One thing that I am constantly doing is getting caught up in the details of life. But, I often wonder if the things that I choose to focus on are really the things that matter. Becoming more intentional. A goal that I have made for this year is to invest my energy in building up others in small, simple ways. This can be a simple smile, a tea break, or a long walk in the park. It doesn't have to cost much money, only the investment of time and being present. Being more intentional.
Another moment that filled my heart this weekend was watching a special boy in my life play football. He is passionate about the game and it made me happy to cheer him on in the crowd of parents and family members. Nothing is better than cheering on a child. They have so much passion for what they do, but it's about continuously supporting them when the energy wains and frustration sets in. These are the moments when a kind word of encouragement matters the most. This was my first football match in over a year. As I reflect on this simple fact, it makes me want to invest more into his joy. Being more intentional with how I spend my time.
I still tend to get caught up in the silly things like fear and uncertainty. An instant cure is to get out of my head by helping others. It used to be that service was in fashion. People helped each other, because it was the right thing to do. I'm trying to make it more part of my life. Emulating intentional behavior.
What is something you want to be more intentional about that will bring more joy to others?
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As the new year comes about, there are heaps of people on social media that share their word of the year. I find it quite amusing, because it has become a new type of resolution, but you shout it out to the world to hold you accountable. This year, I took a slower approach. I gave 2025 time to find its feet before committing to my word. It's amazing how it just finds you through numerous ways. My word this year is intentional. I have heard being spoken at my school from planning sessions and our NEASC visit last week. Prior to that, I heard it at my workshop with Sean Walker and Anne van Dam in Berlin about creating responsive learning spaces. My goal for this word is to be an example of intentional decision-making. Less scrolling on my Facebook video feed for tidbits from the Graham Norton show to creating ideas to share with my community. We humans are great at wasting time and procrastinating on the things that really matter. This is not the year to do that for me. I plan to use my time wiser. Make more informed decisions, which means waiting and being less impulsive. Take more time to invest in quality relationships at work and within the greater community. More importantly, build a deeper love for myself and pursue a wider range of ways to showcase my talents and abilities. Not to share with the world, but for my personal development. What is your 2025 word? I'm curious. I've learned a big lesson this week about over committing again. This is a condition called OCA, coined by myself. I have been suffering from OCA for too many years to count and I realize that the only person who is going to stop the cycle is me. This past week, I nearly fell physically apart while managing report cards, preparing for parent conferences, getting reading for a NEASC visit, testing student reading abilities, and facilitating on an intensive online workshop. As you might have guessed, it is Sunday and I've been working all day long. For the first time in my working career, I am going to under commit. This does not mean that I am not going to work hard or do my best. I am going to say no to taking on extra, because it's too much. Many of us overcommit. It's something that we have been conditioned to do, but it only serves a few people. I believe we overcommit, because we don't want to:
As I look at this list, I have been guilty of all of them. But, I realize that my work performance is not as important as my health. It's not as important as yours either. Whatever you are overcommitting to in your life, consider taking a step back. I'm tired of feeling tired all the time, because I just can't say no. Choose the things that will bring you joy using the least amount of energy as possible. This will bring you greater reward. Let's stop overcommitting to others and begin committing to ourselves. After my learners reset their tables, we had an earnest conversation about the rest of the furniture. They felt that the rest of the bookshelves were too cluttered and they could not find the materials that they needed. This was one of those moments that you realize that your learners are not feeling independent in their learning space. These pictures are from my last post and as you can see, there is a small eight cube stand next to larger sixteen cube stand. To the quiet observer, the classroom would look organized and quite user friendly. This was not the feeling of my learners. The big cabinet in the back was behind a group of desks, which posed an issue for learners trying to get to their materials. The entire class would flock to the back of the classroom at once, which would cause a major traffic jam. We had an eight cube stand in the front of the class and the learners came up with this plan. We put everyone in ABC order and put half of the class into these cubbies. Each learner has their own labeled space. Above it, we dediced to put our snacks in the basket, devices in the plastic tub, tissues and wet wipes for emergencies. Brilliant! The remainder of the class decided to put their materials on bottom two rows (except one) of the big shelf. This allowed us to put shared art materials, after-school club yarn, and other craft materials in the blue bins.
This minor switch of moving cupboards made a huge difference in the flow of our systems, accessing materials, and making it a more independent learning space. We are not done yet! I can't wait to share what my learners wanted to do after that in my next post. During winter break, I had a dream about my classroom. I'm one of those teacher nerds. In my night time vision, I saw that desks were on the wall for more floor space to sprawl out and learn comfortably. Upon return to school this Thursday, I shared my dream with my learners. At first, they laughed at their silly teacher. Then, we had an earnest chat about the physical layout. They agreed that it needed to be reset. As co-creators, I asked my learners how they envisioned the new space. At first, they were stumped, so I shared an example of two sets of tables on the wall with an exposed corner where a learner could sit while silently reading. This woke them up to the possiblities. Here is what it looks like now. Our class decided to rip off the name tags on each seat and make it a more fluid space. My learners want to be able to move every two weeks and work with different people. Sometimes, they will only want to work with a partner and this is okay. Other times, they will be open to working in a big group, which is equally alright. The big thing is that they feel comfortable with their living space. Immediately, one of my learners commented on the extra space to stand and collaborate. This sparked a different discussion of bringing in blankets, additional rugs, and pillows to make the space more our own. The learners who sat at this table group wanted to be with others to share ideas. It became a table of only girls, which is fine right now. We will have to sit by those silly boys soon. My desk area got a facelift as well. My learners shared that I should have a special place where I can put my things with organized cords and materials. What a lovely sentiment. I can look out when it is snowing too.
As we begin the next installment of learning (mid-term or beginning of the year), how will you set the space with your learners? There is more to come. I need to capture more images when I go back to school on Monday. As a child, I remember singing I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day with my grandparents at their Sunday service. This particular hymn struck me, because of these two verses. I heard the bells on Christmas day Their old familiar carols play And mild and sweet their songs repeat Of peace on Earth, good will to men And in despair I bowed my head "There is no peace on Earth, " I said For hate is strong and mocks the song Of peace on Earth, good will to men As I say goodbye to 2024, I have two choices. Do I focus on the sweet songs that lift me up or look towards the hate that mocks my happiness? Either choice will determine how I progress into the next year. For me, I want to remember the sweet songs that repeat in my ear of peace on earth and good will to men. There have been many challenges in my life during this year that I will never forget. But, there were many small moments of sweetness that helped me move forward. As an eternal optimist, I believe that good prevails in the world and there is still more good to be done. This world is not perfect, but every good act helps lift up someone else. Let us find the joy as we finish out 2024 and look brightly towards the uncertain future. by Lu Gerlach at the Garmisch Christkindlmarkt 12-23-24
In follow up to Day #9, I have been thinking about what I want my walls to look like. Naturally, they are going to be reflective of our learners needs and desires. This is number one. But how do I make this happen? When I was a full-time trainer, I came up with the idea of an inquiry tool wall. I wanted a place where I could place all of the mind maps and thinking routines that we explored together. WIth time and practice, I wanted my learners to self-select the various tools they would use to answer complex problems on their own, leading to personal inquiries. When discussing this idea with my third-graders, they were eager to get started with this process. They shared that the tools helped them to solve problems easier, but they were still quite challenging at times. What I heard...we are in productive struggle when we use these tools. Win-win. My first wall was the mind maps. These were easier to use, because my learners were already familiar with them. The next step, we discussed their purpose, which is to organize ideas, so we can make meaning. This was a huge concept that many of my learners had not considered before. It's been wonderful to see them use the mind maps with the purpose of organizing for meaning. We are still growing in our practice of mind maps. By the end of the year, I hope to have six to eight different mind maps in use that are regularly used to think, chat, and create. The next area that we have been working on is thinking routines. This has taken a bit longer, because they've never used them before. By the end of the year, I plan to introduce six to eight different routines. We have been using See Think Wonder and See Wonder Think. It's been quite magical to see my learners get so connected with these tools. With time, I want my learners to mix and match between the mind maps and thinking routines, so that it's a fluid process. In my opinion, this is what it means to support agentic thinking.
Watch this space for the evolution of my walls. For a long time, I felt the pressure to make a pretty classroom. I remember veteran teachers advising me to create a space that is comfortable, since I spend most of my time there. Make it my home away from home. In some campuses, there was an internal competition to see who could create the most asthetically pleasing classroom. I admit it, at times I felt the pressure to conform. It's real. Schools want pretty looking classrooms that they can showcase to prospective parents. This made me frequently ask this question. WHOM is the classroom designed for? The teacher or the learners? This classroom below represents a trend for teachers to create a classroom that reflects a theme, in this case it's all about creating a farmhouse motif. I don't have a problem with a theme, but it's about the design. Notice all of the pre-printed materials that can easily be put up with little or no reflection of the actual learning happening in the classroom. This is what makes it difficult for me. There is little or no reflection of the learners in the learning space design. Some of you are probably thinking this classroom looks extreme, but I have passed many that have looked this way. All I see...this is the teacher's classroom and the learners are welcome to visit, but they will not have a say in how it is designed. By Hobby Lobby Here is a more realistic display within an elementary/primary classroom. There is a bright display with a shared calendar and a center of organized materials. I love the organized materials part, because it allows for learner independence, but these questions still keep popping up in my mind.
On a positive note, I do see some learner-created artwork to the right, which means they have some creativity in the day. The thing I am focused on is this, how responsive is the learning environment in meeting the needs of the learners? How do the walls speak about their learning journey, rather than the teaching journey? This is a continual struggle as we pivot from teacher to learner-driven experiences. Levi Allison, a friend of mine, challenged a group of us to ask ChatGPT to create an image that reflected the prompts we have used so far. Can it create an image that reflects the essence of who we are and what we value. Here is mine. I never knew that I was a latina. ChatGPT must know something that I don't. :) I do agree that I love to share my voice through my podcast.
What does ChatGPT say about you? One of my connections on LInkedIn posted their year in review and it made me curious about what AI would say about me. Here is what it summed up after a year of posting my thoughts, dreams, and hopes for education. I found it interesting that this quote was the one that resonated with people the most. I know that I am very aware of my humanity and consider every day how I might leave this world a brighter place.
What does your LinkedIn Rewind say about you? As I was reviewing pictures from the beginning of the year, I realized that I had completely thought about what my process what before setting up my essential agreements and unpacking the central idea. When we are stuck in the work, it's difficult to think beyond, especially if you are reflecting backwards. Here's my attempt to recreate those early moments. I decided from early on that I was not going to set up my classroom on my own. If I truly wanted to have an agentic classroom, I would need my learners to help me make design decisions. I decided to push the desks and chairs to one corner of the room until the first day of school. Nothing was on the walls, even for parent open house. I made it clear that I wanted to create a space where the learners felt empowered to make decisions about the environment and their learning. At the same time, I knew I need to get my materials together, so they aligned with the big ideas from my units of inquiry. My school purchased the Fountas & Pinnell classroom library kits and I wanted to use them intentionally. I matched the genres, purposes for reading/writing, and the central ideas of the units of inquiry to choose my titles. For instance, we are currently learning about the transition between narrative fiction to realistic fiction as a bridge to nonfiction. The books available in this series include biographies, relatable realistic fiction stories, and expository texts. This range of titles has helped my learners to see how we go from facts to fictionalized stories. This has been powerful. Here is an example of how the texts are displayed in my classroom. I brought titles from home that are just for fun. Learners have a range of titles to read when they are looking for something beyond Raz-Kids or Epic Books.
One thing that has changed for me is involving the learners in every design decision, not just about learning. We are constantly in dialogue about what is working within our learning environment and how it can be improved. It's still a work in progress, which is why I am attending the responsive learning environment workshop with Sean Walker and Anne van Dam in January 2025. I don't want to be good, but I want to be better. One thing that made my heart burst one day was seeing how well my learners were able to self-manage without me being present. These small moments are what you hold onto when it feels like nothing is working out. My kiddos were struggling with organizing their materials, but they finally figured it out. The Essential Agreements are explored in every IB workshop to set the intention of the expeirence. They help to set the expectation of participants and workshop leader and hold them accountable. When doing this with young learners, it can sometimes be challenging. Here are questions that have frequently circled through my mind in response to essential agreements.
I've reflected on the essential agreements used through the years. The fan favorite is, "Treat others the way you want to be treated." The problem with this one, there are so many variables of what this might look like based on personal experiences, cultural background, and school culture. In 2017, I had the priviledge of attending at a workshop with Kath Murdoch in Houston, Texas at the British School In this one-day workshop, she spoke about the power of making essential agreements that were practical, in kid-friendly language, and short in number. She encouraged participants to engage in an exercise of how to create more meaningful agreements. I went back to my classroom and immediately used it with my learners. They listed all the agreements that were of interest to them. I transcribed them onto individual sheets and had learners put stickers on every agreement that resonated with them, as pictured here. After voting on their favorite agreements, I gathered them together to identify the top five that were most preferred by my learners. This allowed for more agency in the process, because they came up with the list and chose the ones that best fit their needs. They were written in a way that was easy to undertand and follow. Since 2017, I have been using this model to create essential agreements with my learners, young and old. Here is my current set in my classroom. They might change based on the learning needs. In the past, I have used our essential agreements as a reflective thread. Was ist das? A reflective thread is a set of prompts that you ask over again. The first time they answer it, they are trying to understand the prompt. The subsequent times, they are learning how to manipulate the thread for the new learning situation. I use my list of essential agreements as a reflective thread. Here's how.
I ask my learners:
I am still struggling to use this consistently, but something tells me I will work on it this week! I know that the repeated practice will make the essential agreements part of the disposition of the class, rather than a list of rules to follow. Let me know how you make your essential agreements come to life. I love to learn from others! As we delve further into play in the early years, Sean Walker poses that there are different types of stories that we want learners to engage with. In the beginning, learners will be interested in predictable stories with repeating patterns, familiar words, and story flow. There is no real mystery about what is going to happen and the outcome. For some reason, the book There was an Old Woman who Swallowed a ... came to my mind. We all know the format of the text and we just need different items to change it from a Halloween to a Valentine's Day story. Predictable stories do get a bad rap for being boring. But it's through the repetition that learners become more skilled in identifying patterns and replicate them in future reading and writing experiences. When thinking about predictable stories with play, this can come with the usage of the same materials, spaces, and routines. Learners love predictability when they are about to make changes. They know they can count on something to be the same, so they can take a risk. Other times, they are ready to take a risk by engaging with an invitation. Below is a playful invitation where learners are using a variety of materials to create a story. How the story plays out is strictly up to the young learner. Isn't that exciting in itself? Once learners feel comfortable with predictable stories, they can engage with a wider range of patterns, characters settings, and plot twists. Learners are willing to take risks to shape a new storyline that they have yet to explore. This is all about using the materials, spaces, and places in a new way. The exciting stories are equally important in play. They allow learners to become more experimental in their approach and see beyond what is in front of them. Personally, I love the analogy of play being like a story. I've always struggled with play versus playfulness, but this example helps me to break it down into its unique parts and purposes.
A big thanks to Sean Walker for capturing our attention through play about play. I can't wait to learn more on Saturday, January 18, 2025 with Sean and Anne van Dam this in Berlin. If you want to join, here is the link. My learning goal this year is to create a more responsive learning space and this workshop is perfect for me. Even as a third-grade teacher, I want the classroom to shape the story for my learners. This afternoon, I had the chance to participate in an IB Exchange webinar with Sean Walker on the topic of Play in the Early Years. It will soon be published on the IB exchange for your enjoyment. During the webinar, Sean gave us permission to take some screenshots and post them on social media. Here are some of my big ideas and how I interpreted his ideas. I wouldn't be me if I didn't get cerebral on someone else's aha moments. :) One of the first ideas that caught my attention was this slide about the central features of a story and how they apply to early years learning. Just like every story, there is a plot that weaves through the experience. Our young learners are deciding what is the story that they are creating. The plot is driven by a setting that is designed for exploration. There are a wide range of materials available for learners to tinker, create, and connect. Meanwhile, the characters are the members of the learning community. Learners drive what, how, and why certain things happen in their story. They rely upon minor characters, such as the teacher, for some guidance as needed. As elements of the early learning is being woven together, we can see certain themes emerge that help learners to make generalizations about the world. This happens through meaningful play. Sean overlayed the story elements with the central features of early years learning in the PYP. I found this part quite fascinating. Play is how learners create certain themes or big ideas. This makes sense, because it is through play where learners make meaningful connections. Relationships are central to connecting characters together to make meaning of the experience. Collaboration brings about opportunities to build solid relationships with others within and beyond the school community. Meanwhile, the setting reflects intentional learning spaces. They are spaces that support learner independence through purposeful design, label, and universal access for all. Lastly, the plot allows learners to engage with symbolic exploration and expression. The point of play is to allow learners to decide what the plot means for them and what choices they will make to move it forward. Together, play helps young learners to discover their unique story of who they are, how the world works, and their unique place within it Such a powerful tool. A big thanks to Sean Walker for bringing these elements together.
My goal this year is to build a more responsive learning environment to allow for more playful moments in my third grade classroom. This webinar has helped me to think about the story that my learning space is sharing with the world. This year, I am trying to be more intentional. Intention is about having a specific game plan when planning, teaching, and assessing. This takes a lot of cognitive power to make connections between different ideas while allowing learners to demonstrate some agency along the way. When I consider the central idea, it's nice to unpack the statement with pictures and words, but what comes next? There has to be some intentional connection with the central idea. This can be difficult for many of us, because we don't know quite how to begin. I made it simple. I asked my learners to take a moment and reflect as a group what the unpacked central idea meant to them. I posed these questions:
This began our process of making meaning of the unpacked central idea as a small group. The process of writing our own central ideas didn't take much time. My class really appreciates having a word bank to choose from and they were easily able to create their own version. To be honest, I worried that this would take a long time due to the varied linguistic and learning profiles of my learners. But, they surprised me. In small groups, they were able to create central ideas that made sense. To further clarify the meaning, they created images to support the understanding of the central idea for other groups. They were all posted together to set the intention for taking personal action based on the ideas. Each group presented something similar to this idea. It was wonderful to see their voices come to life so quickly. When I read this central idea, my heart really was touched. This is what some of my learners took away from the experience. They were able to discuss various ways that their families made them feel safe (physically, mentally, psychologically, etc.)
What is your strategy for setting the intention with the central idea? How do your learners make connections in order to take action? This year, I’m trying something new. Some inquiry experts recommend sharing the central idea at the start of a unit. They argue that it helps learners understand the destination, allowing them to map out personal inquiries. This approach resonates with me because knowing the areas of exploration often makes it easier to make meaningful connections independently. However, others suggest that revealing the central idea upfront can limit exploration. By framing the thinking early on, we might take away the element of discovery and limit learners' creativity. This perspective also makes sense to me. Deciding which approach to take can be challenging. I believe it depends on your learners, the time of year, and their capacity to make connections on their own. For the first unit, I chose a traditional approach by presenting the central idea upfront. Since my learners were new to the process, I wanted to ease them into it. I clearly outlined the central idea and lines of inquiry, connecting them through the unit’s content. Why unpack the central idea? It helps learners reframe the big idea in their own words and context. How can this be done? There are many ways to unpack a central idea, and the approach should align with the learning community's preferences. One strategy that worked well for my multilingual learners was using word banks. A list of related words helped them reframe the central idea in a way that resonated with them. When presenting the central idea, I broke it down into individual concepts and action verbs, explaining each part in detail. I also used color coding to show how the words connect. Here’s an example of one of our central ideas. Tomorrow, I will share how we merged these words with images to create their own group central ideas. What a powerful tool.
One of the hardest things that most PYP teachers face is unpacking the central idea, especially if it is filled with concepts. I know this has been a challenge for me over the years. I discovered some hacks while being a PYP coordinator and independent consultant that I now apply back into my classroom. Use pictures and words to share the story of the central idea. What do I mean by this? Simply, use concrete words and pictures that help learners to access the central idea in their own way. Variety is key. For the early years, I use many pictures. They paint a better picture of how it looks and feels in practice. Here is an example from the inquiry wall of Ms. Wiltz, my former kindergarten teacher at Foster Elementary in Houston, Texas. Together, we unpacked this central idea to be kid-friendly. Awareness is when you get an idea and you stop to think about it. We get many ideas, but awareness is when we understand how the idea works. Self is all about me and knowing my impact on others. Choices are things that we make or do, some are good and others are not so good.
Ms. Wiltz worked the entire unit to help her learners understand that awareness is truly knowing ourselves and the choices that we make. Sometimes, we make choices by accident, which we call mistakes. It's okay to make mistakes, because they help us grow. What is not okay is when we purposely making bad choices when we know the consequences. The power of a central idea is when you can take action from it. Ms. Wiltz asked her learners, what are some choices that you made that you knew were good and not so good. Would you make the same choices again? What would you do differently? The power of the central idea is creating change in our learners. How does your central idea reflect the conceptual ideas within your unit? How to they lead your learners to action? This October, I had the priviledge of attending the IB Global Conference in Budapest. I was blessed to meet and reconnect with so many people that I admire. One of those people is Sean Walker. Have you had a chance to meet Sean? If you haven't, you are in for a treat. He is one of the most humble, yet talented people I've met in a long time. His work in the early years and the PYP is legendary. At the IB Global Conference, I was able to attend Sean's session on Play and Playful Learning. The video below shines a light of the type of learning we were engaged with during our session. Sean shared his goal of blogging everyday his experiences with his three and four year olds. This was an age change for him and he wanted to capture bite-sized moments of genius. Here is his blog. This got me thinking about my own practice. I am a wee late to blog from the first day of school, but I still have the chance to reflect on my class' first unit of inquiry and the lessons learned. I think this will help me to celebrate the learning journey and identify areas of improvement. Will you take the Sean Walker challenge with me? There are multiple ways for you to capture your process. Blogging is only one way. You can decide to reflect on your experiences privately or share them with others. Here are some other ways to capture your thinking.
We all process information differently, so the end product will not be the same. The important thing is to reflect on our progress. It's not about making big posts, but providing snapshots of agency, inquiry, and conceptual understanding in practice. I can't wait to get started! I had to share this picture of Sean Walker, Merve Korkmaz (one of my favorite people in the world), and myself at the conference. Merve's smile reflects how I was feeling at that moment. Full of wonder, excitement, and love for fellow educators. By the way, Sean and the legendary Anne Van Dam are leading a one day workshop in Berlin on January 18, 2025. The workshop focus is on Responsive Learning Spaces: Designing Environments that Support Children's Meaning-Making. My professional goal is to design a more learner-centered space, so I think this will be perfect. Here is the link about the workshop. I hope you will join me! At the end of the first week of school, our team decided to travel around the heart of Brussels to welcome the new staff and show them hidden places in their new home. This was such a fun night to get to know each other and the city. It's moments like these that help you to build bonds as a staff. I'm so happy to be here and start anew. This year has so much promise. I never like to put the light directly on me, because it feels a little boastful. But, I am going to make an exception this time. When I began my podcast, I didn't think it would get more than 100 downloads, because it's just me rambling about various ideas. When it began to increase, I did get excited, but put it the back of my mind. You can imagine the elation when I passed this milestone. More than anything, this means that I am helping others out there that might be struggling. This makes it all worth the effort. Thank you for listening. As a child that was raised in the 80s, the word RAD was part of my vocabulary. It meant cool to me. If someone asked me to the school dance, they were rad. If my best friend invited me to her sleepover, she was rad. If school was cancelled then life was rad. As I've gotten older, I've missed this term to express how I am feeling. I sometimes, I just want to say, "Have a rad day!" without someone looking at me like I'm weird. What are words that you miss from your childhood that you wish were still around? I am fortunate to call Denise Kraft and Misty Paterson friends. They always lift me up when we chat and share ideas online. We all had the chance to meet at the Igniting Inquiry conference in Middletown, CT. This conference was Denise's dream that she turned into reality with Kath Murdoch and Misty. I always smile when I meet these two. Wha are the people that put a smile on your face regularly? |
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