The Gut-Level Teacher Reflection

The end of the year is here and I am sure that the last thing you want to think about is school.

This is a great time for you to grow as an educator. Now that the year is complete is important for you to reflect on your year while it is still fresh in your mind. You can remember those assignments that students struggled with. You know where in your classroom things are because your classroom hasn't been overhauled and cleaned yet. You can remember more or less what went really well this year and what you want to improve on next year.

One of the best reflections I have found is called The Gut-Level Teacher Reflection from the Cult of Pedagogy. It's a simple five question survey that pinpoints what your strengths of the year were and areas you want to improve on as an educator.

My favorite component of the reflection is walking around this years classrooms and finding those areas that make you uneasy. Each teacher has a go to area for putting those papers that you'll one day file. Or those resources that you'll one day use. Jennifer, the creator of Cult of Pedagogy, encourages you to find these spaces and acknowledge their existence.

I like to think of this reflection as a great way to start planning for next year. I am able to identify what is most important to me and my classroom. I plan to work on school work in the latter part of summer and will use this reflection to create a plan of action when organizing and planning for the next school year.
 
For an audio version of this file check out:
 http://www.cultofpedagogy.com/gut-level-reflection-questions/

To download the reflection visit:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/FreeDownload/The-Gut-Level-Teacher-Reflection-1429271 

Animoto Review

Animoto is a video resource that can be used to share videos with students and staff alike.

I was curious what others thought about Animoto and whether or not it was something I could use with students and staff alike. I found the following comprehensive review from Desktop Documentaries.

You can find the review below or at http://www.desktop-documentaries.com/animoto-review.html

Animoto Review |
The Good and The Bad
Guest Blog PostBy: Scott (USA)

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Animoto Review

While nothing can replace hard work, perseverance and attention to detail when making a documentary or even a short family video, Animoto comes close and it doesn’t require nearly as much time, work or effort on the user’s part.
As with many instant products in today’s “now” environment, you take the good with the bad. A frozen dinner may never taste the same as a meal cooked by Julia Childs, but Julia Childs couldn’t feed you in less than 5 minutes.

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Animoto Review: THE GOOD

Not everyone has the time, patience or money to invest in high end, or even medium priced video editing software.
If you are pressed for time and absolute control of your final product is not a requirement, Animoto may be just what you are looking for.
If you have a client that “needs it yesterday”,  Animoto may be for you. If you are back-logged with clients waiting for their product, Animoto may be your site in shining armor.
Wedding photographers are able to take advantage of the beautiful edits Animoto so easily provides. I can’t begin to tell you what technology has gone in to making Animoto work. And the best thing about it is, you don’t need to know anything about video editing technology to make Animoto work for your needs. Put your fears aside and let Animoto handle the job.
While an intimate knowledge of technology is not a requirement to use Animoto, a clear understanding of what you want your video to convey is.
Animoto works well when you know what you want. For all practical purposes, you have three considerations when using Animoto; how long does your video need to be? What music will best convey the mood of your piece? And, what photos or video clips will be used?
Animoto takes a lot of the typically detailed decisions away from you. You no longer have to debate over which edit style you want to use. Gone are the days when you worked for hours on end to sync your music with your clips. Animoto does this for you, making the final product one that can be done in hours (or even minutes) rather than through weeks or months of tedious editing.
Simply upload the photos or videos you want to use in the order you want them to appear, choose your music (Animoto provides royalty free music choices so you don’t have to worry about any legal issues) and hit the “create video” button. Then grab a cup of coffee and come back to see your production.
If you are not pleased with the end result, no worries, simply hit the “1 click remix” button and grab another cup of coffee. You can use the “1 click remix” as often as you like until you have something that makes you and your client happy.
Animoto also provides you with the ability to add text-only frames in your video. Sometimes a picture cannot convey what a few words can to help you tell your story.

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Animoto Review: THE BAD

While all of the good is good with Animoto, it does have drawbacks.
Don’t expect James Cameron to use Animoto to produce his next movie. All of the instant and easy aspects help beginners and professionals alike to make great, professional looking videos. But as a producer you lose the ability to control the details of your video.
You cannot make subtle changes to one frame.
You cannot control the style of edits Animoto provides. (You do have some control over this based on your music choice.)
With Animoto you lose the ability to edit just one section of the video without affecting the entire video.
Just like TV dinners, you can’t get a master chef taste with the food you bought in a cardboard box. But you do get to eat now. And you will eat well.

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A Final Word Or Two...

As for this Animoto review.. in the end, it’s up to you.
With practice you can work through Animoto’s limitations to provide you with a final product that will dazzle friends and family and clients alike.
Everything has its limitations.
Even James Cameron has to work with what he’s got. His cameras, actors, editor and software programs are not infinite with possibilities. He takes full advantage of what’s available to him.
With Animoto in front of you, you can use its finite possibilities to produce world class videos that are as fun to make as they are to watch and it won’t cost $200 million to make them.
(Scott is a freelance photographer who LIKES Animoto)

JUST RUN

This past weekend students, parents and staff ran a 3k marathon in Pacific Grove, California. We ran because we are a JUST RUN school and have been for many years now.

JUST RUN is promotes active lifestyles and healthy eating to keep students healthy and happy. Our students enjoy being outside and participating in many of the JUST RUN activities. This years activities include tracking students' miles, running in the morning and holding a weekly school boot camp. 

JUST RUN is a fun and engaging program and can be implemented easily at your school.  For more information click on the image below. 

Collaborative Conversations

The last class you were probably in was a giant lecture series in college where a professor stood in front of the class and spoke. 

As a twenty something students you were probably bored but able to follow along. 

Now... imagine how hard that same structured class, of a lecture series, for an 8 year old! 

Even fifty years ago, people knew that kids have a hard time listening to giant heads in front of the class!!

Collaborative conversations are a way to change that because students are the ones doing the talking. To see collaborative conversations modeled in the classroom I recommend the video Formative Assessment: Collaborative Discussions. I tried the lesson with my students and it did not go well. Then as a class we watched the lesson, teacher and students. The next day when students worked collaboratively they improved dramatically. Now I am filming my class as a way to focus students on using one collaborative conversation skill. 

Cult of Pedagogy: The Podcast

A great resource for classroom teachers is the website Cult of Pedagogy. Jennifer Gonzalez started the website with great resources, one of which is her podcast. She has a range of topics that she discusses.Topics include technology, supports for English Language Learners, behavioral issues in the classroom and quick tips for teaching. 

I recently listened to episode 31: The Power of

Being a Dork. In it she talks about how teachers need to be silly and first to dismiss the inhibitions of students.  

You can access the podcast on itunes and 

listen it to your commute to work.  

Word Nerds

Everyone should be obsessed with the book Word Nerds. 

The title alone is enough for a passerby to pick it up off the bookshelf. 

I picked up the book due to the needs of students. Many of the students in my class have below grade level vocabularies. I have always known the correlation between vocabulary and reading ability but am trying to be more explicit with my vocabulary instruction to support struggling students. 

This book has turned out to be much more than a book about effective vocabulary instruction. It is a book about great teaching practices! Another reason I am enjoying this text so much is that it is a fun read. Many of the books about education and best practices are dry and boring; not this book. 

It follows the classrooms of two young teachers and how they are supporting vocabulary development in the classroom. Vocabulary development, these two teachers believe, can be found in all parts of the classroom. For organization, to teaching approaching, behavior management, and explicit instruction vocabulary is being supported.

Now, I am not a new teacher. I have been teaching for many years. My sister and husband are teachers. My mother and two aunts are principals. Even my grandmother was a teacher! On breaks I spend time in classrooms observing teachers to refine instruction. With that said, I have learned a lot from this book and would recommend it to teachers of ALL levels, abilities and experiences.

Take this excerpt from the book for example:

Click on the book text above to enlarge.

This excerpt has nothing to do with vocabulary instruction YET has EVERYTHING to do with effective teaching practices and therefore strong vocabulary instruction. This book is amazing!

A few paragraphs is enough to change a stagnant or ineffective teacher's approach as to how they should model their classroom.

As a teacher, many of the practices from this book I can take and use in the classroom. I can read a chapter a night as a quick and enjoyable read. Then I use strategies talked about in the text when planning. This section, for example, put into words how I feel about classrooms.

As an administrator, many of the approaches presented in the text would be a quick fix if presented and discussed with staff (i.e. professional development or staff meeting). You can present this text in a passive and welcoming way to promote self reflection!

Like I said... it's amazing.

For more information on the text check out GoogleBooks where you can read many of the first 147 pages for free. Or if you would like to see other reviews on Word Nerds check out this review from The Electric Journal for English as a Second Language.

Works Cited:

Overturf, B. J., Montgomery, L. H., & Smith, H. M. (2013). Word Nerds. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse.

The Problem We All Live With

This American Life is a wonderful podcast produced by NPR. You can access it for free on the website http://www.thisamericanlife.org/ or through the Podcast App.  

I have enjoyed listening to this hour long podcast from This American Life. It is titled The Problem We All Live With. It discusses integration in schools today and highlights to inequalities students in public education face. I highly recommend it to anyone who works in education.

Here is a video version of the podcast for your listening pleasure. Please share your thoughts!