your table – just another problem to solve.)

We also have a conversation about “inclusion” and making others feel included and what it is like to be not included (and we do more lessons during the week about that using books like “Crow Boy” and “The Brand New Kid” and “Chrysanthemum” and others).

What happens next is that a few students quickly find a new table and sit down like they are playing musical chairs. Occasionally this is followed by a look of relief on their face. Others mill around looking for a table where there are students they know or a table that looks “safe.” Others hold back to see what will happen and fill in where they can, and others wait to be “helped” either by other students or the teacher.

Next we trouble shoot what happened and make sure everyone has a seat. This year only one student was left seat-less on the 3rd day only because she had been at the same table, that was solved by a student that volunteered to move so the seatless student could find closure.

The third day of school we do it again after we review the day before and think of ways to help each other … that was today and although many students still lookout mainly for themselves, there was more thoughtfulness. We discuss that and why it is so hard to give up a seat to help another … it mainly comes down to worry that the new table will not embrace you … major scary for 6th graders. We talk about that too.

The fourth and fifth days can get really hard … at least a bit more complicated. By that time most students have run out of “safe” friends to sit with. Usually we end up with more standing around. This gives us a great lesson on how this feels … how scared we are of rejection and not being included … it’s  a bit scary for me because you have to handle this part well if there are really at risk students involved … although I’ve never had a major issue, we’ve gotten close … this can be somewhat scary stuff, but a great point of reference for the rest of the year. Students that have nowhere to sit … not because they really don’t, but because they are afraid to sit and have a comment made – feel it, but you can tell almost everyone else feels bad for them (if that even happens) so it is a great discussion … it’s breakthrough awareness for some.

Usually the groups we end up in the last day become my groups for the first quarter (I keep my students in groups for longer periods now – I used to change them a lot, every week or so, but at risk kids often have less experience with commitment and this makes them have to deal with each other and work things out over time … not assume that in one or two weeks I’ll be away from that kid).

Learning is messy!

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Turning The Corner

I’m told I’m a pretty upbeat person. I usually note the challenge in something and take it on, or deal with it as positively as I can. One of the self imposed challenges I’ve taken on gladly the last few years has been to embrace a new 21st century pedagogy that is still in its infancy (somewhat) and make it as powerful for my “at risk” students as it can be (see examples- here, here and here). Partly because it is the 21st century and education seems stuck somewhat in the convergence of the 19th and 20th centuries, and because the more I delve into the possibilities the more powerful and engaging I have found them to be.

My students and I stepped into a shiny new school year last August with that as our recent legacy. And we weren’t alone. (see here, and here for examples ) Some of the aspects that make this new pedagogy rich are the collaborative and connective possibilities it invites, enables and leverages. But like anything that is valuable it must be done with rigor, and rigor takes time if done … um … rigorously. But that was good because that was what we were doing … we were finding that students were motivated to do things with rigor when we had them participate this way … it made rigor easier to get to because students wanted to do well, wanted published work with their name on it to be “good.” So we started out in good company with schools and students and teachers we had met and joined with along the way AND the promise of more to come.

We weren’t entirely disappointed by what happened next – we still did some good things …. but disappointed we were. We ran full bore into the “innovative,” “school reform movement.”

Now you would think WE would be a key cog in this “innovative school reform movement,” right? After-all we (and by we I mean my class and all the other classrooms and teachers and educators we have worked with the last 4 to 5 years – and some we have not been involved with directly but are out there too) … so … after-all we have been developing, participating in and truly innovating in teaching and learning and new ways to get at this education thing that mostly people tend to agree is stagnate, and behind, and is way past due changing! I’m afraid WE were wrong. Apparently “innovation” is synonymous right now with “old ways” tied to “new testing” (which seems mostly like “old testing”)… well and data and assessment …. and then more data and all the meetings and in-services that includes.

But still, no one told us to stop doing what we had been doing. AND no one told us to stop doing new things even. It’s just that BEFORE we could do those things we had to do THEIR things … with rigor. In my case that meant a schedule that included 2 hours and 45 minutes a day of literacy (during which you WERE NOT to teach science or social studies content … you could teach HOW to use a textbook (that might be on a test),  just not the content) and 2 hours a day of math. I had 45 minutes PER WEEK of science OR social studies, no art, no PE. This is what “innovation” looks like during reform evidently. To me it was more like the old days of Readin’, ‘ritin’ and ‘rithmetic.

My class still blogged, but not as much. Still did projects, but not as much or as deep. I’ll let your imagination figure out how we even did that with the schedule I provided above. Others were going through the same, and those that were still “free” were beyond incredulous as to what was going on … or maybe NOT going on. Imagine if we were supported in what we do and collaborated and coached each other and made what we were doing even better? Frustrating? Yes. And many people and departments that you would think would be cheering us on were at the root of our frustration. We’ve been a glum group I’m afraid.

But it seems there might be light at the end of this “reform tunnel.” Others are becoming aware and speaking up (including the President it seems in an ironic twist), and the lockstep of the media uncritically reporting what some have wanted reported has softened some. How can I tell? Because there is suddenly a desperation in the current “reformers’ ” tone, rhetoric and actions.

I’m also buoyed knowing that what many of us have been doing is a right way to go. A great way that IS innovative, that is rigorous and engaging. Other reform models seem heavy on the rigor and very light on the innovation or truly being engaging. NOTE: I was actually told this year that testing IS engaging and motivating if “done right.” If students are constantly charting their improvements and seeing where they need to go next, that is all they need to motivate them according to some. Is that good enough for your kids? (and remember the narrow curriculum piece that goes with it!) If so, go for it. But note that the students that tend to be involved the most in this kind of reform have the least voice in what their education looks like, and the “reformers” children do not experience the reforms their parents thrust on others.

I think we are turning a corner. There are more voices out their now and we all have to jump in to amplify them and make sure they (and we) are heard. A big part of that is sharing what you do in your own classroom, or if you are not a teacher, what your children do that is truly innovative, engaging and powerful for them as learners. Remember too, the Save Our Schools March, on July 28th through the 31st.

Learning is messy!

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My TEDxNYED Talk – Posted

Several weeks ago I had the honor of taking the stage on the 40th floor of  7 World Trade Center in New York to participate in TEDxNYED,  “…  an all-day conference focusing on empowering innovation in education, … being held in New York City on Saturday, March 5, 2011.”

I’d like to thank the organizers that brought me there, they were an incredible group that saw to it that things ran smoothly: Karen Blumberg, Co-Curator The School at Columbia University – Basil Kolani, Co-Curator The Dwight School – Dan Agins Pawcatuck Middle School – Sean Freese Lawrence Woodmere Academy – Kiersten Jennings Chou Independent Curriculum Consultant – Tamara McKenna The Elisabeth Morrow School – Erin Mumford – Nightingale-Bamford School – Jeff Weitz Horace Mann School

As I watched the presenters the themes that were reverberating were change, student centered learning, creativity. Find them here.

I’m afraid I went over my allotted time, a minor glitch with the timer, my fault for not noticing as I started, I take solace in that I’m not the first to do so.  : )

Learning is messy!

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The Tightwad Tech – The Interview

A few weeks ago, after many attempts trying to find a time we could all make, Mark and Shawn at The Tightwad Tech managed to coral Lisa Parisi and myself across timezones long enough to interview us about how we utilize a changed pedagogy utilizing tech (usually for free – hence the “tightwad” connection). Here is a link to the podcast. We had a great time. Give it a listen … and Thanks to Mark and Shawn for inviting us!

Learning is messy!

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Make Their Day!

My 4th graders are mostly second language learners and on IEP’s so they need lots of practice using correct English, punctuation and spelling. Since we blog, Skype, make wiki pages and more, I believe constantly exposing them to the ethics, safety and respect that having a presence online demands. To that end I devised a new blogging activity for them to participate in.

Kids like to help out. That’s just the way they are. So I chose a 1st grade class that blogs and explained to my students that being “older” they could “Make The Day” for these younger students by leaving them some positive, supportive comments. We even discussed any experiences they had being included in a game or activity when they were “young” by older kids and what that was like for them.

So far they have taken to this idea very enthusiastically! Here is the activity description from our class blog:

“This week we are going to practice making positive, supportive comments and make the day for younger bloggers at the same time! First, go to the first grade blog linked on our class wiki page. Then find a blog post that you make a connection with. You might have to deal with “invented spelling” that you have to decipher. EXAMPLE: It is a post about a cat and you have a cat too.

Next, say something positive about what they wrote or the picture that might accompany the post, like: “I like how you described your cat. I have one too.”

Then ask them a question like: “My cat is white, what color is your cat?”

Leave it fairly simple like that, after-all they are 1st graders.

Edit it and post it to their site.

Have fun and MAKE THEIR DAY!”

Learning is messy!

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Ran Into A Former Student

My family was given some “unused” tickets to the local production of The Nutcracker last night (which was fantastic btw). We sat in a section where most of the audience were families of children with cancer or in remission of cancer. I was recognized by one of the organizers and she let me know that a certain former student of mine was in attendance. I get asked fairly often how she is doing, I haven’t seen her in over a year …  but I’m ecstatic to inform you she is doing very well … looks really good. I wish I could say more, but can’t … other than to say that as inspiring as the story in the video is, if you knew more of her story you would be even more impressed by what she has overcome and how she stays so upbeat. She had a big smile and a hug for me and we talked for just a few minutes. My Holiday Cheer level was definitely raised!

Learning is messy!

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A Special Anniversary – January 24, 2007

A year ago today was a special day in the lives of my students and I suspect many others. Why? January 24th just after lunch was the first time we video-Skyped Celest, a classmate with leukemia who could not attend school, into our class. Ironically, Celest (who is well enough now to attend school) won’t be in class today because she is in for a check-up and some testing related to her cancer treatment. I’ve re-posted below my account of that day and you can click HERE to see the award winning video my students produced last year showing how we Skyped her – it includes a short clip showing the first time we connected. I have been telling people that our video has been downloaded over 100,000 times, but last week I found out that isn’t entirely true. Upon checking the stats (which obviously I don’t do very often) I found out it has now been downloaded over half-a-million-times (500,000).

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Wednesday, January 24, 2007 Skyping Celest – Day One – The Whole Story

We couldn’t begin first thing in the morning because we had the NAEP test to do – one last obstacle to get over before we could try our grand experiment. The plan was to wait until after lunch and then connect-up (Skype-up?) for the first time. Fortunately, I had Celest ring us up as soon as the class went to lunch – this turned out to be one smart move because when we clicked on our video buttons our image came up right away but the image from her end was black. I tried the few things I could think of, all the time repeating to myself, “but it worked flawlessly twice last night!!!”

I had 25 minutes before eager students would return from lunch, so after checking out with administration I zipped over to her house. The problem? There were at least ten applications open. Windows … their only experience was with Windows … and I hadn’t had a chance to brief them about everything the night before. They closed applications by clicking the windows closed not realizing that that did not close the application on a Mac. I restarted the computer and made the return trip.

At 12:30 video cameras were revved up to catch the event from 2 angles. Students tried hard to settle, but most were on their knees in their chairs hardly able to contain themselves. To begin I projected the image onto our Whiteboard. A ring sounded, I clicked the green phone icon and then the video button and in a matter of seconds Celest, who had shown up on my daily attendance since October, entered our classroom for the first time.

Hellos and waves were exchanged all around – I pivoted the web cam around to each table in the room so all could be introduced. Faces beamed. Now what?

I disconnected the laptop from the Activboard and moved it and the web cam I had taped to the top of a tripod to the front table – the students there gladly made room for their new classmate. I pointed the web cam at the board and had paper distributed all around (including Celest) – Yes I know – why are we using paper when we have laptops and Celest obviously has a computer to work on? Composing on a computer takes some getting used to, we will get there, but we’re not there yet.

I connected my Mac to the ActivBoard and started a pre-write brainstorm about our experience. I adjusted the camera angle once so Celest could see clearly and she followed along with the session easily. After the brainstorm we all wrote a rough draft and then word processed them on our computers. At one point Celest got my attention and wondered if it was OK if she went to the bathroom – how cool is that, she felt like she was at school! I reluctantly allowed her to go (couldn’t she have done that during lunch? : ) Our school counselor, Ann Marlow, who made most of the calls that made this happen – including making the connection that got us the new iMac, walked through and said her hellos and noted the writing everyone was doing – she was both relieved and thrilled this was finally happening.

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When Celest let me know she was done typing I talked her through spell checking and some other editing pieces, and then led her through emailing her file to me at school. This became her first post on our blog.

About then it was time for us to go to the library, so we said goodbye to Celest since library would take us to the end of the day. And, after many goodbyes of course, and the photo below, our first Video Skype experience was over.

Thursday, Celest attended for a bit more than an hour – she practiced her multiplication facts online with the rest of us and did some reading before she went off for chemo. She paid us a quick visit on her way home just before dismissal – mask on, no wig – she couldn’t make it today – we understand why. Monday will be a fresh day … except that we have ITBS testing all morning – all week, so it will be afternoons only.

We storyboarded our video about our experience today using the Flipchart software in ActivStudio, we will try to finish shooting it and editing it next week with Celest’s help – if so I will post the video for all to see. The students came up with some great ideas.

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The Gift That Keeps On Giving


Boxes!Originally uploaded by mooosh

We are at the end of our extended vacation on the East Coast – Fort McHenry and other Baltimore points of interest tomorrow and home on Friday.

We got into our room tonight and thanks to me bringing along my laptop, and free wifi in our hotel, an email came in from one of the childhood cancer support groups in Reno (The Keaton Raphael Memorial) that have helped Celest so much. Skype has donated 4 web cams and headsets to them so they might use our model to include other children with cancer to attend school using video-conferencing. Like Celest sometimes these children have to travel 250 miles to the San Francisco Bay Area to get special treatments at Oakland’s Children’s Hospital. Here’s a quote from the email:

“We have been thinking that the best way to utilize the equipment right now would be to initially set it up at Children’s Hospital in Oakland (where Celest and the majority of the Northern NV kiddos are treated) as a way for families to keep in touch while one is away at treatment and the other is at home with the other children (if applicable). There is a Reno mother currently in Oakland that is halfway through their 180 day stay. Her husband and three other children are in Reno. They are having a hard time keeping in touch and are perfect to try out the Skype set up.

I am heading down to Oakland Monday July 30 to help get them started. They already have internet accessible computers available for families to use, so I will just be bringing the web cam and headsets from Skype. Eventually we will have laptops available. I plan to head the family’s home in Reno on Friday to deliver the other webcam and help them get set up from home. That way we will be able to test it while I am in Oakland.”

She goes on to ask if I have any tips and could offer support if they run into any issues. I mean is this awesome or what!?

Yeah … this free Web 2.0 stuff … no impact on student learning.

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More Media Coverage And Some Really Cool News!

Last Tuesday a reporter from the local paper came to spend 45 minutes to do a story about how we Skyped Celest into class, but now-she-was-able-to-return-and-she-knew-how-things-worked-in-our classroom-because-she-had-been-here-via-Skype. Two hours and 45 minutes later he left. He stayed because he saw students blogging and using our class wiki page and working on more than 20 wiki pages we are making for a local animal park. Today 2 front page stories (Here and Here) came out about what we are doing with technology in our classroom (the reporter explained to me last week that they put the story off until now because it came after a three-day weekend and helped fill the pages on an “off-day”). Actually he did a pretty good job.

I tried to push the web 2.0 story, but that came out as “free software” and didn’t really capture the essence of web 2.0, … but he tried.

The other news story that happened today was that a producer from NBC Nightly News called me to do a story about Celest … but she decided that since our last day is next Wednesday, it was really too late to do a story this school year – she’ll keep us in mind for next fall – Celest has been granted a variance to be in my room next year so that if things don’t go well she can go online with us again.

The way cool news is that representatives from a local cancer support group talked with me last week. They told me that there are over 40 students like Celest in our area and that about 10 of them are at risk students that they would like to support by doing Skype set-ups like we did this year. A computer and web cam at home and one at school. We’ll see where this goes. Hmmm … using web 2.0 to connect students to learning, What a concept!

Learning is messy!