The Power of Co-Teaching

A co-taught classroom can be one of the most powerful tools you have to truly reach all of your students. I was fortunate to work with the same co-teacher for seven years. Throughout that time, we learned each other's idiosyncrasies and personalities, and ended up becoming not only teaching partners, but wonderful friends. We reached a point in our co-teaching relationship where we could finish each other's sentences.

When I found out that my co-teacher was leaving the division, I was extremely nervous about starting all over. It was like a relationship had ended and I was back in the dating game. Luckily, my new co-teacher and I have a lot of similarities, and we have developed a strong partnership in the classroom in just three short months. This became even more evident to me yesterday.

Our inclusion class is challenging this year. We have a large class of students who have a plethora of needs. My co-teacher and I meet almost daily, despite the fact that she is also working with two other teachers as well. We problem-solve, research ideas, and try new strategies all the time.

When we received scores from our first benchmark, it became clear that we needed to do more. We were not reaching a handful of our students.

We have been trying to implement station teaching as much as possible, but stations are only effective when they are being done for the right reasons. Sometimes I think we make up things to do in stations for the sake of saying we are using stations. My co-teacher and I sat down and carefully planned our learning objectives and what would best suit our students. We talked, planned, researched, emailed, texted, changed our minds a few times, and then formulated a plan.

The result was probably one of the very best teaching moments of my (only ten-year) teaching career. Had someone walked into our classroom, they would have seen all students engaged, learning, and working on their individual levels.

We had a carefully planned schedule for each student. Each student visited three stations for 20 minutes during the class period. In the independent reading station, students read self-chosen books on their independent reading levels. This is an everyday occurrence in our class, but they were doing it in a smaller group instead of everyone at once. In another station, my co-teacher taught a mini-lesson on summarizing and then guided the students as they practiced the strategy. In a third station, students completed word work and studied vocabulary words using interactive materials on the iPads. Finally, I met with a group at the guided reading station, where students read a story and we worked on retelling while reteaching story elements.

At the end of the period, we could not have been happier.  Our normally rambunctious class had been quietly engaged for the entire time - reading, writing, and learning. We were able to work with struggling learners on a more individualized basis. I heard students read and measured their comprehension through the conversations we had about a text. We were able to deliver immediate strategy instruction, which we hope can only benefit our students.

It is difficult to describe just how great it felt to feel like we finally accomplished what we have been working so hard to figure out. But I think we have finally taken the first steps to creating a classroom structure that will benefit every student and allow them to grow as readers and writers with the right support. In addition, we used one of the most important tools we have - the power of two.

#FlyHighFriday

My colleague and friend, Justin Birckbichler (@Mr_B_Teacher on Twitter), is encouraging teachers on Twitter to tweet their #FlyHighFriday moments of the week to celebrate the positives in their schools and classrooms.  It was during a read aloud the other day that I discovered my #FlyHighFriday moments.  From that point, I started noticing many of the same instances throughout my week.

As I began reading Rain Reign to my students, I looked up to see two girls scrunched together in their desks whispering.  I paused in the  middle of the sentence I was reading and took a breath to say something to them when I had a realization. I saw that they were not just whispering the dramatic happenings of typical sixth graders, but they were actually discussing a book. They weren't talking about the book that we were reading together; their conversations were spilling over from their independent reading time. One of the girls was holding a book and showing the other one an exciting part that she had reached in her daily reading. These two students are self-professed non-readers. They don't like reading, and they are not afraid to let me know that - sometimes on a daily basis. To see them smiling and sharing a book almost made my week.

Then, during a transition from one activity to the next, I looked up to see another student with her nose buried in a book.  She glanced up and caught me looking at her, to which she responded, "I'm sorry, I just really like this book.  I can't stop reading it."  This is the same student who told me on the first day of school that she does not like to read and spent the first two weeks of school avoiding independent reading at all costs.  Since that day, she has not only finished the book that she was so engrossed in, but has also recommended it to several of her classmates and has found other similar books that she cannot seem to put down.

After these two incidents in one class, I realized that I needed to pay closer attention to how my students are growing.  I started the year with quite a challenge before me.  For the first time, I had students that were just flat-out refusing to read.  They told me that they did not enjoy it, and most of them seemed pretty stubborn when I tried to convince them that I was going to change their minds.  I am slowly starting to see progress, and nothing could please me more.

Just yesterday I looked up during independent reading time to see one of my most stubborn students completely absorbed in his book.  After switching books every other day for the past five weeks and not making much progress in any of them, I gave him A Child Called It at the beginning of the week. Of course, I explained that it was a book that I only let my most mature readers read. I explained the first two chapters, and then sent him off with it.  I told him to trust me.  I stopped by his desk yesterday to ask how it was going, and he said, with a huge grin, "It's actually really good."  I even made him repeat that statement.  He kept smiling and quietly went back to reading.

Students are starting to recommend books to each other.  They stop me in the hallways to tell me how far they got in their book at home or to tell me what book they just started.  Two students even checked out the same book this morning so they could sit together and read and have something to discuss.

Their excitement is starting to build, and I can see reading becoming a habit right in front of me.  To experience this transformation is what propels me out of bed each morning to share my day with impressionable tweens that have their whole lives ahead of them - as readers.  For me, nothing could make me fly higher on a Friday than that.

Here We Go Again

Here I am again, in the same place I was two years ago when I started this blog.  Yearning to write, trying to find the time to get my words on paper (or screen), yet falling short.  I vowed to start writing every day.  Somehow, though, life got in the way.  It could be my full-time job, coaching, a new baby, balancing being a mom of two, all the books that I want to read...  I am sure I could go on and on with excuses, but the reality is, I just need to sit down and do it.


After returning from winter break on Monday, I had my students write reading resolutions.  I have never been one to make New Year's resolutions, and I typically think they are ridiculous.  However, creating reading resolutions seemed like fun to me.  Probably because I am so completely head-over-heels in love with books.  Some might like to call it an obsession.  As I explained to my students, books are starting to take over my house.  I could probably start using them as furniture. 


We talked about resolutions being like long-term goals.  I like having goals, as they give me something to work toward.  One of my reading resolutions was to start working through some of the books I have at home so I can begin the process of de-cluttering my house (though are books really clutter?  I think not.).  I came up with four reading goals, all of which I shared with my students.  Then I started thinking.  Since I have created these goals for my reading, I should give myself a goal for writing.


Writing is something I love.  It is something I always say I need to do more.  It is always the first thing I cut out of my day when I get busy.  So here we go again.


So many exciting, monumental things happened in 2014 - all of which occurred without me documenting them.  Inspiring, wonderful things happen every day in my classroom.  Things that I could reflect on and use to help me grow as a teacher and a person.  There are many books that I read that I want to share with the world.  What better way to do it than through writing?


That being said, I am going to write.


No time limit.  No number of days per week.  I simply need to do it. 


That is my goal.  This time I will achieve it.  I will.

Zac & Mia by A.J. Betts

 This is a story of an unlikely friendship.  While in the hospital after a bone marrow transplant, Zac hears the angst of his next door neighbor.  Beginning with a knock on the wall, Zac reaches out to Mia.  She doesn't want anyone's help and keeps her sickness a secret even from her closest friends.

After leaving the hospital, Zac finds his thoughts drifting back to Mia.  Then one day she appears - broken, lost, and looking for money to run away.  With a newly amputated leg, all Mia wants to do is escape.  Slowly Zac helps her find the things in life that are worth fighting for.

At the beginning of the book, I thought it was very similar to The Fault in Our Stars.  However, the similarities started to fade, and Zac and Mia took on a life of its own.  The Fault in Our Stars is probably one of my all-time favorite books, but I thought Zac & Mia's characters were more believable.  This novel is a story of friendship and how sometimes all you need is a little hope to get you through the toughest of days.  What could be a romantic component is not capitalized upon, and it makes the book work.  It is instead about two people who form a bond over a shared hurt, understanding how much one's life is altered by a disease as devastating as cancer.  It is through this bond that each is able to grasp onto hope that propels them through another day.

I will definitely be recommending this book to my students who loved The Fault in Our Stars and Eleanor & Park. 

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin





"Sometimes books don't find us until the right time."

I hope everyone finds this sweet story.  It is the story of how the power of books can bring people together as well as the way in which love can be found in the most unlikely packages.

A.J. Fikry is a bookstore owner who has become lonely and crotchety since his beloved wife died.  Just when he is losing his passion for the life that once excited him, an unexpected package arrives in his store and completely transforms his life.  Suddenly, his cold, hardened heart begins to open to the possibility of love and friendship.  People in his small town notice the change, and they are soon affected by it too.

Each chapter is prefaced with a description of a short story that Fikry is leaving to his daughter. It is definitely a book for book lovers.  Books are referenced throughout the novel, and one walks away with a deeper appreciation for books after reading this magical tale of loss, love, and hope.

Laughing at My Nightmare by Shane Burcaw

Shane Burcaw uses humor and candid realism to discuss what it is like to live with spinal muscular atrophy.  As a 21-year-old who has spent his entire life in a wheelchair, Burcaw tells stories from his childhood, teens, and young adult years that give readers a glimpse of what it would be like to live with a life-threatening, debilitating disease.  While it could be a story riddled with self-pity, Burcaw instead discusses topics such as using the bathroom, having a girlfriend, and going to school with such a humorous voice that readers can't help smiling.

Burcaw's voice as he recounts incidents in his life is similar to that of Jon Sciezka in Knucklehead.  It is with the same wit that he is able to communicate the ups, downs, and everything in between associated with his disease.  Startlingly real and incredibly honest, Laughing at My Nightmare will have readers smiling the whole way through.

While this book is too mature for my sixth graders, I would not hesitate to recommend it to high school readers or more mature readers with a parent's permission.  The message in the book is too important for students to miss out on.

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

 

Very rarely do I finish a book and want to open it right back up and start again.  This was exactly how I felt upon the completion of I'll Give You the Sun. I wanted to dive right back into the pages so I could experience its beauty all over again.

 

Reading I'll Give You the Sun is like eating the most decadent piece of chocolate - you want to savor every morsel and never want it to end.  The language Nelson uses is lyrical.  I found myself frequently rereading sentences just so I could relish the way the words went together to create this beautiful piece of art. Because of the language Nelson used, I could feel every emotion the characters were feeling.

 

Within the story, there was an abundance of emotion.  It is the story of close twins Noah and Jude, told in alternating perspectives.  Noah's story takes place around when he's 13, and Jude's story picks up three years later, after an accident that has impacted their lives and left them not speaking to one another.  Noah is navigating his way through his teens with a secret of falling in love with the boy next door.  Jude has been accepted to an art school, where she is haunted by the ghosts of her mother and grandmother.  She realizes that she can make her dead mother proud if she can just create one piece of art for her.  This project leads her to her soul mate as well as a famous sculptor who becomes an influential mentor.  Jude and Noah discover and uncover secrets about themselves and their mother that shape the way they see the world.  As they tell their sides of the story, it is clear that each only has half.  It is not until they come together again that they can put the pieces together, where everything comes full circle and secrets are revealed.

 

This novel is surprising, breath-taking, and full of hope.  The passion on the pages will stay with readers long after the final word is read.  The characters and story are ones that will not easily be forgotten.