This post is part of Te@ch Thought’s 30 day blogging challenge.  The purpose of this challenge is to focus on reflective teaching. 

I’m still working on catching up with my blog posts---all reflection, all of the time!!!

Day 9: Write about one of your biggest accomplishments in your teaching that no one knows about (or may not care).
      This feels a little like bragging.  Some days, I think that my biggest accomplishment is that I’m still teaching and trying new things and not getting discouraged when everything seems to be going wrong.  The past two years haven’t been great for me and there are definitely days where I think about retirement (which is only a short 19 years away).  Maybe it’s not “bright and shiny” but it is an accomplishment to still be teaching and loving teaching when the going gets tough!
     If I were in more of a bragging mode, I might mention that I got to reach one of my professional goals last school year.  I presented two sessions at the New York State Council of the Social Studies 2014 Conference this March!  It was pretty awesome and I truly felt honored to be chosen among all of the other applicants.

Day 10
·        Share five random facts about yourself.
I’m left-handed, red-headed, love chocolate, am an obsessive viewer of Grey’s Anatomy (guilty pleasure), and wear size 12 shoe (it sucks).
·        Share four things from your bucket list.
It’s all about travel: visit the UK, Italy, France, and all 50 US states.
·        Share three things that you hope for this year, as a “person” or an educator.
Have a life outside of school, get back my teaching “joy”, be the best teacher I can be!
·        Share two things that have made you laugh or cry as an educator.
Cry: having to call CPS.  Laugh: Discussing with a fellow lefty student how one day us lefties will take over the world!
·        Share one thing you wish more people knew about you.
I’ve survived a lot in my life and I think that it makes me a stronger person.

Day 11: What is your favorite part of the school day and why?
     Some days it’s when the bell rings at the end of the school day.  More often than not, my favorite part of the day happens when I know I have the students in the palm of my hand.  You know what I’m talking about?  When they are listening to your every word, asking awesome and insightful questions, are answering questions which illustrate that they’ve actually learned something.  That’s my favorite part of everything!

Day 12: How do you envision your teaching changing over the next five years?
     I hope that I continue to evolve and improve.  I don’t want to be stagnant.  I imagine that I’ll be using a lot of technology and I hope that my students will be too.  I hope that I will always remember that my number one goal is to make sure that my students are learning and being challenged to think critically.

Day 13: Name the top edtech tools that you use on a consistent basis in the classroom, and rank them in terms of their perceived (by you) effectiveness.

• PowerPoint/Projector- I know.  This is so old school and not innovative.  But, it’s the technology that I use the most with my students.  It’s difficult to avoid notes in social studies---especially since I’m not flipping as much as I was last year.  (Must flip!)
  
• Weebly- My website is key to my instruction, particularly when I do projects.  All the students have to do is go to my site and everything is there, in one happy place!  Plus my Psych students are using Weebly for blogging.
  
• Laptop cart- I use this a bunch when my students are working on projects in class.
  

You may ask why I’m not using a ton of apps.  Well, that’s because we are not a 1:1 school and with BYOD not everyone has access to devices with apps.  I really want devices!!!!

Question: What’s the biggest buzz in education?  
Answer: Anything that has to do with technology.  

     I am someone who grew up with computers.  I was one of 
those students who used the internet as a source in high 
school and my teacher had no idea how I should cite it in 
my paper (because it was new).  My Master’s is in 
Curriculum Development and Instructional Technology and I 
have NEVER written my lesson plans or student grades on 
paper planbooks or gradebooks.  Technology has been a given for my teaching for my entire career.
     This is not the case for some of the teachers that I work with.  I know of teachers who struggle with our electronic grading system and are mystified by smart phones.  Using Google Drive is not a time saver for them, it’s a chore.  They do not use technology in their teaching because they aren’t intelligent enough or because they don’t care enough about their students.  The reasons these teachers don’t use technology because it is unfamiliar to them and they don’t know where to begin to find something that will be useful for both them and their students.  
     Enter Graphite.  As I mentioned in my August 28th post, I am in the Graphite Accelerator Program.  The specific program I am in is sponsored by NYSCATE which is the New York State affiliate of ISTE.  
     So what is Graphite?  According to their website: “Graphite™ is a free service from nonprofit Common Sense Education designed to help preK-12 educators discover, use, and share the best apps, games, websites, and digital curricula for their students by providing unbiased, rigorous ratings and practical insights from our active community of teachers.”

     What a great service?!? Graphite (a subsidiary of Common Sense Media  and Common Sense Education) employs “professional educators” to review a variety of technology products ranging from websites, apps, and programs.  These educators rate each product in the categories of engagement, pedagogy, and supports.  They discuss the pros and cons as well as how the product works or functions.  The products are categorized and searchable based on content area and skill set such as thinking and reasoning or creativity.  There’s even a “Common Core Explorer” search function.  Then, teachers---like you and me---can also review these products by writing Field Notes.  
     This means that teachers like me who are comfortable with technology can share our knowledge of what works and what doesn’t.  We can also learn about new resources and save some time with new products based on the experiences of other teachers.  Teachers who fall into the category of “don’t know where to start” can actually find a place to start!  Beyond reviews and field notes there are App Flows which are written by teachers as actual lesson plans using educational technology.
     After I finish the Graphite Accelerator Program I am planning on becoming a Graphite Certified Educator.  You can do this too!  As more teachers review products on Graphite, the richer a resource it will become.  You will be helping educators around the world to introduce technology into their instruction that will be meaningful for their students.  Talk about 21st Century Skills!
     I hope that you will check out my Graphite profile and see what I’ve been working on and I hope that you will also consider contributing to Graphite with Field Notes about your own educational technology experiences.  I hope that Graphite will also be a means for you to try some new things in your classroom and to expand your own instructional horizons.  

*One last thought for my New York State friends: participating in a project like Graphite is great for your APPR.  Our district uses the Danielson rubric and contributing and using Graphite could certainly fall under several domains, particularly Domain 4: Professional Development.  Why not get credit for sharing your knowledge?

     This past Saturday I attended the Hudson Valley New York State Association for Computers and Technologies in Education (NYSCATE) Conference.  NYSCATE is an affiliate of ISTE.
     One of the best sessions was about implementing Genius Hour.  This is something that I hope to implement myself.  I’m a very cautious teacher and it’s difficult for me to just dive into something new.  This semester with my fully implemented flipped mastery classroom, I am dipping my toe into my very own version of a 20% Project.  The plan is to go all out in the fall or even next spring.  I want to do it right.
     I love the idea of students getting to pursue their passions.  But, the idea of no parameters is too much for me.  Is that wrong?  Maybe, but I am who I am.  That is why I loved the ideas that were presented by three teachers from Arlington Central School District (Kathy Bellino- @kgbellino, Julie Jee- @mrsjjee, Katie Nixon- @smilingIrish215).
     English teachers Julie Jee and Katie Nixon have based their projects (Project Inspiration and The Passion Project respectively) on literature and informative texts.  The students are connecting the curriculum to their passions and vice versa.  It’s truly genius. 
     Kathy Bellino is a social studies teacher who uses 20% time in her Civic Action and Leadership course.  This course is an alternate for the NYS required Participation in Government graduation requirement.  The theme of her Project Action is for students to answer the essential question of: "How can the average citizen bring about positive change in their community?" This warms my social studies heart!
     What I love about all three of these teachers’ projects is that they have created a loose structure for their students so that they can be successful but still be very free to follow where their passions lead them.  I love that they have worked to get students who say that they do not have a passion to discover that they really do after all.  I especially loved that they brought two former students with them to the presentation to give the all-important student perspective of what it was like for them to learn that they are capable of more than they thought that they were.
     All three teachers said that success was due in large part to meeting with students individually to discuss their ideas rather than just having them fill out a form stating what their intended project would be.  They also talked about how student buy in was important to making the project an overall success. 
     Julie Jee has graciously agreed to allow me to share the link to the Livebinder resources used in the presentation. Be sure to check it out and be inspired to reach towards genius status! 

     I am a good teacher; or at least I think I am using the typical teaching metrics.  I have good pass rates on the Regents exams, my psychology elective is fully subscribed, and I have a good rapport with my students.  But here’s the question: am I doing the best I can for my students?  Am I teaching them to think critically, use reason and logic or am I just teaching them to pass a standardized test? While attending the Library of Congress Summer Teacher Institute  I decided that I need to up my game.
     At the LOC Summer Teacher Institute, we learned a variety of methods to encourage students to think critically.  After each demonstration I thought “Why am I not doing this with my students?”  I learned that although I am teaching them enough to pass tests and to have a general knowledge of the subjects I teach, they are not learning as much as they could (or should).  Basically, it’s all about putting the students’ learning and critical thinking process first above my teaching.  
     You would think that this would be easy for me to swallow and to put in to place but it’s proved to be difficult.  I think that a large part of the problem is me. It’s that whole “sage on the stage” thing.  It’s what I grew up with and was taught to do in college and what I have done for the past 13 years.  I have a difficult time giving up how I have always seen my role in the classroom.
     I am diligently working to remedy this situation.  I have begun gradually flipping my classes in the hopes of filling class time with more meaningful activities.  That really hasn’t been enough of a change and so the first week in February (the start of the new semester) I will be moving to a completely flipped Psychology class using the mastery model.  I am extremely excited and anxious as well.  I hope that my students will be willing to accept a really big change from what they have experienced for the past 11-12 years of schooling.  I hope that I will be able to retire my sage role and become the “guide on the side” that I know my students need.

     I have spent the school year so far reading like a fiend---all kinds of books, blogs, and articles about putting students at the center of learning. I have done a number of mini experiments with my classes which have moved both me and them out of our comfort zone.  I have used sites like ZooBurst to have students create children’s books on abolitionists and apps like Viddy for students to illustrate answers to review questions for Psychology.  I have had students organize themselves based on the documents they were assigned to analyze and had students search out their own supplemental information on the topics we discuss in class.  At every turn I have asked for student feedback and have used that to modify future trials.  Luckily, my students are very willing to provide constructive criticism!
     I will be attending three conferences in the next two months which will also help me in reaching my goal to provide my students with the best learning environment possible.  I will be using my Psychology classes as my model to move to a flipped mastery model for my US History classes for the 2014-2015 school year.  I truly believe that the move to flipped mastery will foster inquiry, creativity, and critical thinking on the part of my students.  I also believe that it will help to put my students on an equal footing in terms of access to technology, extra help, and the biggest item---it will eliminate homework.  
     So, here’s to my year as a teacher.  The teacher my students need me to be.

     Over the summer I read a book that many other teachers read as well: Teach Like a PIRATE.  This book has been the talk of the town for a while making the rounds at conferences and water coolers.  One of the biggest venues to discuss the book is via twitter chats.  You can now find subject specific chats in addition to the general #tlap chat (Mondays from 7-8pm Eastern Time).  There’s #tlapmath, #ELAtlap, #sstlap, and #SCItlap (for science).  I’d say that the twittersphere’s response is a pretty good endorsement of how influential this book is!
     This book interested me before I even knew that Dave Burgess is a fellow high school social studies teacher.  Honestly, the pirate thing was the biggest draw for me.  Who wouldn’t want to teach like a pirate?  I wanted to be the teacher who would hold the students captive to my educational awesomeness and the idea of being a bit of a quirky peg-legged, eye-patched, friend of parrots was a definite incentive for me to read the book.  Finding out that the author teaches difficult to motivate students US History was only icing on the cake!
     So, I’ve decided to put my own spin on the pirate lifestyle for my classroom this year.  I loved Dave’s idea of selling the class to the students.  I made my class handouts resemble advertisements and even had endorsements from last year’s students.  I decided to break away from my regular first few days of class where I went over the rules day one and dove into the curriculum on day 2.  Like I said, I did my own spin on the pirate life so on day one for US History I did an activity called History in a Bag  and for Psychology I did the Marshmallow Challenge. 

     Next week I will be doing activities where the students will be up and moving in both classes.  Both activities are inspired by my summer conferences.  My US History classes will be doing an activity I learned about at the Library of Congress Summer Institute involving maps entitled “Connecting with Primary Sources” (more on this later).  My psychology classes will be taking part in a Values Walk.  
     I truly believe that using the PIRATE methods in addition to my own general zany character will really make my class an exciting place for my students where they feel motivated to learn.  Coupling this with my move towards gradually flipping my classes and integrating more technology overall will make this even easier for me to accomplish.  My goal is to have more class time to engage my students and really help them to connect with the content.  So far I’m feeling extremely energized and very excited to teach my lessons.  One student has already said to me “You can tell you really like your job”.  What a great endorsement two days into the school year!

I love where I teach and honestly I can’t imagine teaching anywhere else.  But my district, just like many districts throughout the nation, does not put a lot of focus on professional development.  There are many reasons for this including a revolving door of administrators and funding.  I think that the problem is also a systemic one.

A teacher’s education and career path is fairly static in New York.  We get our bachelors and then either enter the classroom or go directly on to get a master’s degree.  Teachers either have a professional certification (those who entered the profession after 2004) which requires them to receive 175 hours of PD.  Those who have permanent certification are not required to take part in any PD.  This is all that is specifically required by the State in a career where teacher must work until they have thirty years in the retirement system and are at least fifty-five years old to receive a full pension.  That is a great many years to serve such an important role in shaping children’s lives with little to no PD required.

I fall into the category of having a permanent certification and stopping the learning process does not work for me.  Thus, I have taken to creating my own PD.

I attend conferences and go to in-service classes through my local BOCES and teacher center but that still doesn’t feel like enough.  I learn new things and gain new ideas but I feel like they just scratch the surface and don’t go into the detail that I need to really effect change in my classroom.

At this point, I feel like a dog chasing my tail.  I have so many ideas and I don’t always know the best way to implement them.  I just want to be the best teacher that I can be and do my best for my students. 

What’s a girl to do?

My district’s Assistant Superintendent stated during our first Conference Day this fall that teachers must remember their moral purpose.  My moral purpose is to provide the best possible education to my students to help them to become successful adults.  So, I guess I’ll just keep searching and learning on my own because I cannot give up on my moral purpose and because my students deserve the very best.

A variation of this post can be found in my original article “Take your learning into your own hands: Create your own professional development” found here.

Welcome one and all to my blog!  My name is Dawn Clemens and I have been a high school social studies teacher for the past 13 years.  I am the Vice President of my local teachers union (probably more on that in the future) and I am the editor of our newsletter, Between Assignments.  These three positions have shaped me as a teacher and shaped my ideas about education as a whole.  As a result, I have a lot of opinions, experiences, and knowledge to share with the world of education.

Why a blog? Why me? Why now? 

Teaching is my life.  Seriously.  I eat, breathe, and sleep teaching.  I decided when I was in kindergarten that I wanted to be a teacher and I never changed my mind.  It’s pretty rare to make a decision as a 5 year old and stick with it for the next 30 years but here I am.  When I was 22 and had my very own classes to teach for the first time I thought that I was doing a decent job.  I knew I was very far from perfect but I knew that I had the basic elements of a good teacher: I loved teaching, I loved my content, and I loved my students. I always knew that teaching was a journey and that as I continued I would gain more of the specific skills that I would need to be successful and to truly meet the needs of my students.

Each year, at the end of the year, I set goals for myself to improve on.  I usually do it while the kids are taking their Regents exams or right after I’ve finished grading their exams.  I need to incorporate more political cartoons, change how I teach essay writing, make sure I come up with a new system for assigning homework, etc.  Each year, the list is just as long as the year before---even though I implement most of my goals the following school year.  My list is always long because I’m always growing as a teacher; always trying to be the best teacher that I can be.

This year I started using Twitter as a way to expand my own personal professional development.  There will certainly be a lot more on my love affair with Twitter in the future!  Twitter taught me that I need to do more to improve as a teacher because there is a world out there that I was completely unaware of---and I want to be a part of it.  Actually, I want my students to be a part of it too!  So, I decided to start a blog to chronicle my continuing journey.  Maybe I can help other teachers and maybe they can help me.  Maybe people will want to hear all of my ideas or want to share their own.  Maybe I just want to expand who I teach outside of my own classroom walls.  I’m not totally sure.  I think that possibly I just want to know that there are other people out there just like me that just can’t stop eating, breathing, and sleeping teaching.

Welcome to Clemens’ Classroom!