Ahh It's summer time! Students love summer vacation it's a time to play swim, camp and most importantly no school! But of course for teachers we get the ultimate statement "What do you care you have off all summer!" As teachers we known all to well what our response to that statement would be. My statement is simple, "I may have the summer off from your children but that does not mean that I do not still spend every waking moment thinking about your child and improving upon my practice for my next group of students that are arriving in the fall." I will continue learning! I am an example to your child and I plan to show them that the learning never ends. I have been out of school for 10 days. In those 10 days, I have spent 3 days revising math curriculum, 2 days compiling ideas to integrate technology into our math curriculum, countless hours reading, exploring, and downloading ideas from Connecting Comprehension & Technology, 1 day learning new curriculum for summer school I will be teaching this summer, and 1 day ordering items for organization and success for next year's students. I loved every second of it!
Here are some new ideas I have learned over the last 10 days:
* Transformative Technology Integration- Can be simple. I tend to over analyze. Simply adding a voice recording transforms the task. I hope for so much more, but starting from the bottom is a great start!
* Reading is Thinking- I've known this, I knew I had to teach it, I struggled with teaching it. I have read many books on how to teach it at many different grade levels. No book has helped me understand and put into practice these strategies better than Connecting Comprehension & Technology. Partly because it is so easy to read and visualize in practice and partly because it infused my inquiry of "How can I teach first graders to comprehend while also learning to read?" and my passion for technology integration.
* Thinking needs to be Visible- Kristen Wideen shares this blog post on making your thinking visible in math. When do students learn best? When they can teach someone else how to do it. What better way for them to teach someone else but by explaining their own thinking through a visual representation using a whiteboard app. The extension could even include other students evaluating and critiquing the way student A computed the problem to come up with different ways to solve (Mathematical Practice 3, yes I am that geek). The possibilities are endless when someone's thinking is shared and shown out loud for everyone to see. It may also help get passed the ultimate one liner "I just knew!" or "I thought it in my head."
* Lastly, I am choosing what I want to do over my summer. This is my time. I can choose what I want to do on my summer vacation and I choose to learn! I choose to grow! I choose to read, explore, and connect!
It may not be "fair" that teachers get the summer off but I am spending my summer learning. So I am not off but choosing to make myself better to hopefully make your child better.
Here are some new ideas I have learned over the last 10 days:
* Transformative Technology Integration- Can be simple. I tend to over analyze. Simply adding a voice recording transforms the task. I hope for so much more, but starting from the bottom is a great start!
* Reading is Thinking- I've known this, I knew I had to teach it, I struggled with teaching it. I have read many books on how to teach it at many different grade levels. No book has helped me understand and put into practice these strategies better than Connecting Comprehension & Technology. Partly because it is so easy to read and visualize in practice and partly because it infused my inquiry of "How can I teach first graders to comprehend while also learning to read?" and my passion for technology integration.
* Thinking needs to be Visible- Kristen Wideen shares this blog post on making your thinking visible in math. When do students learn best? When they can teach someone else how to do it. What better way for them to teach someone else but by explaining their own thinking through a visual representation using a whiteboard app. The extension could even include other students evaluating and critiquing the way student A computed the problem to come up with different ways to solve (Mathematical Practice 3, yes I am that geek). The possibilities are endless when someone's thinking is shared and shown out loud for everyone to see. It may also help get passed the ultimate one liner "I just knew!" or "I thought it in my head."
* Lastly, I am choosing what I want to do over my summer. This is my time. I can choose what I want to do on my summer vacation and I choose to learn! I choose to grow! I choose to read, explore, and connect!
It may not be "fair" that teachers get the summer off but I am spending my summer learning. So I am not off but choosing to make myself better to hopefully make your child better.