Time Management 101

The past few months I have been working on study skills with one of my middle school classes. Each week they receive a grade from me for simply filling out their agendas. Its a simple assignment and they have noticed that there have been significantly less frequency of forgotten assignments. We have also explored personality types and divided the class using Padlet to show how they like to study. We analyzed personality type versus studying needs, as I suspected there was a significant amount of overlap. The penultimate step for this project was an exercise I borrowed from a Sociology professor friend of mine.

Students are given a weekly planner with times pre-filled, but the students have to fill out how they spend their time. As my friend has discovered, everyone is happy to put in the things most important to them like sleep, school, and play time, but they almost always forget homework, eating, and studying. My middle school students were no exception to her college freshmen, NO ONE put in studying, eating, or homework. After the students were done and made corrections. I had them enter their spreadsheets onto the computer and color code them. Some color coded in advance with colored pencils, when they did this they really began to see what their week look likes. 

Look at the pretty organized colors

I teach students from age 4-50 right now, and to keep my schedule straight I have a color coded life. Two calendars, one for my school and a second for family that includes my classes that I teach and take outside of my traditional teaching position. This system works and when you see it, you'll notice that I don't have a good work/life balance (I consider being a full-time graduate student work). I do know that this is only for a finite period of time and is ending soon.

My final semester of graduate school I enrolled in another technology class, but it was compressed and finished in 7 weeks. I figured my thesis was due in the second half of the semester this schedule would work really well. I am able to utilize my planning periods for when I had classes 3 nights in a week. All was going well, until I found out that our discussion posts were all videoed. I would listen to the assignment as soon as it was posted on Sunday, but inevitably wouldn't get around to posting my post until the last minute, AND THEN we had to do a video response to two classmates.

The first week I turned everything in late because I hadn't yet figured out my schedule. Then I started making excuses for why I was waiting for the last moment to finish an easy (to me) assignment. As I went to record my response one morning shortly after getting out of bed (another really good work time for me), I realized I couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to hit record with my bed head, puffy "I just woke up face" and bad lighting. "But" I would argue to myself this is when I budgeted the time to do this and I hate this video discussion and why can't I just write it out.

As I filled out an evaluation for the video discussion I realized that I had to be judicious in my responses while being truthful. The program didn't work for me, because I didn't allow it to work for me. I didn't give a color code to video discussion and make them the priority they deserved. I failed at time management. I made the mistake that my students make and I complain about.

The class was nearly over by the time I had realized my transgression, no time to correct it moving forward. What I can do is learn from it. I thought I was beyond this, which makes this realization even more frustrating. I hope that this makes me a better teacher.

If You Build it They Will Come

Hot topics in education right now, STEM or STEAM, flexible seating, maker's space. I was challenged this week to design a space for all of these keywords. I read the assignment and knew immediately what I wanted and what I would do, then I started working on it. SO.MANY.OPTIONS! I couldn't find EXACTLY what I wanted, which made everything else, subpar and inferior. It also doesn't help that my husband and I build almost whatever we want to fit our needs and dimensions. Almost all of our household furniture has built by us. I fully realize the "first world problems" I have in my life.

After way too many hours searching on Pinterest and looking at schools in Norway and Finland, I came to what I would like.

 I took the dimensions of my current room, I decided to leave the SMART and white boards where they are.  The other architectural aspect that I would whole heartedly keep are the widows. The windows open onto the street and run almost the entire length of the room. The natural light is AMAZING and not something found in all classrooms.

Come and take a tour with me on my dream setup.

When you enter the room, I would like for the wall to have wall mounted iMacs. Based on the dimensions, this wall should easily accommodate 15. The seating will be the same for both the Mac and Windows section. I'd like stools and ball chairs. My seating must accommodate students Pre-K through 8th grade, having options is an enormous advantage. The next section (shown here in light blue) will be laptops and/or Chromebooks. The tables will also fold flat and will be able to be pushed up against the MAC wall for additional space, as well as protection for the MAC screen during engineering experiments. I would have to have all of the tables custom made, as I would like wood and not laminate to be material for the construction. An attempt to bring some nature into my tech world.

In the middle of the classroom there is a ceiling mounted motorized projector. This can also be a SMART projector. Because of the motor I can turn it so it is forward facing while students are at their devices, or I can have it point at the smart board or the white boards flanking it for a different experience.

In order for the projector to work optimally and the lab to maintain its longevity, the lovely windows and the amazing sunlight will have to be muted at times, for this I would like blackout motorized blinds.

The flexible seating area will consist of benches and a lower table. I anticipate utilizing this area for small groups and projects. Also a great area if the computer tables are too tall or uncomfortable. This is an option I currently utilize and see daily the benefits these students reap.

Farthest from the door is my makers-space. This room has a ton of built in storage already. Due to this current benefit I opted not to add any storage over there. I find that my students sometimes need and enjoy a short walk to burn off even the littlest bit of energy.

There are two pieces missing in this diagram, the cross and the prayer table. Both are requirements in a Catholic school. With the flexibility of this room, I found fixating on an area for that a challenge. I would probably end up mounting something in a corner that I was able to lower, so I could change it with the liturigical season.

In case you need or want to drool more, here is my vision board for specific items.

What a Wonderful World

When you read that line, I'm sure many of you hear Louis Armstrong's voice singing it. The two have become synonymous. That inextricable connection is also made when we talk about technology and today's primary and secondary students. Adults immediately think that these digital natives have a larger grasp on the world because of technology. I would argue that they size of the world hasn't changed, nor their view because of their development. While there is unprecedented access to the world, students aren't seeking out that world due to their developmental stage. Until they are able to experience the bigger world, it is harder for them to fully comprehend its magnitude.

This is an area where Catholic education is far superior to others. One of the main tenants of a Catholic education is Catholic Identity. Before you think I am taking you down a conversion rabbit hole, let me explain. My family is not Catholic, but one of the things that initially drew us to the school was the humanity and kindness we witnessed while I was assisting in the 8th grade play in the Spring of 2016. I have often said, and will continue to do so, that they can call it Catholic Identity, but what it really is, is humanity. We are teaching our students to be humans. We do that through the many arms of the Catholic church. Our students, as young as preschool are involved in global projects. We have sister parishes all over the globe and different grades interact with these schools in different ways.

Our little school, near the end of the United States, removed from major metropolitan life, is connecting all over the world and helping to ensure our students know that they are members of a global community. To aid this even further, I have begun a few initiatives to take this up another level, trying to ensure that every grade (we have one class per grade) is interacting with a project globally at some point during the year. So far, this year we have done:

• Kindergarten and Pre-K participated in a card exchange with a school in Nicaragua.
• 2nd grade Skyped with a researcher in Antarctica about weather balloons.
• 3rd grade Face Timed with a classmate who is traveling the US for 3 months.
• 7th grade composition project with a school in Argentina.
• 1st grade virtual field trip to Yellowstone National Park.
• 6th & 8th grades virtual field trip to Gettysburg (or Fredericksburg)

I need to find something for my 4th and 5th graders, but this is my first year, so rather than focusing on the fact that they have been omitted, I will focus on the fact that I have reached out to so many thus far. Next year I have so many more things planned too.

As the media specialist, I am also the librarian. I’m hopefully that my students will participate in Global Read Aloud. The program coordinates students all over the globe to read a book and then discuss it. What an amazing way to connect my little school on the same level with students all over the world.

I am hopeful to pair some of my more reluctant readers with similar students. Can you image being a 9 year old kid, who really doesn’t like to read and finding out that there is a kid like you in Australia? Promoting commonality amongst students is a key to creating global citizens.

As we continue to prepare students for jobs that have yet to be created, we need to show them the global community in which they live. The students from the 1960s had the space race to propel their imaginations, our 21st Century learners have space and the world.