The Together Teacher Chapter 2- No More Missed Deadlines & Arc System Giveaway

Today is all about Chapter 2 of our book study of The Together Teacher by Maia Heyck-Merlin.  If you missed chapter one, you can find it here.  Every Wednesday, we will be reviewing each chapter on our quest to be more organized "Together Teachers".  I also have a giveaway for you this week!  Read on to find out more!

Chapter 2

This chapter is all about making sure you don't miss any deadlines by using what Maia calls a Comprehensive Calendar.  In this chapter we learn how to determine what type of calendar to keep (you will have a chance later in the post to win MY calendar of choice), how to put the calendar together using the Ideal Week Template we created after reading chapter 1, and finally how to maintain that calendar so that it can sufficiently guide us from month to week to day!

The Multiple-Calendar Dilemma
How many of us are guilty of this one?  Having a calendar for school, a calendar for your kids' activities, a calendar for your non-school related issues, a calendar of deadlines for classes you are taking, calendars in your cell phone, calendars on your computer, calendars, calendars, everywhere?  When you have multiple calendars it is so easy to lose track of everything you have going on.  Maia says that this can lead to collisions (such as report cards being due on the same day as your Master's thesis - not that I've ever been guilty of that!).  She says that this is the result of the fact that most of us do not take the time to put all our our time commitments and deadlines into one place.

The best way to deal with this is a Comprehensive Calendar, which is a place that lays out all of your time commitments and deadlines in one easy-to access location. It can be paper or tech based. Whatever works better for you.  At minimum, it needs a monthly view where you can keep the following:

• Deadlines (one time and recurring)
• Special events
• Standard meetings (grade level collaborations, PD, etc.)
• Personal events (doctor appointments, kids' practices, birthdays, etc.  

You can take it a step further by scheduling time blocks from your ideal week into you calendar.

 Ideally, this calendar should be set up for at least academic year ahead of time in order to see what events or deadlines lay ahead on which you must make early progress.  Now is the time to put in all of those grade deadlines so that you can plan mini-sessions to work on them rather than panicking at the last minute as you stay at school until midnight the night before they are due getting them ready.

Maia gives detailed examples from real teachers' calendars to show you what this might look like using both paper and tech based methods.  She also gives pros and cons of each ones so you can choose the option that is right for you.

I personally use both.  I ALWAYS have my phone with me, so I will make notes or plan appointments using it.  But.. and this is the big but, I will ALWAYS match it up with my paper calendar as soon as I can so that I don't miss anything.

The Up-Front Investment: Creating Your Comprehensive Calendar

Setting up your calendar really is an up-front investment.  Just like putting money away for a rainy day, taking the time out of your day to plan your calendar will save you from those embarrassing moments of missing a work deadline, or disappointing your child when you miss a big game.

The Steps are:

1. Rounding up your calendars (all of them - school, sports's schedules, unit plans, pacing guides, syllabus, etc.)

2. Put in the hard deadlines (tax day, lesson plan due dates, grade due dates, etc.)

3. Add your soft deadlines (things you want to accomplish but don't have fixed dates - organizing classroom library, bulletin boards, etc.)/

4. Events

5. Meetings

6. Don't Forget Your Personal Stuff!

Once this is complete (celebrate!  Buy yourself a Starbuck's and marvel at how much more prepared you will be this year!)


Then you need to think about what this preparation is going to look like through the year!  Maia gives tips for adding to your calendar throughout the year as you:

• Process incoming emails and memos with deadlines and events
• Process regular or routine communication
• Deal with "day of" deadlines
• Deal with deadlines that require work prior to the due date (those darn grades again!).
• Deadlines that you receive via phone
• Deadlines that come up in meetings

So, now that your calendar is set up, you are good to go and no deadlines will be missed, right?  Not so fast, Maia says, once you set up your calendar, you must review it regularly (she explains how in a later chapter).

1. Get a copy of the book if you haven't already.
2. Choose a calendar ( you can win the one I use in the giveaway below)
3. Take an hour or two to plan out your comprehensive calendar for the upcoming school year. (If you are posting along with us, link up below, or just add a comment when you have finished this step to let us know you are working along with us!).

Don't forget to visit next week with our guest host - Laura from Luv My Kinders.  She will be hosting a giveaway for a $20 Amazon gift card (so you can order the book or other organizing supplies!)  

I have chosen to use the Staples Arc System for my Comprehensive Calendar.  I love it because I can completely customize it to fit all of my needs.  Using the special hole punch (which the winner will receive) I can add any paper that I need to so I don't lose it.  I keep not only my calendar, but also my lesson plans, my pacing guide, and my standards inside.  Along with this, there is a place for me to keep notes from meetings or thoughts that pop into my head.  No more lost sticky notes!







The winner of this giveaway will win a flexi-arc notebook along with the special arc punch (approx $60 value)  Good luck!

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An InLinkz Link-up

The Together Teacher Book Study

I am so excited to be working on a book study of The Together Teacher by Maia Heyck-Merlin starting this Wednesday!  Each week we will work on a chapter from the book with different blogger hosts.  There will also be giveaways and freebies!

From Amazon:

An essential guide for over-scheduled teachers

Maia Heyck-Merlin helps teachers build the habits, customize the tools, and create space to become a Together Teacher. This practical resource shows teachers how to be effective and have a life! Author and educator Maia Heyck-Merlin explores the key habits of Together Teachers—how they plan ahead, organize work and their classrooms, and how they spend their limited free time. The end goal is always strong outcomes for their students.

So what does Together, or Together Enough, look like? To some teachers it might mean neat filing systems. To others it might mean using time efficiently to get more done in fewer minutes. Regardless, Together Teachers all rely on the same skills. In six parts, the book clearly lays out these essential skills. Heyck-Merlin walks the reader through how to establish simple yet successful organizational systems. There are concrete steps that every teacher can implement to achieve greater stability and success in their classrooms and in their lives.

• Contains templates and tutorials to create and customize a personal organizational system and includes a companion website: www.thetogetherteacher.com
• Recommends various electronic or online tools to make a teacher's school day (and life!) more efficient and productive
• Includes a Reader's Guide, a great professional development resource; teachers will answer reflection questions, make notes about habits, and select tools that best match individual needs and preferences

You can watch this video of the author explaining a little bit about her system and the website where she features both freebies from the book along with other great ideas about organization.  You do have to register for the site to access the freebies, but it is free to register.  As she says in the video, try out some of the ideas and see if they help you become a more together teacher!



I am also still looking for several bloggers who would like to host a chapter on their blog.  I will provide you with the giveaway item and the linky, you just have to write about your thoughts on your chapter.  I would also encourage weekly posts with the other chapters if possible, but you are just committing to the one chapter.  I will highlight you and your blog on my blog the week of your chapter.  If you have any questions feel free to email me or comment below.

If you would like to host a chapter, fill out this form picking your day and chapter.

, Five for Friday - June 27, 2014

  Time to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching!

I am full swing into summer now (I can't believe it has been almost a whole month!), but I am definitely keeping busy working on things for next year.  I went into my classroom this weekend, but it wasn't quite ready for me yet.

The tables and everything else are pushed against the wall ready for the janitors to clean the carpets.  I did manage to pull out my laminator and got some laminating done.  Luke also kept busy with math manipulatives.  He put his uniform on to go to school today (he cracks me up)!  

He is going to be in my class this year and I am both excited and nervous about that.  Have you ever had your own child in your class? Any tips or advice?

Tyler has also been doing his share of out of school work reading up a storm.  It makes me chuckle because I asked him last week what he was reading and he said, "Nothing, reading is boring!'  I told him that he just hadn't found the right book yet, but reading is exciting, and when he finds the right book he will love it too. I truly believe every person is a reader waiting to find the right book to hook them.  Anyway, we went to Barnes and Noble for me and he saw a poster of a baseball book on the windows as we made our way in.  We looked for it and found it and he has been reading ever since.  Point made!

Speaking of baseball, my husband took our two baseball fans, Tyler and Luke to the A's game with Luke's baseball coach.  They had a blast!

Tyler and Luke

Luke with his Coach

Bet you can't tell he's a fan, can you?

Tyler was ready to catch any foul balls.

Yesterday we spent a relaxing day at Donner Lake.  This was my view for most of the day.

We rented paddle boats for part of the morning.

Hubby and the boys out on the lake.  Paddle boats are quite the workout let me tell you!

But, we had a blast and the views were amazing!

Luke even found a friend - a little frog.  He asked if he could keep him, but I told him "NO!"

I am such a mean mom!

While we were at the lake I got a bit of reading in as well getting ready for my next book study on The Together Teacher.  If you haven't entered to win a copy yet, head over here.  

Have a great weekend!

The Together Teacher Giveaway and Book Study Announcement

When people meet me and find out that not only am I a teacher, but I am a mom of 6 boys, a city council member, a blogger, a Teachers Pay Teachers product creator, and a drama teacher, they always ask me the same question.  Where do you find the time?

The ugly truth is that I didn't always "find the time" and more often than I would like to admit, I dropped a ball or two as I tried to juggle this crazy thing we call life!  

Luckily, I found this amazing book, The Together Teacher that really helped me to get my life in order (and feel like I still have one despite my hectic schedule).  And although I have read the book several times (my book is embarrassing to look at!), I am going to go through it again this summer.  As I do, I want to host an informal, yet structured Together Teacher Book Club on the blog, and I would love for you to join me!

Interested, if so, here is my proposal:

Using the book, we will focus together on organizing the following areas of our teacher lives:

o Weekly Worksheets
o Email Management
o Paper Management
o Daily and Weekly Routines
o Meeting Notes

There will be some suggested pre-reading questions to think about as you read. We will focus on one chapter per week and will have several giveaways of products to help you get and stay organized!  If you have a blog, you can post on each chapter and link up, or you can just read and learn.  You can learn more about the author and the book here.

I’m also looking for co-hosts for the duration of the book study.  Being a co-host is simple… you sign up to host a chapter, post your thoughts, provide a linky for the giveaway and for others to add their posts. You don’t have to donate a prize, but you are more than welcome to if you would like.

The book study starts on July 23rd.. so you've got plenty of time to grab a copy of the book and get reading!  Even better, you can win a copy of the book by entering the Rafflecoptor below.  I'm also offereing a choice of any product from my TpT store to the winner as well.

“The Together Teacher” Series 

Make you you are following me on Bloglovin' to follow all the updates!  This series will help you get organized (enough) to be a more effective teacher.  You will find clear advice, and step-by-step actions for building habits, finding tools that work for you, and creating space to become a "Together Teacher". We will explore the key routines of Together Teachers - how they plan ahead, organize both work and their classrooms, and how they spend their free time.  We'll explore real teacher to-do lists, calendars, classroom photos, and more!

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100 Minutes Book Study - Chapter 9 - Building In New Literacies

This is the last chapter for our book study on 100 Minutes by Lisa Donohue.  Even though it is the last chapter, I will definitely be going back and re-reading it as I make my plans for next year.  This is also one of those books that you will find yourself going back through each year.

 If you missed my previous posts you can find them below:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8

Today I am linking up with Tina from Croft's Classroom for Chapter 9.



My thoughts on Chapter 9:

This last chapter is all about integrating digital technology and media literacy.  Lisa Donohue opens the chapter with the statement that "technology in the classroom should not be considered an add-on."  Instead, she says, it should "support and expand students' learning and directly connect to the content and skills that are being taught during other instructional times." (p.139).

As I read this chapter I have reflected on my own use of technology in the classroom.  Although I am the only teacher in my grade level without individual ipads or laptops, I have managed to add some technology to many of my lessons.

 
  We have used our Smart Board to brainstorm.

We have made predictions using our Smart Board.

We have used our Smart Board for writing prompts

But one thing that my colleagues and I have not always agreed upon (at both my current and former school) is the fact that I allow my students to use their own ipods or cellphones in class (if it is related to the task).

My students are usually very responsible about using them wisely, and if they don't they lose them until the end of the day.  I was glad to see that Lisa talked about the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) movement, because for many of us, we do not have the luxury of 1:1 devices in our own classroom, and this helps even the playing field.  I also agree with her points about teaching students to use digital tools responsibly.

She also talked about "Working With What You've Got".  Since we don't all live in a dream world where 30 devices per classroom is the norm, we have to make do with the few devices we may have.  I have two student computers along with my own computer in the classroom.  I also have two ipods and my own personal ipad that I share with my students.  Lisa talks about setting aside a tech block during your independent time so that students can have a meaningful amount of time to accomplish a task while using the technology.  

She reminds us that regardless of how technology is integrated within your classroom, it should always be intentionally connected to the learning that is happening in other areas, not as a means of busy-work or student entertainment.

• I would like to be more thoughtful in the time that I have students using the computers.  I have usually used them for research or typing papers, but I would love to develop some projects that center around our curriculum units.
• I will definitely continue to use students' own devices in order to increase our resources available.
• I am thinking about having boards that are similar to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram so we can talk about how those resources can be used and how they can be used safely.

I want to think more about how tech time will fit into my literacy block.

How do you use technology in your classroom?

100 Minutes Book Study Chapter 8 - Small Group Learning

One of the books that I am reading this summer for a book study is 100 Minutes by Lisa Donohue. If you missed my previous posts you can find them below:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7

Today I am linking up with Emily from Emmy Mac's Class for Chapter 8.  She is also hosting a giveaway for a $10 TpT gift card and a $20 shopping spree in her store, so make sure you head over there to enter!

  

My thoughts on Chapter 8:

I always notice the most growth in students during small group instruction, so I was excited to read Lisa Donohue's take on it as well.  She states that small group instruction is the vehicle for teachers to be able to monitor individual students and to provide them with differentiated instruction based on their needs.  She also says that it can be a time for students to set and monitor their goals.  I have previously only done this in individual conferences, but I think that using small group time to do this will not only be more efficient, but will also give students the opportunity to observe their peers setting goals as well.  I could see having a small group comprised of two strong goal setters with two weaker goal setters just for that purpose.

Grouping Students

Lisa also gives a variety of ways in which to group students including:

1. Personal interest (non-fiction interests such as snakes, fiction interest in a certain author or series).
2. Student's current areas of strength and need.  (fluency, comprehension, decoding, etc.)
3. Instructional levels

The most important thing about grouping students is that they should not be "forever" groups.  She states that groups should change on average, once a month.

Small Group Reading Lessons

A typical small group lesson should last 15-20 minutes. Donohue says, "Ensure that students are spending the majority of the time reading the text."  That is so easy to forget as we want to get in there and teach.  She says the teacher should:

1. Set the stage for reading
2. Engage students in discussion during reading
3. Allowing students to reflect after reading

Writing Conferences

I have had individual writing conferences with students, and I have had students work in groups to discuss their writing, I have even had whole group writing conferences, but I have never had actual small group writing conferences.  Last year my students were really successful when they worked together in small groups to review their writing.  I had blogged about these sessions in previous posts:

                    Roll and Retell

                    Increasing the Level of Student's Writing


However, I often felt like I didn't get enough opportunity to coach them when there were issues (a student not participating in the group, or when they all couldn't think of anything more to share or add to the conversation) or to assess who needed more help as I flitted from group to group.  I LOVE the idea of having small group writing conferences together and then giving them the opportunity to work on peer editing themselves later.  I can't thank Lisa Donohue enough for giving me this format to grow my practice.  I love this gradual release of responsibility model and I can't wait to try it out this year.  I really see how it will add to my students' learning.

Feedback  

Donohue says that feedback is most helpful when it is "descriptive and skill-based".  She says feedback that is evaluative in nature, such as , "This is level 3 work" can give students an indication as to what they are successful at and what they need to work on.  We use Marzano's scales, so this could be easily incorporated.

She also says that the teacher might refer to mentor texts as well as the success criteria to model ways that the criteria is used for the student.

Donohue cautions that a writing conference is not a time when students hand over their work to the teacher in order to have it corrected (I am so guilty of that!). She says it is not the teacher's job to fix the mistakes, but instead is to draw the writer's attention to areas of confusion and areas that need improvement by posing questions in a way that cause the author to revise and rework the piece.

I love this because I know that often times I become frustrated when the same student makes the same mistakes over and over again. Donohue states that the reason for this is because the student is not an active part of the process when the corrections are being made.  They must be involved in order to actively learn and transfer that understanding to a new situation.

• I would like to create or find an interest sheet that I could use to group students into small reading groups throughout the year.  I really like this idea and it would make natural book clubs rather than just by ability alone.

• This chapter has really had me evaluating my small group instruction.  I am thinking about changing what I have been doing (which is mostly leveled readers and text book work) to have articles or short stories the students can read. When they initially come to group, I will have them read the assigned reading silently while I make sure the rest of the class has begun their work independently.  I will then introduce the skill we are working on and then have them choral read to certain sections. During the reading I will pose questions based on the specific skill we are working on.  After reading the students will reflect and respond. (I know that sounds like a jumbled mess right now, but as I develop it into actual lessons I will share!).

I want to think more about how to make feedback more visible to the student.  What do they specifically need to do to move their work from a level 2 to a level 3?

Next up- Chapter 9: Building In New Literacies

Be sure to visit our co-host Tina from Croft's Classroom on June 25th to continue this learning journey with us.