January Reflections

We returned to school from winter break on January 6, and I was resolved to do some things very differently. Before the break, we had been working on a math unit on multiplication and division, and it was going pretty poorly. Each lesson seemed to be a fit for about 4 out of 16 kids. For everyone else it was too easy or too hard. And, in hindsight, I didn't know the math well enough myself. This is my first year in fourth grade, and our curriculum doesn't clearly align with how I think about the continuum of strategies from concrete and less efficient to abstract and more efficient. 

Over break, while stewing about how math felt for nearly everyone involved, I stumbled (again) on the Modern Classrooms Project. I had seen their content before, but had dismissed it because I really don't care for a lot of technology in the elementary classroom. I slowed down to learn more this time, and got excited about the idea of blended learning where teachers create their own videos. I decided that I would take their (excellent) free course and give it a shot. I made my first videos the weekend before returning to the classroom, and we were off.

I have been completely shocked by the results of this approach. I'm spending my time so much more thoughtfully, and every student is learning more. Students are using the computers for 10 minutes or so every day or two, often watching with a partner using headphone splitters and discussing the content as they go. I feel like I know my students better, both as thinkers and learners and as people. And it's only been a few weeks. When we took the end of unit assessment last week, there were students who were using the standard algorithm for division, students who were getting really efficient with an area model strategy, and a handful who were still grappling with the concept using friendly numbers. The thing that feels so different is that I saw clear evidence of each student's growth (in just two weeks), and there is a clear pathway to keep their progress going even as we start a new unit on fractions. For this unit, my partner teacher is also trying the model, and we are co-planning and splitting video creation.

I'm starting to try the model in our humanities block, too. In project based learning, we started a new unit on Ancient Greece and Greek Mythology. Ultimately students will create an adaptation of one of the myths with a small group that can be presented to another class in the school as part of an SEL lesson that they plan. The first milestone question was, "What was life like in ancient Greece?" I set up a collection of books on Epic for students to read, created checklists for each part of the assignment, and created two videos - one on finding key details and main idea, and the other on the process of creating a trading card about some aspect of life in ancient Greece. In hindsight, the videos were too long and a bit boring. I wish I had created one for finding key details, and another on using those details to infer main idea. But, still, this was by far the most successful writing assignment I've done with these students, and I have been with many of them for 1.5 years since I taught half of the class in third grade last year. Students couldn't move on to the writing until they clear key details in their own words and a strong main idea to match. I was able to focus on that with students who needed the support without holding anyone back. Kids who finished early could read more about life in ancient Greece and create additional cards if they wanted. I printed the cards out quarter size on Friday, and everyone is very excited to do some trading on Monday!

The thing I'm loving about all of this is that kids are truly completing assignments with quality and mastering content before moving on, and I'm so much more aware of who they are as mathematicians, readers, and writers. Beyond that, the conversations they are having about their learning have been more collaborative and help them explain their thinking more clearly. I've seen students working together to figure things out in ways that are deeper than what I've observed in the 1.5 years I've already spent with many of the exact same students. 

This week, we are picking up the pace with fractions and getting into reading different versions of Midas Touch and Daedalus and Icarus (including some readers theater!). We will be summarizing, inferring theme, and reflecting on basic child development to determine what age groups would most benefit from an adaptation of the myths we are reading.