Opinion Clines

Scaffolding Language Scaffolding Learning: Teaching English Language Learners in the Mainstream Classroom by Pauline Gibbons is the Chets Creek book study that I have been attending led by our Reading Coach, Melanie Holtsman.  There are about fifteen teachers who meet each week after school from first through fifth grade, including a couple of Math teachers. We only meet for forty five minutes so Melanie has quite a challenge to get us thinking. The third strategy from Chapter 3 that I have tried  is called "opinion clines." (I admit that when Melanie explained the strategy I doubted it could be used with first graders!)

The idea is to arrange items in a line representing a continuum.  Student need knowledge to be able to make decisions so I decided to use the characters from our Kevin Henkes Author Study.  The students know these characters well and relate to these characters.  I put a continuum on the board with "worried" at one end to "never worries" on the other end. The challenge was for the students to use their knowledge of  Kevin Henkes' characters and to place each of the characters on the continuum using reasons to support their opinions from the books. Putting Wemberly at the worried end was a no brainer. He is the main character in Wemberly Worried, but making a decision of where Sheila Rae, the brave and spunky Lilly fit was a little more challenging. Soon the discussion and disagreement started.  The students argued back and forth using examples from the book, and accountable talk, to try to change opinions.  When we couldn't come to a consensus, the students voted and the above is the continuum the students finally agreed upon.  Not bad! 

Donut Circles

I talked about our book study, Scaffolding Language Scaffolding Learning: Teaching English Language Learners in the Mainstream Classroom by Pauline Gibbons in the previous post.  We are led by our Reading Coach, Melanie Holtsman who always tries to have us practice something as if we are students so that we can better understand how the students feel,.

This week we read Chapter 3. This chapter talks about the philosophy behind collaborative work and why it works so well with our ELL students and then gives some suggestions for group and paired activities across the curriculum.  This time, we decided to try "Donut Circles" which is a well known activity that can be useful for students with low levels of English.  This activity allows for practice and rehearsal which are so important to our EL learners. Children sit in two concentric circles with equal numbers of students in each circle.  The outer circle faces inward, and the inner circle faces outward so that each student is facing someone from the other circle.  The pairs talk in turns to each other for a minute about a teacher-suggested topic.  After both students have had a turn, one of the circles moves clockwise to face a new person, while the other circle stays still, so that everyone is now opposite a new partner.  The process of exchanging information is then repeated...

So... we set our first graders into two circles facing each other.  Because we didn't have an even number, I took a place in one of the circles.  We chose the question,  What is your favorite Kevin Henkes book and why to go along with our author study and because it is something we knew the students had thought about because we had ranked the books the day before.  We wanted students to practice giving their opinions and backing up the opinions with reasons.  This activity would be a precursor to asking students to write their opinion about our favorite Kevin Henkes book and to give reasons and evidence from the book.

We went about five rounds. We had the inner circle share first and then the outer circle share with their partners  for each round, and then the outer circle rotated and did the same thing with a new partner.  As the students rotated before me I noticed that as we continued to rotate the answers got quicker but with much more detail. On the third round, I sat in front of one of my EL students, a student who traditionally struggles with English.  To my surprise, he easily articulated his favorite book and gave me a really good reason!  Wow!  This is a strategy that we need to place in our tool box often.

Trying Something New: "Hot Seat"

One of the great things about teaching at Chet's Creek is that we are always involved in a book study. Right now we are reading Scaffolding Language Scaffolding Learning: Teaching English Language Learners in the Mainstream Classroom by Pauline Gibbons with Reading Coach Melanie Holtsman. It is an especially timely book as our second language population continues to rise each year.  Melanie always tries to tie the words we are reading directly back to something that we can do the next day in our classroom, so that the learning sticks!

This week we read Chapter 3, "Collaborative Group Work and Second Language Learning."  This chapter talks about the philosophy behind collaborative work and why it works so well with our EL students and then gives some suggestions for group and paired activities across the curriculum.   Melanie always tries to have us practice something as if we are students so that we can better understand how the students feel, so... we practiced  "Hot seat" where a student pretends to be a character from a shared book  and answers question from the class as if he were that character.  Melanie always asks us to try out one of the strategies that we are taught so we can share for the next time (is she a great teacher, or what?)  So... as we left, my co-teacher and I talked about how we could use "Hot Seat" as a strategy in the author study of Kevin Henkes that we are deep into right now.  We really want to eventually do some close reading using the lens of looking at one of the characters, Lilly, because she appears in several of the Kevin Henkes' books, but we knew her character was "too big" to begin this activity.   So my co-teacher volunteered to do the first round and pretend that she was the character Wembery from Kevin Henkes' Wemberly Worried. Wemberly worries about everything so she was an excellent first choice for us to pick.  I explained the game to the children and then reread the book, telling the students that they should look for parts in the text that led them to questions for Wemberly.  This book is FULL of the things Wemberly worried about so the questions came so easily.  Enjoy the video snippet of Tracy playing the part of Wemberly as the students ask her questions, using the text!

After about five minutes one of the students came up and whispered in my ear that he thought he could be Wemberly, so "going with the flow" (as Grandma suggests in the book) we had him take the "hot seat."  He did a remarkable job!  The students were so engaged.  Our ELL students DID ask questions!  Tomorrow we will try Sheila Rae, a strong Kevin Henkes character, and then next week, our ultimate goal, Lilly!

The Summer Slide

This summer I have a looping class which means that the children I taught in kindergarten will loop up with me to first grade. Although there is always some natural attrition- parents separate and divorce and move away, parents are transferred, families move back home- about two-thirds of the class end up staying for the second year. I've looped classes before and one of the things that I have seen over and over is what is now being described by Richard Allington as the "summer slide."  It's simple. Children that don't read over the summer most often fall back a reading level when they are tested at the beginning of the new school year and those that read regularly, often visiting the public library weekly, move ahead a level. As you can imagine, the students that fall back are often those that are already behind.

So this year our Leadership Team thought they'd try to do something about it. Reading Allington's research is all it really took to light a fire under this Team. . Before I knew it, our media specialist had met with the Scholastic rep and designed an online summer reading program. She met with teachers and encouraged them to get kids logging in the last week of school. Several of our children were on the computer logging in the minutes they had read that very night. Of course, as you might expect, the students that were first to log on are also the ones that are already ahead and whose families  already furnish a rich language experience in their daily lives.

The challenge has always been how to encourage the others. Fortunately this program offered handouts in Spanish which helped many of my second language learners understand the expectation.  It even provided a paper version that the students could hand in at the end of the summer for those that don't have computer access. We were fortunate to have the Principal's support so she has offered a "prize" to any student that logs in 1500 minutes during the summer. We have pushed summer school teachers at our school and the two camp leaders that meet at our school to become involved.

Now I need to take responsibility for inspiring my own students and keep them reading throughout the summer.  My goal is to have 100% of the students log in at least once during the summer or to bring me a list of minutes at the end of the summer - no small task. This week I sent a personal post card to every student who has already logged in to congratulate them on their summer reading.  I am hoping to start an exchange with those students to encourage them to not only read, but to write.

I sent a letter to those that haven't logged on yet, urging them to give the program a try and sending them their user name and password again and a log sheet just in case they haven't logged in because they don't have computer access.  Now this will be the third time I have sent this information on how to log in, but I figure if their parents keep seeing it, they might decide that it's important.  And besides most of these students (and their parents) will have to face me again in the fall! I don't know if this extra effort will really pay off but I certainly believe it will. In two weeks I will be sending encouraging emails - instead of using the postal service - and then two weeks after that I thought I'd start sending selfies of me reading at home, in the car, at the beach, to my grand kids, and every other way I can think to read.  I'd do a headstand while reading but I can't do a headstand! I  am hoping the children will begin to send me selfies back of them reading!  Can't wait to see if this eliminates the summer slide in my returning students!

ESOL Rant Update

Since my last rant about having to take 5 courses of ESOL while I am in DROP (last five years before retirement), I have corresponded with everyone in the county at every level to try to find a way to meet this requirement and actually learn something. Couldn't find anyone willing to give me an independent study. My only options seemed to involve long drives for boring put-you-to-sleep lectures or busywork computer courses - neither of which appealed to me. Finally I found out I could test out! Know how I found out? Facebook!- something not mentioned in any of my correspondences with the district!  So today I took a half day of instructional time away from my kindergartners, trucked out to UNF, spent 45 minutes trying to find a parking space (really UNF, if you're going to charge me $3 to park, at least send me somewhere that I can find a parking space!), and spent a couple of hours passing a test to add the ESOL endorsement to my certificate.  Did I mention the $200 it cost me to take the test?  Or the $75 to add it to my certificate? Did I mention that by taking the test I didn't learn a single thing that will make me a better teacher to my precious ELL students- something I desperately want!

So... I am $275 poorer and not one bit smarter, but I have jumped through the hoops to assure I can teach another year.  Do I sound mad and disappointed?  I am.  I'm mad at my county for presenting lackluster professional development in an area that is so important.  I'm mad that my county refused to accept real hands-on application level work to meet this requirement. For the first two classes I was able to volunteer with ELL children and their families at the MARC , a community center in the midst of a large mobile home sight that houses many of the ELL families at our school, but someone decided that that was not good enough to meet the requirement. So,  instead of volunteering every week - 180 hours - to tutor my ELL students in their community and putting a face on education for their families, I felt compelled to opt out with a test!  That time could have made a real difference in the academic progress of my children and the engagement of their families, and who am I kidding? - it could have made a difference in my life!  If the county is willing to accept bare minimum professional development for teachers - professional development devoid of passion and engagement - are they willing to accept the same bare minimum for its students?  Yes, I'm disappointed...

ESOL Endorsement

"I took the BEST ESOL course!"  said no Florida teacher ever! For years, I heard teachers complain about the ESOL courses they were required to take (after a 1990 legal decision). Boring, worthless, waste of time - were the words most often used to describe the courses. I can't think of a single time in all these years that I have heard a Florida teacher say they learned something or even enjoyed one of the courses.   Don't get me wrong.  We need strategies for understanding, engaging our ELL students.  It wasn't the need for the professional development that was the problem but the design of lackluster professional development course that was the culprit.  As a Special Education teacher, I was never tagged to take the five required courses and from reports from my colleagues, I was always glad. 

I actually am one of those people that usually love professional development.  I love learning something new and I am what they call an "early adopter."  However, what I HATE, more than anything, is to totally waste my time.  There is a lot I need to know and children I need to figure out.  I only have 180 days with this group, so I don't have a minute to mess around.  As I have gotten older I have been able to choose PD more carefully and find ways to make the requirements fit my needs.  Often I could talk an instructor into letting me redesign an assignment to do a case study of a student in my class instead of some type of generic project - and usually they appreciated someone that wanted to work at the application level. It was probably always harder on me, but I've never minded if there was something to learn.  I chose great conferences to attend or wiggled my way into trips to study with some of the best educators in the country.  In fact, that's how I came to Chets Creek.  In 2000, I wanted the professional development that they had available, so I struck a deal.  I became a part-time Literacy Coach (never really wanted to leave the classroom) and in return, I jumped into their amazing professional development - and never looked back.  County professional development was a little trickier because it seems that they most often wanted to reteach me the same things that I already knew at a beginner level instead of differentiating.  However, I could often find a way to opt out, if I knew ahead of time.  And then for the past 14 years, I have been at Chets Creek, where they understand professional development.  I could write volumes about that - and I have!  Here, the PD is job embedded, on the clock, on-going, differentiated.  It's relevant.  It continues to push me to be better.

So... when I was tagged three years ago for ESOL, in my DROP (last five years before retirement), I was not excited (That's an understatement!)  It's not that I don't want to know more about my ELL kiddos, but I didn't look forward to going through mindless courses that required me to check boxes and jump through hoops instead of participating in real learning that would make a difference.  So, with the help of some key people at Chets, we asked to be able to design our own learning, which included actual site work at the MARC.  The MARC is a resource center, now funded by the Mckenzie Wilson Foundation.  It is a multi-organizational support for families in a 1000 mobile home community that is in Chets' attendance area. Most of our ELL students live in this area. It is quite a story all by itself.  I couldn't be prouder of my colleagues who continue to change the world, one child at a time, at the MARC. 

What we designed was individualized and "up close and personal."  The County's ESOL Department, at the time, recognized the benefits of that kind of hands-on work and allowed us to combine professional reading with face-to-face time with children and families.  During that professional development, I spent several Saturdays helping families get food from Second Harvest.  I understood for the first time that I actually had children in my class that were not getting a meal at night... sobering.  I helped parents choose gently used clothes for their children during a Christmas clothes giveaway.  I tutored each week - making the difference between failing and passing for several of my students. I visited homes and my eyes were opened to the survival circumstances that my children were living with every day. When the days got shorter and I walked out of the MARC at night, I understood, for the first time,  the fear that families faced for their child's safety.  I had so many parent conferences at the MARC that I have lost count, but I could always find an interpreter in an aunt or older sister - something not as readily available at school.  These are parents that I could NEVER get to come to school anyway.  Parents began to see me in a different way.  They saw me in their neighborhood.  They reached out.  They became less afraid and began to realize that we could work together to help their child.  How many times did a parent come in early to sit and watch as I tutored?  They wanted to know how to teach their child.  Have these three years of PD made a difference?  You have no idea!

However, now I still have two more courses to take.  New administration.  New ideas.  Work at the MARC will no longer be accepted in lieu of the ESOL course. It seems that my only option is an on-line course offered free through the district (unless I want to pay for a college course - which I would be willing to do if it were meaningful).  I've inquired about an independent study. No.  I'm open to suggestions.

MARC Opens for 2013

In the name of McKenzie Wilson the MARC is open in the Portside community for another amazing year.  Volunteers from Chets Creek and other teens and adults from the community and from local churches come to tutor at the MARC in the afternoons. The MARC offers an array of other services to the community.  Our Kindergartners are welcome to come on Monday afternoon from 4:00 to 6:00!  What we try to do is simply to level the playing field for our youngsters by giving them those extra few minutes of instruction that we are not able to give them in a class 36-38. Many are second language learners.  I am really privileged to work with a couple of super dedicated Chets Creek Kindergarten teachers who have come faithfully every single week.  This is truly a labor of love.

 

Kindergarten Round-up

Welcome to Kindergarten Round up.  You probably have that at your school too - a time when new kindergarten parents can come to the school, get a tour of the building and begin the registration process.  About two weeks ago we had such a night at Chets Creek.  Many parents came with their kindergartners, met the Principal and toured the building with one of our kindergarten teachers before they took the registration information home.

However, we have noticed over the years that our families from our neediest community do not come to Kindergarten Round-up.  Instead they wait until school starts and come with their students on the first day or first week of school.  We generally have 25-35 new kindergartners from this community each year and instead of having time to prepare for the new year they just walk in totally unprepared.  This year we decided to address the problem by having a second Kindergarten Round-up in their community.  Instead of them coming to the school, we went to the community, to the MARC.  Since many of the families are second language, the Principal made sure to have  an interpreter on hand to translate.  The Principal started by introducing herself, just like she does at the traditional Round-up.  She even brought her 8-month old daughter with her so the parents could see that she was a mom too.  She explained the registration information and then gave the families a visual tour of the school through a PowerPoint of slides.

The night was quite successful with about 16 new kindergartners represented.  The Principal gave the families other dates, one each for the next three months, that she would be at the Community Center to accept registration packets and answer questions.  This is just one of the many attempts that the school has made to build a bridge that will make it easier for all of our children to be successful.  Now we will be prepared for each of these new kindergartners.  They will walk into school on the first day with their names on the class list outside the door, with their names on their cubbies and school supplies on their desk ready to go.  They will know that they are expected and that they belong.  What a great way to start!

Making our MARC

I know I have posted about the MARC (McKenzie's Academic Resource Center) before- our little seed of an idea for an on-site tutoring center in a community of 1000 mobile homes that lies on the border of our school boundary.  But I was reminded once again tonight about how a little idea and a small group of committed people can change the world.

Two years ago our Leadership Team had this small idea for improving the outcomes for some of our at-risk students.  We met with the owners of the mobile home site and asked for a small space and soon a few very dedicated teachers began tutoring some of our neediest students after school.   As I sat in the Recognition and Appreciation Dinner tonight, I was surrounded by Girls, Inc who  furnishes counseling to families; Beaches Resource who matches families with resources; Second Harvest that now comes through the mobile home park once a month dropping free food; Beach United Methodist Church volunteers that put on a faith based program every Saturday for the children that includes games, praise and worship, and lunch: Angie, who facilitates a preschool program and lunch that has just mushroomed; a second language teacher who volunteers her time at night to teach adults English as a second language; and a slew of teachers from Chets Creek who volunteer their time every single week to tutor along with some retired teachers - all of this now hosted and funded by the McKenzie Wilson Foundation.  All of this from just a little seed of an idea!

How fortunate we are to the McKenzie Wilson Foundation that funds the activities at the MARC.  The Wilson's lost their beautiful teenage daughter to a sudden illness.  Instead of having her death ruin their lives, they decided instead to dedicate funds to doing something special in her honor.  Funds for the MARC is just one of the many projects that they selected.  It makes a profound impact on me that they would allow their beautifully-spirited daughter's name to adorn our little Center.

I am just so proud of the school and teachers that I work with.  One of our teacher assistants now runs the Tutoring Center and our Behavior Interventionist's salary is being paid by the McKenzie Wilson Foundation to the school system as she works as a liaison between the programs.  My little group of four faithful Kindergarten teachers, who make sure the Center is manned on Mondays for our Kindergarten tutoring day, average about 12 kindergartners each week.   They are some of our neediest students and we can see each week how the extra tutoring is making a difference.  I just feel blessed to work at a school with a Principal that allows her teachers to dream and then steps outside- of-the-box to make those dreams a reality.  We believe that dreams really can come true!  Blessed indeed!

Author Visit: Carmen Agra Deedy

One of most special traditions at Chets Creek is Media Specialist's KK Cherney's commitment to bring a children's author or illustrator to our campus each year.  This year the children and staff had the opportunity to hear the delightful children's author, Carmen Agra Deedy.  The children were captivated by her stories.  She was born in Cuba and came to the United States when she was three years old.  She told the primary students about leaving Cuba and about her first year in school in Decatur, GA as a first grader and as a second language learner, and about finding common ground in baseball and the peanut man.  Not only was her story heart-wrenching but it was so funny!  She had the children in the palm of her hand!  She told other stories to the assemblies of older students and even met with a group of second language learners during lunch.

Principal Susan Phillips used one of Carmen's books in the morning to provide monthly professional development for the teachers around her book-of-the-month.  This month the teachers walked in to find the Cuban folktale, Martina,The Beautiful Cockroach as their selected book for the month. The table was set up with Cuban coffee ( which was wonderful!) and Cuban bread!   However, the beautiful book was written totally in Spanish!   The Principal asked the teachers in groups of three to read the book and figure out what the story was about as the author watched from the back of the room! 

It was quite interesting to watch the teachers - responses mirrored what we see from our second language students on a daily basis, from those that simply gave up because it was too hard, to those that tried to figure out the story from the few words that they knew (often incorrectly), to those that used other strategies such as looking at the pictures to figure out the story.  The point was to put teachers in the place of a second language student... and it worked quite well.  Principal Phillips then gave the teachers a list of researched based strategies for teaching second language students and asked each group of teachers to write ways that they would use the book to reinforce one of the strategies.  Those teacher-generated ideas will be housed on the school's book-of-the-month wiki so that teachers can return to and use this book, that is now part of their classroom library, each year.

Carmen Agra Deedy with
my kindergarten granddaughter

Students were allowed the opportunity to order one of the author's books before the holiday, so after lunch each of those children was invited to the Media Center to meet with the author and have the book signed.  What a thrill it is for these young students to actually meet a published author!  I loved hearing some of the older students talk about how they have a signed book from each year they have been at Chets Creek!  What a treasured gift of memories.

It was such a special day for the teachers and the children, especially some of our second language learners.  Many of our students heard books by Carmen Agra Deedy for the first time and others revisited books they have loved and had been hearing for the weeks leading up to her visit.  For many this will be a day that is pressed into  their  memories for a long time to come and it will help them realize that authors are real people and help them visualize the possibility of becoming an author themselves! For some of our second language learners who are struggling each day to comprehend what is going on around them, I think this visit must have renewed hope as they look at how well things turned out for Carmen.  Amazing day!

Check out this delightful retelling done by a Cuban-American (former teacher) mom with  a kindergartner in Mrs. Mallon and Mrs. Dillard's class!  People just wouldn't believe what happens at our school!

ELL

In Florida, because of a lawsuit many years ago, all teachers are required to take courses in teaching second language students once they have their first student.  I have been teaching for over 40 years and I have never been flagged for ESOL which means I've never been told I had to take the hours.  That's because I am a Special Education teacher and it used to be highly unlikely that a second language student would be identified with special needs in the early grades.  However, two years ago three little Hispanic children from the same family all showed up in my classroom on the same day (two were twins and the other had been retained).  They had already been identified as students of a second language and students with developmental delays, so...  I was flagged that year - the same year that I officially retired and entered DROP (our state's retirement program).  I was NOT happy.  I just couldn't believe that after all those years, that now, at the end of my career, I would have to take  college courses on strategies to teach second language students to continue teaching.

Most of my friends have had to take the courses and most described the time of sitting three hours a night as similar to that of any other poorly designed professional development.  The strategies they described were so similar to the ones that we are already using for our students with language deficits and other academic challenges.  They learned about diversity, but I come from the years when home visits were a regular part of a school year. How was sitting in those courses now going to help?  Then, as often happens (Divine intervention?),  I had the idea of doing an independent study and actually doing action research to meet the requirement. I was already spending time at the MARC (our tutoring center in our large Hispanic area).  Why couldn't I use those hours for ESOL certification instead of sitting in a classroom and simply reading about the problems. The time with the kids at the MARC actually requires me to apply the strategies and it forces me into the community where our tutoring center is housed.  It took several phone calls through the Ivory Tower to find the "right" person, Karen Patterson - someone to share my dream and my enthusiasm. 

As time passed, that simple idea began to germinate.  If it would be better for ME to meet the ESOL requirement through service, then why wouldn't it be better for the many other teachers at my school who were already involved in this volunteering effort?  It wasn't long before I shared that idea with KK Cherney, our dynamo Media Specialist.  She immediately realized the potential of this small idea.  She had already been thinking about spreading the idea of our volunteer tutoring center all over the county and this was one of the answers on how to help staff those centers.  Teachers from all over the county who needed ESOL hours could choose to spend their time applying the strategies instead of just sitting in a sterile classroom and reading about them.  It would put teachers directly into the community working with children and their families.

That "big picture" hasn't happened yet.  The dream has not been fulfilled but the dream has spread.  Karen and Sharon Patterson are helping us realize the dream.   Today, our first little wave of putting teachers into the community through ESOL hours, came to fruition.  A handful of teachers met with Karen and Sharon, our ESOL supervisors, and shared their written reflections and artifacts - pictures, blog posts, student progress.  Teachers not only participated in weekly tutoring.  They were in the community for Second Harvest food giveaways and hosted children while their moms worked through classes in English.  They participated as 50 families were helped through our Angel Tree project this week.  They helped host a huge Christmas party that included crafts and stories and even the big red man himself. 

Has this experience changed any these teachers?  There is no question that each of these teachers have logged hours in this community.  They have formed strong relationships with children and families.  They have been inside homes.  Some have shared meals.  They have had conversations, often through interpreters, with parents who would never have come to school for a conference.  They have been touched by the dreams that they have shared with the children.  This grassroot effort has the potential to mushroom into something beyond what we can now imagine.  Stay with us for the ride.  The best is yet to come...

Taking a Look at the Data

We are so fortunate in Duval County to have Early Release Wednesdays every other Wednesday of the month.  These days give us an extra hour and a half for professional development every other week.  Usually we spend the time with our grade level and work on the work, but this past Wednesday the entire school worked on data.  The county has finally figured out a way to give us data that is user friendly.  Of course for 3-4-5, it's based on benchmarks that, in my opinion, are still questionable.  I would hate to see us put ALL of our faith in those tests but at least it's a starting point.  

In K-1-2 we had state-wide FAIR data to peruse. This past Wednesday we looked at the data against our lists of free and reduced lunch, lists of second language children, Hispanic students (which will probably be a high stakes assessment sub group or us for the first time this year) and other identifiers.  

So what did I learn?  Of course I know who my strugglers are by now (it's the end of the first nine weeks!) and I already had small groups and specific interventions in place.  I did notice that a much higher percentage of my strugglers are also on free and reduced lunch.  That has long been a trend but it just means that I have to work harder to make sure that they catch up in these early years.  It means that many of them are in homes where they are in survival mode and the children don't have the same type of support as their more financially comfortable peers have day in and day out.  That group continues to grow as our economy struggles and I want to give each child a fighting chance. 

I also identified which of my strugglers that I can touch at our tutoring center and want to make sure to  target those children and get them there for the extra service after school every week.  I also realize that I have a pocket of my Special Education students that have strong academic skills and will need to continue to be challenged at a more advanced level! Nice problem to have.  There is a responsibility to make sure that they continue to grow even though they are working above the aim line.  All in all it was a good reflection time - something that all teachers need on a regular basis.

Grand Reopening

There are times when I am just so proud of the colleagues that I work with.  Today was one of those days.  A year ago we had a vision for a tutoring center in one of our underserved neighborhoods.  We had been talking about it for years and then one day, we just said, "Let's quit talking and do something."  That's all it took for Liz Duncan and KK Cherney to start.  Over the last year they have partnered with Beach United Methodist Church, The McKenzie Wilson Foundation, the middle and high schools in the area and the managing organization of the 1000 mobile home community.

Teachers from Chets Creek volunteer at the Center Monday through Wednesday from 4:00-6:00.  Thursday and Friday are reserved for middle and high school students.  McKenzie Wilson Foundation has bought a SmartBoard and Nooks and offers a place of service for their volunteers.  Second Harvest has gotten involved so the teachers come on Saturdays to deliver food.  The church offered a full Bible School to the students this summer and offer Saturday Sunday School.  There was a huge baby shower last Spring for all the new moms in the community, Christmas parties with give aways and crafts, construction projects that have included such things as pressure washing, stapling plastic over holes, weeding and landscaping.  We are trying to make this a place where teachers who need to meet the ESOL requirement for the state can do the work at the Center.  With our heavy Hispanic population, it is the perfect place to see and serve.

I guess the point is that I work with some incredible teachers.  They saw a need and were willing to do the work to make it happen.  I guess what I've learned is that dreams really can come true!

The Trio That Stole Our Hearts

Last year I was called to the office. The principal informed me that we had three first grade ESE students registering at the same time! Oh my! My shock at having three from the same family enrolling in the same grade (twins and an older brother that had been retained) was immediately overtaken when I saw the three adorable, but desperately sad children. In broken Spanish and with tears, the mother told us that their teenage brother had been shot in a drive-by shooting just days before and that she had moved to our area in hopes of a safer place to raise her children. The little ones had been very close to their older brother and were heart-broken by the events. Although we decided to place all of the children in the same class, it was a difficult few weeks for them. They had to be pushed into the classroom each day and mostly stood at the back of the room. If one was having a hard time, I think they each felt like they needed to stick together and have a hard time too. I remember one day one of them tried to climb into a cubbie at the back of the room and then they all tried. There were meltdowns and tears and just the saddest eyes that I have ever seen. It was difficult, but slowly the teacher with her magic belief coaxed each of the children into the classroom. Her love and support radiated.

As the year progressed you could see the children coming out of their shells. The teacher, who is fairly fluent in Spanish began to push with an empathetic tone that they  began to trust. Our Behavior Interventionist invited the children to attend a weekly support group for children who had lost someone they loved. There were very few smiles that year, but with the help of our second language assistant and the teacher we were able to help the family in many ways outside of school. At the end of the year, the teacher recommended that the brother twin stay back and even with the mother's support and comparison information from the sister twin, the ESOL Office believed the problem was basically language and refused to let the bother twin stay behind.

As we ventured into the second year the boys looped to second grade with their same kindergarten teacher and the girl went to another first grade class with the ESE teacher. The teachers felt like she would blossom if she didn't feel like she had to take care of the boys - such a heavy load for such a young child.

The boys blossomed too. The teachers secured a counselor who saw the children weekly during the school day and the mother made sure that all three children were at the ARC (outside tutoring supplied free by the school in the children's neighborhood) every Tuesday to receive extra help. All of the children began to speak more and they all became readers! They were so proud of themselves.

Last week the teacher brought three blue balloons to the playground and invited each of the children to write a special message to their brother. It would have been his 18th birthday. After they wrote their message they stood together and released the balloons to the sky. There was a momentary hush that fell over the playground as all the children turned to watch the three balloons disappear over the building. The children smiled. There wasn't a dry eye among the adults as they watched this precious trio who had come so far. The older brother and sister twin will go on to second grade next year, both strong readers. After another meeting the brother twin will remain in first grade to strengthen his skills. Each child will be in a different class for the first time and will have the opportunity to shine on their own.

This doesn't mean that all of the problems for this family are over. They have another older brother that has had trouble with the law. They still suffer from many of the same problems that are inherent in poverty and being citizens of a second language navigating a highway of language subtleties, but I am just so proud of the way that individuals in my school responded to the needs of this family. The caring individuals - the teachers, the second language assistant, the Behavior Interventionist, and so many other people along the way who reached out their hand and said, "How can I help?" This is what "school" and "learning" are all about.

Polar Express Day

Today was Polar Express Day in our first grade classroom. We all came dressed in pajamas. Jardale forgot to wear his pj's and was crying in the hallway before school. Jacob came dressed in his MVP pajamas and a robe so when he saw Jardale so upset, he simply took off his robe and offered it to Jardale for the day. If there is anything that represents the love of Christmas this season, it is that simple gesture of one friend for another. I just love first graders!

We began the day by writing cards for elderly folks that we had decided would be part of our class giving project this year. The children did such a wonderful job adding season's greetings to some of our most vulnerable citizens. The cards will be delivered to the Plantation, an assisted living facility in Matthews, NC where my mother is a resident.

Next Mrs. Ruark and I demonstrated how to make a cup of hot chocolate (which we would have later in the afternoon as we watched the Polar Express movie - Did I mention that Soma brought his copy of The Polar Express written in Japanese - How cool is that?!!). After reminding the children of all of the details that needed to be in their procedural writing, they were sent to their seats to write directions for making the chocolate drink. We also enjoyed the book read on-line. The children were given the opportunity to share with the class their favorite part of the book. Then we completed a word search based on the book.

After recess and lunch we invited partners to read their hot chocolate directions while their partner made the hot chocolate to see if there were any details left out. What fun! Add a little popcorn and it was just like watching the movie in the movie theatre. As always, the children were enthralled with the story. When the little boy gets the bell back and hears its sound, they clapped! They all said that they could hear the bell too because they believed. Only one little boy made the thumbs down sign as the rest of his friends jumped up and down expressing their absolute belief. It really was a special day spent with a very special group of children!

Where's the money?

Chets Creek is an "A" school with about 20% minority and about 20% free and reduced lunch. Sounds like a perfect little suburban yuppie school, doesn't it? And I guess it is... until you drill down to the student level. Who are those 20% of children who live in poverty, many of whom are also minority? Many of them are the same students who show up on our at-risk list of about 300 kids. Sure we have about 1200 kids so to have 300 at-risk isn't so bad, until you drill down to see who they are. In so many cases they are those same children living in poverty and in our case most come from the same little community. Each one of those children has a face - and a story.

Chets Creek is the type of school that has real heart - teachers who are willing to do whatever it takes. They often tutor before and after school or during their planning and lunch times. The go the extra mile but that still isn't enough. We know that we need to get inside this community and offer tutoring. More than that we need to form relationships that give hope to our at-risk children. They need to know that there is someone who cares. Their parents need to know that there is someone they can trust. These families don't usually come to us. We will have to go to them.

So let's offer tutoring and a way to check out books right there in their community center. The community center would be willing to offer a space, computers, clean up and other minimal services. We would just have to man the space. We have plenty of teachers who would be willing to offer their time - most of them would do it because they think it is the right thing to do - but we do need at least one paid person that we could depend on to be there and to oversee the program. Such a little bit of money for such a big pay off!

Let's do it! Oh, wait... You would think that with 300 kids effected, enough to be a small school, that the funding would be available easily... but it's not. Chets Creek, because it has less than 20% free and reduced lunch doesn't qualify for school-community type funds. That is saved for communities with 100% free and reduced lunch - although the total number of kids effected might be similar. I guess just being poor isn't enough - it depends in which part of town you live... Extended Day monies can't be used for this type of project because it's off the school grounds. It just shouldn't be this hard to do the right thing... Frustrating... Anybody know of any money sources for a good project?

Supporting Second Language Learners

One of the most outstanding standard-based bulletin boards this month is the board presented by Nina Thomas and Laura Sambito's kindergartners. This board supports the second language students in their classroom, describing the strategies that they are intentionally designing to support students who speak a second language.

Mini-lesson. During the mini-lesson of Readers' Workshop the teachers use visual cues to support their second language students as they introduce comprehension. The poster on the left is a typical kindergarten poster that shows students the story elements of some of our "Star Books." In this case the teachers have intentionally used visual aids instead of words to support, not only their second language students, but all of their young non-readers.










Work Session: Independent Reading - As children leave the mini-lesson to practice their new skills during independent reading, the teachers understand that although reading is difficult for any five year old, it is even more difficult for the student learning English as a second language. One of the things that these teachers have done is to pair children who speak the same language together so that they can use both their native language and their new language to support their learning. The teachers have noticed that the second language learners are able to discuss the stories in much more detail when they are able to speak with someone in their native language. They have seen the students' confidence soar. The teachers have also created story webs as a visual representation of what they want the students to do. In this case, they have even written the directions in the student's native language to help parents understand the expectation when the sheet goes home later in the week.

Work Session: Literacy Centers - Students practice the retelling skills they are learning in Literacy Centers. In this classroom the teachers make sure to have puppets, flannel board characters, costumes and sequencing pictures for each of the stories that they are studying to support the second language students as they learn to comprehend and sequence new stories. While this is good practice for all young learners, these props are intentionally added to make sure that second language students have optimal opportunity to participate in oral storytelling.
About 18% of the population at Chets Creek includes students whose parents speak a second language at home. Although we have many, many languages spoken the highest percentage of families speak Spanish. Second language learners are the largest growing population at our school. One of our School Improvement goals addresses our need to make sure that these families and students are supported throughout their time at the Creek. It is obvious that these kinder teachers are thoughtfully considering accommodations to make these students successful in their class. To help parents, they have even provided the commentary for this board in two languages!

Second Language Learners

Tonight I had the honor of attending our county's celebration of second language learners. To my thrill one of the general education students in my first grade classroom was honored as the "Chets Creek Second Language Learner of the Year." She is Armenian and I remember so well her journey into our school. Actually, who could forget! She entered shyly almost hidden behind her mother's dress. I don't know who looked more frightened, our little kindergartner or her mom! I think we peeled her off her mom that first day and for many days after that. She was terrified. When I would sit with the class at lunchtime, I would often find her in tears. She would be worried about a host of things, but most often that her mom would not be there at the end of the day. Those were such tearful times and there were mornings when I wondered if we would ever have a day without tears. I can only imagine her fears as she walked into that classroom each day understanding so little of the language and what was going on. I think of how brave her mom was to leave her. She too understood little of our language and customs and yet, she somehow found the courage to trust.

It's hard to reconcile those images with the happy, outgoing little first grader I see today. When I sit with her today at lunch she chatters endlessly (I barely get a word in!) She chatters about her family and her friends. She is a great little reader and has assimilated into our class culture in a way that is very Americanized.

She is only one of the 262 students we have this year at Chets Creek who entered with families that speak a second language and qualify for some level of second language support. That is about 18% of our total population. We support families who speak 21 different languages! We are so very fortunate to have an assistant assigned to our school who works with our students and who understands both the student and family needs. My student is only one of the many success stories that we see every day. We are fortunate to have this type of diversity in our school. In my own classroom, my own mini-United Nations, we have students whose parents are first generation from the Sudan, Mexico, Korea, and Poland in addition to Armenia.

In fact we have a kindergarten bulletin board up in the building right now that demonstrates a young student's growth over time in both English and Japanese. While reading a book that was written in both English and Japanese to their class, kindergarten teachers Debbie Cothern and Michelle Ellis realized that one of their students could not only read the English version, but actually read the Japanese version of the book as well!

As they investigated further, the student explained that she is learning to read and write in both languages. Their board shows her growth over time first in Japanese and then in English!

The world is getting smaller every day!

Video Streaming for Professional Development

Video conferencing is not exactly new and innovative. It's been around for years but what is new is the way we've used it this week. We have the video conferencing equipment at our school because for several years now we have been sending live lessons to our professional development sight. One year we even sent lessons to an inner city school and debriefed the lessons together every other week. Last year we video streamed a lesson live to a national conference in Hollywood, CA! We have even video conferenced a few planning meetings with trainers at the Schultz Center, but for the most part, we have been on the giving end. Because we are so used to opening our classrooms to each other, teachers at Chets Creek have been willing to do the same thing to others in our county. We have long felt that we have a moral and ethical obligation to share what we do at the Creek so we have made staff available to help support the video streaming. It takes one person at our school to set up and run the equipment and then monitor while the lessons are being taught and another to just be there in case there is a problem with the children while the teacher debriefs with the class at the other end of the camera. Not only has our principal been willing to shuffle schedules to meet the needs of the video streaming but teachers have been willing to open themselves up - to be transparent, believing that to do so makes us all better. Can you imagine doing a lesson for 150 of the Literacy Leaders in your grade level from throughout the county? Our teachers do that regularly! One of the reasons that we have the equipment is because we have been so open and willing.

With all that said, we are now looking at ways that we might use this video conference equipment in other ways. This week, when we realized that we had 14 teachers who needed a training for ELL being offered by the Schultz Center, we asked about having it video conferenced to our school, if we were willing to provide the facilitators at our end. Although the Schultz Center trainers doing this particular training had never video conferenced, they were willing to give it a try and the session did take place very successfully. It certainly was a perk for our teachers not to have to travel for the training. You have to have a very forward-thinking and flexible administrator to put that together so easily!

We have mostly used this equipment for professional development and have only begun to look at possibilities for instruction. Melanie Holtsman collaborated with the museum last year video streaming a live lesson for her gifted students. Now we are looking at other places that might have the equipment so that we could do virtual field trips. How cool would that be! For instance, maybe first grade could visit the great barrier reef as they continue their study of Australia. Of course, it would mean having the kids come to school in the middle of the night for the experience because of the time differences, but that in and of itself might be lots of FUN!

Parent Fair

One of the things that I noticed as I visited outstanding schools across our state as the Florida Teacher of the Year is that each incredible school had an equally incredible parent component to their program and made sure that success was linked through the child to both the home and the school. As I sat back tonight and watched our own parents enjoy a Parent Fair, sponsored by our Special Education teachers, I was proud of the activities that we brought to families to make their work with their own child more successful.

The night began with a special presentation by Dr. Susan Syverud of the University of North Florida. Dr. Syverud, recommended to us by intern Heather Goode, grounded our night in the type of foundational activities that parents should do when reading with their child at home. Next parents chose from four different activities:

1. Working with Your ADD Child was a hit with special consultant Elaine Culvyhouse from Hope Haven. This well attended session went well over time as parents gained insight into working with an ADD child at home.

2. Parent who attended Reading Strategies were presented specific handouts and suggestions to help with reading nightly with their child. The session also highlighted videos of teachers from Chets Creek reading to their own personal children as a way for parents to see what reading at each age/ grade level looks like. This information and the videotapes are available at the Chets Creek website. On the left hand bar of the web site, just click Read to Your Child. Parents at this session were also given books to take home to read with their child! Wonder if they will go home and read with their child tonight?

3. Session Tree offered a hands-on demonstration of Math Strategies at each grade level. This session featured Chets Creek teachers Tammi Sani, Kathy Nelson, Debbie Rossignol, Wanda Lankford, and Christina Walag as they sat around tables with parents demonstrating and discussing math strategies that would help parents help their own child with homework. Each parent was also given a baggie of manipulatives to take home to use with the homework activities.

4. The final session was a preview of our favorite web sites for children by our own Media Specialist KK Cherney. She showed parents how to go on the Chets Creek web site, onto the Media portal to get to the best games and activities.

While all of these activities were going on downstairs, upstairs Principal Susan Phillips was meeting with our Spanish speaking families. With parents divided into three groups and a Spanish speaking teacher interpreting for each group, the parents discussed their needs and challenges. This annual meeting is a time for parents to be heard and for teachers and administrators to explain and meet the needs of this special population.

 

Oh yeah, and did I mention that child care was provided?! As many teachers were involved in sessions, others were involved in child care along with Extended Day helpers provided by Extended Day Director KK Cherney and paid for by our very own PTA!

So many people went into making the night successful but that's one of the nicest things about working at a school like Chets Creek. So many people are willing to rise to the occasions and chip in to make a night for parents worthwhile.