Building on Each Child’s Strengths: UHMS

This year I ventured outside of my comfort zone and took a new teaching job at the University of Hartford Magnet School. I have always wanted to teach in a diverse school, and when the opportunity came about, I applied and here I am today, teaching at UHMS.

UHMS is truly unlike any other school I have ever been in. Being a magnet school, the main focus of our school is The Multiple Intelligences. Every teacher in the school strives to meet the needs of each individual learner, and tries to build on their strengths. All subject areas are workshop based, and students are constantly up and moving, working in centers, and exploring the world hands-on. When a student doesn’t seem to comprehend something one way, we try teaching it through a different multiple intelligence.

Rather than attending “specials” students go to “essentials”. In these essentials students create beautiful masterpieces in visual spatial, create music unlike anything I’ve ever heard, and get unique experiences that you don’t see in most schools. Every morning, students come to school and participate in the walking program, where they gather in the agora and walk laps while listening to music and talk to friends. Since our school is attached to University of Hartford two days a week college students lead a running team called “Flying Magnets.” Students also have experiences to participate in the Hart School of Music after school programs. The list of opportunities for students goes on and on.

One of my favorite parts of our school is the sense of community we build with families. Every Friday, we have a whole school assembly that is called Friday Family Meeting. We gather and celebrate our learning. Two classrooms sign up to be “Hot Spotlights” and they present a topic they are learning in their classroom and present it using one of the multiple intelligences. The assembly also includes a message from our principal and sing along songs led by one of the music teachers. Families are encouraged to come and celebrate the joy of learning.

Overall, I think making this change was one of the best decisions I have made to date. While I do miss my old school, UHMS has opened my eyes. I finally realize what it means to truly meet the needs of every learner.


 

The Use of Social Media in Education

Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the list goes on and on. Social Media and the classroom are not two things that I ever thought would go together; however, my thinking has drastically changed in recent times.

As a result of this course I have created an education twitter account. Since I do not have permission to post pictures of my students, I use the account to make general updates about my classroom and post different information about units of study we are working on and daily happenings.
As time goes on, I plan to get more involved, and post more frequently allowing parents and other teachers to truly follow my classroom.

Even though I enjoy posting, I feel that the true benefit of Twitter comes from the people I follow. I am following teachers, principals, superintendents, authors educational experts, etc… Every minute someone is posting valuable resources, new ideas, articles to read, failures and success stories.

Allowing myself to step outside of my comfort zone has opened up a whole new world of opportunity for me. I get motivation from others and become inspired to try new things in my own classroom. I have learned that when you used appropriately, social media can in fact be a very beneficial teaching tool!



Click on the picture above to check out my twitter account!

Taking a Minute to Listen to Others: Intake Conferences

Quote from Sarah Dessen

When I was hired at my new school, I was told that we had parent conferences within the first few weeks of school. I was very confused how this would work since I would just be getting to know all of my students and wouldn’t have much to report on.
 
After asking around I quickly learned that I had nothing to worry about for these conferences. These intake conferences (that’s what we call them) are meetings where parents come in and tell the teacher all about their child. It would be my job to be an active listener and get to know my students from the people that know them best, their parents/guardians.

Parents/guardians could bring in artifacts that represent their child; pieces of old school work, pictures or just great stories to share. Of course I was a bit nervous before my first conference, as this would be the first time I was meeting many of these parents/guardians; however, once I sat down with the first parent I relaxed, sat back and listened and learned about the student.

Every conference was different and special in its own way, as every parent/guardian had a different story to share. I learned valuable information, not only relating to academics, but relating to each child as a whole.
 
Before coming to my new school, I had never heard of intake conferences, but I would highly recommend them to my colleagues in other schools. Parents/guardians are used to coming to conferences and listening to the teacher, but these conferences allow the parents/guardians to take the steering wheel and talk about their pride and joy. The teacher truly gets to sit back, listen, ask questions and learn a great deal of information about each child.   

Communication Board Project Introduction

As mentioned in a previous post, one of my favorite read aloud books is Sharon Draper’s Out of My Mind. The book lends itself to powerful class discussions, and allows students to learn about differences and the importance of acceptance. While reading the book to my class last year I came up with a project idea, to create personal communication boards. Instead of jumping on the idea right away, I decided to discuss it with my class and get their thoughts on it.
 
I wanted students to put themselves in Melody’s shoes and understand what it would be like to live in a word where you couldn’t use your voice to communicate. Students were extremely receptive to the idea, and before I knew it students were working hard on creating beautiful masterpieces. Students thought long and hard about what they wanted to include. They had to decide what was important to them, what words they use the most every day, who they communicate with, whether they wanted more words or pictures, and the decisions went on and on.
 
When the final products arrived in my classroom I was shocked. Each student brought in a truly unique communication board to meet their individual needs. We designated some time one morning to have a “silent classroom” and we only used our communication boards to talk, no voices. It was one of the most powerful times I have had with a group of students.
 
As a class we learned how frustrating it can be not to verbalize your thoughts. We had to come up with ways to create words that were not on our boards. We had to stay patient and focus on each other to truly understand what was trying to be said.

Most importantly, we learned that there are many things we take for granted in our lives that we can’t imagine living without. Students reflected on how thankful they are for being healthy and living the life they do.
 
This Animoto that I created is to use with my new class this year. It will serve as an introduction to the Communication Board Project so they can get a basic understanding of the project and see samples. I can’t wait to see what students create this year!

 

 

 

The Power of Communication

At the beginning of this school year I sat down with one of my colleagues and discussed the first units of studies, daily procedures, and everything there is to know about the school (this is my first year at this school).  As we spent endless hours going over everything, there was one piece of advice that stuck out to me.  She recommended that I start a "5 minute jot" notebook with each of my students.
A "5 minute jot" notebook is basically a communication notebook between each student and the teacher.  Students are given 5 minutes everyday where they can write anything they want, and then the teacher responds back to each student with a comment or something as simple as a smiley face.
At first I was resistant to the idea, thinking that it would be a lot of additional work, but I decided to give it a try. 
After the first day not only was I hooked, but my students were hooked.  Students that I told "do not write" were sharing great memories with me, asking questions, and writing about their friends and families.  The first day after school I sat down and read through all of the notebooks and made sure I wrote a personal response back to each and every student.  
The next morning the students faces were priceless as they opened the notebooks and realized that I really did respond.  Students were eager for their "5 minute jot" time and were disappointed when the time went by so quickly.  Again, I wrote back, students were shocked they got responses, they wrote a new entry, and the process has continued ever since.
I have learned things about my students that I may have never known if I didn't have this simple notebook.  I have connected with students who usually are very quite and shy.  I have watched my "non-writers" fill up half a page of writing in five minutes (I don't think they realize they are really writing).  I have witnessed the power of kind words, as my students run into the room in the morning to open their notebooks and see what is written.
Some people would say I have taken on an extra, unnecessary burden in my daily routine, but I would have to disagree.  The half an hour I take out of my day to read and respond to my students is one of my favorite parts of the day!  Who knew a simple piece of advice would have such a positive effect on my teaching! 

We are Family!

At the beginning of the year I feel that it is imperative to build a strong classroom community and have students learn about each other.  One of my favorite activities is the creation of a class puzzle.  To complete this activity I buy a large piece of poster board and cut it up into however many students there are in my class, and I include a piece for me.  On the first day of school, I give each student a piece of the puzzle.  They are instructed to write their name on it, and then draw or write three things that represent them. 
After each student has spent time decorating their puzzle piece, we sit in a circle and each student shares their puzzle piece with the class.  At the conclusion of the sharing session, I explain that all of the puzzle pieces represent us as individuals; however, throughout this year we are going to grow together as a "family" and that each of us will bring our strengths and talents to the class throughout the year.  We then work together to put all of our pieces together, signifying the start of our strong "family."

Individual Puzzle Pieces

Final Product Representing our Class "Family"

Everyone Needs A Little Inspiration Once in a While

During our back to school faculty meeting my principal showed us Rita Pierson's Ted Talk:  Every Kid Needs a Champion.  Rita discusses the importance of relationships, especially in regards to teachers and students.  Her unique stories give you ideas of how to create powerful relationships with students by doing and saying the simplest things.  She is a profound and very powerful speaker that leaves you with a message you will never forget.  Check our her video to get motivation to kick off your school year.

"Teaching and learning should bring joy."

- Rita Pierson  

Out of My Mind

Sharon Draper's Out of My Mind is an extremely powerful book that I love using as a read aloud in my classroom.  Students learn life lessons about acceptance, being respectful and the power of a smile.  It is typical to hear students begging for you to read on at the end of read aloud as they travel through the journey of life with Melody, the main character. 

First Day Jitters

First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg​ is a highly recommended book for the first day of school.  Students come to understand that teachers also have "first day jitters" and it is normal to be nervous the first day of school. 
This book allows for great discussions allowing students to open up and discuss their fears for the year creating a great classroom environment. 


Click on the picture to get an electronic read aloud.