5 Ideas for Learning About Digital Citizenship

March 6, 2020March 4, 2020Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Digital citizenship is a topic that educators must continue to be mindful of within their classrooms and our schools. Because so many tasks involve the use of technology, it is our responsibility to embed digital citizenship into our lessons so our students are prepared and knowledgeable about the responsibilities that exist and also expectations of them when it comes to digital learning. There is an increase in technology being used in our classrooms, students have more access to digital resources and global connections than ever before, so regardless of our roles in education, we must stay current with issues, trends, and resources related to this topic. Digital citizenship skills have to be a part of what we teach and model for students, especially because we ask our students to do research, to collaborate online and perhaps even use social media as part of our coursework.

There are many resources available to learn more about digital citizenship, ranging from participation in virtual or in-person learning events held throughout the year to websites, books, blogs, and more that bring attention to and inform about this important topic. When I first started teaching about digital citizenship, I recall myself telling students the things that they should not do rather than focusing on how to use the tools safely and responsibly and showing how they could enhance learning. I recognize this now as I’ve researched more and become more aware of the different resources available for use in education today and following the conversations happening in different educational networks. And along with what’s being done out there, I believe that we need to convey the message to our students of how to use digital tools, to interact responsibly, and also share the importance of knowing how to use these tools for good.

Building these skills is critical because they will transfer to the real world space as well. For some students, they build confidence and comfort by interacting with peers and become better collaborators in an online space first, then apply these to the physical classroom setting and the real-world.

Here are five resources to explore and which offer activities for students to explore on their own and construct their own knowledge and apply it.

1. Events Educators can participate in Digital Citizenship Week, happening from October 14th through the 18th online. During this week-long event, educators can participate by connecting with other classrooms globally, joining in a panel discussion organized through the DigCit Institute and EduMatch Tweet and Talk, or listening to a DigcitIMPACT talk. Sign up on the website and stay connected by following the #digcitsummit hashtag on Twitter.

2. Online resources There are many interactive ways for students to explore DigCit topics. Common Sense Education’s Digital Compass provides interactive lessons, tutorials, and fun activities for students to engage in to learn about digital citizenship. One of the many benefits is that students choose how to proceed through the interactive lessons, and can see the positive or negative effects of these choices. Digital Compass addresses topics such as cyberbullying, fake news, social media, and more that are in alignment with today’s trends. Be Internet Awesome by Google has students explore four lands and complete activities and games to build their digital citizenship skills. This is another good way to let students drive their learning, to become curious and develop their own understanding in a space that is safe and that we can support. 21 things for students offers 21 different lessons on topics related to digital citizenship, technology skills, cyberbullying and more. Nearpod offers interactive lessons on Social Media use and topics related to Digital Citizenship in addition to many other content areas and levels.

3. Books Three books that I recommend are Digital Citizenship in Action by Dr. Kristen Mattson, Digital Citizenship in Schools by Mike Ribble, and Digcit Kids: Lessons Learned Side by Side to Empower Others from Around the World by Marialice Curran and Curran Dee. Each of these books offer a wealth of resources for getting started with lessons on digital citizenship and they provide activities for use in our classrooms. Dr. Mattson’s book is also used for the ISTE U Course on Digital Citizenship.

4. Social Media Students are using more social media, especially Instagram and Snapchat, and need to develop an understanding of how to post, the type of information that is okay to share, and how to interact responsibly and respectfully in these spaces. Depending on student grade level, it can be helpful to have students participate in a simulated Twitter chat, create a Padlet wall, or use post-it notes and a space in the room to have students create posts and write responses. It is important to help students understand how social media works and how to properly post. We want to emphasize the safety of our students and knowing how to distinguish between reliable and unreliable sources.

5. Organizations ISTE (the International Society for Technology in Education) offers a Professional Learning Network (PLN) focused on Digital Citizenship for members. In PLNs such as this one, educators can find many resources for teaching about digital citizenship that match the grade level, content area, and specific needs of their students. Individuals can sign up to be a part of the #digcitcommit movement. DigCitCommit is a coalition with the mission of providing educators with the right resources for teaching students about digital citizenship. Educators can sign the pledge and become more involved in promoting digital citizenship around the world.

To provide the best possible opportunities for our students to learn their roles and responsibilities when it comes to digital citizenship, we simply need to start with one of these resources and include it in our daily activities. The idea is not that it’s something extra added onto the curriculum but rather becomes woven into our classrooms each day throughout the year.

*Interested in writing a guest blog for my site? Would love to share your ideas! Submit your post here.

Looking for a new book to read? Many stories from educators, two student chapters, and a student-designed cover for In Other Words.

Find these available at bit.ly/Pothbooks

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Buncee + BETT = What a week!

February 2, 2020February 1, 2020Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

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What an amazing week it was spending time with Buncee at BETT, the biggest edtech conference in the world held in London. I am so thankful to be a part of the Buncee family and to have had the opportunity to travel to London and share in this experience with Marie Arturi, Francesca Arturi, Eda Gimenez, and Bryan Gorman. It truly was an honor to be there. I love having an opportunity to share Buncee with educators from around the world and to be able to talk about the impact it has made for students in my classroom and for me as an educator.

BETT was unlike any other conference that I have attended. It was definitely a unique experience to be in a space with around 34,000 people, many educators who traveled from around the world to learn about trends in education, emerging technologies, best practices and to exchange perspectives with one another. There were so many exhibits and learning sessions happening, but for me, my favorite part of conferences are the connections that are made and the learning from the conversations that happen with those connections.

Promoting Awareness

For me, being able to spend time learning about what the educational system is like in so many different countries and to better understand the challenges that are faced by educators around the world was eye opening. During my time at the conference, we had so many groups of educators come to the Buncee booth, eager to learn more about how to amplify student choice in learning, promote creativity, nurture a love of learning and support all students. We had conversations with educators from countries like Nigeria, India, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Belgium, France, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, and many others, almost all of whom had never heard of Buncee before coming by the booth and being drawn in by the “Unlock the Power of Creativity” and the beautiful booth display and many Buncee examples showing on the monitor. Educators and students were curious about what Buncee was and how it could be used.

Marie, Eda, Bryan and Francesca

The booth set up was beautiful and everybody who passed by stopped as soon as they saw it and wanted to capture a picture of Unlock the power of creativity. It might have been the most photographed area of the conference if I were to guess, because there were so many pictures taken during those four days!

Francesca had a whole team come together to learn about the power of Buncee

Working Together

There was so much activity in the Microsoft Education space, which highlighted themes focused on personalized learning, student voice and choice, accessibility and learning tools, unlocking the power of creativity, and collaboration, for a few. Educators moved throughout the Microsoft and partner spaces to learn about each of these topics and find out how to provide more for students using the tools available. It was interesting to see the collaboration of colleagues and teams from the same district or even government organizations showing up to learn about what Buncee has to offer students and educators.

Sharing the Power of Buncee

Every time that I have the opportunity to introduce someone to Buncee, I love seeing their response as they observe all of the possibilities for creation that are available. During presentations, I always ask attendees about their familiarity with Buncee, whether they have heard of it or used it before, and I’m always very excited when a lot of hands go up to say that it is new to them. Being able to share and show all of the options and ways that it can be used at any level, with any content, is always a good experience for everyone. And I always learn more from those attending because of the specific needs they have for their classroom or the ideas that they are looking for.

Francesca and Bryan

Powerful learning

Something that I find to be so beneficial in conferences like BETT whether from presenting in the booth, doing demos, or even through poster sessions, is that you get to have those one-on-one conversations to find out exactly what educators are looking for and hoping to learn. You can really connect and work together to explore the tools and strategies out there and personalize it to exactly what each educator needs for their students and themselves.

When you can make that direct contact and work with closely with them, they walk away with new ideas that they can put into practice right away, and with the reassurance that is sometimes necessary when it comes to technology, that it can be easy to get started, especially with tools like Buncee.

Sharing a love of learning and love of Buncee

null I was honored to present a session with with Eda Gimenez, about using creativity to nurture a love of learning and the power of immersive reader for accessibility for all learners. We worked on the presentation for a while and I was excited and nervous of course, to present. But what always makes a difference is talking about something that you are passionate about and believe in and also making a connection with the attendance.

Ready for our presentation

What made this session special is that those in attendance had not experienced the wonder of creating with Buncee and were there to learn about it for the first time. Being able to share all of the potential it has for empowering our students with choices and creating opportunities for all students. I admire Eda and the work that she does, the message she shares about the power of Buncee and Immersive Reader for language learners and for nurturing “a sense of participation, inclusivity, fun and creativity.”

We checked out our presentation room early.

An added bonus is that we were also able to try out the live captioning during our presentation. For attendees in our session, they could join with a code and then select their language of choice for captions during the presentation. Being able to communicate your message, tell a story, share learning between students and families is vital for educators and for student learning. With the power of technology, through tools like Buncee and Immersive Reader, we can make sure that families are involved and information is accessible for every student and their families.

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Eda shared Christine Schlitt’s story during our presentation

There are some common questions when it comes to using technology:

What are the ways you can use it?

How much time does it take to get started?

Is there a big learning curve?

How does it benefit students?

I always anticipate these questions and appreciate the pushback that comes sometimes because that’s how we know we are truly looking at the tools and methods we want to bring into our classroom with the right lens. I enjoyed seeing attendees from our session head to the booth to learn more! It was fun interacting with everyone, seeing their reactions to the Buncees on the screen, and many wondering how to unlock the power Several times there were requests to make sure that somebody would be available to explain Buncee, to do a demo, to answer questions later when they brought back the rest of their team.

Image may contain: 4 people, including Eda Charmaine Gimenez, people smiling, text

Image from Buncee

Highlights

One of my biggest takeaways from experiences like this is that regardless of if we are a teacher in the classroom or the one doing the presentation, we learn so much more from those who are participating in our session or the learners in our classroom. Without a doubt, I walked away with so many new ideas for my students and a greater understanding of how different educational systems are and the challenge that educators have when it comes to a lack of resources.

It is definitely a joint effort where they want to have everybody involved and learning together with a theme of global collaboration, it surely was that. We made new connections, shared and learning experiences together and continue to learn and grow together.

We got to meet Maria in person!

Meeting Buncee Ambassadors

Something else that made it wonderful experience was being able to connect with Buncee ambassadors from around the world. Meeting Maria in person for the first time was exciting and she even brought gifts for us from Argentina. She is a beautiful person and I’m so thankful to be connected with her!

Thank you Maria for the thoughtful gift from Argentina!

I am so thankful to be part of the Buncee team and Buncee family, who truly does join together to do what’s best for all students, and build a nurturing learning community fueled by a love of learning.

Thank you Buncee for making a difference.

Kindness and Equity in Our Science Classrooms

January 22, 2020January 19, 2020Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Guest Post by Kathy Renfrew (@krsciencelady), previously published on Middle Web

A while back I bought the novel Wonder. As with many good intentions, life got in the way and as the days turned into weeks the book sat lonely on my nightstand.

Finally, in August, with a new school year starting soon, it seemed an opportune time to finally jump into the text on my nightstand.

I dove in head first and was instantly smitten by the characters in this multi-award winning book and began to see the many ways to apply the learning in Wonder to my work in the classroom.

While reading I began to wonder how I might ‘choose kind’ if I had been a character in Auggie Pullman’s story. What would 9 or 11-year old Kathy have done? Would I have chosen to befriend Auggie?

As our school focused on “choosing kind” to foster students’ social-emotional learning, I went in search of additional resources to use along side this brilliant text in my daily work. Resources like this one from the Teaching Channel shared tips that I would be able to enact instantly.

What do students think?

As posters of #choosekind appeared in the hallways of my school, I was curious to know what students across the country thought choosing kind might look like? Moreover, I was curious to learn how the idea of choosing kind transferred to the three-dimensional learning we teach in science classrooms.

Leveraging the power of our global professional learning network (PLN) through social media, I shared this question across my twitter PLN and a fourth grade teacher in Michigan, Jennifer Ladd, responded.

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Ladd likes to use one of my favorite learning tools, Padlet, and asked her students to respond to some prompts. Their answers were both inspiring and thought provoking.

Students instantly identified attributes of the 4 C’s including collaboration and communication. For instance Ryan shared, “I think choosing kind in science looks like when someone has a question you don’t say ‘oh that question is not smart’ you try to work together and figure it out and include people.”

Students shared general and specific strategies for choosing kind in science classrooms from the ideas of teamwork and friendship to how to ensure all learners have access to tools for success.

Ashlyn wrote, “I think choosing kind in science looks like teamwork and friendship. Science always should look like what teamwork is. Teamwork and friendship is like people passing around the batteries and wires. Teamwork accomplishes big things.”

Inspired by these fourth grade learners, I began observing students in the classroom to see what they were talking about to their first reading buddies. The fourth grade and the first grade had partnered together to create a shade structure in the outdoor classroom.

In one observation I heard a student choose kind when she said to her group, “I will do the math, all the adding, and you work on the structure. Tim, will you please help Joe with the tape on the structure.”

After hearing from my PLN nationwide and visiting classrooms, I decided to reach out to friends to see how they foster kindness in their science classrooms.

Fellow squadster and teacher laureate Meg Richards shared how “choosing kind in my science classroom has students being open to new experiences and new ways of thought.”

“We spend time talking about how science is a place to wonder, where right answers can always get better if we are open to them,” Meg says.

“After all, in the wise words of Miss Frizzle (of Magic School Bus fame), ‘If you keep an open mind you never know who might walk in.’”

Moving with kindness to equity

#Choosingkind is a great start in acknowledging the small steps we can each take towards creating a more equitable and just world. But it is just the first step. How do we move beyond kindness to include equity where all learners have access to the tools they need to find success?

What are some tools we can implement right now that will help us create kind, safe, and equitable communities in science and across the school building?

One tool that may launch these conversations is called STEM Teaching Tool #54 from the Institute of Science + Math Education. This tool helps us better understand exactly what an equitable classroom is and provides some ideas of how to move forward.

For instance, resources such as the Story of a Name teach respect for each person’s choice of name which helps learners and educators honor their colleagues and students, resulting in greater respect and collaboration. Other options include The Shoe Game – Equity versus Equality (exploring the value of differentiation) and Pictures of Our Lives (sharing stories of our diverse experiences).

Students may also opt to use a Science Journal Quest to foster effective classroom talk together. Intentionally engaging with resources like the STEM Teaching Tool and others are small steps toward a much larger goal of equity and mindfulness in the classroom.

If we have the goal of building equitable learning communities, we are making a step in the right direction. In this way we are modeling for our students, our colleagues, and our community what it means to be kind and just, and maybe, just maybe, #choosingkindness will become a part of who we all are.

Edutopia has an article by Sarah Kesty about the use of the engineering design process to foster collaboration and kindness, called Social And Emotional Learning in Science Class. I found I was using this article to stimulate my thinking around this topic.

I also connected with a story from EdWeek which talked about some work a middle school was doing to really think about the whole child and find opportunities to integrate Social and Emotional Learning into what they were already teaching rather than have another siloed subject to teach. See: How One District Is Spreading Social-Emotional Learning Across All Its Schools.

Keeping SEL out front in science class

During this school year, I’m going to be thinking a lot about how we can keep social and emotional learning out front – something that’s always important for us to be thinking about. How can we make our children feel safe and yet very excited about learning? I think we need to remember that our children live in a world that can sometimes be very scary.

After writing and reflecting on this article, I see that the implementation and implications of the student-centered New Generation Science Standards offer us many avenues to help our students feel safe and enjoy learning again. I think the title of my next blog will be something like “How Phenomenon-Driven Instruction Can Make Our Classrooms More Equitable Places for Learning.” I believe by focusing on questions like this, we’ll find even more ways to incorporate social and emotional learning into our science classrooms.

**Interested in writing a guest blog for my site? Would love to share your ideas! Submit your post here.

Looking for a new book to read? Many stories from educators, two student chapters, and a student-designed cover for In Other Words.

Find these available at bit.ly/Pothbooks

Buncee Holiday Hugs

December 19, 2019December 19, 2019Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Have you heard about the Buncee Holiday Hugs? This is an absolutely amazing project that has taken place during the months of November and December. Through this project, students from around the world have created Buncees and shared their work on a Buncee Board for everyone to see. There are now 957 Buncees added to this Board!

So what are these Buncees being used for?

Buncee is partnering with children’s hospitals from around the world to share the Buncees that have been created for Holiday Hugs. These amazing Buncees will be shared with children who will be spending their time in the hospital during the holidays.

The Holiday Hugs project was started by Amy Storer with inspiration from Michael Drezek. The idea evolved from Amy’s own experience as she was spending time with her mother in the hospital over the holidays. The idea for Buncee Holiday Hugs then came to life through the connections with Amy and Marie Arturi, Creator of Buncee. Holiday Hugs is another wonderful project that follows past projects such as the Buncee Buddies (a penpal project that connects students globally to collaborate on different themes) and Miles of Smiles with Michael Drezek.

To learn more, watch this interview with Amy Storer and Brian Romero Smith in which they discuss this amazing Holiday Hugs project and their hopes for it during this holiday season.

Here are a few of the wonderful messages shared with the children. What I love the most is that the messages written on each of these Buncees can be enjoyed by everyone through the use of Immersive Reader. A fifth grade class created this Buncee story for their Holiday Hug and with Immersive Reader, not only can the language be translated, but the story can then be read to the children as well. Beyond simply sharing a wish for the holidays, students can tell stories, send messages, tell jokes, express themselves and it is accessible and can be enjoyed by everyone.

Each Buncee is uniquely different, adding in winter themes, specific holiday traditions and celebrations, animations and even video messages for the children.

Seeing each student share a story, a joke, offer encouragement, record videos, or share their picture to lift others up, truly is inspiring.

Each Holiday Hug is heartfelt from student to student.

With Buncee’s integration with Immersive Reader, students can write a message and share it with any child around the world for them to enjoy. The use of Immersive Reader in Buncee enables students to create multimedia content, improve language skills and build global awareness in authentic and meaningful ways.

Please take time to explore the Buncee Holiday Hugs and read more about this project and its incredible impact on the lives of so many children and on everyone who has participated.

Look at the different creations! I hope you will take some time to explore the Buncee Holiday Hugs and read more about this wonderful project and its incredible impact on the lives of so many children and on everyone who has participated.

What made me better

October 24, 2019October 24, 2019Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Guest post by Deidre Roemer, Director of Leadership and Learning West Allis, WI, @deidre_roemer

When I reflect on my skills as a teacher throughout my career, I can think of examples of what I did well and a million things I would have done differently. I am teaching a class at a local university this semester and know confidently that I am a better teacher now than I was when I was in the classroom. The opportunity to see other teachers in action in my leadership role for the last several years is what has made me better. I get to speak to educators and learners all the time about what is working well in their classrooms and what they would like to see grow. It includes spending time in many classrooms where we and others are getting it right and learners can articulate the process of their learning in order to create great things.

Professional development that is connected to a vision of our work with meaningful processing time to reflect is how we push teachers to move from single projects to true learner driven practice. We take a lot of teachers and teams on site visits to schools in our area and across our country who are already doing the kind of work we are trying to do to see it in action. It is hard to find a large comprehensive system that is there yet, so we are often at small charters of specialty programs that are offshoots of schools. The visits are always amazing as we are able to interact with teachers and learners and see learner driven practice, but often the most important part of the time is the meal after the visit or the long trip home where we can talk about what we saw, process, and plan for what parts we can implement within our system. The goal is not to replicate but to figure out how to ask the right reflective questions of ourselves and one another to tie what we saw to our personal passions and interests and figure out how to bring all of that together to shift the learner experience.

We also spend a lot of our time talking about how this is the kind of learning experience ALL learners should have. It should not be reserved for some kids in special programs or special schools. The visits with the deep discussions are often the leverage point that takes an educator from trying a few things to a true shift of practice that is more inclusive. It helps them to be more collaborative as they are often on these visits with other staff from across our district that they might not already know having a shared experience . The power in seeing some things we are already doing well and celebrating those helps us to not be overwhelmed when looking for ways to grow. The key is to make the time, take the staff who are ready to take some bold steps, and then follow up with them multiple times throughout the year so they have support to keep going with the work.

On a recent site visit, I took a chance and messaged some of the teachers to join us off-site after the formal conference to continue our learning. Fortunately, they were willing to take the opportunity to discuss their work with us over dinner. It was an impactful experience to listen to teachers that have been doing this work for some time engage in professional discourse about grading, telling their story and standards. The teachers were open about their own growth over time and how our staff could take pieces of what they saw back to our schools to create a more equitable opportunities for all learners through empowerment. We went back to the site the next day with a new lens on what to look for in learner and teacher observations that we could do instead of being lost in the surface things like the physical set-up. Things that may have looked idealistic the day before now looked possible. The modeling of professional discourse created space for our team to do the same and ask some great questions about how we can do this work and how it does not have to look the same across all our schools. Encouraging staff to push boundaries and challenge one another’s thinking is how we look at someone else’s professional practice and find a way to make it our own.

A few things we discover each time we do a site visit became apparent:

This work is messy. It takes deep dialogue on what is right for learners and how to give up control in a way that is not always natural for teachers.
Change is uncomfortable and unpredictable, but easier with the proper support. People tend to say, “Change is hard.” There was a great article from the Harvard Business Review in January of 2008 that explained why that phrase becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that permits us not to try. We have to be able to think bigger than that.
We need to get more comfortable with professional discourse and open discussion about where we are now and where we can go that may push our thinking.
Teachers have to connect their own passion to their work in schools. When it is authentic to the teachers, it becomes authentic with the learners.
Our teachers need to see the work in action often and learn how to get and give productive feedback.
The standards are always embedded in innovative, learner driven work. They just aren’t always owned solely by the teacher.
Many times, the teacher in a learner driven classroom finds joy in their work.

We have evolved our district wide professional development to hopefully reflect all of these. Our teachers will have time in small groups to learn their standards well enough to empower learners to take ownership of mastery of those standards within cross-curricular projects. Staff will then have the opportunity to sign up to see another teacher modeling classroom practice that is learner driven. They will be our own internal site visits. We will use structured protocols to get and give feedback at each site to ensure we are using the time for genuine collaboration as we know that is what drives teacher practice. We can’t make more time than we have, so we use the protocols from The School Reform Initiative as a way to restructure the time and make sure it is used for purposeful feedback and collaboration.

Our teachers hosting visits that day have been invited to participate for the first round as they are already trying new things, having success with learner empowerment and finding joy in their work. It is not expected that anything that is “perfect” or a “show”. It is meant for one teacher to share their experience and encourage others to try new things with an open dialogue about how and what supports they will need. Our goal is that our teachers engage with one another to see what’s possible, work together to get there for every learner and find joy in the work.

**Interested in writing a guest blog for my site? Would love to share your ideas! Submit your post here.

Looking for a new book to read? Many stories from educators, two student chapters, and a student-designed cover for In Other Words.

Find these available at bit.ly/Pothbooks

Building a Culture of Readers

October 21, 2019October 17, 2019Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Guest Post by Liz Janusz, Instructional Coach in SD113A in Lemont, IL. @mrs_janusz

I know the end of the school year is near, but I can’t seem to stop thinking about next year already! I have many goals for next school year: get into some coaching cycles with our amazing teachers, share more professional development books, but my number one goal for next year is to begin to build a culture of readers in our school.

Creating a reading culture in a school is essential if we want to encourage students to become engaged and motivated readers. Reading for fun should be celebrated and encouraged throughout the school day! Developing a strong culture of readers takes time and commitment from all involved, which is why I’ve already started planning for next year!

What do you need to begin to build a culture of readers?

Everyone should have a clear understanding of why building a culture of readers is so important. Reading for pleasure is the BEST way to develop and strengthen literacy skills and improve academic achievement.
A shared vision of what your school’s reading culture means in real words.
Full support of all staff in the building, including custodians, PE teachers, paraprofessionals, etc.
Books, books, and more books!

What are some things I can do to start building a culture of readers?

Encourage students to book talk the book they just finished reading to the rest of the class. Most of the time, they will be able to hook their peers on a book better that we could! Peer recommendations are one of the most powerful ways we can get more books into the hands of students!
Offer book clubs during the lunch periods. Pick a few books from an award list (Caudill, Newbery, Monarch, etc) and offer the chance for students to come in during their lunchtime to discuss the book that everyone is reading. Picking a book from an award list, will more than likely will leave them wanting to read the rest of on the list!
Set up an area in the school library where teachers can leave book recommendations for students.
As you are walking around the hallways, try simply carrying a book with you. I’m shocked at how many kids stop me in the hallway when I am carrying a book! They want to either tell me that they are reading it too or want me to tell them what they book is about.
Make your classroom library and sacred and inviting space. Don’t just throw random books in tubs and be done with it. Get your students involved and be thoughtful about how you arrange your library so it would be most accessible for your class.
Make books available all throughout the building! Put some shelves in the hallways and make displays based on what grade levels are teaching about or highlight a certain genre.

How can I get ALL staff members involved?

Over the summer have students and staff take pictures of themselves reading and post them with a school hashtag. When school begins in the fall create a slidedeck with all the all different pictures so we can celebrate all of the summer reading!
Create “What I’m Currently Reading” signs for EVERY SINGLE staff member in your building. These can hang outside their classroom, office, lunchroom, gym etc. Staff members can update these every time they read a new book. Students can see that all staff members value reading for fun and will hopefully get them excited about their own reading.
Set up a book swap! Have all teachers look through their classroom libraries and select books that they would put in the swap. Other teachers and students could then come look through the books and decide which “new” books they would like in their library. Everyone gets “new” books for their library, without spending money!
Make sure your school has a wide variety of books! For example, there are a lot of great math books out there. Buy some for your math teachers to have in the classroom that they can read aloud or reference while teaching.

**Interested in writing a guest blog for my site? I would love to share your ideas! Submit your post here.

Looking for a new book to read? Many stories from educators, two student chapters, and a student-designed cover for In Other Words.

Find these available at bit.ly/Pothbooks

Three Trauma-informed practices to implement today

October 9, 2019October 7, 2019Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Guest Post by Jethro Jones

Twitter: @jethrojones http://twitter.com/jethrojones

Web site: http://transformativeprincipal.org

My name is Jethro Jones, and I am a principal in Alaska. I have helped three schools become trauma informed as a principal and many others through my podcast and Trauma course. I have worked long and hard to figure out some strategies that all school personnel can implement effectively. I’ve gone through a lot of trial and a lot of errors where I have really messed up and I’m going to share some of those secrets here.

Whether your school has created or attended a trauma-informed practices training or not, there are three things you can do to respond to situations in your school in a trauma-sensitive way. Implementing these strategies is simple enough that you can start implementing them today. They are powerful enough that you will see results almost immediately.

1. Ask Questions

Anytime you’ve got a kid who’s acting out or who’s struggling or whatever, instead of saying, “You need to be doing X,” ask the student questions.

This is really simple.

“How are you doing?”

“What are you working on?”

“Where are you heading?”

“What’s going on over here?”

“Can you help me understand…?”

Asking questions gives the student an opportunity to express him or herself in a way that allows them to deal with whatever’s going on.

The challenging part about asking questions is sometimes we as teachers turn questions into statements of condemnation!

For example, “Why are you running in the hall when you know you should be walking?” is more of a condemnation than a question.

We need to ask questions and figure out what is actually happening. Give them an opportunity to express themselves and deal with it. This is a hard thing for us. Because we have rules, we have expectations, we have policies and procedures.

And we as adults are very comfortable in those shoes.

And if we’re not comfortable, then it’s easier for us to say, Stop running. Stop doing that. Stop this. Stop that.

And that’s just not helpful to a child experiencing trauma. Because they’re not thinking–they’re only acting. We need to get them to slow down and think!

When you ask questions, you require the student to stop and think about what they are doing. Your voice doesn’t sound like a teacher in Charlie Brown when you ask a question.

Don’t turn questions into accusations, but make them clear, inquiring concern for the student.

You’ll get great results.

2. Don’t Take Things Personally

Every educator works hard and takes her job seriously and personally, and teachers put so much into their work.

And I don’t mean don’t take your work personally. What I mean is, don’t take the students actions towards you personally.

They’re most likely not a personal attack.

Yes, they will hurt. Yes, it will be uncomfortable. But you can’t take what they do, and think they’re acting out towards you to hurt you personally, that’s just not what is happening. Even when we feel like it is.

Kids desire to please the adults around them. Kids desire to make good choices.

The number of reasons that they have acting out is probably innumerable.

It’s rare when a student wakes up and says, boy, Mrs. Jones really is going above and beyond and helping me at school, I should totally do something that hurts her today. That’s not what kids do.

Sometimes, kids don’t know how to react to someone giving them positive attention, and they attempt to push them away. I once had a student who found out she was moving away from the school, and proceeded to destroy all the hard work her teachers had been putting in. When we talked to her, she was finally able to articulate that it was easier to leave with people mad at her so she didn’t feel like she was missing them as much, because you don’t miss people who are mad at you.

So there are two things you can do. Number one, ask, why is this kid doing this?

Number two, what can you do to deal with this behavior?

We as educators have to recognize that we can’t change anybody, every person has to make that choice for him or herself. We can certainly put things in place to help them make good choices, which we do all the time.

But we cannot change anybody. They need to change themselves.

We need to be sure that we are making choices that allow us to not take it personally like they’re attacking us, because even if they do attack us, it’s not personal. Kids are naturally kind, nice, wonderful, sweet, thoughtful little human beings. It’s when they’ve had these adverse childhood experiences, that they start acting differently.

And what our role is, is to help them to be successful even when they’ve had those experiences.

3 Know Your Role

The image above is a powerful way to make sure that people know their role is in a school that is trauma informed. Get a printable version here that you can use as a handout.

You’re not a counselor or a social worker. You’re an educator. You shouldn’t try, and NOBODY should expect you to be anything you’re not.

Could you be a therapist, counselor, or social worker if you tried? Yes. Do you have what it takes? Absolutely!

When a student doesn’t know how to read, what do we do? We teach them.

When a student doesn’t know how to write, what do we do? We teach them.

When a student doesn’t know how to drive or swim, or do whatever, what do we do? We teach them,

When a student doesn’t know how to behave, what do we do? Usually we punish them, what we should do is teach them.

And so our role as educators is to teach and help kids learn.

Now, there are so many different ways to do this!

Our purpose here is not to discuss all the many ways we can teach them, but to emphasize that it is our role to teach them, regardless of how they come to us.

Now, I want to share an experience that is really powerful. In her book, Allison Apsey shares a very similar experience. There are certain students that take up all your time! You are constantly spending time with those students, recognizing that it is worth the time and effort to intentionally and proactively spend time with those students that take up all your time,

if you’re going to be spending time with them anyway, why not work with them to get support in advance, why not work with them to build that relationship?

I call this Proactive Teaching. Some call it check and connect, or check in check out.

These students that are really struggling need additional support. You’ve got to have good Tier 1 behavior expectations and practices in place, but you and I both know there are kids for whom that doesn’t work, and they are the kids that reside in Tier 3! They need the extra help.

Instead of waiting for this student to be sent down to the office, we proactively go teach this student how to make good choices. Don’t think you can do this with 100 kids! It won’t work.

Find those two (or maybe three) students and get with them before they cause the trouble. Take the initiative and connect with them before they can get into trouble. Get with them before they get overwhelmed and can’t perform. Get with them before they wreak havoc in your class!

I had one student who would have a meltdown nearly every day because he was so worried about his mom and young sister. Instead of waiting for his behavior to cause him to be taken out of class, I met up with him before he had a chance for that, and talked about how things were going and what I could do to help him. Then, when his meltdown would inevitably come, we already had a connection that day.

Did this take a lot of time? Yes.

Was it worth it? Yes, it was, because it was so much better to do that in a positive, preventive proactive way than it was to deal with the issues and problems that he was going to have after the fact. Because when he had a bad day, he wanted to get it out in an aggressive way that hurt other kids, and that just wasn’t going to work in our school.

So instead of spending the 30 minutes trying to calm him down after a problem out on the playground, we spent 20 minutes before and during recess to give him that support.

It wasn’t my role to help him deal with his issues at home. I needed to be a trusted adult who was teaching him how to deal with things at school. Of course, a counselor was involved to help him deal with the challenges he faced at home.

To recap:

1. Ask questions.

2. Don’t take it personally

3. Know your role.

These three strategies will help you out immediately with whatever challenges you are facing in your school. If you need additional help or support along the way, please reach out to me by email or at my web site: jethrojones.com/trauma

**Interested in writing a guest blog for my site? I would love to share your ideas! Submit your post here.

Looking for a new book to read? Many stories from educators, two student chapters, and a student-designed cover for In Other Words.

Find these available at bit.ly/Pothbooks

Education Write Now: An Amazing Experience

September 29, 2019September 29, 2019Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth 2 Comments

To say that the summer of 2019 was tremendous is an understatement. Besides having time to spend with family and friends, I enjoy having extra time in the summer to participate in professional learning opportunities and to connect with educators from around the world. As educators, it is important that we continue learning and involving ourselves in opportunities to build our own skills and also to contribute to the personal and professional growth of others. I am fortunate to have been asked to be one of the writers for this year’s Education Write Now book.

In July, ten of us met in Boston for three days to work on chapters that will become part of Volume 3 of Education Write Now, a book whose proceeds will go toward The Will to Live Foundation, a non-profit organization founded to support teen suicide prevention. The time together started with a welcome from Jeff, an introduction to what the organization does, and an opportunity to hear from John Trautwein, a father who lost his son to suicide. John created The Will to Live Foundation to honor his son and to provide support for other families and their children.

It was an honor to be a part of this project and work alongside and collaborate with Jeff Zoul, Sanee Bell, David Guerin, Josh Stumpenhorst, Jennifer CasaTodd, Danny Steele, Katie Marin, Ross Cooper, and Lynell Powell. It was a great experience, although initially, the thought of writing a chapter within a short period of time of two days was a little bit stressful. However, having that time to work together, have peer feedback time, to listen and share out what we were writing with the other collaborators, made all the difference. It just reaffirmed the importance of connections and building those professional relationships. We need to make time to share what we are doing in our classrooms, exchange ideas, solve problems together, and embrace risks and face the challenges that are part of education today, but to do so with a supportive network.

The theme for this year was “Solutions to Common Challenges in Your School or Classroom.” In thinking about this theme, I decided to write about teaching in isolation and sharing my own story of how I chose to be isolated for many of my years of teaching. In my chapter, I explore how isolation happens and offer ways for educators to escape what can sometimes become an isolating profession.

Here are a few excerpts from my chapter, Chapter 2: Choosing to teach in isolation is a choice to isolate our students from a world of learning opportunities.

Have you ever experienced any of the following?

You have to make your very first phone call home to a parent and you are worried that you won’t say the right thing.

You are going to be observed for the first or fifteenth time, and you are worried that you will make a mistake or not use the right instructional strategies. The class starts in five minutes.

How many of these statements can you relate to? For each one, think about if you reached out to someone or just kept it to yourself. Did you choose isolation rather than asking for help?

Clarity:

You are not alone

For years I struggled with classroom management and student behaviors. Rather than ask for advice, explore resources, or try to work it out by talking with my students, I kept it to myself and did my best to make it through each day. I hoped for improvement, but I did not actively try to make changes. I did not ask for help or even talk about the problems that I was having. I did not know where to begin but at that time, so I thought that I was better off keeping it to myself. My biggest mistake was hiding in my classroom and not reaching out to colleagues or other educator friends.

Isolation is not something new

Life as an educator, trying to complete everything that we need to can lead to a career spent in isolation if we let it.

Ten ways to break free or avoid isolation

There is so much potential for connecting regardless of where we are and the amount of time we have. We must take the first step and just start somewhere. We can leverage technology to check-in with colleagues, even if they teach next door to you. Sometimes seeing our neighbors does not happen on our busy days, which are most days. There are ways to stay connected while driving to and from school, taking a walk, wherever you are and on your schedule.

In the end

The most important thing to remember is that you are not alone.

You are not alone in feeling like you do, like the job is difficult, or there are too many things to remember, too many initiatives to keep up with.

We all understand the importance of asking for help; Those who achieve big things are the ones who accept it when it’s offered. Simon Sinek

The choice is now yours, how do you want to connect?

Be sure to check out next week’s post from Jennifer Casa-Todd, Chapter 3 “The Challenge: Broadening our Definition of Literacy.”

Buncee and Immersive Reader

September 18, 2019September 16, 2019Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth Leave a comment

Buncee and Immersive Reader: A Winning Combination for Assistive Learning

For several years, Buncee has been one of my favorite creation tools; both for personal creation needs and for classroom instruction. While there are many digital tools to choose from when it comes to teaching and having our students create, Buncee’s versatility, ease-of-use, and recent integration with Microsoft’s Immersive Reader make it a go-to tool for all creative needs and accessible for students of diverse ages and abilities to learn 21st-Century Skills and express themselves. What my students love the most is that Buncee offers something for everyone, and I love that they love it.

Always keeping their finger on the pulse of their community’s needs, Buncee listens to educators about the needs for our students and takes action to find solutions! Their integration with Immersive Reader is a perfect example of this.

Immersive Reader: It’s About Opportunities to for ALL Students

This summer, Buncee added Microsoft’s Immersive Reader to its platform, increasing accessibility for students and offering more robust ways to learn. Immersive Reader is full-screen accessibility tool, supporting the readability of text in a Buncee for students with dyslexia, visual impairments, and for language learners and their families. Any text added into a Buncee can be translated and read aloud in over 60 + languages.

There are many ways Immersive Reader can enhance the learning opportunities for all students, build their confidence, and create an inclusive classroom environment. The use of Immersive Reader in Buncee will enable students to do more than just create Buncees, it will help them improve reading and language learning skills, while engaging more with the content in authentic and meaningful ways.

Imagine the possibilities for reaching and engaging students and their families who are just learning to read, who may be struggling with identifying parts of speech or word recognition, or who may be coming from non-native English speaking homes. Educators can use Immersive Reader to create lessons, make interactive flashcards for students and also for communicating with families. Being able to provide for students and their families of different backgrounds and learning styles is something that the Buncee team is definitely passionate about and does well!

How Does Immersive Reader Work in Buncee?

There are several ways to help students to build their skills through the different options available within Buncee and using Immersive Reader.

Getting started with Immersive Reader in Buncee is easy. By clicking on the Immersive Reader icon when viewing a Buncee, options pop up that you can work with to help further personalize the learning experience for students. Immersive Reader can then access the text in a Buncee. For example, it is easy to adjust the reading speed and make changes to the font spacing to help students who might need some adjustments in the visual appearance. You can also choose to display the text in shorter lines, or break down the syllables, to help students process the information in ways that meet their needs.

Navigating the Options

I decided to create a Buncee using some of the new 3D objects and also explore the options available through Immersive Reader. When viewing my finished Buncee, clicking the Immersive Reader symbol takes me to a new screen where I have additional options to further personalize the appearance of the creation. For first time users, it is easy to figure out how to adjust the settings. In preview mode, I clicked on the speaker symbol to listen to the text. Students could use this as a way to practice their own pronunciation, especially when using it for language learning, by repeating after the speaker. Students can also build listening comprehension skills by focusing on the written words and making connections with the audio.

By clicking on text preferences, I can choose the text size, increase spacing, and select from three choices in font style. These are great options to help with readability for students. There are also 21 color choices for the background on the screen. I find this to be very useful, especially as someone who can be sensitive to certain colors when reading. I’ve also had students experience difficulty with reading on certain colored backgrounds, so this is a definite plus.

The grammar options enable you to turn the syllables on or off and also color code the different parts of speech. Being able to use the color codes to help with the identification of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs will help students to build their grammar skills. These labels can be turned on or off, which means that families can work with their children and use it as a teaching tool for review.

Just to experiment, I turned everything off except for the verbs. Displayed on the screen were the two verbs in the sentence both highlighted in red. I then selected a different color for each part of speech, I chose purple to identify nouns and green for the adjectives. I was amazed at how quickly this could be set up and the possibilities for helping students with reading comprehension and language skills. Using this as a way to further engage students with identifying parts of speech and making the visual connection is another option for more interactive learning.

Under reading preferences you can focus on one line or on the entire text.

When you focus on a line, it closes the screen down to that one specific sentence, which you can also make narrower or thicker depending on your choice.

There are more than 60 languages available for translation. I decided to try French first, and when I clicked on a word, it showed me the word in French and in English. I also explored other languages, including Spanish and was impressed with how much it offered to reinforce the content and to provide a more personalized learning experience for students. You can choose the voice and speed of reading, so it provides a great way to reinforce speaking skills as well as listening, reading and writing.

In his book, Digital Leadership, Eric Sheninger talks about the critical competencies needed by learners to be successful in today’s world. These competencies are in alignment with the ISTE standards for students and teachers, and can be addressed through the use of Buncee. Now with Immersive Reader integrated, the possibilities to address these standards is open to all learners. Beyond the potential for creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication, using Buncee, students can build skills in digital media literacy, entrepreneurship, technological proficiency, and digital citizenship. Students have the opportunity to use technology as a tool for solving real-world problems or making real-world connections. We have to look beyond simply using digital tools to engage students in learning and instead, empower them through opportunities to apply what they have learned in unique ways.

7 Ways to Get Kids Reading

September 13, 2019September 7, 2019Dr. Rachelle Dené Poth 2 Comments

Guest Post by Laura McDonell@lmcdonell14

A look at What Actually Worked for Me

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Reading is one of those things that I go to the wall on. Growing up, reading was something I struggled with. As a teacher, I see how critical it is to overall success as a student. Today, one of the reasons my life is so incredibly rich has to do with the books I read. As a parent, I am determined to give my kids opportunities to find success with reading. As with everything in life, some days everything comes together, connects and makes a beautiful picture. However, there are other weeks or years where the struggle is real and seems like it is never going to end.

It doesn’t matter where my kids are starting from (I can still remember checking out different copies of the Dick and Jane anthology because it worked, and my middle son needed repetition. While all three of my kids have grown up in the same environment, they have all been unique in regards to what works best for each of them as readers. Overall the key is persistence, and never giving up no matter how challenging it might seem. I have found success as a parent by visiting the library often, allowing them to change their minds about what they like, becoming their personal assistant, reading and talking about books in front of them, using audiobooks, hosting a book tasting and celebrating accomplishments.

Visit the Library Often.

jaredd-craig-HH4WBGNyltc-unsplash Libraries might seem dated, but they are in fact one of the best-kept secrets. We got library cards for our kids as soon as they could write their names. Today, cards can be used to check out everything from audiobooks to new release movies. Apps like Hoopla and Overdrive are amazing. With a library card, these two sites offer thousands of books, movies, and music. Giving kids the opportunity to borrow a stack of books without any cost is ideal for many families. Taking advantage of MEL, the state’s interlibrary loan program, allows people to request books from all over the state of Michigan and have them sent right to your local library. Showing someone how to use the library unlocks a world of possibility. Anything can be learned by using the public library. And, using the library saves a lot of money. Surrounding kids with books is one of the best things you can do to get them reading. The library makes reading an inexpensive activity. I am not alone when it comes to using the library. Several financial enthusiasts highly recommend it.

2. Allow them to Change Their Mind Often.

When my middle son was in first grade, he loved the Nate the Great series. The books were right at his reading level, and I thought I had struck gold since there were several of them in the library. I requested every copy I could find. After reading about 10 of the books, one day he said, “I don’t really want to read Nate the Great anymore.” At first, I was a little sad since there were still books to be read, but after thinking about it, I was excited that he was willing to be honest about what he wanted to read. Minutes later, I realized had a new challenge. I had to help him find his next book, and do it quickly so that he did not lose momentum to continue reading. Humans are always evolving.

matthew-fournier-G971e4EFKtA-unsplash A few years ago one of my boys really got into hockey. We found all of the Matt Christopher books about hockey in the library, and he eagerly read each one cover to cover. Last summer my daughter was obsessed with learning about swimming. We raided the library for any nonfiction book we could find on the topic. During the winter it was graphic novels, and today she loves to dive into anything related to fairy tales. Even though I have a pretty good idea about what each of my kids likes to read, I had experiences where I selected a book or two I thought might be perfect, only to have them not show an interest in what I picked out. I do not take it personally, since there is no cost associated with it, and know that as a reader I don’t read every book I take home from the library.

3. Be their Personal Assistant.

Kids need to be taught skills to thrive on their own. However, when they are starting out, they need someone to guide them: like a coach, or a personal assistant. The personal assistant does not do the work but instead sets a person up for success.

If we want to raise a reader, the more times children can be successful will improve the overall possibility of them sticking with reading early on, and then eventually becoming adults who are drawn to books.

Personally assisting a child, looks like helping him or her find books, help them find books that are just right for their level, challenging them, suggesting new authors, reading a chapter aloud, placing books in their path, and helping them organize their schedule to support reading time. As an adult, I have read a lot of books and heard hundreds of titles and authors, and because of it I am in a great position to offer guidance. Scrolling through Bestseller Lists helps me to find current and high-interest reading material. As my kids get older, I have started to transfer this responsibility. However, it is still important for young adults to have help in selecting books. My husband even enjoys it when I pick out a book for him tailored to his interests.

Reading aloud the first chapter of a book can help a child get into a story. I knew my middle son would love John Grisham’s Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer books. I was also aware that some of the terminology, setting, and background given in the first chapter could be very new, and confusing. So I offered to read the first chapter to him. After hearing and then talking about the chapter, he was hooked and settled in for a great series of books.

4. Read in Front of Them. And Talk about Your Books.

When I first started teaching, I would ask the parents of my really motivated readers who seemed to always be reading, “Tell me how you did it? What do you think has made the difference in getting your child excited about reading?” Almost every time I was given the same answer, “I suppose he just sees me reading all the time, and it just seemed like the thing to do. My nose is always in a book”.

If you expect your kids to read, you have to also be a reader. You gain credibility when you pick up a book on a regular basis.

It is also important to be a “Real reader”, and model what it is like to struggle with something in a book, fall in love with a new series, or make the choice to abandon a book because you cannot get into it. It is helpful for kids to know that they are not alone in how they think about books.

5. Use Audio Books

When my kids were really little, I would get audio CDs with the corresponding picture book from the library. It helped me to team parent with myself, as I could catch a break where my kids could listen to a story and follow along with the words. As my kids have grown older, they continue to enjoy audiobooks. We listen to them on vacation in the car, and two of my three kids absolutely love hanging out in their room listening to a book while putting together Legos or doing chores. We have found that they are awesome for the kids to fall asleep listening to.

Lastly, as a Spanish student, I remember being able to listen at a higher level than I could read or speak. One of the coolest things about audiobooks is that students can comprehend at higher levels than they can speak or read. Plus, audiobooks give kids practice listening to correctly pronounce words, perfected grammar, and give them the opportunity to work on fluency as a reader.

6. Do a Book Tasting.

hannah-busing-0BhSKStVtdM-unsplash Exposure to good literature and authors is one of the best gifts we can give our readers. I absolutely love sharing some of my favorites with kids. Just as we could taste cheese, wine, sauces, desserts, or other menu items, book tastings are a great way to try new things. I typically put a book in front of each place setting. Each child will get a chart to list the title he or she tasted along with the author, genre, and the likelihood that he or she might read the book. The tasting is timed to keep it moving. And so after a total of several, ninety-second tastings, kids are able to walk away with several new titles that could be considerations for future reading. This activity can be adapted to any size (I have had great success with it in the classroom).

7. Celebrate Success as a Family.

daniel-olah-VUGAcY35Ubw-unsplash There are times that I find my kids book hopping, and not finishing titles. I have also seen my kids plateau as readers. It is fun when we all work together and focus on completing a challenge that encourages reading and celebrating the success of others. It works well for us to keep a running list of books read on the refrigerator. We set a goal for a number of books to be read and immediately start brainstorming how to we will celebrate our success. It is nice to focus on working together and cheering each other on.

Maybe some of these ideas will work for you. What works well one day to encourage reading, might not work as well the next. Plus, reading is personal. Everyone is motivated differently. But, the important thing is as a parent or teacher, you never stop trying. Persistence is so important. Sometimes it is really tough to find the perfect author or series for a child. But, there is always one more book, genre, author, or method to try. It won’t necessarily be easy, but it will be worth it.

Read more from Laura: Her blog site EnjoyingEveryMile