Reflections of a Novelty Driven Teacher

The question of the day is what have I not tried this year that I want to?

And that's a funny question this year. Most years, I get wrapped up in trying to keep up with all of the reading basal's directions. "It says I can do this all in five days, but HOW?" I always ended up wondering.

This year was different. This year was about creation, sharing, student voice, student goals, it wasn't about everybody keep up with everybody else. Between starting Genius Hour, working in a sometime Makerspace, and implementing an environment that's designed for creation and sharing, I've dumped a lot of the old, "Now let's all turn to page 238," claptrap.

And the results have been exciting. Our Genius Hour projects have led to some amazing student work, some great charity efforts, and students finding their voices and passions. When my students create response blogs, videos, and posters when they encounter new material, they're collaborating and remembering important information as it's needed. In taking apart old electronics, and (soon) adding a 3D Printer into the mix, my students' imaginations have been tickled in fantastic ways. And lastly, by focusing on students spending time reading the majority of time instead of reading instruction, my kids understand their reading goals, and are showing progress that matches and/or exceeds the district progression line.

This is the year that I've discovered EdCamps, and all of the success I've found in audacity has given me confidence here as well. After attending two EdCamps (I'm talking to you, EdCamp Citrus and EdCamp Orange), I put together a team, and we're going to put on EdCamp St. Augustine on May 9. So with all of this, this isn't the year that I'm going to look back with the regret of, "I wish I'd tried..." That said, there's always more I want to do, and I want to grow as well. As a personal goal, I want to get writing. In class, though, and I've wanted to do this for years, but get overwhelmed when I think of planning, I need to get my kids podcasting. I listen to so many podcasts in my personal time. There are a couple of ed podcasts, and so many comedy/interview shows. I think podcasting is such a powerful medium because the speaker is often jacked right into your brain through your earbuds. If my soapbox is empowering student voices, then putting out a class podcast is approaching quickly on my horizon.

Get ready!

Wait, but wasn't 1999 like, a year or two ago?

Today's April Blog-a-Day topic is, "What would you say to your beginning teacher-self?" The thing is, and tell me if this isn't true for you, too, time is moving faster every year for me. I'm sure it's a problem of perception, the last ten years are less than a quarter of my life. So does that mean that ten years back for me feels like two years back for a third grader? It sure feels that way.

Anyway, I've been in the classroom for 16ish years now. I say ish because I started mid-year at a charter school when one of their teachers left at the Christmas break. I had been subbing for a couple years before that, but January 1999 is really the beginning of when I was teaching teaching.

When I started out as a little baby teacher, the world was so different, and yet, it was very much the same for me. I was teaching at Summit Academy in southeast Michigan, and the setup was brand new to me. We had two teachers, two parapros, and 47 kids in one 4th/5th grade classroom. We had a bank of fourteen computers and a decent internet connection.

I knew nothing at the time. I was the math and social studies teacher in our classroom, and while we had lists of standards, we were all new, and I was making a lot of it up as I went along. The thing is, though, sometimes I think I'm closer to where I started than I've been in an awfully long time.

I've heard people say that when you throw your first pot on a pottery wheel, it's common for people to do surprisingly well. Once people start learning, though, it gets much harder before it ever goes that easily again. The term beginner's luck comes to mind.

I think there's a sort of freedom that comes from having absolutely no idea what you're doing. You can try daring things because you don't know better, and during those first years at Summit Academy, we did some incredibly cool stuff. If I met someone today doing the things I was doing then, I'd think, "What an awesome teacher." I'm sure I left a lot of things out, but overall, there was a lot of good. There was also a lot of inventing the wheel each day.

Then what happens? You learn what you're supposed to do. Conscientiousness slips in. You worry about what your co-workers are doing, are you doing enough? Your - at least my - teaching gets a lot less cool in the process. And that killed me inside. It's discouraging to know what you can do, and not doing it.

So if 2015 me met 1999 me today, what would I tell him? The number one thing would be to try and hang on the awesome things. Yes, you're going to be working on serious things, yes, you've been doing some things wrong. Dirty secret? There are some things you'll always do wrong. Forever. Don't beat yourself up for it, and don't let it take away from setting up experiences and opportunities for your students to be great.

If I met a 2015 doppelganger of young me, my advice would be a little different. This year, the power of my PLN has radically changed my teaching. By being a connected teacher on Twitter, and through EdCamps, I've gained so much confidence to let my ideas grow, to try, to take risks, and to trust my instincts. Twitter and EdCamps have both been around for a while, but I'm in this year, and it has made all the difference. So young me's of today? Get connected. Connect yourself, connect your class, get global. You'll grow so much faster because of it!

Because We Don't Need $500 Worksheets

If you're reading this, and you're a teacher, you've probably done some of the same things I have. I can't count the number of times I've looked back on something I've done teaching and thought, "Oh, that was bad teaching." Heck, I've said it in the middle of a lesson, "Girls and boys, this is bad teaching. I'm bored. You're bored. You don't care, and I don't think you're learning a thing." Often, a polite student will pipe up, "I'm not bored." But they're saying it a little too nicely, aren't they?
One thing I've really worked to get rid of in my teaching, though, is using my tech as a worksheet. We have these awesome laptops in our room. My students can research, watch videos, read blogs from all over, write, make art, and share globally. If I'm using them in the same way as a stack of photo copies, I'm wasting my students' time, I'm wasting district money, and I'm not doing good teaching.
When my students respond to their learning. When they write about it, when they create artwork and videos to share what they've learned, they're making connections to the content that will stick.
Here's the cool thing, though, when I 'fall back' on worksheets, it's often because I need to kill some time. Maybe I have some paperwork or emails of my own to catch up on, maybe I need to organized for a sub. You don't need to go there, though, you don't. Schedule time for your students to work on their response videos, infographics, and blogs, and two things will happen. When you do need that time to catch up, there it is. When you don't, you can consult with your creative team, and help them to beef up their skills, and make products worth sharing.

What If? Wednesdays

I was in the middle of a Twitter Chat, I don’t remember which one when Paul Solarz (follow him, he's fantastic!) wrote that he enjoys What If? Wednesday with his students. If I was a more diligent man, I would probably have asked him what that entailed. I’m not. I’m impulsive, novelty driven, and given to puzzle things out to create fantastic experiences with my kids.

So what did I do? I took the name. What If? Wednesday. It’s great! It has potential, and it can be anything. It can be an experience that creates great blogging opportunities, art opportunities, and who knows what else? Service projects? Why not? Or maybe it could lead to silliness. Silliness is beautiful. It creates fantastic community bonds in your classroom.
And silliness was in the offing today. Today’s (inaugural) What If? Wednesday question was, “What if you could choose your name, and it could be anything?” As we went through students’ choices, we got some ridiculous names, and a couple of “I wish this was my name” names.

We laughed so much, and really enjoyed each other, despite all the test stress we’re experiencing with the Florida State Assessment approaching. The kids loved correcting me as I misspoke their new names. Students inevitably asked if they could keep their names. Absolutely.

Before I give you my new class list, I want to endorse silliness in the classroom. You build creativity, you build community, and you help your students build a sense of self. Go be silly!

And now: my new kids –

Blueberry
Ashley
Fluffy Pink Unicorns, Dancing on Rainbows
Alexis
Goldilocks
Wheeljack
Sponge King
Cute VPK Dude
Guinea Pig Lightning
Philadelphia
Pretty Pretty Pegasus
Princess Glitter
Fluffy Wuffy
Olaf, King of Cinnamon Buns
Megatron
Fairie
Bob

The Idea Lab - It's All About Sharing

I'm promising myself that I'm not doing this: "Well, the tests will be over, it'll be time to get down to real teaching!" or "Now that we're done with the test, we can start doing fun stuff!" We joke about that every year, but this year, I've tried to teach in engaging ways that mattered to my students. Some of it has worked better than others. I definitely have a lot to grow on, but I feel like I'm on to good things. When you put creativity in the hands of your students, when you have them respond to the real world and to their learning with writing, art, and creation, I think you're touching what education should be.

All year long, I've been trying to focus my skills and my students' skills on sharing their voice whenever possible. We're going to continue to do that in the final quarter of the year, but we're going to grow it. Not because the test is through, but because as ideas come to me, I want to make them happen. I'm here to help kids have opportunities to find their voice, and to help them put their voices on stage as globally as possible.

So, what are they going to be doing to share their voices? They're going to be logging so many experiences, and growing so many ideas. All along the way, they'll have three (or more?) ways to share what they've done. First, we are going to continue to be doing a lot of blogging. As we get more used to churning out writing, I find that my students' voices are starting to grow. Secondly, students may choose to do a poster, or infographic about their learning. Finally, I'm putting cameras into my students hands. I want to help my students develop their voices by vlogging their ideas, their findings, and their feelings.

And so here we are. This week, I'll be introducing (and updating) the following concepts to my students. As I do, I'll also be sharing our ideas and my thinking here.
100 Acts of Service, brought to my attention by my Twitter pal, @rosy_burke
A book and movie based on the You Matter Manifesto by Angela Maiers. If you haven't seen our short You Matter Video, it's hosted below.
Kicking Maker Club into the creation level - We've taken apart our electronics, it's time to make robots!
A new round of Genius Hour titled the future. Students will still be able to work on projects that touch their souls, but I want them to focus forward.
And last night, @PaulSolarz, author of the upcoming Learn Like a Pirate, shared the idea of What If? Wednesday. I didn't ask him a lot about it (I plan to), but I thought if nothing else, it could be a discussion help us energize about new ideas each week.

As always, keep your eyes out for new blogs from my students at http://mrfarnum.weebly.com/student-blog, and keep checking this site to see what's growing inside The Idea Lab!

You Matter

We started working on a window design yesterday. Our old window design was called What Makes Us Happy? I loved it, it included students' drawings of the things that gasp make them happy. But you know how it is when artwork doesn't change for a long time - it becomes part of the landscape and no one pays attention to it.

Initially I had thought of a photo project with pictures of kids holding signs saying things like, "I want to be valued," and "I have a voice." I love classroom photo projects. My pal Katie (@mrskusiak on Twitter) always has cool photos in her window. The more I thought about it though, that wasn't the thing. Saying, "I have a voice," empowers me. Saying,"You have a voice," empowers both of us. By giving you value, I create value in myself. Everybody grows. That's where Angela Maiers' ( @AngelaMaiers on Twitter) amazing You Matter Manifesto (http://www.angelamaiers.com/2012/01/the-you-matter-manifesto.html) came in.

On Friday morning, as I talked with students about the project, student voice joined in. Ben said, "In videos where people hold cards, the people never smile." He was so right! We agreed to look serious, as we were sharing an important message. As we were taking photos and sharing them, the idea came to have our last cardholder smile. After all that seriousness, doesn't the message, "YOU MATTER," merit a smile after all?

As we took the photos, we tweeted them out on our class accounts (@mrfarnumsclass on Twitter and on Instagram). The last one went out during recess, so I thought I should share them with the kids afterward. As we looked at the photos, the students started asking, "Can we make a slideshow?" Yes!

With the kids watching, so they could see how it works, I popped the pictures into Movie Maker, explaining the process as I went. Next came time to add music. I showed them http://dig.ccmixter.org/ - a website where you can download (for free!) music that creators share solely for credit given. We worked our way through several instrumental samples. We talked about how some songs wouldn't work - the songs were too slow, too sad. If we combined them with the solemn faces in our photos, it'd be depressing. Some were too upbeat, too lighthearted. We settled on Goodbye War, Hello Peace by an artist named teru. The kids and I agreed that it felt like music that was sharing a hopeful and positive feeling. As we wrapped up the video, we credited the kids alphabetically - I don't like to put a name under a face online. We credited teru - because you don't use other peoples' work without permission, and without giving them credit.

Then we pipped the video up on YouTube, and started sharing. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out, and I'm very proud of my students and their role in our project.

Our goal is still to print the photos, and hang them in our window as a message to other students in our school. I'm so happy that on our way, we were able to make something worth sharing with everybody, because if you're reading this, You Matter.

Our First (Good) Maker Club Wednesday

After several weeks of NOT doing maker club, we've finally had a blast taking things apart! Let's rewind.

At the start of every year, I start collecting students' and friends' old electronics with the sole purpose of taking things apart. You could talk about all of the things that students learn from taking apart electronics, from the elements of design and engineering, to teamwork, to tool use, but I don't want to sully the experience by talking about such things. Taking things apart is cool. Playing with screwdrivers is fun, and there are lots of neat things inside. The circuit boards look like cities!

Anyway, it takes a while, but by mid-year, we usually have a computer or two, some VCRs, a toaster, or a TV. Maybe more, maybe less. I keep my eye out on trash day, too. It's better if things don't work anymore, because they sure aren't when we get done with them! This year, I got all high minded. I made a cool booklet, My Robot Journal, that had a spot for kids to write before they did anything. It had spots that covered several modes of writing. I was so proud of my work. There was only one problem with it. It was teacher designed based on teacher desires. And it killed it. The kids who like to write were gonna get to have fun, and the ones who are overwhelmed by writing were going to be frustrated. That's not what I wanted this lesson to be like.

So today, I decided to take down the pay wall, and put the trust in the hands of my students. I told them they should still hang on to the robot journal. I'd left them with lots of valuable tools that they could use in constructing blog posts and stories from this project. Then I told them, the journals are YOURS, use them how you like. I distributed a limited number of screwdrivers, and said they would need to share with their partners, or bring some in from home. And then magic happened.

The kids were - no surprise here - totally engaged in their work. I had boys taking apart a refrigerator, girls dismantling a VCR, kids taking apart phones, computers, and peripherals. It was awesome! They were cooperative, they were working safely, and they were thrumming with excitement. As I circled around the room, I heard kids saying things like, "I'm gonna use this wire for hair", "These will be cool eyes!", and "Oh good, there's a fan in here for each of us!"

When it was time to clean up, they were disappointed but cooperative. I asked them as we were on our way to lunch, "You had a good time, right?" Yeses, smiles, and nods. "Is it fair to ask you to make it worth my time by writing some great blog posts about taking apart your tech?" More smiling nods. "Do you think you can come up with 200 words based on what you did today?" More affirmatives! On future Wednesdays, we'll be designing robots with our tech parts, we'll assemble them, photograph them, 'shop them into pictures, and write stories about them. I love doing this project with my students, but I have to say, even if it was just today, it was worth it to have the kids taking things apart to find out what's inside.