Dear New Teacher

First, let me say "Welcome to the Profession". You have chosen one of the most important fields to work in. I really believe all those wonderful quotes people say about teaching. You know the ones about lighting a fire and how our influence lasts long after our students leave us. 

Earlier in the summer, I attended a conference and was introduced to a couple of new teachers. We chatted over our lunch and discussed the sessions we had attended. At some point, we began discussing our first year of teaching. The new teachers talked about their plans, ideas, and hopes for the first year. The experienced teachers shared tips and self-deprecating humor about their first year. 

All of our tips and advice could be put into five categories.  

1. Be Resourceful

There is great need in our buildings. Our resources are stretched to the max. Teachers can't wait around for an infusion of funds to place new books, supplies or technology into our laps.  If you or your students need something, ask for it. The worst that can happen is you will be told "no". If told "no", get creative. Offer to pilot a new program. Write a grant. Find a sympathetic alumnus. If it is important for your classroom and students, find a way. 

2. Get Connected

It is easy to make the four walls of the classroom your entire world. After all, many of us spend ten hours a day there. The truth is that this job is tough to do alone, yet many teachers are isolated--by choice or school design. Find like-minded teachers in your building and form a learning community.We need others for support and to bounce ideas off of from time to time.  Don't be afraid to reach out to teachers in different subject areas or grade levels. If you don't have like-minded teachers in your building, reach out to others through social media. Many teachers use tools like Twitter and Pinterest to enhance their teaching. 

3. Be Flexible

Have a plan, but know that it can be altered at any time.The Internet will go down. A water pipe will burst and flood your room and you will have to relocate your class for the day. A maintenance worker will be in your ceiling fixing your HVAC while your students work huddled in one corner of your room. A mouse will fall out of your ceiling and onto your students' desks causing complete chaos. Yes. All of those scenarios have really happened. Your day can change quickly, you need to be able to adjust and deliver instruction and care to your students. 

4.  Keep Learning

Despite the slowness of our schools to transition, the way students learn is changing. We have to re-imagine and re-create our curriculum to help or students learn. Likewise, we have to stay current on the culture of our students. In order to do that, we must keep learning. Read books. Attend trainings. Ask questions. 

5. Get Involved 

Get involved in your school community. Students love to see their teachers at their concerts, plays, and athletic matches. You not only will see a different side of your students, but you also will get to know their families better. Better yet, sponsor a club, coach a sport, or direct the choir. Interacting with students without the pressures of testing, bell schedules, and curriculum pacing is very rewarding and helps create a positive student-teacher relationship. 

There are many more tips and advice I could post here, but I want my readers to weigh in. What is the best advice you were given as a new teacher?

No More Teacher Paralysis

Sadly, it has been six months since I have updated my blog. I suppose I could list a lot of valid reasons (or excuses) for my silence, but I won't. The truth, dear reader, is I lapsed back into "I'm just a teacher" mode. You know the mode I am talking about. It's the mode where teachers think they don't have anything to offer beyond the classroom. The mode where we tell ourselves that no one really thinks what we have to say is interesting, relevant, or worthy.  It's the mode that sometimes causes teachers to shutdown.

Yep. I fell prey to the doubt all teachers have. 

Thankfully, I have a few supporters who have hounded (okay, gently nudged) me to get back to blogging. They have offered to read my blog or listen to me pitch ideas. Everyone needs those people in their life. I am blessed to have them.  They are like-minded teachers, educators, and friends. I know they are a safe place. I can think out loud, dream, and, yes, even vent with them.

The truth is that we all have times of self-doubt. Self-doubt isn't really the problem. It's the paralysis that self-doubt causes. That's the problem. When we teachers are paralyzed and don't speak up or act, then decisions are made for us. This realization and self-reflection has helped me get my blogging legs back under me.

I want to be a part of the conversation. One way to do that is to reflect on my teaching and learning through this blog.

I don't want to be paralyzed anymore. 

Teacher Dreams Do Come True

In February 2012 I was asked to participate at the national ECET2 conference in Scottsdale, AZ. ECET2 stands for Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teaching and Teachers. Aside from the beautiful venue and the thrill of escaping the chilly Kentucky air, I was amazed by how well we were treated. This was the first conference I attended where someone wasn't trying to sell me something. We were told  that we were important and needed. We were sung to, fed amazing meals, allowed time to make connections with teachers across the country, and treated professionally. All of the plenary and breakout sessions were relevant to my teaching. All sessions were led by teachers. There were many sessions to choose from and I had difficulty choosing sometimes. My colleagues and I kept looking at one another and wondering how did we get here.  It was sad that we were so surprised by the attention. Indeed, we left the conference and felt "celebrated and elevated". On the flight home, I began to dream about what it would be like if an ECET2 conference could happen for Kentucky teachers.

Eleven months later my dream started to come true. It began with a tweet. Within seconds of wishing for a Kentucky version of the conference, we had a planning team pulled together. While many logistics needed to be worked out, we were on our way to bringing ECET2 to our Kentucky colleagues.

On January 25, 2014 the dream became a reality as the first annual ECET2KY was held at the Red Mile in Lexington, Kentucky. Despite a wicked snow storm, teachers gathered to be elevated and celebrated.

Like the national version of ECET2, we had a mix of break-out sessions and plenary sessions. We had our very own emcee in Mickey Campbell, a Lexington teacher, who playfully and professionally guided us throughout the day.

We were first greeted by Barbara Bellissimo, the executive director of The Fund for Transforming Education in Kentucky. The Fund served as the sponsoring group for the conference and supported our planning team with resources and encouragement. She praised the work teachers are doing in Kentucky and pledged to support teachers and innovative teaching practices. 

In the first plenary session, Irvin Scott from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation opened up our conference and told teachers that isolation is the enemy of improvement in our profession. He encouraged us to reach out to our colleagues to problem solve issues affecting our students and schools. 

Next, I spoke to the group about UP³. Teachers need to Get Up. We need to remember why we started teaching and find ways to rejuvenate so we can continue the work. Teachers also need to Team Up. It's important that we connect with one another for support and growth. Finally, teachers need to Speak Up. We need to find our voices and share our experiences with those outside of education.

During lunch we heard from Megan Allen, the 2010 Florida Teacher of the Year. Megan reminded us of several things. School is like a rock to our students, a place of stability and safety. Teaching moments are important and can't often be measured on a bubble test. We need to look within our classrooms for solutions. Finally, we need to build on our commonalities and use our voice to speak up about our experiences.

Our closing speaker was Josh Underwood, a Kentucky science teacher. Josh reminded us of the importance of saying yes to learning and leadership opportunities. He reminds us that we need to broaden our circle to include teachers of all content areas. He told us that there is power in a unified effort and that teachers' voices matter. 

In between the plenary sessions, we attended breakout sessions and met in colleague circles to discuss teacher leadership. The breakout sessions explored how teachers can improve their practice through collaboration, leverage their voices, become teacher leaders, and communicate with policy makers. 

For me, the most rewarding times were sitting in the colleague circles and watching teachers encourage one another. My teacher soul was fed as I watched connections being formed. This is tough, rewarding work and sometimes teachers need a lift. One teacher said she was glad to know she has a group of teachers that she could reach out to when she needed support. This support is important and necessary for effective teachers to remain teaching. Sometimes the support is a kind word, e-mail, or tweet. Other times the support is more tangible, like pushing a colleague's car out of a snowy parking lot. 

Teachers, it is important to dream, and dreams can come true. My ECET2KY dream came true with a lot of help from colleagues and community partners like The Fund, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,  the Center for Teaching Quality, and the Hope Street Group. 

I am looking forward to what my colleagues dream up while we are waiting for the next ECET2KY. If you are on Twitter you can follow the conversation at #ECET2KY. 

First Genius Hour Celebration

When I started researching Genius Hour this summer, I had no idea how the concept would play out in my classroom. The idea was intriguing and seemed worth the risk, so I forged ahead with plans to introduce it to my writing class in the fall. I was very honest with my class that this was the first time I had ever tried this out on a class. I explained that we would figure this out together and, at the end of the semester, decide if we wanted to continue.  The process wasn’t without its bumps. Initially, students struggled with the wide-open freedom of choosing how to spend a 90 minute class block. At first, many of them spent time trying to figure out what I wanted and distrusted me when I explained that the students would determine if their project was successful or not. Likewise, I explained that I would not be assigning grades to their work, they would. This was a very different learning situation for them. Some students quickly adapted to the freedom and began working on a project right away. Other students struggled and begged me to tell them what to do. In the end, my students have voted to continue with Genius Hour.

I wanted to recap our first Genius Hour Celebration below.  I learned more about my students’ passions during this process than I could in a year’s worth of classes. They amazed me and my guests that day. I am forever hooked on Genius Hour and look forward to the second semester of work. 

This group of students set out to document all four years of their high school experience. They spent the semester collecting artifacts from their friends to add to this real life collage. These senior students reflected on how they realized that the next few years of their lives would not be spent so closely with one another. They mentioned that the experience of collecting the artifacts, reflecting on the experiences, and pulling together the display was one they won’t forget as they move in separate directions next fall.

Two students wanted to create homemade Christmas gifts for their families. They decided on glass blown ornaments. At first, they tried to create the projects in our school with a collaboration between our science and art departments, but quickly learned because of safety concerns and equipment, it would not be possible. The students then looked around to see if they could apprentice with an actual glass blower. Their research led them to the arts and craft community in Berea, Kentucky about a 45 minute drive from our school. The students excitedly showed us the video of how they were able to not only watch the artisan craft the glass ornaments, but also create their own ornaments. They were the experts as they explained to us terms like thermal stress, glory hole, and marvering. I was most excited when the students said they were going to go back again over winter break and take their families and make the glass blowing outing a family tradition.

Another student wanted to explore how to create a puzzle. The task seemed simple until the student explained how she had to work around several challenges. She first downloaded a program that would help her draw the puzzle pieces only to find out the program would not work and was actually an advertisement. Next, she tried to create the puzzle pieces by hand only to find out that her tools were not effective and only succeeded in making a mess. Likewise, she realized that too detailed a photo was difficult to cut out. She settled on a vibrant, but simple photograph. Finally, she found a template and after a couple of attempts was successful. She said she her dad was a huge encouragement to her and helped her brainstorm through the challenges.

This last project involved students creating mosaics using glass tiles. The project evolved throughout the semester as the students became more comfortable with the materials they used. They created four mosaics to represent the four seasons. This sunshine mosaic represented summer.  This was the first mosaic the students created and the one they said they learned the most from. In the corner you can see tiny cracks. These cracks led the students to research and seek help about how to prevent them. Each subsequent mosaic improved in quality until finally the students were satisfied with the outcome. I find it interesting that the students chose to show our class the “mistake” rather than  the finished “perfect” one.

My students were honest about their work when they shared their projects. They spoke about the dangers of procrastinating and underestimating the time the projects took. Many of them talked about learning lessons of planning their work before jumping into the project. Others talked about how experimenting with their work paid off in surprising ways. Many of them commented on how well they know their classmates now that we have struggled through our first Genius Hour. All of these lessons might not have occurred if it were not for Genius Hour. So, would I do it again or recommend it to others? Definitely. My students’ excitement fed my teacher soul. I can’t wait to start this madness back up again in January.

Genius Hour: Still Learning

This semester I am conducting Genius Hour time with my writing class. See my first post here on how I began implementing it earlier this year.  

Early on, I noticed that students were in varying stages of progress with their projects. Some students took enthusiastically to the freedom and creative process that Genius Hour encourages. Those students quickly came up with questions to explore and launched their projects soon after. Their excitement was energizing and contagious. As I interacted with those groups, I was amazed at their creativity, work ethic, and perseverance. For those groups, I acted as an encourager, coach, and sometimes a mediator.  I asked questions, offered praise, and counseling when needed. 

Others struggled with that freedom and, exasperated and stressed, asked me to "just tell them what to do". I spent time with those students helping them sift through ideas and pushing them to take on a challenging question. I assured them that they could handle this work. I was surprised at how these students struggled with the freedom of Genius Hour. They were used to structured learning, but unfamiliar with drafting their own learning questions and goals. I had to strike a balance with these students. I provided structure and support when needed and backed off when they were ready to move on without me.  There is still one group the requires my hands-on assistance,  but slowly they are beginning to need me less. 

I am learning as much as my students. Genius Hour has encouraged responsive teaching. Some students are able to ask outright for what they need; other students aren't able to communicate exactly and I must listen for their cues. Each group has different needs and I must accommodate them all. I play many roles during Genius Hour: cheerleader, facilitator, counselor, and, even, prop master. 

This Friday, I surveyed my students to see what they thought about the process. Here are some of their unedited remarks:


   I  would rather have you give us a project. It's too hard to create one on our own. I would rather sit and do guided notes everyday. That is easier.

I like the openness of the project. The structure is good at the beginning when we are generating ideas, but needed less as we work on the project.

I have learned that I am not use to having unstructured learning in school. I kind of like it. 

It's been awesome to take the wheel of my learning for once. I think it promotes creativity.

Genius Hour allows you to express yourself. The best part is being creative and working with friends.

It's a good way to show our creativity and allows us to do what we want rather than what the teacher wants.

It's hard to keep up with the project and other schoolwork because I want to work on my GH project all the time.

It's a fun and creative process that helps our ideas come to life.

It gives us access to materials we wouldn't normally have at home.



Genius Hour has been a journey for both  my students and me.  I know my students are learning skills they can use beyond my writing class. I am learning as much as they are. I look forward to their final projects. 

Genius Hour: The Beginning

During this summer I began researching ways to increase my students’ learning and engagement in my classroom. My research began because of the success I had while adding a project-based learning component to my sophomore English class the last couple of years. Students were motivated and highly productive at a time of year when students are typically exhausted from multiple rounds of testing. I knew I was on to something, but I wanted to figure out how this might work throughout the year.

My research led me to discover 20% time or Genius Hour. Read more here. The more I read about genius hour and exchanged tweets with my PLN, the more excited I became. This way of teaching was very different from what I had been doing the first 13 years of my career, but I was ready for the challenge. Also, I knew my students were ready, too. Thankfully, there are some great online resources and people willing to help newbies like me.

 I decided to try genius hour with my Writing 101 class, an elective course open to 9^th through 12^th graders. One class felt very manageable. If all goes well then I will expand to my other classes in the spring. When I looked at my school’s schedule, it made sense to choose Fridays as our genius hour days. I see my students every other day, so we would have genius hour about twice a month.  So, last Friday, August 30^th I kicked off genius hour. The first Friday was an introduction. I explained the concept to my students. We viewed several videos about creativity. The students formed groups and then brainstormed possible topics and products.

At first, they struggled with the brainstorming, only suggesting minimal, surface level questions and projects that could be completed in one sitting. I kept encouraging them to think deeper and to work on something they felt passionate about. All the while, I withheld the urge to offer suggestions. I wanted the students to do the work—not me. I told them to think outside the bounds of school assignments. Quietly, I was worried. Could my students do this? Were they too grade-conscious to explore a topic on their own? Had they been conditioned to only try to figure out what the teacher wanted them to do? We ended the class with nothing definitively set. No solid groups. No project ideas.

I left that first Friday a little frustrated and unsure of what to do next. Over the weekend, students began messaging me through our school Edmodo account with project ideas and research questions. They were thinking about this on a long, holiday weekend AND they were getting excited about it. The ideas they were pitching were incredible. Many of them were still looking for my approval, but I reminded them that the class needed to approve their project—not me. 

This Friday, September 6^th, our class met again for Genius Hour.  I told the students they needed to finalize their project ideas and pitch them to the class. Students quickly formed their groups and began working through the project proposal handout I gave them. Then the magic began to happen.

One student came up and said she wanted to get published this semester. Did I think that was possible? Another student came up and said she had always wanted to write a novel. One group came up and said they wanted to see if they could make bent-glass ornaments in the school. Could I give them permission to talk to an art and science teacher to see if the project was possible?  Another group came up and asked if they could go ask the FACON teacher to be their mentor on their sewing project idea.  Yet another group said they were going to write, direct, and film their own superhero movie.

My room was chaotic. Students were grouped around tables. Some were sprawled out on the floor. Some were out in the hallway working on their proposal pitch. One student brought in pop tabs to begin working on her project since she had already created her proposal the night before. All students, and I mean ALL, were engaged. It was messy, but productive.

The last 20 minutes of class, I asked the students to post their project ideas up using giant post-it paper. Then I asked the students to provide feedback for each of the proposals. I gave them small post-its and told them to use these three sentence starters for their feedback: “I wonder”, “I think”, and “have you considered”. I wasn’t sure if students would give useful feedback, but they really surprised me. They encouraged my super-shy novelist. They called out the class clown who pitched a project that would only take a few hours. They gave honest, fair feedback.

The bell rung and I stood in the hall to look at their work. I was stunned, pumped and crazy giddy. I felt a goofy smile spreading over my face. Then I called over several of my colleagues and asked them to look at what my students were doing. I even bothered my janitor. It’s going to be a great year. 

Summer Reading

During summer I often encounter friends and family that I haven't seen in awhile. As we catch up on one another's lives, they inevitably ask me one question: What have you been doing this summer? The simple answer is that I have been doing "lots".

Like most teachers, I spend time catching up on all the things I can't get to during the school year. This includes doctor appointments, household projects, and reading the newspaper while sipping tea on my front porch. And, like most teachers, I spend a good chunk of my summer working on my craft--reading books, attending conferences and PD sessions, planning lessons and engaging with my Professional Learning Network (PLN). As July wanes and my school's August 14 start date draws closer, I have been reflecting on my summer experiences and trying to capture the significance of each. This will be the first of a series of posts where I reflect on my summer experiences. My first reflection involves my summer reading.

Most of my summer has been spent reading.  I have read books that I can recommend to my students in the upcoming year and professional books that I believe will help me be a better teacher. I have always been a reader. Reading feeds my need for learning, while providing a relaxing break from the stresses of my day. During the summer I am able to read 2-3 books a week. I try to strike a balance between reading for fun and reading to grow professionally. Below are my top three picks in each category.

Reading for fun:
These books are a departure from my usual sci-fi choices. I read a lot of fiction so I can help students pick books during the school year. Former students will often visit me to see what I am reading and to recommend new books to me.

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin
          --historical fiction based on Anne Lindbergh's life

Where Did You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
         --fiction centered around a comically dysfunctional family

You Killed Wesley Payne by Sean Beaudoin
         --fiction centered around a high school clique-entrenched murder mystery

Reading for professional growth: 
These books reflect my professional growth goals for the upcoming school. Once the school year begins, I have little time for this type of reading, so I try to read as much as possible during the summer. 

Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath
               --discusses practical ways to work through change

Everyone at the Table: Engaging Teachers in Evaluation Reform
by Ellen Behrstock-Sherrat, Allison Rizzolo, Sabrina Laine, & Will Friedman
           --focuses on getting teachers involved in conversations and decisions around teacher evaluations

Classroom Discussion by Dixie Lee Spiegel  
           --offers detailed examples, rubrics, and tips around conducting classroom discussions

So, reader, I am curious. What are reading this summer? What books get you ready to enter your buildings recharged and renewed? I am always looking for a good book.