Eight Great Reasons to Team Teach

When Brennan went to work in the same school as Stacey, we began dabbling in team teaching.  We would team up for lessons and we found that even though the number of kids in the room doubled, they were more engaged in the learning.  We were more enthusiastic about our teaching.  When the classroom right next door to Stacey opened, Brennan packed up her stuff (for the millionth time) and moved down the hall so we could make this our full time gig.  We have never looked back.  Here are a few reasons why you might want to try it out:

1. Team teaching allows for different ideas and perspectives in the same classroom.  
2. You can share the workload with someone who works just as hard as you do.
3. Your classroom never misses a beat.  When one of you is sick, the work continues.  No need for sub plans!
4. You model a collaborative relationship for your students.
5. The students’ social, emotional, and academic needs can be discussed with another adult who has an equal knowledge and relationship.
6. It is easier to have flexible grouping with two teachers.  If you need to pull a small group for re-teach, one teacher can work with the whole group on a project while the other does differentiated work with the small group.
7. Assessment is enhanced.  There are two views of each student, so the depth of knowledge and insight into learning doubles.
8. The dynamic environment allows for more spontaneity.  If a teachable moment arises, you don’t have to wait until planning time to prep and then come back to it later.  You just divide and conquer in the moment!

Eight Great Ways to Add Sparkle to the End of the School Year

As the end of the year approaches, we see our students get summer in their sights and wiggles in their bottoms.  We start thinking about tying up all of the loose ends from this year and even begin thinking about the new and innovative things we will try next year.  Why not start right now?  April and May are a great time to try on new practices.  Why not beta test a few of those ideas you have rolling around?  We have a few ideas (big and small) we want to audition in our classroom right now as well as a few ideas we loved this year and thought you might want to share with your readers and writers before you have to let them go in June.

1. Forest Classroom

We are lucky to have some fabulous outdoor spaces at our school.  Last year we experimented with using this space in different ways.  We found things that worked and discovered routines and expectations we needed to establish in order to make our time out there more effective.  Then we heard this story on NPR: http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/05/26/407762253/out-of-the-classroom-and-into-the-woods.  Hearing about “Forest Monday” inspired us to have a “Forest Classroom” day this year.  Since we had already tried it on last year, we felt comfortable developing our plan to spend one day a week in the forest.  Here is a padlet our class created about their favorite learning spaces in our Forest Classroom: http://padlet.com/rosscruser/bx15z2psb6jr.

2. Share on a Chair

Our community of readers has always given book talks and made recommendations to each other based on their interests and preferences.  This year we wanted to spice it up a little, so we turned it into “Share on a Chair”.  The students still give book talks, but they stand on their chair and use the classroom microphone when they are sharing.  This one simple action has elevated (pun intended) the engagement and the enthusiasm around our conversations.  

3. Dialogue Journals

Journaling back and forth with your students can be an overwhelming undertaking.  If you are willing to take the leap, the impact it has on your relationship with them is immeasurable.  The last 6 weeks of school would be a great time to try this out without making a year-long commitment.  You could start actual journals and they could take those with them as writer’s notebooks for the summer.  If you want to try writing letters back and forth without introducing more materials, why not try writing a letter on something the students are already turning in?  Give your students 5-10 minutes after an assignment.  Have them flip the paper over and write a letter to you on the back.  You can include your reply when you return the assignment.

4. Sketchbooks

If you aren’t already studying illustrators in your classroom, START NOW!  Use picturebook illustrators as mentors for illustration style.  Students use their sketchbooks just like their writer’s notebooks. They can practice the craft moves of illustration and develop new characters and story ideas. Sketching is a great brain break during those April Showers!

5. Maker Space

We have been toying with the idea of having a maker space in our classroom next year, but the idea is a little overwhelming.  We plan to try a few maker projects before the end of the year so we can test out the routines and troubleshoot some of the classroom management involved.

6. Non-Fiction Reader’s Theater

Drama is a staple in our reading and writing workshop.  We regularly use reader’s theater and tableau to step in and out of the pages of our read alouds.  As we begin our life science unit we plan to use drama to become an animal in an ecosystem or an organism at various stages in a life cycle.  We also hope to use drama as a way to formatively assess the students.

7. SeeSaw

We have explored digital portfolios for the last two years, but haven’t found a “just right” fit for us.  We are really intrigued by Seesaw (http://web.seesaw.me/) and hope it might be just what we’ve been looking for.  Before we dive in head first next year, we want to get our feet wet with this year’s class.  If we can try it on for a couple of months, we can reflect over the summer about what went well and what we might want to adjust.  This will also be a great way for our kids to share some of their end of the year projects.

8. “How to” Book for Next Year’s Class

We have always had our students write a letter to next year’s class.  We share these with the kids at the beginning of the year as a way to get the kids excited about everything we will do this year.  But what if we have the kids help us with building community and creating routines next year?  This year’s class can write “how to” books for next year’s class and we can use these to guide us through setting expectations next year.  The books could be general “How To” books for the whole school year, or students can write specific books for different routines and activities.  We can’t wait to read these.  Maybe we can even get them posted on Seesaw!

Enjoy these last few moments of the year.  Maximize the time you have left with your class, and don’t be afraid to try something new.  What a great time for risk-taking for the teacher and the students!

Chalk Talk: Reading Widely to Grow Your Teaching. Reading Widely to Grow Your Readers and Writers

Teri Lesesne’s livejournal is thought provoking. Maybe you know her as “Professor Nana”. It is the type of blog that inspires teachers to reconsider their practices as a way to revise and reform what we do in the classroom. I love Professor Nana's blog. Her posts are thought provoking. Her post on April 3rd reminds teachers of the importance of academic and professional reading. It helps us stay current and remain a part of the conversation with those trying to challenge what we believe is right for children. We both believe wholeheartedly in seeking out professional reading, self-selected articles, books, and other pieces of professional texts throughout the year to both affirm our practices and push us to be agents of change inside our classroom.

Following this read, we both reflected about the professional reading we do each day, weekly, monthly, and yearly. We push each other to read widely, and we also revisit texts each year. How could we start a new school year without rereading Donalyn Miller’s books,  The Book Whisperer or Reading in the Wild?

This morning, we connected the need to stay current with professional reading to the need for teachers of reading and writing to continue along this vein by reading children’s literature- both new and old. If we are not reading the new gems in children’s literature, how are we to be effective in reading and writing conferences? How can we find new books to use as mentor texts? How can we engage our children in book talk or make meaningful, authentic book recommendations? Reading the very books our students need and want helps us to find books that will act as “mirrors and windows”. (If you haven’t seen Grace Lin’s Ted Talk, “The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf”, you should!)

So, here’s to a year of reading texts that will help us grow our practice. And here’s to a year of reading texts to help us grow our readers and writers too!

The Night Gardener

The Fan Brothers’ debut picturebook is a winner! Night Gardener (not to be confused with Jonathan Auxier’s book with the same title) was a class favorite this year due to the mysterious story and the whimsical illustrations. Our 2nd graders love surprises under the cover, and this book did not disappoint! The first page turn reveals a black and white world, and the adults seem downtrodden and preoccupied. The children, even the smallest, seem to be searching for something to believe in. One morning, a tree in front of The Grimloch Orphanage is transformed into a topiary owl. As the moon rises, William, a small boy who lives at the orphanage, is full of excitement about what surprises the next day will reveal. As the story continues, more trees become the canvas to the night gardener, a quiet artist, who creates his masterpieces when the city sleeps. The color intensifies in the detailed illustrations, evoking mood with each new topiary. The Fan Brothers’ use of ellipses provide perfect stopping points for making predictions. The feel of the neighborhood begins to change as neighbors congregate, revealing a multicultural tapestry on Grimloch Lane offering children and teachers a segue into discussions of cause and effect. William follows the night gardener into Grimloch Park and something wonderful happens. When the night gardener leaves Grimloch Lane, what will become of the city? What will become of William? This magical, hopeful story is sure to become a classic!

Mentor Text Ideas: Ellipses, Cause and Effect, Mood

The Whisper

Pamela Zagarenki’s The Whisper will inspire readers and writers to bring their own stories to the pages of the books they read.  When a little girl borrows a mysterious book from her teacher, she bounds home to devour it.  As she is running, the words tumble from the pages and leave the girl with a wordless book of pictures.  Her eyes fill with tears when she realizes the stories have disappeared, but a whisper urges her to imagine the stories within. She struggles at first, but as she focuses on the details of the pictures, the stories begin to form.  The storytelling comes more easily to the girl as she looks closely at the illustrations.  When she finishes the book, she drifts off to sleep and the stories spill into her dreams.  She returns the book to her teacher and is anxious to share all of her stories.  Her teacher’s reply, “I can’t wait to hear,”  echoes the sentiment of all reading and writing teachers.  Zagarenski’s homage to the wordless picturebook and the art of storytelling shines a light on the creativity and inspiration within every reader and writer.

Mentor Text Ideas- Getting Ideas; Wordless Picturebooks; Questioning; Titles; Inferring

The Moon is Going to Addy's House

The colors and textures of Ida Pearle’s The Moon is Going to Addy’s House will draw your readers into Addy’s journey.  While the words weave a first person narrative, every illustration is a shift in perspective as Addy sees the moon following her home. The rich hues of Pearle’s collage tell the story of a girl on a ride home from her playdate. She watches out the window of the car as the moon peeks out from high and low around the city.  Addy looks up through the sweeping skyscrapers, peeks from behind mountains, and reaches out to touch the whimsical moon.  Young writers will want to try on the passage of time and distance that occur across the page turns of this book.  The double-page spreads and multi-paneled pages introduce children to a variety of formats for their own illustrations.  This small moment in Addy’s life draws to a close at she arrives home and the moon is waiting for her.  The colors darken and the shadows play as Addy dances around the moon and eventually snuggles into bed under the fuschia glow of the night sky.

Mentor Text Ideas- Perspective; Collage Illustration; Memoir