...into a video/collaboration station!Bret Gosselin transformed his teacher desk... handing it over to the students, of course!
...make me sick!"So says Zach Rondot (@MrRondot) in a tweet to me about his post here: "What do you mean we don't have time for social studies?" A Guide to Project-Based Learning Have you been there? Done that? My awakening was when I entered the seventh-grade ELA classroom and students took a 50-point test on The Outsiders (without looking back at the test!)! Forget the days of students forgetting the information needed for the test a week after. Check out Zach's post about a HUGE shift, where he shares five comprehensive steps needed AND management tips! (He even helps out with the grading... or lack thereof!) The old self doubt is creeping in. I'm the only classroom with full flexible seating & how our daily routines go. I struggle not having a team or even a partner to push me & grow. They have the 'what I did for past 5 years is fine' attitude. My principal thinks, "She's a good teacher, I don't have to worry about her," so I rarely get ANY feedback. I look to my PLN who are outstanding. I still do what I want in my class - Instagram, Twitter, flexible learning, coding, and genius hour is coming up. Sorry for dumping on you, but sometimes I feel alone.
This person is using online teachers for support - thank goodness! We support each other and help each other grow. What's next for this educator to do? Share your story. Share through blogging, and share with parents the reasons WHY you're trying new things. Then reach out, little by little, to coworkers. Ask the questions that get them thinking about what's best for children, then share your own story with them. It is sad that educators who want to change are often ostracized. It's time for us to change that. Let's make what some now consider "crazy" - the norm in a few years... What's your mission statement look like? Mine is in the book in chapter four, and it's on our classroom website here. I saw a blog post by Cori Orlando today - looks like she's on her way to a mission statement, shifting all the way!
Check out Cori's post "#ShiftHappens" here! Outside of our classroom, instead of "J.Kirr - ELA," I've got "J. Kirr's Scholars." I think I have to reprint it each year, as it gets "normalized" again when summer arrives. That being said, I'd love to share your classroom names / slogans, etc. Here's the first one I've had sent my way, thanks to William Burdick:
Once I shared Mari Venturino's post (below), I received another notification of another white board table hack from Santiago Ordejon Z. (Will someone please comment on this post, teaching me how to include accent marks in Weebly? Thank you in advance!) I'll be adding more to this post when they come in. Thank you for sharing how to make your classroom environment more conducive to learning - on ANY flat surface!
Mari Venturino and I must have something in common - we love it when students can write on the tables! She spent a lot less moolah than I did to help her students accomplish this. (I received a grant for paint and had to ask our maintenance staff to paint them.) Here's a quick fix for teachers who need a shift in their classroom environment.
Check out her blog post here, and then venture out into the rest of her blog to learn more! Whiteboard Desks: Low tech can be really fun! |
AuthorSThis blog is for OTHER authors to share their shifts with the world! Follow their stories by following the links to their blogs! Archives
January 2019
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