A crazy day in the life of a principal. In prose.

Crazy picture. Crazy day.  Flickr image credit Moffoys

6:30 am.

On the road, cruising in the carpool lane

for the first time this week.

Suddenly, in the darkness I see

soaring towards me

a giant

Hefty bag filled with

trash.

I slow and swerve but it hammers 

my hybrid anyways.

Trash flies everywhere and I keep going.

Later I hear on the radio there was an accident

due to garbage on the freeway.

I was lucky.

On to school, yard duty’s not coming.

No lunch for me.

I am the yard duty.

And the lunch lady, the yogurt opener, the orange peeler for the littles.

The airplane toy fixer.

Except it takes forever to find just the right

Allen wrench.

At the front desk, it’s usually

quiet.

Not today.

“Can I get a cleanup in room 120?”

I didn’t say that exactly.

Before calling home to mom 

after one poor first grader

loses his lunch.

In the parking lot,

more adventure.

Usually, pick up works like clockwork.

One broken down car in the way gave me

excellent practice

directing traffic.

Today was crazy, in a good way.

I call it a test of the system.

It worked.

We followed the number one rule of life.

Don’t

freak

out.

Thanks, Joe.

Still smiling. Headed home.

No trash in the roadway, just traffic.

The weekend is here.

Time for a

chilled glass of hooray.

Cheers!

Passionate Practical Pedagogy- A3WP Super Saturday Reflection

I am a PD junkie. I’ll admit it. I love learning new things and connecting with others. In my 17 years as an educator, I’ve been on both sides of the table- participant and presenter. I love both. But whether I’m a participant in a session or the one leading the learning, I’m always looking for one thing…

Inspiration.

This morning I led a session on blogging in the classroom at the Area 3 Writing Project’s Super Saturday in Sacramento. If you’re not familiar with A3WP, Super Saturdays are free-yes free! PD. There are five Saturdays each year, from September through March. Each Saturday features a variety of grade level specific sessions (K-2, 3-6, 6-9, and 9-12) focused on writing as well as one K-12 session with a tech focus. Today, the tech session was me, and I spent the morning learning with 30-ish passionate and dedicated teachers.

Getting started

Last night, I was reviewing my notes for today’s session and my husband asked how I could possibly talk about blogging for 2 ½ hours. I love when he asks me questions, and it did get me thinking about what I had planned. When planning presentations, I always struggle with what to include--there is never enough time for everything.

With any new learning, particularly tech, it’s not as simple as learning how to use the new tool. Sure, I could have had the teachers fire up Blogger right at the start of the session and showed them the nuts and bolts of creating a blog. Create a title- check. Insert an image-check. Add a YouTube video-check.

But that’s the easy part.

The pedagogy is the hard part-- the art and science of teaching and learning in the classroom, especially when you’re talking about technology. With any new learning, it’s important to begin with pedagogy. How will I use it? Why should I use it? How will it engage my students? How will it help my students remember this lesson, this experience, forever? With blogging, there are even more questions to consider. What do I write? Who is my audience? Who will be doing the writing? How do I get my posts out there so someone actually reads them?

I’ve learned so much from the experience of others who have blogged in the classroom with students of all ages. There are so many great strategies and ideas out there to use so we don’t have to start from scratch. I love Karen McMillan's post about blogging on paper or Pernille Ripp’s online safety post that utilizes the analogy of the internet being like the mall. And of course, so much inspiration from Linda Yollis! So much of what I know I learned from Linda and her students! As part of our session, teachers also explored a variety of blogs before starting to create.

A slide from my presentation- some of my favorite blogs!

I also try to share any content standards that are addressed in each session. If this CCSS  anchor standard doesn’t scream blogging, I don’t know what does!

I also love the A3WP Super Saturday format of a 2 ½ hour session, which allows plenty of time to share pedagogy and practical applications and includes hands-on time to apply the learning. CUE Rockstar also has extended sessions with hands-on time. My goal for today's session was for each participant to leave with a created blog. Maybe not the final finished product, but that they would leave my session with enough know-how to get started blogging.

Practical application. Pedagogy. Two things I expect from PD. But knowledge isn't my only goal. In every session I lead, I want my participants to be inspired.

That’s it.

And every time I’m sitting in a session, that’s all I’m looking for. I want to be inspired. I want to leave with questions that I can’t wait to find the answer to.

There’s one more thing I expect: passion. I want presenters to bring it every time. I try to bring it every time as a leader. Like Dave Burgess , who inspires us all to #tlap (Teach Like a Pirate) I want to #plap-- present like a pirate! I couldn’t wait for this morning and was up early in anticipation of a morning of learning with brilliant and dedicated teachers!

After the session ends, I always review the evaluations right away, and I try to learn from the feedback so that I can apply it to my next session. One participant shared today that she would have liked step-by-step tutorials for Blogger to have been included. I love what Eric Saibel has to say about learning by discovery:

I think it applies to adults learners, too. Having said that, next time, I’ll be sure to include a page with links to tutorials for teachers that need a little more explicit directions and support. I’ll also be sure to share that the answer to most questions is only a Google search away. There’s no such thing as bad feedback, and I appreciate people taking the time to share their thoughts. It helps me learn and improve.

At the end of the day, I’m always hoping that I delivered what people expect from professional development:

Passion, solid pedagogy, and practical ideas to use right away.

Thank you for inspiring me.

#nerdybookclub Friday

image from nerdybookclub.wordpress.com 

At my school, Friday is free dress day for kids. Casual Friday for grownups. Kids and teachers alike look forward to this day every week. On other days at our school, students wear uniforms- some combination of red, black white, and khaki and the grownups wear what I call "professional-practical" or "comfy-cute". We love casual Fridays! I usually wear a school shirt or sweatshirt and my sparkly jeans. But I've been trying to solve a problem.

I bought myself a Nerdy Book Club shirt for Christmas. Okay, two. (I needed a short sleeve and long sleeve!) I have been looking for a way to work it into my casual Friday wardrobe. It's white. It's plain. It might be too casual for casual Friday.

And then today I was talking to Tammy, one of my third grade teachers about Goodreads and reading goals. I mentioned I had written a post about my 2013 Goodreads #failure-- reading 108 books instead of my 365 goal. "Would you come talk to my class about that? About your reading goals?"

Problem solved! I can't wait to talk to her class about reading goals and even my epic failure from last year. I love to read and I love to talk about books! And I know just what I'm going to wear.

My Nerdy Book Club shirt. It's perfect.


Check out the Nerdy Book Club at http://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com!
Book goals inspired by #nerdybookclub on Twitter and Donalyn Miller-- we're wild readers at my school!

Planning for #Digital Learning Day--Part 2: What a difference a year makes...

In my previous Planning for #DLDay post, I wrote about my experience with my first graders last year... that was part 1-- looking back. I loved that day! It turned out to be one of my favorite days, but planning it was definitely challenging. Not because we didn't have technology- we did. In my classroom I had a document camera, a Promethean Board, a projector, four desktops, an iPod touch, and a Google tablet. No shortage of equipment. The issue wasn't equipment, it was access.
Each of these activities has an interesting back story. For instance...

1. Collaborate on an Antarctica team story! One cold day in Antarctica...

My first graders didn't have Google accounts, but I wanted them to collaborate on a story. For them to do this, I had to start 4 different documents in  my Drive and then just let them type. 

Twitter! So cool! But why are they on paper?

2. Wall of Tweets- 140 characters on a sentence strip! What do you want the WORLD to know about our class?

Twitter was blocked, even for teachers. (Along with anything else filtered as "social media" -- even Goodreads and Padlet!) So, my students wrote paper tweets, and I tweeted them out from my phone using my personal data. I didn't want my students to actually tweet, but it would have been awesome for them to see me typing the tweet on the whiteboard, or be able to see the replies! 

Animoto, Wordle, and the photos with the iTouch went off without a hitch. I'd definitely do these again! I had planned to Skype with an author, but I asked in January to have Skype installed on my computer and it took until March to get that to happen. We did end up Skyping with an author, though-- finally, on Dr. Seuss' birthday!

But what a difference a year makes!

Since last year's Digital Learning Day, I've moved to a new school. All of our students starting in first grade have their own Google accounts and can already create their own Google documents. They email each other. Teachers have access to Twitter and other social media applications that definitely have a place in our classrooms. Teachers and students need to connect to other classrooms, to authors, and the world. In my school teachers also have administrative rights on their computer. One of our first grade teachers Skyped with a classroom in Mexico, and she was so excited to be able to install Skype herself. As it should be. When my teachers want to try something new this year, I will enthusiastically watch and learn!

Last year on Digital Learning Day, I learned so much about technology and my students . As we prepare for #DLD 2014, I'm excited-- the possibilities are endless. Some of the things we plan to incorporate this year include BYOD, Minecraft, Coding, digital storytelling, and photography. I can't wait! I'll be sure to share our plans here once they are finalized in late January!

What are you planning for Digital Learning Day? I'd love to hear your ideas!

3. Top 10 - Animoto movie! Vote for your favorite read aloud!

4. Wordle- What do you love about 1st grade? Write ONE sentence...

5. Digital images- with the Itouch, take one photo of an object in our classroom

Here's a sample!

Falling in Love with Close Reading and the CCSS

image from Goodreads.com

This book has been on my to-be-read shelf for a few months. I am part of an Area 3 Writing Project inquiry group focused on reading practices in the classroom. Our group has teachers from a variety of grade levels, from Kindergarten through sixth grade as well as an administrator or two. We meet about once a month and just finished up Donalyn Miller's The Book Whisperer. After finishing that book, we decided to choose another book around reading practice, but we're not all reading the same book. Some are reading Notice and Note, some Reading in the Wild (also by Donalyn Miller) and I chose to read Falling in Love with Close Reading. I love that we're all choosing different books along the same theme-- modeling that choice that we should provide our students.

I'd been planning to read this book anyways, but had made a little promise to myself to limit "professional" type reading over the winter break. It's not that I don't love them- I do! But I can have a tendency to work and work and work, so taking a break from "work" type books is one way I convince myself I am on vacation.

Having said that, I feel that all of my reading is research for my job. I read all kinds of books, picture books, kid lit, Newbery hopefuls and more! I've loved reading over this break... but this book was still on my bedside table waiting to be read.

Then, last night, I read this Edutopia post on Facebook with some amazing ideas for incorporating technology and reading in the classroom. And I read the comments. Here's one:

"No whole book reading with Common Core. We need to stand up as teachers and say no to Common Core before we have another generation of children who cannot master college. Teachers are being set up and we are allowing it to happen. Wake up and speak up!!!"

Ugh. At first I felt mad. Then, I felt sad. I wondered how a teacher could feel this way about the Common Core. I know not everyone loves the new standards.

My guess is that whoever is leading the shift to common core where she lives just doesn't know. There are so many myths in any new education initiatives- whether it's the Common Core standards, or technology. I'm guessing that the message she's hearing is from her district or administrator. I hope this isn't the message you're hearing.

I don't know where she lives, but I am excited about the CCSS, as an administrator and lead learner. I'm excited for my teachers, and I was excited last year as a teacher. Maybe it's different other places, but I've been teaching in California my whole career. For 16 years it was all about teaching to the standards, using the adopted program, everyone teaching the same thing, the same way...one size fits all.

I think the CCSS are a good thing. Finally, we're talking about authentic reading and writing. Reading and writing in the content areas. Finally, a common K-12 focus on reading and writing informational, argumentative, and narrative texts.

No more laundry list. No more friendly letter only in 2nd grade, never before or after.

If your district, administrators, or colleagues are telling you that common core equals scripted lessons, or no more whole book reading, this is an opportunity for you! Luckily some brilliant authors have already written some excellent books about exactly the kinds of practices the Common Core calls for. If you had to recommend one, I'd say Lucy Calkin's Pathways to the Common Core is a great one to start with. It gives a very thorough overview of the shift and what it means for our classrooms and our students.

Any of the books below are a great read no matter where you are in your shift to the Common Core. And check out the Edutopia post while you're at it!

After reading that particular post last night, I woke up today and read Falling in Love with Close Reading from beginning to end. There are so many things to love, but here is my favorite quote from the book:

"...the joy and power of reading across texts is not when you do it because a teacher told you to, or led you to the titles you should compare, but when you realize with stunning clarity that the book you are reading connects to others in enlightening ways." 

This is why we read. I love that the book shares strategies for reading closely and how reading closely can help us reflect on ourselves and our own lives.

Where is your school at in the shift to Common Core? Are you falling in love with reading?

Planning for Digital Learning Day-- Part 1: Looking back at #DLDay 2013

Digital Learning day is coming soon! I can't wait. Last year at this time I was teaching first grade and planning for my first Digital Learning Day. I had no idea what I was doing but I was excited anyways! My kids were enthusiastic about everything, so I knew that no matter what I planned we would have fun and we would learn a lot! 

Why am I reposting my blog about last year's Digital Learning Day? And why is this post titled "Part1"? 

I loved last year's #DLDay. Looking back at my post, I miss that class! I will never forget their excitement as they taught each other how to take pictures with our iTouch, or how excited I was that the biggest word in our "favorite things about first grade" wordle was LOVE and not recess! I remember setting up our classroom computers for their collaborative Google doc stories about penguins and Antarctica, and the best thing about those stories wasn't the stories at all. It was watching them talk to each other, watching them help each other as they spelled tough words, and watching them gently point out the correct letter on the keyboard for a classmate. Love.

I set up the digital tools and got out of the way. For over two hours, my students moved around the room as they selected from the various tools for the day. Paper notebooks. The iTouch. Computers. Chart paper for our Top 10 book voting. Sentence strip tweets. There was no schedule, although I did model and explain everything before we began.

100% engagement. By far my biggest takeaway from last year's Digital Learning Day! I was blown away by my students- and what they did when given time, freedom, and choice. 

This is why I'm excited to be planning for Digital Learning Day this year. 

Why Part 1? Well... there were some obstacles last year. Big ones. Frustrating ones. But I'll save that for another post! Coming soon...Part 2: What a difference a year makes! Planning for #DLD2014 

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this look back!

Did you participate in #DLDay last year? Are you planning for this year? Visit http://digitallearningday.org/ for tons of ideas and information!


Originally posted on February 11, 2013 at  http://jenniferkloczko.edublogs.org/

Jen and Kellee host this meme- be sure to stop by and comment on their wonderful blog:

Teach Mentor Texts

Celebrating Digital Learning Day

February 6, 2013

First, the perfect book...

hello! hello! By Matthew Cordell

From Goodreads.com: Outside the world is bright and colorful, but Lydia's family is too busy with their gadgets to notice. She says Hello to everyone. Hello? Hello! Her father says hello while texting, her mother says hello while working on her laptop and her brother doesn't say hello at all. The T.V shouts Hello! But she doesn't want to watch any shows. Lydia, now restless, ventures outside....

Next, we sent off a tweet to another first grade class:

@burley106 Happy DLDay @Burley106 @firstgradethinks from California

A little while later came the reply:

@jkloczko thank you for your tweet! We're having a wonderful #DLDay #burley106

Then, to celebrate Digital Learning Day, we completed five digital learning tasks during our Writer’s Workshop. Students moved through all of the activities, helping and teaching each other throughout the morning.

1. Collaborate on an Antarctica team story! One cold day in Antarctica...

2. Wall of Tweets- 140 characters on a sentence strip! What do you want the WORLD to know about our class?

3. Top 10 - Animoto movie! Vote for your favorite read aloud!

4. Wordle- What do you love about 1st grade? Write ONE sentence...

5. Digital images- with the Itouch, take one photo of an object in our classroom

Here's a sample!

What are you reading and writing? Tell us about your favorite digital tool!

Blogging > cleaning

Flickr Photo credit Richard Guest

No time to blog, you say? Too much housework? Too much laundry? Today I spent all day cleaning my house and all I could think about was this post.

I hate cleaning. Seriously. 
Do I feel so much better sitting on my couch, with candles lit, floor mopped, and shelves dusted? Absolutely! 
But blogging is definitely way better than cleaning. Here are five reasons you should quit cleaning and start blogging.

1. When you blog, you can tweet out your post and people will comment on it. How cool is that? If you tweet out that you're cleaning, no one will comment. No one.
2. You can't clean while sitting in your pj's on the deck. 
3. You will never get hot, sweaty, and dusty from blogging. Never once after blogging have I said, "Wow! I really need a shower!"
4. You can get inspired by reading other blogs. Cleaning- not so much. If you ever watch someone clean, you won't feel inspired... just tired!
5. If you blog, people notice. Even if they don't say anything, you'll know they noticed because a cool little dot will light up on your blog map! When I clean, no one notices except my mom. 

Blogging is better than cleaning. Hands down. 

So put away the vacuum cleaner and start blogging. 
I can't wait to read your next post!