Reflections and the First 3 Days
I am so excited about this school year and this new group of 2nd graders! I have a small class and I can already see each unique little personality shining through. They are kind, curious and energetic. I am just really excited to see all that they learn this school year.
Have you ever heard the saying, "There is no tired like beginning of the year teacher tired?" I certainly felt that this first week. Even though we were only there 3 days, by Friday I was ready to crash by Friday night. As I sit here Sunday morning preparing for the week ahead I am trying something new in terms of reflecting on my plans from the week before. I actually learned this from a new teacher in our district. I am looking back at my plans in my Google Drive and physically making comments on the plans in a different color that tell what went well with that activity and what did not go well or what I might do different for next time. I can use these notes for the next year (if I choose to use that same activity or lesson again) or apply the insight to another lesson I'm doing in the near future. This is something I really I hope I can stick with and continue doing. I know that reflection always seems to go by the wayside but often is a very powerful tool we can implement.
Last week I did an activity with my students called the Marble Theory. It is an idea created by Paul Solarz that you can read about here. (Also if you don't follow Paul Solarz on Twitter, do it now! @PaulSolarz) It is basically a theory about how we all possess talents, abilities and passions. It is the idea that we are all born with the same amount of marbles in our brain. As we grow we allocate the marbles into different cups based on our talents, abilities and passions. The part I love the most is that we discuss the idea that sometimes our passions, abilities and talents are not always the things we focus on the most in school but they are still very important and make each of us who we are, unique and special and valuable. We then spend time divvying up our marbles and cups into our own various passions, talents and abilities. We discuss the similarities and differences between everyone in the class and how we can use each others gifts in the classroom. If we know that Johnny is very passionate and knowledgeable about soccer, maybe he can be a resource to anther student who is researching soccer players during a biography unit.
When I did this activity with my kids we actually did this with beans instead of marbles because I had them more readily available. Since I have 2nd graders we also brainstormed a list of talents, abilities and passions first. Once we started brainstorming, they really had some great ideas and I couldn't slow them down. Then they went back to their seats and labeled their cups. They each received 20 beans to allocate in as many cups as they needed. If I were to do this activity again (and I will!), I would consider giving them way more beans- possibly 50. I found that my students wanted more beans to allocate. They had specific numbers that they wanted to put in each cup and I didn't anticipate that.
The most powerful part of this lesson is the ending. When you go back to review each students cups and how they allocated their beans. I had students share at their table groups then share in a Flipgrid. Since technology was giving us a little trouble that day, I only had a few students who were able to submit their Flipgrids. Next time I will find a way to preserve their cups and display them. Maybe not their ACTUAL cups, but a photo of each set or a drawing of each child with their talents, abilities and passions written around them....in fact as I type this I am generating ideas that I may still do this coming week. Stay tuned!
I think it's feasible to say that this activity can be revisited throughout the year and discussion can occur about how cups might be changing, beans are being added to various cups, maybe new cups are forming. I have not done that before but it's something I plan to do.
I'm excited to see how this community building activity extends throughout the year and plays out in what we do each day. Much of that depends on how much attention I bring back to this activity so it is not forgotten so I will have to be cognizant of that. I have a diverse bunch of students this year and my hope is that they will see each others gifts and talents, and truly appreciate each other.
Have you ever heard the saying, "There is no tired like beginning of the year teacher tired?" I certainly felt that this first week. Even though we were only there 3 days, by Friday I was ready to crash by Friday night. As I sit here Sunday morning preparing for the week ahead I am trying something new in terms of reflecting on my plans from the week before. I actually learned this from a new teacher in our district. I am looking back at my plans in my Google Drive and physically making comments on the plans in a different color that tell what went well with that activity and what did not go well or what I might do different for next time. I can use these notes for the next year (if I choose to use that same activity or lesson again) or apply the insight to another lesson I'm doing in the near future. This is something I really I hope I can stick with and continue doing. I know that reflection always seems to go by the wayside but often is a very powerful tool we can implement.
Marble Theory
Last week I did an activity with my students called the Marble Theory. It is an idea created by Paul Solarz that you can read about here. (Also if you don't follow Paul Solarz on Twitter, do it now! @PaulSolarz) It is basically a theory about how we all possess talents, abilities and passions. It is the idea that we are all born with the same amount of marbles in our brain. As we grow we allocate the marbles into different cups based on our talents, abilities and passions. The part I love the most is that we discuss the idea that sometimes our passions, abilities and talents are not always the things we focus on the most in school but they are still very important and make each of us who we are, unique and special and valuable. We then spend time divvying up our marbles and cups into our own various passions, talents and abilities. We discuss the similarities and differences between everyone in the class and how we can use each others gifts in the classroom. If we know that Johnny is very passionate and knowledgeable about soccer, maybe he can be a resource to anther student who is researching soccer players during a biography unit. When I did this activity with my kids we actually did this with beans instead of marbles because I had them more readily available. Since I have 2nd graders we also brainstormed a list of talents, abilities and passions first. Once we started brainstorming, they really had some great ideas and I couldn't slow them down. Then they went back to their seats and labeled their cups. They each received 20 beans to allocate in as many cups as they needed. If I were to do this activity again (and I will!), I would consider giving them way more beans- possibly 50. I found that my students wanted more beans to allocate. They had specific numbers that they wanted to put in each cup and I didn't anticipate that.
The most powerful part of this lesson is the ending. When you go back to review each students cups and how they allocated their beans. I had students share at their table groups then share in a Flipgrid. Since technology was giving us a little trouble that day, I only had a few students who were able to submit their Flipgrids. Next time I will find a way to preserve their cups and display them. Maybe not their ACTUAL cups, but a photo of each set or a drawing of each child with their talents, abilities and passions written around them....in fact as I type this I am generating ideas that I may still do this coming week. Stay tuned! I think it's feasible to say that this activity can be revisited throughout the year and discussion can occur about how cups might be changing, beans are being added to various cups, maybe new cups are forming. I have not done that before but it's something I plan to do.
I'm excited to see how this community building activity extends throughout the year and plays out in what we do each day. Much of that depends on how much attention I bring back to this activity so it is not forgotten so I will have to be cognizant of that. I have a diverse bunch of students this year and my hope is that they will see each others gifts and talents, and truly appreciate each other.
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