The Screeching Owl

A mysterious address to title a mysterious post written on Halloween.

The first time I learned about 221b Baker Street was in my junior or senior year of high school.  Living at this location was a gentleman investigator who drank far too much coffee and smoked enough tobacco to create a heavy cloud of smoke thick enough to be cut by a knife.  Deduction was his passion and he often employed his best friend in the its pursuit.  An adventurous man this man was, travelling to many places within the city in which he lived as well as the countryside during his deductive quests.

Murder, mayhem, theft, disguises, hounds, and many other items of possible deceit were his constant companions outside of his residence.  Whether alone or with his trusted companion, this gentleman investigator used the tools of his trade and any other tool to his advantage.  His mind worked like no other.  He is none other than………the creation of this gentleman:

The sepia tone, the chair, the clothes, and hair give away a bit as to who this gentleman investigator may be.  But I won’t.

I will say that I return to 221b Baker Street yearly with my students as their final read for the school year, and in it’s original text.  I tell you this because the book that will take us there is one of my all-time favorites.  It never loses its punch and I always look forward to its spring reading.

As today is a day of mystery, I will leave you with this one to solve: Tell me who’s in the picture, the name of the gentleman investigator, and the adventure we will share in the spring.  If you figure this out now, you’ll stand a fighting chance when we really venture from 221b Bakere Street.

I remember sometime in junior high school (that’s middle school now) a math teacher was instructing us in the fine ways of new math.  We wondered what made it new.  It wasn’t the textbooks, the problems, the tesst, or anytisng else we, the students, could determine to be new.  The teacher, when asked, had difficulty telling us what made this math new math.  By the way, the year was 1977.

Fast forward to today.  Math seems to be new once again.  It’s not that we’re teaching any concepts that have just been developed within the last few years. Numbers still obey mathematical properties as they’ve always done.  Fractions are still fractions, graphs are still graphs, etc.  However, something is stil new.

Now that we’ve almost completed the first trimester with our new math series (the series doesn’t constitute the new math), I think I’ve finally figured out what’s new in math once more.  Here it is: students now have to think.

Yes, I know that sounds bizarre.  Let me explain:  When we learned division, for example, we were taught to find out how many times the divisor went into the dividend.  We often refer to this method of division as the ‘goes into’ method of division.  Today students are asked to figure out how many times a divisor can be subtracted from a dividend, what is the partial quotient that is found from that subtraction, and what is the new dividend.  Then, that process of repeated subtraction continues once again.  Algebra is no different now.  New properties are here.  Have you ever used the subtraction property of equality?  I didn’t think so.  Commutative, associative, distributive absolutely; the other, no way.

That’s what I mean by the students now have to think.  Instead of learning a system to solve math problems, students are now being asked to think about how the numbers relate to each other.  Students are being asked to take problems apart and put them back together in ways that they’ve not done before.  Brains are being retrained to think, not just memorize.  There is new terminology to learn, new steps to follow and use, and new ideas to share.

Where does that leave you, the parents, when it comes to helping your child with his/her math homework?  The same place it left our parents when they tried to help us.  Use what you know about math with your child and let him/her decide if your method makes sense.  There will always be more than one way to solve a math problem, and those ways will most likely involve addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division.

I guess some things really do stay the same.

Election day is just around the corner.  As this blog is about the happenings in and around my classroom, it would be inappropriate of me to discuss politics here save for the educational side of politics.  That’s where the polls come in.

Polls are a way to calculate and record the decisions that are made on a daily basis.  For example, our school cafeteria could provide the school with the number of students who select pizza every Friday over the course of a semester.  With that data, a class could determine many statistics: mean, range, and others.  Should the cafeteria provide a list of all selections over the course of that same time frame, a class could then determine trends, median, mode, and many other statistical items.

While these activities can prove to be quite educational, sometimes it’s just fun to ask some silly questions and see what answers you receive back.  Or, you could ask some questions related to favorites, hobbies, dreams, anything.  The bottom line here is that once you’ve asked that question to a group of people, a poll has started.  The one who asks can either enjoy the answers or use them for other things.

I choose to enjoy the answers!

Here are some questions that I would like you to answer.  Be honest with your answers, but have fun with them too.  Ready!

1. If you had all the money that you needed, what would you do?

2. If you weren’t in the career you’re in now, what would you be doing?

3. Who in the world of music would you like to spend a day with?  Why?

4. If you had the power to write a law, what would that law be?

5. What would you invent to make the world a healthier place to live?

I never said that the questions would be easy.  Select the one question that appeals to you the most.  Leave a comment with the answer to that question.  After I get the answers in, I’ll assemble them into some sort of easy to read post and let you know what the answers were.

So, it’s off to the polls we go!

Over the course of the years that I’ve been teaching, students often ask if I read.  Yes, I tell them.  My answer is usually followed by one of a couple of other questions.  The first one is generally why; the second one has most recently been what.  What, as in, what do you read and not the sarcastic what?  What’s your favorite book, genre, author, story, etc?  Inquiring minds…

Let’s start with the why.  Well, why not?  Reading is a skill, and like any other skill that one has acquired over many years of education and training, it too needs to be continually practiced in order for it to stay sharp and fresh.  In addition to all of the reasons that we, teachers, give our students about the importance of being life-long readers, I choose to read instead of doing other things.  Life isn’t always a planned event, so finding a few extra minutes to read, wherever those minutes come from and wherever the reading location (I’m not going to say anymore about that one…) reading is a stress-relieving event for me.  I do have to admit, though, that I really do like to read on the couch knowing that Zorro, our greyhound, will always climb up next to me, drop his head on my leg, and stay there for as long I am reading.  I also read to show Zoe, my daughter, that even adults find time to enjoy the written word.  Family reading time has now become part of our weekend time together, and will shortly be part of our nightly routine.

Why I read is directly connected to the title of this post.  How so?  I read what I love and I love what I read.  The time that I find to read has to be filled with any text that will keep me engaged for whatever time that is.  I’ll catch up on the news by reading the paper online.  I’ll keep up with the world of business with any one of the several business magazines we get at home.  Mindless reading, that is reading that doesn’t require me to have to piece anything together, always goes to something like People; after all, everyone wants to know about the latest celebrity divorce, reality show cast, and new movie releases.

What I really love to read is political thrillers.  Give me a book by David Baldacci or Brad Thor and I’m a happy camper!  Why (here I go again)?  Simple answer: Because I can.  I can get hooked on the plot, get angry at the characters, get excited or nervous depending what is happening in the plot, and I can forget about the rest of the world for as long I have to turn the pages.  This is what I love to read!

Now it’s your turn.  Do you read what you love?  Do you love what you read?

Recently a friend of mine, and a member of my Professional Learning Network (PLN), Melanie Holtsman, posted a challenge on Twitter.  The challenge, for those who accepted, is to blog once a week from now until the end of the year.  As Melanie put it in her blog post, and I’m paraphrasing here, the challenge is a way for me to keep my blogging organized and keep fresh topics in mind.  Melanie, if you’re reading this and I’ve mispoken, I apologize.  By the way, thanks for the challenge and for letting me borrow your image.  If you’d like to read some of Melanie’s posts, she can be found at Once Upon A Teacher.

After much thought, about a minute after reading Melanie’s blog post on this and her spreadsheet with the topics, I’ve decided that I need another challenge in my life and this seemed like a good one.  After all, I too am a blogger and will need topics to write about.  And, it was ready made.  There is something to be said about that.

Now the challenge is on, the Fall Blog Challenge 2010, that is.  My goal is simple: write at least a blog post a week following the topics included in this challenge and gear them to what is happening in the classroom.  Through these posts I can continue to provide you with insight into what your children are working on, as well as links to interesting projects or sites that we’ve investigated in class.  That is my challenge, but it is not the only challenge being discussed here.

I challenge you, students and parents, as well.  I challenge you to engage with this blog on a regular basis.  Read the posts, make comments, and reply to comments made by others.

I challenge you, parents, to let go of your child just a little bit more this year.  Let your child go and explore his/her interests.  Let your child experience something new and exciting to him/her even if it is something that you would not consider doing yourself.  Let your child take that first bike ride without training wheels, so to speak, with you there ready to catch him/her if needed.  Don’t be surprised if you’re left standing there while your child rolls down the street.

I challenge you, students, to step out on your own.  I challenge you to show the world what you’re really made of, what you’re really capable of doing, and what you can really contribute to your community.  I challenge you to be superstars in your own way that will truly show your true gifts.

I hope you’re all ready.  I challenge you!

Paper slide video.

For those of us who have had the pleasure of spending some time with Dr. Lodge McCammon, we know all about these paper slide videos.  For those who have not, here is a brief introduction. Paper slide videos are exactly what the name says.  Students create slides on blank paper, write scripts that explain the slides, and then the teacher videotapes the students delivering the script while moving the slides in time with the script.  The filming, though, takes place over the shoulder of the student sliding the slides, and the rest of the group is out of the shot delivering the script.  Still confused?  Have a look at this short demonstration of some paper slide videos my students made.  This should clear things up.

From start to finish these videos were made in under an hour.  The overall idea is really simple, yet brilliant.  Give the students a topic and let them create something that shows their mastery of that topic in a one-take video.  No real rehearsals; no special effects; no props other than the slides. Paper slide videos are an easy-to-incorporate technology project that any teacher can do.  All you need is a video camera and a computer.  If you can’t then project the videos onto a screen in your classroom, huddle around the monitor and watch them there, or post them onto the web for the students and parents. I’ll talk more about posting videos in a future post.

Recently I held two workshops on how to do paper slide videos for a professional development day.  One of my colleagues asked after a short introduction to the idea what is the value of paper slide videos.  After she and her partner completed one of their own, the value was very clear.  This is the type of project that will allow every child in your classroom an opportunity to participate.  It won’t matter if that child is average, gifted, or has a learning issue.  If you can write, draw, talk, and slide a sheet of paper from one pile to another, you can make a paper slide video.  These videos can be used as an enrichment activity, an alternative assessment, an alternative to the conventional book project, a way to demonstrate a science experiment through images, and so many other things.  I really believe that because this project is so easy to do, yet has the ability to deliver some very sophisticated results, it has to be something that every teacher should try.

After all, what’s the worst thing that can happen?  Yeah, I know.  Nothing works and you’re left holding camera with nothing to shoot.  In a case like that, do what we’ve all learned to do…wing it!

Yes, the title of this post is a bit unconventional.  Yes, the name of the blog is a bit unconventional since it is a fifth grade class blog.  And, yes, you will now get the whole hoot and nothing but the hoot!

As you, the parents, read this post, you’ll clearly see the play on words that I used in the title of this blog post. Intentional as it is, there is a point to its use.  We have already built up and filed away a plethora of phrases, words, idioms, etcetera, that we can easily call upon to help us understand what an author or individual is saying.  Children are still in the process of building their collections and may not fully understand the title’s meaning.  With a little help from you, it will be clear.  Again, intentional.

If you’re a regular blog reader, you know that the topics of bloggers run wild.  You will find topics that will interest you, not interest you, make you think twice about something, repulse you, and so much more.  You may even decide to take a few extra minutes and comment on a blog post thereby engaging with the text of the blog and its blogger, and everyone else who has already posted comments.  You might even talk to your friends about the blog, write about it on Facebook or Twitter, or just discuss at the dinner table.  If you don’t regularly read blogs, I hope this one will be your first, and the first of many.

I would imagine that you’re wondering how this blog connects to the classroom and your child’s education.  Remember, after all, that the information in a blog is only as good as the author.  Should the author be questionable in anyway, well, you get the idea.  Having said that, let’s connect some dots.  There has been much research done into the educational effects of blogging and using blogs in the classroom.  As it turns out, the research reports positive findings. Things like increased time spent on meaningful reading activities, increased time on writing activities, increased creative production from students, and the acquisition of technology skills are just a few of the items the research has reported as positive outcomes of blogs in the classroom.

One of the areas of reading that we often teach and discuss in the classroom is a reader’s interaction with text.  Incorporating this blog into the classroom is yet another way to create that interaction.  This interaction will also increase and modify the way that students interact with each other.  Face-to-face discussions happen daily.  They can now continue electronically at home.

I could go on and on about how the incorporation of this blog will help your children.  Instead, I want to bring you and your children into this world so that you can see for yourself.  I will be posting entries here on a regular basis.  The entries will not only provide information to you, but they may also be educational opportunities that I will want your children to engage in either at home or at school.  I will want your children to be guest bloggers here through writing completed in class and posted here by me.  Then you, the parents, will have an opportunity to comment on your child’s writing.

I truly believe that the possibilities of this blog are boundless as we move forward through this year.  I am very much looking forward to this journey, and I hope that you will join me.

Let’s take that first step together!