In the Neverland areas of my mind, a brand new box of crayons is a magical thing. One whiff from an open box of Crayolas® and I am transported. There is something so hopeful in the bright colors and crisp sharpness of new crayons standing at attention in their neatly tucked rows of eight. The coloring trend over the past year is no mystery to me. Coloring is soothing and calming, a release of sorts from the bonds of work and worries.

Our Makerspace has an array of crayons and coloring supplies, so this past Thursday – in celebration of National Crayon day - I offered passes to 20 6th graders, on a first-come first-served basis, to come eat lunch and color in the media center. After announcements only two students stopped by to secure passes and I thought that perhaps I’d had a misfire with this idea; but later, as 300 6th graders streamed past the library on their way to lunch, I was mobbed.

 Much like our 7th grade jigsaw puzzle lunches, crayon day was a noisy affair. There was much laughter and jumping up to go find exactly the right color or admire someone else’s work.  As students left, I was handed a few completed works to display and many of them asked if they could have a few extra pages to take home. Throughout the afternoon several small groups of students stopped by to see me. They hadn’t been able to procure a pass for lunch, but heard I had “lots of coloring pages”, could they possibly have some?

According to my students, being a 6th grader can be stressful and coloring is a great way to “just have fun like a little kid.”
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I guess we all have a bit of Neverland in us.

On April 12th, author Beverly Cleary will celebrate her 100th birthday. Cleary’s characters Henry Huggins, Ribsy, Beezus and Ramona, Ellen Tebbits, Jane Purdy, and Ralph S. Mouse are so vivid and relatable, that as a child I could not read enough about them. Ribsy coated in pink powder, Ramona naming her doll Chevrolet, Susan’s “boingy” curls, Beezus’ eternal angst, Ellen Tebbits’ droopy ballet costume… the stories are timeless in that even 60 years after their initial publication they have the power to make children laugh out loud. But as unlikely as it may seem, it is Otis Spofford for whom I am most grateful.

My second year of teaching, I had a group of 30 fourth graders in a self-contained classroom. I could not have dreamed up a more diverse group of learners. I had one child reading T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, another who could only write the letters of the alphabet that were in her name, and everything in-between. It was an incredible challenge trying to give all of them what they needed, but with a little creativity and patience, we managed to get quite a bit done.

Then came the spitballs.

With a little sleuthing I fingered the culprit, had him in during recess for a chat, made a phone call home, and thought that would be the end of it. And it was… for about 2 days. When the spitballs made their reappearance, I realized that my original transgressor had at least one partner-in-crime. High-pitched squealing accompanied by exclamations of “Eww!” from the girls in the class signaled that things were about to get out of hand. I was frantic. Obviously my teacher tactics had not worked and now I had to contend with a team of spitballers. What to do?

On the ride home, as I tried to parse out how to deal with the problem without having to admit to my principal that there was a spitball revolution occurring in my room (good-bye tenure), I remembered Otis Spofford. When I got home, I grabbed my copy off the shelf and there it was: Chapter 2 - Otis vs. Mrs. Gitler. Beverly Cleary to the rescue.

The next day after recess, I told the class that I was going to read aloud to them from one of my favorite books. The children were riveted as Otis’ teacher, Mrs. Gitler, told him that he could throw as many spitballs as he wanted, in fact – she wanted him to spit all day long. Their expressions of enraptured glee turned to looks of concern as Otis lost the attention of his peers while sitting in the back of the room, aiming his spitballs at the trash can again and again. Creases of worry appeared and meaningful glances - “Would our teacher actually do that?” shot across my classroom as Otis’ mouth dried out and Mrs. Gitler would not allow him to use the water fountain. At the end of the chapter I closed the book and started my math lesson.

I never saw another spitball that year.

Happy Birthday and many thanks dear Beverly Cleary - author, centenarian, and brilliant classroom tactician.

I am a teacher. For the majority of my professional life Sunday has usually involved planning on some level. Planning time includes my plan book, laptop, iPad, pens/pencils/colored markers, a caffeinated beverage, and Pandora on Disney or Maroon 5. Planning lessons also now includes a SAMR grid to help me think about how I'm integrating technology: How am I using it? How and why am I expecting my students to utilize it?

The SAMR model classifies technology use in four ways: Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition.  This model, in truth, is not about technology… it’s about advancing student learning and the content through thoughtful use of technology. The goal is to have the majority of your tech integration fall in the upper tiers of the SAMR model to take students’ learning new places. That said, the model leaves room for times when using technology as a substitute might be appropriate, such as when introducing new content.

Throughout the project outlined below, note that the focus of the learning is on the task, not the technology. In the later stages of the project, some instruction on use of the tools may be needed, but would be integrated within the context of the project, not lessons created just to utilize technology. I’ve completed a sample research project unit plan in the SAMR planning grid I designed (grid was inspired by an infographic created by Megan Moore aka @mmooresjc). In the plan, I wrote answers for the “think about” questions to show the thought process behind the decisions for each piece. A blank template is linked at the end of the post, feel free to use and share it.

This past week, one of our English/Language Arts teachers wanted me to teach her students how to give a book talk for a multimedia project they are working on. The lesson included a discussion of the elements of a good book talk, a rubric with the success criteria that would show mastery, and me doing a couple of book talks as exemplars. The students were able to recognize and assess the required elements within my book talks, but how could they quickly demonstrate application of what they had learned?
 
Enter picture books.
 
Students were grouped at tables, so I gave each table a picture book. The groups had 5 minutes to read and discuss the story, then 5 minutes to devise a book talk about it.
 
The looks on students' faces when I handed out the books? Utter joy. Pandemonium ensued as they all tried to read aloud the stories to each other, but it was an awesome, productive noise where everyone was completely engaged. Each group was able to complete the task and, in most cases, meet the success criteria on a high level.

Some days, magic happens.
 
That day when the technology works, the lesson goes well, the children are completely engaged, and your fellow teachers come sign out technology so that they may take the lesson to the next level.
 
Friday was such a day.
 
Each Friday, I have one grade in for a brief lesson and a checkout. Two classes each period times six class periods. I get the students for 20 minutes -10 of which are for book checkout, so the lessons must be compact and include some sort of enticement to check out a new book.
 
Last week, I had the idea that I needed more information about each class to help tailor my book talks to the students in front of me. Our school has recently implemented Google Apps for Education (GAFE), so I wanted to include some aspect of technology in my lesson.
 

• I began the lesson with a brief story about my son, who does not like to read, finding a book that interested him and how describing it to me helped me find other books he liked.

• Prior to the lesson, I created a Google Form that necessitated each student logging into his or her GAFE account to complete. The Google Form asked each student to list three words that would describe books they would be interested in reading.

• iPads for each student were on the tables and I gave them 5 minutes to complete the survey

• For spelling help and modification purposes, I had a list of 99 adjectives that described books for each student. (Thank you Laura Candler  - http://www.lauracandler.com/)

• Once the results were in, I opened the results spreadsheet on the SMART board (modeling how Google Forms work to students – CHECK!)

• I copied and pasted the results into the Create box on wordle.net and created a word cloud, explaining that the more times a word occurred, the larger it would appear

• Using the word cloud, gave a quick book talk on some titles that fit the class profile

 
The students loved seeing which words were the most popular, they got a chance to practice logging in to their new GAFE accounts, and I now have waitlists for almost every book I talked about.
 
The teachers loved seeing their classes' word clouds – most of them asked if I could email them the results. One of them is now creating a Google Form as part of an assessment, something she had not done before, and two others are incorporating Wordle into lessons. It was a great way to end a long and stressful week.
 
Some days, magic happens.

Every year since I began my teaching career, I have spent the first meeting of each class going over the class rules and expectations.  I started my career in elementary school, advanced to 8th grade U.S. history, and eventually ended up in the media center 13 years ago. In all those years and all those venues, it’s never failed – as soon as I finished reviewing the classroom rules a hand would shoot up and its owner would inquire, “Well, what if (insert possible scenario here)?” That one question would invariably beget others, starting a veritable firestorm of possible exceptions to the rules.

Every year. Without fail.

This year, I was almost dreading 6th grade library orientation day with its 12 classes worth of “What If” scenarios. As I prepared the lesson and tried to mentally gird myself for the inevitable, I asked myself - down deep, what are my basic expectations for student behavior in the media center?

Friday morning, the first group arrived. I introduced myself, told them that our plan for the lesson was to go over my rules and procedures, orient everyone to the media center, and have checkout time. Then I called an audible. I looked at all those bright, shiny faces and said:

“I know that you've heard the school rules and have reviewed them in all of your classes, but in here you just have two things to remember: 1)Treat everyone with respect and 2) Don’t do dumb stuff. If you follow those two rules, we’ll be good.” This was followed by silence. There were several nods, some smiles, and several shocked looks. But there were no hands and no questions.

Not one. All day.

And through twelve classes, we had the smoothest 6th grade first checkout day ever.

As teachers we often feel the need to be eloquent and model the use of elevated vocabulary. But we also need to remember that sometimes there is something to be said for keeping it simple.

The work of creating the Makerspace in the LMS Media Center is underway. {I donated my office after being inspired by Shannon Miller at ISTE.} The custodians have moved the bookcases and file cabinet, and will hopefully remove the old bulletin board soon. This week I’m going in to empty out my desk drawers and refill them with tools, paper, and other supplies, set up the green screen along one wall, open up the broken sewing machine (for makers to perhaps repair), draw a welcome sign on the white board, and put out the boxes. “The boxes” you ask?

I’ve left these items in their boxes, patiently awaiting tweenage hands to free them, because what better way to say, “This is your space for creation and exploration!” than to allow students to unwrap, put together, log in, and otherwise parse out how to operate the new toys, tools, and apps that are there? (When I approached my principal about creating the Makerspace, this is precisely the concept that sold him.) 

So often, as teachers, we learn all that we can about a new tech tool, use it ourselves - figuring out how it will best work, and then share precise directions with our students - encouraging them to follow our steps precisely so they will be guaranteed success. The mission behind the Lockerman Makerspace is to have a place where students will feel free to be creative, experiment, and take ownership of their learning. Not only will I be handing students responsibility by having them unpack and assemble the new technology, but I’ll also be teaching them that learning occurs as much in the mistakes as it does in the successes. Stay tuned for updates.

If you have any successes or ideas to share, I'd love to hear about them in the comments!

.MIddle school is hard. I do not know anyone who longs to turn back time and relive being 13 or 14 years old -- wanting to be your own person while blending in with the crowd, desperately trying to gain entrance to the adult world while holding on to childhood - all while rivers of hormones are coursing through your ever-changing body. It's a scary time and navigating it can be brutal.

I've told many students that "this too shall pass", that they will grow up, move on, and this period in their life will be but a blip on the timeline. They often shake their heads, convinced that I just do not understand. A few weeks ago I found a visual to show them that I do.

I was flying across they country to visit my oldest child. It was a fairly long plane ride and I passed some of the time looking out the window.

The view was beautiful and I loved the shadows of the clouds on the ground. It's funny that when we're on the ground the clouds that drift across the sun appear so large and it seems that it will take forever for them to pass and the sun to shine again. The view from the plane put it in a different perspective. From this side the clouds are small, and though they are littered all over the sky - the areas of sunlight are much greater.

What a great metaphor for my students. Life has cloud shadows. There are times when life seems dark and it feels as though things will not change, but invariably the clouds will pass and sunlight will be on the other side. You just have to be patient and get through. 

As a teacher librarian I'm constantly seeking out new offerings for my students and as a member of a state book award committee, I have committed to reading what is on our consideration list. So other than my yearly re-read of Pride and Prejudice, or the odd re-reading of another favorite, I find that I don't have time to re-read books. I also tend to discourage my students from re-reading books. I have a variety of reasons I do this: a) they want to re-read because it's easier and I want them to challenge themselves as readers, b) they want to re-read because they know they will like a book and I want them to find others they'll enjoy, c) I suspect they're taking the easy way out for assignments. All rational, considered reasons. There is a world of amazing literature out there for middle grade readers and I want my students to experience what it has to offer.

However, this summer I've had a bit of an epiphany about re-reading books. I've had a few stressful situations crop up, as is wont to happen in real life, and although I have shelves of shiny new books with creative titles and fabulous covers, there are some days I don't want to read them.

What I want is the macaroni and cheese of my bookshelf - something comfortable and familiar, something that doesn't require me to stretch when I'm already stretched, something that won't rock my world when it is already a bit off kilter, something that will quiet my noisy mind and heart, and... make me laugh.

Perhaps my students are looking for something in the same vein, something that will take them away from whatever is troubling them and allow them to live somewhere else for a bit. This August, when we go back to school, I will still encourage my readers to try something new, but will also not discourage them from reaching for the familiar.