Life Long Learning

Very well done!

If All Education Was Presented As Animated Segments, What Would We Learn About Learning?

Such presentations are old hat in some ways, and with a broad spectrum of animation software and internet distribution are now also cutting edge presentation of ideas and information.  The lecture squanders, the worksheet busies, the educational video captures - some captivate with high quality work and inventive illustrations to accompany the material.  What of interactive animations? 

http://www.thersa.org/events/rsaanimate

Where Do We Go From Here?

Simultaneously, a number of parents all sent a link to this article, as it shares many of the goals and vision i have in my classroom and in my work with children.

How a Radical New Teaching Method Could Unleash a Generation of Geniuses

“In 1970 the top three skills required by the Fortune 500 were the three Rs: reading, writing, and arithmetic. In 1999 the top three skills in demand were teamwork, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills. We need schools that are developing these skills.”

On thoughtfulness, history, holidays, and our actions as agents of indoctrination

Shared with me by a sharp parent:
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/columbus_day

Recommended Books

Book Link

Book Link

must, keep, learning...

Even in the most time constricted routines of starting school, I will find ways to keep learning.  Below are two science based series I recently found and enjoy.

FALL 2013 Coleman's Camp begins this week

Please read and pass along to anyone you feel might be interested.

Mr. Coleman, 2nd grade teacher at Prairie Elementary, will be offering a valuable learning opportunity during the 2013 FALL time.  Coleman’s Camp Enrichment Program will begin Tuesday August 13th, and run through the end of December, with a second session running January through June.  We meet at Corinth Library (81st and Mission Road). More detailed information is below.

Coleman’s Camp Enrichment Program:

Small groups of students meet as a specialized class to study, explore, and interact with their own learning process in highly individualized and personal ways. The two-hour sessions aim toward mastery of grade-level curriculum taught in Shawnee Mission classrooms but also provide a pervasive environment and cross-pollination of wisdom, art, humor, music, and high quality endeavors.

Coleman’s Camp is an innovative tutoring and enrichment program utilizing a decade of classroom experience at nearly every grade level as well as training in administration, special education, and research-based practices to create a weekly enrichment and support camp for elementary-aged children.

Each session of Coleman's Camp has age guidelines to help facilitate age-appropriate focus and maximized benefit of learning experiences. The Tuesday and Thursday sessions have similar themes, activities, and curriculum. As such, students should only attend either the Tuesday sessions or the Thursday sessions, but not both. In some cases, special arrangements can be made with Mr. Coleman for older students to be Peer-Leaders (example: an older student who attends the Tuesday session returns Thursday to help lead groups, provide examples, or teach parts of the lessons). Such special arrangements should be reserved for highly motivated students wanting to take on leadership roles and increased responsibility.

Additionally, the Saturday session will be different in form and scope from the Tuesday and Thursday sessions. These Saturday sessions are called Coleman's Camp Studio and will be an experience where kids work for a number of consecutive weeks to complete one in-depth project at a time. These studio projects will be built around the passions of the students enrolled, and will push their natural skills, problem solving ability, and creative efforts to produce unique artifacts of significance and quality. Coleman's Camp Studio will be limited to 10 students. Projects might include multimedia presentations, artwork, service projects, inventions, engineering studies, plays, et cetera. There is no specific age guidelines for Saturdays, but an adventurous attitude and willingness to make mistakes, grow, and experiment are important.

Summer 2013 Schedule for Coleman's Camp (2 hour sessions):

• Tuesdays 4:00-6:00 (for kids going into 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grade)
• Thursdays 4:00-6:00 (for kids going into Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade)
• Saturdays 10:00-12:00 (Coleman's Camp Studio)

More Information:

• http://www4.smsd.org/timcoleman/html32214.htm - Credentials, experience, and other district information
• http://www4.smsd.org/timcoleman/html22172.htm - all about Mr. Coleman
  

PLEASE E-MAIL for cost and availability.

The Busy Start of the Year

When teachers return in August we usually have a few days in our rooms and then a few days of meetings (to review curriculum revisions, be trained on new materials, be reminded not to touch human blood - always a tough one with little kids crying, bleeding, hurt on the playground and we all should be wearing plastic gloves).  Coming back to the room is a combination of exhilaration and panic; we want the room up and going and ready for the kids, but can be overwhelmed with so many small things that need to be done.  To help with time management and efficiency, I created a "TO DO" list.  As the years passed I continually added to the list, sometimes having a great idea months into the year.  Copied in below is the version from last year, which I will be dutifully checking off item by item in a few weeks!

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BEGINNING OF THE YEAR

General to Do:

            Print business cards

            Sharpen pencils for 1^st day of school

            Print copies of staff phone list from school website for 1) under phone, 2) my bag, 3) sub folder

Get school calendar

            In teacher planner:

                        Fill in months/days, student birthdays, testing, back to school, open house, etc

            Make Daily Schedule for plans

            Make schedule for back of nametag

            Make enlarged daily schedule for student reference in the room

            Recess equipment aired up and name put on it

            Put up monthly calendar

            Post copy of monthly lunch menu

            Review/print copy of grade level objectives/common core (especially if revised during the summer)

            Review/print copy of any revised long term plans from district

Create recess kit w/ bandaids, wipes, and emergency kit for teacher to take to recess (inside bucket)

            Update Sub folder

                        Daily schedule

                        Copy of everything in emergency contact folder.

                        IEP at a glance (legally required)

            Get copy of class list

            Print labels with kid’s names

            Update Web Backpack

            Create Emergency Contact Folder

Get from office:

                        Copies of emergency release forms for every student

                        Copy of student password for computer

Printouts from office that show students’ names, addresses, student number, parent e-mails, allergies or other special medical conditions, guardian/spouse names, zip code, mailing address, city name, etc.

Originals to be copied by school aid:

            DWU

                        Monday/Tuesday

                        Wednesday/Thursday

                        Weekly Quiz

            Student Dictionary

Morning work

                        Super 6/Daily Language Review packets

            Spelling

                        2nd and 3rd grade

                                    Weekly list words

                                    4 weekly worksheets – duplexed

            MAPS+

                        Power Drill

                        Quick Check

            Multiplication tests

            Welcome to 2^nd grade packet

                        (teacher profile, parent survey, AR explanation sheet, expectations, rights and responsibilities, home work guidelines, daily schedule, etc)

            Red Notes

                        DWU redo, PRG warning, extra work notes, no homework pass

            AR coupons (Blue and Red)

Create / put student name on:

Desk Nametag

Hallway bulletin board (Look What Wonder Work We Have Done – Coming Soon)

Lunch stick

Fairness stick

Class list in hall

Weekly Job

Art Supply bucket

Mailbox (and highlight names that are youngest only)

Hallway cubby

Behavior Modification check-off sheet

Report Card envelope

Textbook check out

Attendance / lunch check-off for office

Student file for teacher records

Sub Folder list

Class / subject groupings (posted or in sub folder)

Student planner

Folders

            Homework, all subjects, Work in Progress folder, correction folder

            AR

                        Classroom chart

                        Make personalized reading range

            Chart for multiplication tests

            Card for each kid with username (student number) and password

Nametag – “I am ________.  I am in Mr. Coleman’s Class” to be picked up on Back to School Night so teacher can quickly learn student names and know which kids in room belong and when they travel the building other teachers know as well.

Computer Programs

Microtype

Behavior Modification

Student check-off

Weekly projector table

AR (Student list report w/ passwords)

Grade book

Other

Emergency list from office

Lunch Card

Employment Application Material, part 2

(FYI - this first paragraph is a repeat of Employment Application Material, part 1 from July 3rd as it sets the tone and reason for posting, though the actual questions and answers copied in below the paragraph are new)

After finishing my administrative masters degree and obtaining my administrative license, I began applying to principal positions in Shawnee Mission as well as several nearby school districts.  Last year, while experiencing a swell of parent support at Prairie Elementary, I halted the search for principal positions and expanded my plans to concentrate supporting students at Prairie.  This included Coleman's Camp, One-On-One tutoring, these websites, and an overall professional and personal connection with parents that is pervasively enriching.  The last two years have been a time of tremendous growth and reinvestment in being an exceptional teacher.  The parents of Prairie and the students of Prairie have caused me to reevaluate my plans and choose to remain at the school.  I hope to serve the community and continue my own learning adventure.  For the next few posts to Smells Like Burning Army Men I thought to share some of the material I wrote for my administrative applications in various districts.  I spent months writing, revising, and distilling my experience and perspective into short statements that were to be used to evaluate my qualities and qualifications.  Though I can readily find areas in the responses that could use additional refinement were I to apply to new principal vacancies, my plans of staying at Prairie mean this material may be relevant now primarily as information to the Prairie community.

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How do you set academic expectations?

The principal’s monitoring and evaluation of the school curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices are essential tools by which to set academic expectations.  From this vantage point, awareness of students’ achievement and managing an ongoing appraisal of curriculum mastery helps the principal determine to what degree a school is satisfying the goals of the school board and community.  In this context, I set student achievement as the forever-retreating endgame, revising all related conditions that may conceivably trickle down and influence the student.  In practice, the entire school structure must be responsive to students, constantly adapting to accommodate the needs of hundreds of students every day.  To maintain academic expectations, I foster collaborative teams and continual progress monitoring procedures to evaluate assessments and set goals at the individual, class, and grade level.

What will be the mission of your leadership?

In pursuing an Elementary or Middle School Principal position in the Shawnee Mission School District, I draw upon my own thirty-year relationship with teachers and administrators who initiated, provided, or supported my diverse educational training, broad professional opportunities, and unique leadership background.  As an elementary teacher, paraprofessional, and lifelong student, I have undergone an ever-widening appreciation, concern, and desire to enrich students beyond the walls of a single classroom.  As a leader, I instill a pervasive culture of positive behavior support, professional learning, individualized and meaningful instruction, student empowerment, and continual incorporation of educational research.  In assessing my qualifications, I find my experiences and skills provide an ideal foundation for an exceptional principal.

How do you view your role?

As a principal, I strive for the cohesive interweaving of school culture, motivation, evaluation, communication, ideals and beliefs to provide the expectations that will infuse a given learning environment with purpose, adaptability, success, and continued renewal.  I see that we seed the prospects of each new generation in classrooms filled with injection-molded chairs, along hallways decorated with construction paper projects, using teacher-made materials we laminate late into the evenings with pride - utilizing the energy and dedication of regular people to instill our skills, beliefs, and values to children.

Reflection on School - How Did You Feel?

A sad/funny comedy routine by Brian Regan - I struggled with spelling and grammar rules as a student and always sympathize with similar students as they come to my class.

Employment Application Material, part 1

After finishing my administrative masters degree and obtaining my administrative license, I began applying to principal positions in Shawnee Mission as well as several nearby school districts.  Last year, while experiencing a swell of parent support at Prairie Elementary, I halted the search for principal positions and expanded my plans to concentrate supporting students at Prairie.  This included Coleman's Camp, One-On-One tutoring, these websites, and an overall professional and personal connection with parents that is pervasively enriching.  The last two years have been a time of tremendous growth and reinvestment in being an exceptional teacher.  The parents of Prairie and the students of Prairie have caused me to reevaluate my plans and choose to remain at the school.  I hope to serve the community and continue my own learning adventure.  For the next few posts to Smells Like Burning Army Men I thought to share some of the material I wrote for my administrative applications in various districts.  I spent months writing, revising, and distilling my experience and perspective into short statements that were to be used to evaluate my qualities and qualifications.  Though I can readily find areas in the responses that could use additional refinement were I to apply to new principal vacancies, my plans of staying at Prairie mean this material may be relevant now primarily as information to the Prairie community.

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What are three strengths that make you a good candidate for this position?

The first of my three strengths is a diverse educational training that aids me in relating to and supporting those who have had difficult and troubled childhoods, especially in terms of conforming to, or being successful in, a traditionally structured educational environment.  As a child, my parents were psychologists at Rainbow Mental Health Facility on the children’s ward and my formative years were awash in child cognitive development theories and treatment discussions.  My parents shared with me stories from the ward where they counseled children abused, suicidal, or suffering from the most severe mental health issues.  This family profession became an informing backdrop for me when interacting with friends facing troubled home lives, understanding parental behaviors and decisions, and evaluating the world around me in analytical and sympathetic terms that set me up as an agent of change and leadership.

The second of my three strengths is broad professional opportunities, enabled by my passion and concern for the disenfranchised.  As a full-time, long-term substitute teacher at Della Lamb Elementary Charter School, I relieved and supported teachers in an urban core, inner city school servicing immigrant, low-income, at risk, and disadvantaged children in kindergarten through 5th grade.  I taught multi-grade, multi-ability classes in the year-round school with ethnically and racially diverse student body composed overwhelmingly of African Americans, Somalis, Vietnamese, Sudanese, and Latinos.  In the Shawnee Mission School District I am a ten year classroom veteran of teaching 1st through 4th grade and have served as a middle school paraprofessional.  I have assisted students assigned to the behavior disorder program, including students diagnosed with A.D.D./A.D.H.D., Tourette’s Syndrome, Asperger’s Syndrome, and children physically abused.

The third of my three strengths is unique leadership background, most notably in my position as an AmeriCorps* V.I.S.T.A. member (akin to a domestic Peace CORPS) in service with Public Achievement, a grassroots youth empowerment program started in Minnesota and funded here in Kansas City by the Kaufmann Foundation.  I became familiar with the structure, successes, and struggles of educational institutions by working on the development and sustainability of partners throughout Minnesota, Kansas, Missouri, and Northern Ireland.  I advised and organized the application of youth empowerment and democratic processes between Coach and Site Coordinators, volunteers, parents, as well as administrators, instructors, and students at the elementary school, middle school, and university level.

Reflection on Baker University's Administrative Program

Tim Coleman

Final Program Reflective Evaluation

May 3, 2011

The past last two years have been an amazing period of growth for me as a teacher and as an administrator.  When I first applied to the MSSL program at Baker, I believed that I already possessed many of the skills and knowledge to be an administrator and that the program was most likely going to provide me with: legitimization of what I already knew, some additional background structure to administrative duties, and readiness to take the administrative licensure exam.  These expectations, in hindsight, are presumptuous, ignorant, and offensive.  I knew only the bare bones of what an administrator could do in a building and I realized that what I did know was limited to certain components I had firsthand experience with or that directly influenced my room as a classroom teacher.  The research, the professor life experiences, the reading materials, the Directed Field Experience, the continued work that mirrored what an administrator would do these were opportunities I desperately needed and was provided.  In addition, this always included the effort to stay aligned to real-world learning that would one day place me into a building with the leadership knowledge, skills, experiences, and dispositions of a principal.

I have always wanted leadership opportunities and to be a leader, though I often felt people around me did not necessarily view me as a leader even when I had the experience and the knowledge to take on the role effectively.  Over time I saw that certain personal characteristics were preventing me from naturally taking on these responsibilities: the way I approached conversations, the quality and type of information I contributed, and the perspective I brought to a group.  It was especially this last piece that I now see was the most underdeveloped.  At Baker I began to see that, even when approaching administrative decision making moments, I was still myopically oriented towards a regular classroom teacher’s viewpoints.  As such, my suggestions often contained too little information, only solved an issue for me, and did not take into account the many other people that should be involved in the discussion, let alone implementation and stakeholder buy-in.  Whether intentional or not, the people I interacted with before Baker accurately assessed my ability level and gave me the relative respect I deserved.

While at Baker I spent the predominant amount of time engaged in activities, projects, and discussions that worked to build a wider vantage point in terms of administrative roles.  During my first year at Baker this resulted in more people at my elementary school noticing my knowledge level increasing and my ability to understand building level decisions and actions better.  Such events were expected to occur when going through Baker’s MSSL program.  However, the revelation took place just this past year, my second in the program.  During this time I had completed most of my courses and was beginning my Directed Field Experience.  It was normal for me to share some of my learning with my grade level teammates.  As the year progressed they began to comment on how different my entire persona was in the school.  A few close teachers offered authentic, unsolicited praise for my handling of roles within the building where I served as an administrator intern.

I also completed several shadowing placements at different schools and grade levels.  So many attributes of the district came into clarity during this time.  I understood the overall structure of the district and the elaborate duties of a principal.  I saw how certain characteristics of mine could be recognized and brought out as a leadership vision.  I knew how to do many things as a principal not because I had seen another principal do them and I was blindly mimicking them, but because I closely observed leadership styles and actions, studied results, and compared what I witnessed to what I knew from class readings and professional research.

The habit of reading research and relevant information in professional journals, literature, conferences, and major news outlets became the bedrock of much of my decision making process.  A principal at an elementary school I interned at introduced me to the Marshall Memo - a bulleted synopsis of various articles and research findings collected from many sources by a retired educator who worked as a designated reader for people subscribing to the Marshall Memo.  In five weeks I had read more relevant research than I had in the previous five years.  As a matter of routine I began sharing research articles and journal pieces with teachers I knew were dealing with related issues, citing research and sending out information I thought might help the teacher.

When you have such a resource as your hands and you find the last few years of experiences and learning to be coalescing, there are moments and even days when you fully live the administrative role.  From the entry into the building you walk with confidence and feel that this is a world you understand and can positively have an impact in endless ways.  A seemingly unnerving array of situations might be presented to you at any moment and you feel you could handle them with thoughtful action.  There are dozens of informal conversations during the day in which you offer help, advice, or solve a problem for someone in the building, teacher or student.  You meet with your current principal and discuss items that affect the whole school and your participation is seen as a peer-to-peer quality.  You know the names of hundreds of students and just as many parents and have a mental database of relevant information that you can reference when stopping in the halls to talk with them.  Pictures of students at Wildwood for the 6th grade team, behavior interventions and assistance for a students with intensive behavior struggles, two parents in the hall needing information on third grade’s planned Kansas City field trip, and the office asking if you might be available to meet an opera group at the receiving doors who need direction as to where their gear can be loaded and “do you possibly have a few students we could invite to be part of our performance in 30 minutes?”  Of course!  Plan time is time to work the building and be a fluid administrator making time to be the lifeblood of the school.

From Baker I gained this confidence and exceptional organizational skills.  I began to develop process improvements in my teaching and in my administrative/leadership roles.  I initiated extensive paper and digital file mapping, maintenance, systemic structuring, and procedural efficiencies of routine actions or steps regarding the material I had collected during Baker classes and my own research materials.  The study of highly effective people led me to completion strategies, delineation of process components, prioritization, and elimination of non-relevant information, steps, and goals.  I actively sought out new information and was always incorporating it into the repository I have built.

Looking towards the next few years, my plans are to continue the expansion of my experience and responsibility within education towards the goal of becoming an elementary principal.  I have had tremendously enriching years in Shawnee Mission, as a student and as a teacher, though throughout my years in education I have identified a continual process of ever-widening appreciation, concern, and desire to have a wider influence on students beyond my classroom walls.  At times I have found collaborative opportunities or inspired staff to implement new methods or approaches to curriculum.  However, there is always a peripheral frustration that I may only affect the lives of the 20 or so children in my own classroom.  From district mentors, educational research, and numerous Baker administrative classes, I see how the educator I have become naturally grows to be the principal I want to be.

A pivotal component of the principal I want to be is a realization and drive to always be finding ways to set high expectations for student achievement.  To adapt my behavior to the needs of the current situation and be comfortable with dissent.  In a school environment in which the expectation is to accept children dealing with an endless array of real-life circumstances, the ability to adapt one’s leadership style without sacrificing one’s integrity is paramount.  This flexibility is a component of my daily personal interactions, instructions, and management.  As a principal, I do not want to approach every situation in the school with an identical set of standards and actions, but appraise each situation and provide a consistent leadership style that will successfully apply to the given situation.

The person I am today has been unequivocally shaped by individuals in the classrooms of my education, from elementary school to Baker University.  I have benefitted from dozens of teachers and administrators who spent many hours talking with me, working with me, encouraging me, cajoling me, and even outright confronting my self-enabled struggles when they knew I was manufacturing excuses or not giving my best effort.  Building from the foundational elements instilled in me by educators, I have become a dynamic, intelligent, caring, humorous, and compassionate educator who receives continual recognition from parents and the district for the work I do with all kids, especially those with exceptionalities.  It seems natural and right for me to now raise the level of my reinvestment in education as an administrator.  I see the character of the Baker as having seeded a fertile ground that will enable me to guide teachers and students as an exceptional administrator.

Summer Entertainment on Education - Reflection

Interesting article on films we all love and use for fuel to reach children, but some underlining negative tropes in terms of how we view teaching.

5 Reasons to Secretly Loathe Inspirational Teacher Films

Knowing You Did a Pretty Solid Job with Kids Because They Are Appalled at You

In the last day or two of school, as we had our various celebrations and reflections on the year, I showed a clip from the Fred 3 movie.  My boys like the movies and I can see the appeal through their eyes.  The kids in my class, however, were appalled at the sentiment of the song - "The Last Day of School is the Best Day of School."  A few sang along, a few joked about the message, but most were outwardly repulsed by the song's lyrics.

End of the Year Letter

Each year I had sent out letters to parents at the end of the school year.  Copied in below was one of them.

To 2^nd Grade Parents of Mr. Coleman’s Class,

As we come to the close of an amazing year of growth, achievement, and thrilling learning I am compelled to write a few words to all the parents who made possible this fantastic journey.  During the reminiscing and review of the photographs I took during the year, I was struck primarily with acute disappointment; it seemed no matter how many hundreds of moments I captured I could never accurately represent all the excitement and big breakthrough moments that happened daily in our classroom.  The kids exceeded established expectations of what 2^nd graders should and could do in terms of critical thinking, maturity, study habits, perspective, self-control, and wisdom.  The support and input from the parents has been the foundation for this exponential climb.  Everyday I tried to push each student and myself to make lessons and activities unique and memorable.  The atmosphere we created together became something other teachers, students, and parents talked about, and we thrived on being a special class others wished to be a part of.  The students earned privileges and undertook adventures others openly yearned for.

In many ways I am not a good teacher when judged by fellow teachers and the tiered education system.  I do not want my students to have the same opportunities and experiences as their peers.  I want a 2^nd grade year that is superior and impossible to replicate or emulate.  In the philosophical underpinnings of education there rages debates over the merits of being a “friend” with students or being a “teacher.”  I think of every one of my students as my son or daughter, and as such I am uninterested in seeing them become merely competent, obedient, or reach some consumer oriented pinnacle where they are celebrated for making “informed choices” in their purchasing and consuming patterns (look where those orientations have taken the country!).  With all honesty and sincerity, I want your child to be better than all the others, and I want to be the best teacher he or she will ever have.  I saw everyday with your child as an artistic performance, and my stories, my humor, my hard sell on education, my authentic relationship, and ever-rising standards were meant to see just how far we could go.

And far we did go.  Our effort to do more than the bare minimum was astonishing: our writing abilities were better than 3^rd and 4^th graders I have taught at other schools, our empathy to each other and our family was astonishing.  I hear positive parent feedback and feel the support, but I wonder if parents really know the depth and breadth of the scholarly disposition many students developed this year.  Students asking thoughtful questions, complimenting each other on new ideas, actual spontaneous applauding when a friend gets a tough new concept, offering to help, or outright defending each other if someone was unfairly reprimanded.  I told parents at the start of the year I would undoubtedly make mistakes with each and every child.  I made hundreds of mistakes and took great pains to point them out to the students, for humility, and for a model of self-correction and revision.  I admonished them, “we all have our struggles, I do, you do – that is what we are here to work on.  This is the place to work on those struggles.”  They completely understood what I was saying; self-analysis and change that many adults would fear facing.

I know parents spend long hours doing the hard work to build strong students with positive feelings about school.  I am very aware that I am a relatively small nine-month period in the education of your child and that before my class you have taught your children for those formative years and that after my class you will continue being the primary and most influential teacher for decades to come (yes, decades).  I have appreciated the many parents who volunteer for field trips, class parties, special events, and who show up daily to help with whatever reading workshop activity we are exploring.  I respect parents that spend the time to write me notes, call me, talk with me personally, or send in gifts to show they understand the effort I put into my students.  The Teacher Appreciation Week this year was one of the most heartwarming and generous; in lieu of flowers (that die L) I was awash in Diet Dr. Pepper, peanut butter cups, and real food every day.  The notes and gifts from students were so numerous I felt that I could never thank everyone.  I would be completely unable to have the successes, and I would not be able to meet the inevitable struggles of teaching, if it were not for the parents who are right there with me, involved in the nurturing and growth of children.  Daily.  Weekly.  Constantly.

The reality is that during the school year I spend more time with your children than mine, and they made the exchange worth it.  When I look at the pictures I want for my sons to have so many of the qualities I see the kids in my class exhibit: kindness, intelligence, and determination.  There is no comparison - these are the best kids – but word such truth carefully among friends with kids the same age.  It is a shock to see what your children have done with this year.

Thank you for sharing this chapter of your child’s life adventure.

Mr. Coleman

Pie-In-Face!

Photos of Pie-In-Face raffle I volunteer for each year at the Prairie carnival.  Fun way to help raise some money for the school while also creating a memorable experience for a lot of kids.

 

What Type of Label Do You Want for Your Child?

This article at The Week, How labels like 'black' and 'working class' shape your identity, is especially interesting to me as I am now fully invested in balancing the full-on parenting and teaching moments of kids with brains actively perceiving, creating, and begging for labels of all the new concepts and things in their worlds.  The acquisition of new words, that was a trickle in toddler years and impressed relatives at holidays just after entering preschool becomes, in the early elementary years, an exponential flood.  This is especially true for kids born to parents who use a large vocabulary around and with the baby (mentioned in this post).  The Week article exists at the intersection we can see in these two realities: Kids are busying acquiring words about the world around them, and, Kids are involved in explaining what they are doing and why (more on that below) and beginning to understand themselves, their sense of self and identity.

Words everywhere to explain and label the world.  Being developmentally centered on your ideas, your experiences, and your actions.  The explaining of what they did or why they did something is often taking place during discipline  "Why did you take that away from him?" "Why didn't you put the plate in the sink?" "Why did you do that?" - We are demanding a verbal accounting of personality, thoughts, and narratives from children awash in words.  We have heard them parrot back what we have lectured.  We have heard them give a possibly age-appropriate response.  And we have seen misapplication (or misappropriation) of newly acquired concepts when the child is flexing his or her lines of word associations to offer an actual reflective answer.  The words offered up can (and do, according to the article) become the words the kids use to explain themselves; to define themselves; to know themselves.  In a decade or so they might have high school teachers or university instructors introducing the psychological construct of the moment you were present for - when the student began to believe certain words were about him or her, that certain words were him or her.  The labels became the reality.  The Week article is primarily discussing the accuracy of the labels, where they come from, and what damage can be done.  A discussion on undoing those labels inside yourself is an entirely different discussion.  One best had with Alan Watts with his talks on not eating the menu for the food.

Who Teaches the Teachers?

I thought it appropriate to begin a series of posts on the people that have been my teachers in life.

Robert Pirsig and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - The book that completely changes my life in 1997 and 1998.  Another book I happen across in my dad's library, stored away in cardboard boxes and an unused chest of drawers.  Years later, in asking my dad about the softcover version of the book, learn he has never been able to make momentum into it.  On the inside front cover he has written the month and year he bought it - the same as when I was born.  I take a month to read half of the book before realizing it is so much more than I have initially perceived; I go back and begin it again, finally taking half a year to finish it.  In living a dynamic and fulfilling life, this book will be the mark of before and after, of who I was and who I will become.  Everything I do becomes inextricably linked to the book and the lessons learned.  A spiritual rebirth.  I reread several times over the next 5 years or so.  The book becomes a foundation for the family I nurture with Kelli, the boys I love, and the children I teach.

Who Teaches the Teachers?

I thought it appropriate to begin a series of posts on the people that have been my teachers in life.

First, Alan Watts.  In my dad's book I found a copy of The Way of Zen when I was in college and soon had read the 20 or so other books Alan Watts had written that I could find in local libraries.  Nearly a decade later I had purchased his audio collection of lectures and spent months listening to his teachings.  A huge influence on me.

University Exit Tickets in 2nd grade classroom

Tim Coleman

March 25, 2013

Action Research Plan

1.      Area of Focus Statement

a.       The purpose of this study is to describe the effects of reflective exit tickets on student learning, specifically understanding of the central question of the lesson and retention of lesson objectives.

2.      Define the Variables

a.       Exit Tickets: a one page, one-sided piece of paper that a student completes at the end of a lesson to reflect upon the lesson.  Should take between 2-10 minutes to complete.

b.      Central Question: the main question that drives the lesson and that the students need to be able to answer at the end of the lesson.

c.       Lesson objectives: the curriculum components taught in a given lesson and needed in order for subsequent lessons to make sense or have meaning.

d.      Checking students' understanding: does the student understand the core objective of the lesson

e.       Summarize: the ability to find the four or five most important points or objectives in the lesson and state them clearly in one’s own words.

f.       Questions: items that the students need more information to solve or want to know more about in a follow-up lesson.

g.       Illustration Box: a small area in which the students are allowed and encouraged to draw anything related to the lesson.

h.      Reflection: thinking back to what was just learned, relating it to prior learning, and/or finding value in the lesson objectives.

3.      Develop the Research Questions

a.       What is the effect of allowing students several reflective avenues to show what they have learned?

b.      Can there be choice in showing what has been learned?

c.       Can an assessment tool be both specific enough to assess learning in a meaningful way but also be broad enough to be utilized across subjects, curriculum, and skills?

d.      What is the effect of consistently having students reflect upon learning as opposed to sporadic or even non-existent reflection?

e.       Does reflection on learning happen naturally during the lesson?

f.       What effect does continual feedback from students have on the teacher and the nature of subsequent instruction?

4.      Describe the intervention or innovations

a.       I will implement an Exit Ticket at the end of classroom lessons to stimulate student reflection and solidify student understanding of the lesson’s objections.

5.      Describe the membership of the action research group

a.       I will be working with my grade-level team members at Prairie Elementary

6.      Describe negations that need to be undertaken

a.       I control the focus of the study and anticipate no negations that will need to be addressed.  The Action Research Plan is relatively modest in scope and breadth and I have an established history of implementing new approaches, techniques, and methods in my classroom based upon research I read and advanced degrees I purpose in education.

7.      Develop a timeline

a.       Phase 1 (March)

                                                              i.      Identify area of focus; Review relevant literature and research; Develop rough draft of Exit Ticket; Share Exit Ticket with grade level team; Finalize format and determine which lessons to use Exit Ticket

b.      Phase 2 (Early-April)

                                                              i.      Introduce and explain Exit Ticket to students; Include similar information in weekly correspondence with parents; Guide students in a practice use of the Exit Ticket

c.       Phase 3 (Late-April)

                                                              i.      Begin routine use of Exit Ticket during selected lessons; Grade Exit Ticket and collect data: Provide feedback to students about data, including quality of responses, representative samples, high-quality responses, and encouragement; Collect data on Exit Ticket scores as well as established data collection of daily work, discussion, and routine lesson assessments; Meet with grade level team members to review progress thus far

d.      Phase 4 (April-May)

                                                              i.      Continually review data and use data to influence subsequent lessons; Share decisions with grade level team members; Examine subject grades to determine correlation with use of Exit Tickets; Collect narrative and anecdotal information from students and parents.

8.      Develop a statement of resources

a.       Time to review literature and research

b.      Examples of Exit Tickets from a variety of sources, grade levels, and purposes

c.       Time to adapt or create Exit Ticket utilizing information learned as well as individual classroom

d.      Computer to create digital copy and printer to print copies

9.      Develop data collection ideas

a.       The main source of data I will be using are from sources already in place in my classroom.  This includes the components that normally make up students’ grades: classroom seatwork, homework, demonstration of concepts in class through discussions, projects, and activities.  This data will necessarily need to be sorted according to whether there is a grade earned through an objective measure (worksheets, seatwork, homework, etc.), or if the grade earned is more subjective in nature (discussion, demonstration, etc.).  Those that are objective would be quantitative and those more subjective would be qualitative.

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