Junior Achievement City aka Biz Town!

To Learn About JA Biz Town go here. Here's a short summary of the program from the website.

JA Biz Town – 5th Grade Program

The JA City 5th grade program combines in-class learning with a day-long visit to this fully-interactive simulated town facility. The program helps students connect the dots between what they learn in school and the real world. Through daily lessons, hands-on activities and active participation in running the City, students develop a strong understanding of the relationship between what they learn in school and their successful participation in a worldwide economy. During their day at JA City, students work as employees in various businesses (facilitated by volunteer educators and business professionals), they are paid for their labor and they manage personal checking accounts. Throughout the day, students also learn about time and money management skills as they work, bank and shop as consumers.  JA City helps prepare students for a lifetime of learning and academic achievement.

Reflections from the kids and the pictures will tell part of the story. This is the culminating activity from a month of preparation (not counting the many integrated skills). I'm choosing to publish the unedited version of the kids' writing. Yes, we have a lot of work to do! :) We had a blast today! This is what kids need to do- learn from hands-on, relevant, highly engaging activities. #kidsdeserveit

These kids earned the top requested job- engineers!

Lunch break was a busy time!

Getting ready to go on TV!

Workers from Questar Gas

Advertising

CEO of First Security Bank giving a speech

Big Business

Loan Officer

Parents make Biz Town Successful- Love Dad Power !

Mayor presenting Citizenship Awards

Lucky to have Superintendent Johnson (middle) stop by for a visit with business partners

Pay Day!

Closing Meeting

Lean Out A Little Farther!

 

The climb to the top of the cliff had been exhilarating. I ascended without fear. As long as I looked up, with my site on the goal, I knew that I could make it up to the landing. Going down was another story. I couldn’t go back down the way that I’d climbed. I’d have to rappel. I had my safety gear on, and I had instructors that I trusted. I felt reasonably safe considering that I was standing on a cliff. But walking closer to the edge made my heart pound! I listened intently to my instructor. My safety gear was checked once more and then I walked backward to the ledge. My life flashed before me. “On rappel!” I shouted.

“Lean out!” I heard my instructor say. I looked down with trepidation and leaned out farther. “Lean out a little farther!” he repeated.  I took a deep breath and leaned out a bit more.

I took my first step over the ledge and pulled my right hand up to brake. One step led to another step. It was awkward at first, but I kept going. My confidence grew as I took each successive step down the rock face. Words of encouragement motivated me to keep going. Before I knew it, I was at the bottom being congratulated by others in my group. I was excited by the thrill of this personal victory. I had conquered a fear!

“Lean out! Lean out a little farther!” often echoes in my mind. Take a risk! Challenge yourself! Raise the bar!

But trying something new is scary. Feelings of being vulnerable, inadequate, and incapable are common. You no longer feel safe. The human body responds physically by initiating the “flight or fight response” that causes the heart to beat faster, breathing to quicken, and palms to sweat among other things. Stepping out of your comfort zone is a risk. 

The choice isn’t between success and failure; it’s between choosing risk and striving for greatness, or risking nothing and being certain of mediocrity.

Keith Farazzis

In the quiet white space of self-reflection over the years, I’ve asked, “What can I do to improve my practice?” And I’ve heard the words, “Lean out a little farther!”

One of the best pieces of advice that I ever received as a new teacher was to model lifelong learning by consistently acquiring new knowledge, but more specifically, to learn new skills. The difference between gaining knowledge and learning a skill is that learning a skill requires practice.

Name a skill that you’ve started to develop within the past month. Are you learning to play a musical instrument? Paint? Skateboard? Knit? Ski? Speak another language? Maybe you’re finding yourself in an all too familiar state of continually learning new information, but not necessarily new skills. Reading a book, attending a professional development class, conference, or even an edcamp facilitates gaining knowledge, but it doesn’t require practicing new skills. We ask our students to learn multiple skills every day. How long has it been since you have walked in their shoes?

In your mind’s eye, take a moment to envision yourself learning a new skill. How did you choose to learn? (book, video, teacher) Describe your level of success on your first attempt? Do you need to be shown how to do this skill more than once? Twice? What kind of feedback helps you learn best? How often do you need feedback? What motivates you to struggle, learn, practice, and improve? How important is growth mindset? How does “coaching” help you? What would make the learning of this new skill easier for you to learn? Describe the “zone” where you feel challenged but not frustrated.

Reflecting on teaching practices from the perspective of a learner opens the mind to possibilities. It cultivates empathy and compassion. Questions such as, “How will the reflections about my own learning impact or change my instructional practices?” brings metacognitive thinking to the next level. The reflection in the mirror may not be the most flattering. Do you need more patience? A change of tone? An ability to break down a skill into smaller parts? To be more encouraging? To give specific feedback? Being humble and owning what we know we need to improve is sometimes the most difficult. It requires action and accountability.

 The mediocre teacher or administrator will use any number of excuses like lack of time to avoid this step. But excellence takes effort! Great educators rise above the excuses, make an action plan, and have others (such as a PLN) hold them accountable. The status quo is not acceptable. If there’s room for improvement, the great educators welcome the challenge. They embrace the fear of being vulnerable with a positive attitude and courageously move forward.

So, I challenge you to “Lean out a little farther!” Get completely out of your comfort zone! Learn a new skill during the next few weeks. Put yourself in the position of a learner. Start a blog, record video of your attempts, or keep a journal of your progress. Share your mistakes, your learning, and your reflections. Let those that you lead see you as a beginner with all of the mistakes you’re bound to make. Lean into the discomfort.

Are you truly a life long learner? Will you walk the talk? Maslow said, “You will either step forward into growth or back into safety.” Will you accept this challenge as an opportunity to stretch, risk, and grow? You have a choice. Greatness or Mediocrity.

You’re on the edge.

“Lean out a little farther!”

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Tapping Into Parent Power- A Not So Scary Tale for Halloween

     I distinctly remember as a new teacher a phone call that I received one night. I had wanted to provide my parents and students access to me and had given them my personal phone number so that they could call me at anytime with questions or concerns. On this particular evening, my brother and I were relaxing and enjoying a great conversation together. The phone rang. I answered it and it was the father of one of my students. He immediately went into “attack-dog-mode” and called me every name in the book and some names that I hadn’t even heard before. Paralyzed with not knowing what to do, I listened as this parent berated me for something that I had not done. Tears streamed down my cheek. I couldn’t speak. My brother watched intently at my expression, paralyzed state, and tried to make sense of the yelling voice on the other end of the line. I managed to say, “I’m sorry!” before the angry parent hung up the phone. Luckily, he did hang up because my brother was about to grab the phone from me and say a few of his own feelings about how this person had treated me. That would have been a disaster!
     Needless to say, my relationship with parents after that experience was somewhat of a love/semi-intimidated relationship. For some kids, I looked forward to conferences. But for most, I didn’t. Although conferences usually came and went without incident, I always felt a little nervous talking with parents. Overall, for much of my career, parents came to the school for holiday parties, field trips, fundraisers, programs, and conferences. They also came to help prepare lesson materials, read with kids, or other tasks that I “deemed as something a parent could do.” But, it didn’t take long for the regular visits to fizzle out. No wonder, because I certainly didn’t go out of my way to engage them in classroom happenings. Honestly, there were times when I didn’t want anything to do with parents. It was more work to have them come into the classroom than it was worth. I only went along with “the PR game” because that’s what teachers were supposed to do. And then, I’d get frustrated when they didn’t show and blame them for being “unreliable”. Shame on me! It’s an attitude that I’m not proud of having but all too common. I even feel more ashamed because I have always been blessed with good parents that genuinely wanted the best for their kids. Many parents of my former students are my personal friends. They supported me, but I failed to tap into their power.
     My relationship with parents is changing in large part to the inspiration of my PLN. I can’t think of a time when I didn’t say, “Parents are my partners in educating their child. They are the first and most influential teacher.” It's easy to talk and say that parents are vital to their child's education. However, I feel like my relationships are changing and moving to a different level. This change has happened mostly during the last two years. It’s one of the many changes since being connected via Twitter.
      Last Spring as people were nominating colleagues for the Bammy Awards, I saw a tweet by Dr. Jim Detweiler @jimdetweiler1 about the lack of nomination for parents. It was something to the effect of, “Educators, can’t we do a better job of recognizing our parents?” It hit me like a rock in the head! “Yes,” I thought. “Here is a chance for you to recognize one of the amazing parents that have helped you this year.” I quickly wrote a nomination. Sadly, there weren’t very many nominations. But for me, it was great because this wonderful parent volunteer made it to the final five. I can’t even begin to tell you the positive reactions and the ripple effect that this had in our school community. It was just the tip of the iceberg.
     I have been greatly blessed this year with a whole group of forward thinking parents. I don’t have a single parent who has not been onboard with me to risk and try some new things in the classroom. My relationship with each parent has only strengthened as the year progresses.
     A couple of weeks ago, our fifth grade went to Hogle Zoo as part of our science studies about animal adaptations. I had 17 of my 30 parents spend the whole day with us! It was a bonding experience to be in an atmosphere outside of school, but watching the kids interact and apply their learning. Immediately following our trip to the zoo were two days of conferences. Students led their conference and showed their data that they were tracking, their progress, and their goals. It was honestly two of the best days of conferences that I’ve ever had during my whole career. I felt like the parents were truly my partners in education with actions and not just words. My students were empowered by discussing their progress. It was a celebration! Our focus was on growth instead of grades. It was an amazing experience! Student-led conferences are not new to me, but conferences without a focus on grades are new. I loved it! My students enjoyed the experience, and the parents appreciated seeing their child take ownership of their learning.
     Yesterday, for some unknown reason, the Halloween parade ended about 45 minutes early at 9:15 am.  I had over a dozen parent volunteers come to my classroom after the parade, but the one parent in charge of the party was not there. She had planned on coming shortly before 10:00 am to set-up the activities. I had activities that I could have done, but it was sunny outside. A dad volunteered to supervise and play with the kids outside while the rest of us did a few things to get ready for the Halloween party. For those 45 minutes, we had an incredible discussion about school culture, preparing kids for the future, testing, risk-taking, and the things that I was trying to implement in the classroom. (Last year the school boundaries changed. Our school now includes three different communities.) We talked about the blending of three communities and how the various schools and teachers compared. I can’t even express in words how the affirmations of the parents strengthened me as their child’s teacher. It was almost a testimony meeting as each parent expressed to me their love of me and how they saw incredible growth in their child/children already. (I have two sets of twins.) They expressed their thankfulness for truly feeling like they were making a difference the classroom. I’ve had them work with small groups with specific learning targets. They’ve helped me to track data and to better meet individual student needs. In turn, I was able to express my gratitude for their trust in me and my trust in them to help me teach these incredible kids. There were a lot of hugs and even some tears. In that moment, we became a true team with a common vision and mission. They totally support my integration of technology, creating a student-led classroom, less emphasis on grades, and many other facets of the curriculum. I am blessed and grateful! Working on my Masters/Admin degree is one of the most difficult challenges that I’ve faced- not because of the classes, but because I expend so much energy during the day with my kids. It’s nice to know that I have a whole team of parents that have my back. I’m finally tapping into their talents and expertise on a daily basis, and it’s making an impact!
     Truly engaging parents in the education of their children is a process. It’s not perfect in my classroom. I’m tweaking all of the time. I’m trying to make sure that parents know how valuable they are to me. It hasn’t happened overnight. Many of the parents that I’m working with this year are parents of my former students. The relationships that I’ve taken the time to build are paying off. Parents are still a largely untapped resource that I hope more teachers will embrace.
Specifically, I’m trying to improve two-way communication. It’s a never-ending challenge, but I’m committed. My PLN inspires me and holds me accountable. I’m a work in progress. I’m looking forward to looking back on this year- to reflect on the growth of my kids due to parents being more involved, engaged, and hopefully more empowered (at least for what happened in our classroom). This is the blog post that I can’t wait to write.

Measuring up!

I love my PLN! I've connected to the most amazing educators in the world and that's the truth! I'm genuinely happy about all of their successes. Without all of the doom/gloom and writing a depressing blog post, I can't help but wonder if I can ever measure up to them. I'm feeling way out of my league! Just a question- I'm not fishing for compliments! I'm honestly wondering what I have to offer. ??????

Great Expectations

As a preservice teacher, I had the assignment to watch the movie, The Marva Collin's Story.  It had a powerful impact on me, and I watch it every year as part of my "Back to School" ritual. I was deeply saddened to hear of her passing last June. Her story will forever inspire and motivate me to "do whatever it takes" for kids.

One of the most powerful lessons that I learned was to have high expectations for my students. I truly believe that ALL students can learn and that it's my responsibility as an educator to "draw out" their excellence. Michaelangelo once said, "Inside is an angel trying to get out" about a piece of marble he was ready to sculpt. I feel the same way about my students. No matter how tough on the outside, there is a child inside that wants to be loved, accepted, challenged, and to succeed.

Sometimes I'm criticized for having high standards for my students. I don't accept average for myself. Why would I ever accept average for my students? Not to my surprise, every year my students reach and surpass even MY high standards of behavior and academic achievement. But, I don't just raise the bar and expect the kids to get there on their own. It takes a lot of WORK to get them there!

Creating a culture of caring and trust in the classroom is essential. Many teachers, pressured by testing deadlines, skimp on the time that it takes to build authentic relationships with their students. This is a mistake! Every year I have to fight the "urgency to cover the curriculum". Taking the time to know my kids is a priority! They need to know that they are loved, accepted and that they can learn and be successful. They need to know that their effort is valued. They need to know that I challenge them because I want them to have the best life possible, and education is the key. I take the time because they are "my kids"! I would never shortchange them. It takes extra time and effort to build trust. Simple notes of appreciation, greetings, high-fives and positive phone calls home build lasting relationships long beyond the school year. It also takes time for the students to build trusting relationships with each other. Team building is crucial to classroom success. Everyone is a teacher. Everyone is a leader. We practice the skills. We practice procedures. We practice listening, sharing, and appreciating each others' effort and achievements.

When I earn the respect and trust of my students, then and only then can I become an effective teacher.

Average is easy. Many teachers settle for mediocrity and being comfortable. They care about their students but are afraid to challenge them, make them think, and let them struggle through a problem. They teach to the middle, fail to challenge the high, and lose hope for the low. My philosophy is to teach to the high and do what it takes to pull the other students up to that level. 

Effective teachers can challenge their students to higher academic and behavioral standards because students trust them. They know that their teacher will give them honest feedback to help them grow. The bar might be high, but the student knows that their teacher will help them get there with incremental steps. As they struggle through a challenge, they are motivated by the little successes along the way and by their progress. Mistakes are learning opportunities and effort to try new skills and grow is appreciated. At first it takes a lot of courage to share mistakes with peers. It takes a lot of courage to speak in front of a class. It takes courage to try new things. Risk-taking is rewarded.

One of the first challenges that we do as a class is memorize and say the poem, "The Man Who Thinks He Can" by Walter D. Wintle. We say it often. "I can't" or "I don't know"* are not phrases we say in our classroom.

I  believe that teachers must have a vision of what their students can become. They must believe with their heart, mind, and soul that they can make a difference in the child's life. As John Hattie would say, "Know your impact!" Armed with high expectations and a vision that can be realized, teachers will do whatever it takes to make a difference.

If I treat you as what you are capable of becoming, 
I help you become that.

Goethe 

 A banner hanging in my room says, "The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is the little extra." Students follow what they see modeled by their teacher. I'm far from perfect! But, I do know that students recognize and appreciate the extra efforts to make lessons and learning come to life. (Sometimes it's years later.) I know that they appreciate my attempts to give them timely and specific feedback about how to improve. I know that the balance between the press and showing I care is crucial. I know that THEY work!

I'm a passionate educator! I believe that we can have higher expectations for our students. I believe we can do better. I can do better! Excuses are not acceptable. Are we having the conversations about our teaching that we need to be having? Do we agree on what 'high expectations' look like? Are we holding each other accountable for student learning? Can we be even more effective than we are? How will we know? As I read, study and reflect, I know that I have a lot of room for improvement. I will make mistakes. This is a journey.

We are what we are because of others before us that had high expectations and challenged us. We owe our students the same.

*We say, "I don't know yet because ....." 
"I need more information."
"I'm unsure about this part."
"I'm thinking."

Dollar Bill Paycheck

I've always joked about how a teacher's paycheck often comes years down the road when former students come back to visit or bump into you in a public place. Fifth graders rarely appreciate the hard work a teacher requires. You may be "their favorite teacher" for the year, but it's much farther down the road when the payoffs come- especially for an elementary teacher.

Every year, I tell my kids that they are part of my retirement plan, and that's why we need to work so hard. I totally expect discounts or free services when they become working adults. :) As part of my retirement plan, I tell them about my desire to go on a vacation to Hawaii. If every student remembered to give me just $1 when they graduated from High School, I could afford to go on my dream vacation. Students eagerly promise to remember to send me the dollar. I started telling my students my plan when I was a new teacher, and now I'm close to retirement. Do I have enough money for that Hawaiian vacation? No, but I've received a lot wonderful "paychecks" over the years and more so recently.

Once I was pleasantly surprised when a former student came into my classroom with a framed $2 bill. One dollar was for graduating from High School, and one was for graduating from college. She'd become an engineer and had landed a high paying job and came to celebrate with me. Ahh...this was an extra paycheck because one of my girls went into a science field. I've always been an advocate for girls going into STEM fields although it wasn't called STEM back then.

Another student came to visit me last Spring right after graduation. She told me how school had always been so easy for her until she came to my class. I challenged her, didn't accept her mediocre work, and gave her opportunities to lead. I don't really remember, but she did. She told me how our simulation for the Civil War changed her because she was the captain of her company. She realized for the first time that she could be a leader. Another paycheck! She graduated with all kinds of honors, a full scholarship, a name for herself in the theater (we participated in a lot of drama activities), and was a confident young woman.

One of my biggest paychecks ever came about 10 years ago. My entire class of former 6th graders came into my room the last week of school after their graduation practice. Only three students were not there, and they came on a different day. Those kids will never know how much they touched my heart! Most of us had spent two years together because I had changed from 5th grade to 6th grade. We grew so much in those two years! It was heartwarming that they all thought of me at graduation time. But equally touching was that all of my kids were graduating. They had big dreams and were on their way. Two of them were leaving within a couple of weeks to serve our country. Some were already making more money than I was as a teacher. And now, a decade later, those same kids contact me and keep in touch. Did they remember that $1 bill? No, not even them. But money cannot replace the "teacher's paycheck" of knowing that you made a difference in someone's life.

Other students have contacted me by email and even Twitter to my delight. Every student has a story! I've laughed! I've cried! I am so proud of my kids! The little girl who wrote me poems sent me one of her published books. A mom sent me letters from her two sons who are both doctors and had their mom find me to give me their letters. Two more of my kids came back just last week to visit and tell me about their successes and future plans. One of my former students recently contacted me and told me that he'd found me and had read this blog. :) I'm so touched!

You see, it all comes down to building relationships. The kids don't remember the facts, the test scores, and all of those great units of study I prepared. They remember the American Revolution and the Civil War simulations and how emotionally invested they were. They remember playing catch with a football after school. They remember the talks, the laughing, the silly awards I gave, the science experiments, writing and sharing stories, reading great books, and the high fives. Kids remember the musical programs, the service projects, and how we learned together. They remember the good feelings. I took the time to build team spirit and camaraderie. I loved and love them! I did everything in my power to provide them with the educational experiences that I'd want for my own kids. They are my kiddos! (quite literally since I don't have kids of my own) I never wanted to shortchange them.

Once again, I'm feeling the pressure to cover the curriculum, assess with more benchmarks, track the data, and make sure that the kids are ready for the year-end tests. Those things have their place. But, for me, my goal is to make sure my students prepare for life and are good citizens of a great country. So, I'm a rebel of sorts. My focus is on continuing to build relationships in my classroom, and the test scores will take care of themselves.

After all, it's the small things that you do that bring the greatest rewards.

Peahens and Frilled Lizards- How Tech Made A Difference!

I'm experimenting and trying to figure out how best to use our Chromebooks, class time, nontech activities, and all that we need to do in a jam-packed schedule. Plus, I have to work with kids coming and going all of the time for speech, resource, counseling, etc. It's a juggling act! Here's what I've done for the past two days.

I moved desks AGAIN. (Using student feedback, I'm trying to find the best seating arrangement for our class activities.) Now I have three large "tables" and two smaller ones. Each "table" is a learning center. The two small groups of desks make one center. The kids rotate to each center with their Chromebook so that they always have it available to them.

Today, one table was my reading group. Another was a math center where kids worked on Tenmarks math lessons and ixl for extra practice with fractions. They chose what to work on for ixl although I gave them some guidelines. The third table was was for working on Quill (grammar, keyboarding, spelling) and TypingAgent (keyboarding). The fourth center was using Edmodo to watch a StudyJams science video, read an article from Wonderopolis, and to work on their StoryboardThat project. In between each rotation, the kids chose a Gonoodle activity. Yesterday a center was independent reading and the kids hung out on the couch, yoga balls, and other comfortable seating. I also used SpellingVocabCity to practice our science words, and another center was for practicing handwriting, (something we really need to practice).

The rotations went beautifully, and I was lucky to have a parent help to moderate the centers for a whole hour today. Although, I must say that the kids were pretty awesome on their own. I didn't have any behavior issues, and kids helped each other with their accounts and other questions. It was quiet. My reading group didn't bother anyone because the other students had on their headphones and were engaged in their other lessons.

The BIG DIFFERENCE was that in my reading groups, the kids had Internet access at their fingertips! We read a book about animal adaptations. I started with my lowest readers first which is a whole group of boys. I started with them first because they are the kids that leave throughout the day for other classes and I needed to spend more time with them reading. The word peahen came up, and no one knew what the animal was and so we Googled it and looked at some pictures. They were able to discover quite a few facts just by looking at pictures and reading the captions. When we turned the page and saw a big picture of an Australian Frilled Lizard, the boys got excited! After talking about some keywords and text features, the kids read the page. While they read, I was quickly able to find a Youtube clip and added it to Edmodo. After reading the page, kids went to Edmodo and watched the clip and got very excited to learn more. We read the page again, this time as a whole group. Our whole discussion about animal adaptations took on a new enthusiasm. They boys wanted to read more! They wanted to find more details! And...because the rest of the class was busy, we took a few minutes to find some answers to their questions. I'm sure that at least one of the boys will choose to do his Genius Hour report about the lizards.

Each reading group was a little different. One group was interested in aardvarks eating termites and another was more interested in migrating butterflies. But, I had TIME to better meet their needs. We had the tech in front of us to help us find information together. I wasn't the source of knowledge. The learning was timely and relevant.

To have 30 kiddos in one class is a lot of responsibility- a lot of individual needs to meet. The system wasn't perfect yesterday or today. It was a lot of screen time to me. (The kids disagree with me and told me that they had plenty of rest in between each learning center block of 25ish minutes.) They loved it! They chose the activity in each center to work on first, and who they sat by for each center. In their eyes, learning with their own Chromebook, moving around to different places, and having choices was great learning. I agree, and it can only get better! This is another baby step towards making learning more differentiated and individualized. I still have a lot to figure out and tweak. I'd love to know your thoughts- especially if you have experience being 1:1 Chromebooks. Any suggestions?