Pixar Shorts!

Excellent resource that I sure don't want to lose!

Take a looksie!

Truth bomb!

Dave always keeps it real.   Seriously.   If you have not read TLAP or any books by Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc... what are you waiting for!?!?!

YES!!!

Merry Christmas!

Our family has been a bit under the weather and we had a nice and well deserved relaxing Christmas at home.   Presently everyone is asleep and I'm sitting here typing this with some television going in the background and the reflection of my Christmas tree to my right.   Ah... it's nice.

This is my current read and of course it just so happens to be from Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc.   I can't help myself.   I simply love these authors.  I find myself walking away from each read feeling something new... or maybe something familiar that was once unfamiliar and is now back again.   The Zen teacher is something I'm considering leading off with Teresa for a Voxer book study come February.   We haven't gotten a chance to talk it all out yet, but man, my PLN is a blessing.   Truly.  I've been growing on a monthly basis thanks to the wonderful individuals I am meeting.   It's a beautiful feeling.

The Zen Teacher had captured me immediately... technically before the book even started... with these words by Franz Kafka:

You need not leave your room.

Remain sitting at your table and listen.

You need not even listen, simply wait.

You need not even wait, just learn to be quiet

And still and solitary;

The world will freely offer itself to you

To be unmasked.  It has no choice;

It will roll in ecstasy at your feet.

Zen saying:  "The Goal is the Path."

- "In our profession, the movement is not up, but out.  Our influence in the world has a ripple effect, like concentric circles on the surface of a lake."  

^^^^
YES!   Seriously!   Yes!   I think too often in education we get so caught up in the day to day that there are times where we seriously need to stop.   Just STOP.   Take a moment and BREATHE.   Understand that while education can easily be defended as a business, it's more so a work of heart than anything.  We have the unique honor and blessing to be impacting the lives of others on a daily basis!   I'm not talking just about our students.  That's a given.   I'm talking about them, their families, the other individuals in our buildings.  We need to be spreading joy and modeling class.

Zen Teacher Assignment Page 16

Question 1:  What do you love to do?
Above all, I love to laugh.   And you're probably thinking, what on earth??   But seriously, if you were to ask any student in my class - you would know that even on our roughest days... we laugh.  If you were to ask my husband - even in our darkest times (hello, PCOS and Hashimoto's), we have laughed.  To me, laughter is a great blessing.  Humor can be a game changer.

Question 2:  What activities do you participate in when you often lose track of time?
Conversation... paired with laughter.  Writing.  Enjoying the company of others.  Reading.   Making memories.  Making moments count.

Question 3:  What if you engaged in them regularly and used them as vehicles for peace and focus?  
I try my best to do just this.  It's difficult sometimes to find a happy on a rough day, but it's there.  I think my biggest struggle right now is wondering where others are on their professional journey.  In particular, my co-workers.  As a school community, are we in community?  Is this a topic for open conversation?   Or is that a private question?

Moments of Connection

How are YOU Making Connections?

Do deep relationships scare you?

Newsflash:  Relationships take work.   And that is okay!   Make a huge impact on the lives of your students, especially!   They may not remember the standard taught, or the correct parts of speech... but they will always remember how you made them feel.

All the feels

Reading The Power of Moments has definitely been a rewarding experience thus far and I am grateful for the people involved in the Voxer book study.   The chapters on recognition and courage really struck a nerve with me.   Perhaps that is the wrong way to word it.   I feel that recognition is lacking. At least in my world as a special education teacher.   It's so hard to articulate how I feel regarding this because the reality is I absolutely love what I do and that's all that counts.  However, the chapter on courage brings home the point that you need to practice courage, rehearse it if need be and finally just go for it.  Speak up.   Something!

Sketchnotes!

As I mentioned in a previous post... I'm trying out this whole sketch noting thing.   Is this a hyphenated term?   Compound word?  Dude.  I teach reading... no idea!

Anywhoo...

My PLN buddy Teresa Gross has been doing some Sketch Notes as we participate in several online initiatives such as the Ditch This Summit (super cool, totally free... loads of awesome!) and as I participate in my beloved #bookcamppd @bookcamppd on Twitter.   Teresa encouraged me to check out the work of Carrie Baughcum AKA @heckawesome on Twitter.  

Well... Carrie is just a ray of sunshine for me and my learning style.  This woman is not only a special education teacher - but she has a YouTube channel - and she frequently reminds her viewers that there are NO RULES really to sketch-noting.  Hyphen?   No hyphen?   Hmmm...

So anyways, this no rules thing totally brings out my inner rebel and I'm down with that philosophy 100%.   Sketchnoting is something I never really wanted to try because I'm not an artist.   But apparently, you do not have to be!   Several sketches later and I found myself saying, "Holy heck!  I draw!"   True story.  

Things I've learned/discovered thus far while sketchnoting/sketching/sketch-noting/sketch-notering:

1.  I first started it by planning out the sketch.
2. After you get into it, it sort of just comes to you.
3. I totally drew a pencil tonight.  AND an anchor!
4. I drew a light bulb that resembles either a mausoleum or a medieval torture device.
5. My pencil made me do it.
6. Learning via YouTube = super cool
7. I've tagged Carrie like eight million times.   
8. I drew my first ever YouTube logo.
9. I've got so many ideas brewing on how to keep this going and how to eventually get my students hooked in.
10. My style thus far may be described as the hot mess express Carrie mentioned in one of her Vlogs.
11. I'm okay with imperfection.  
12. I've totally stepped out of my comfort zone.
13. Crayola markers... smear.
14. Mr. Sketch markers are quite lovely as are the flare sharpies.
15. I could do some serious damage in a Stationery store.
16. I may or may not have licked a purple marker to make it work.
17. Surprisingly therapeutic.   

"What are you shifting now, Geib!?!"

When students walked into the room today, they knew some shifting was about to go down.   I love that they are 100% aware of my shifts and this is a part of our communication.  Who needs to make a word scramble worksheet when you can make the worksheet come to life?   Students had asked to do some "Christmassy/Holiday stuff" and I decided worksheets just weren't going to happen when it came to their encoding/decoding.   Twenty scrambled clues were all around the room...

The intensity was building.

Where were the clues?

"Dude!  Where is number 19 hiding!?!?"

"Yo.  What did you get for 11!?!?"

And then...20 minutes in...

They struck gold and found the word bank... or so they thought.  LOL!!!

It was so much fun watching the kids hunt down the words and try to figure these out.   And to think, they could have just sat with a worksheet and their music.   This is such a simple shift.   It looked like chaos and I loved every minute.   If an administrator would have walked in, I don't know what they would have thought at first glance and first listen.   But ya know what... hearing my period six kids say, "Dude.  That was bomb!" as they left my room = priceless success!

Dude... I lost...

But her face is priceless!!!

Sketchnotes attempt numero uno

I am participating in a Voxer group for the book called "The Power of Moments" and Teresa Gross inspired me to give Sketch Notes a try.   I'm not an artist, but this isn't too shabby!   I'm really enjoying this particular text.   One of the points I have LOVED so far is that we celebrate so many moments but we can make the moments happen.  For example, the text talks about how we celebrate certain age milestones - but what about our teacher milestones?   What are you celebrating?   What moments are you making?  

Smile file!

My heart darn near exploded when I received this beautiful gift!   One of my students created a book for me!   The illustrations are all her own!  The writing is all her!   Holy smokes, I can't stop smiling!   What a gift!!!!

PLN Encouragement

I printed this Tweet last year and kept it beside my computer as I worked on my research.

Thank you, Jason!

Stories in EDU Geib Leigh Anne

So....  THIS happened!!!



Story time!



So... when I was finishing my Masters Degree, I decided to focus my final research on authentic professional development.   As I dove into my research, I stumbled across the work of Jason Bretzmann and Kenny Bosch.   They wrote a wonderful book (seriously, buy it!!!) called "Personalized PD."   Dave Burgess (Teach Like a Pirate dude) also has a part in this.



I began participating in an AWESOME Twitter chat called #PersonalizedPD (Tuesday nights, 9pm EST) and my Professional Learning Network (PLN) began to EXPLODE!!!



Jason and Kenny are fantastic.   They are so encouraging and I appreciate what they have and continue to contribute to the world of education.



Through these chats and then learning about Voxer, I was able to begin following Josh Gauthier and Mandy Taylor.



In November of 2017, Jason sent me a message after I had Tweeted out about a cup activity I did in my classroom.   He asked me to be a part of the #StoriesinEDU Podcast with Josh and Mandy.   The rest is history!   I am so grateful to all of these educators, and especially Joy Kirr who is the reason as to why this blog is happening and why I'm thriving even more in the classroom.



I am blessed with an amazing PLN and I thank all of you.   If you are reading this, please comment - give feedback - I'd love to hear it!    Comment.   Text.  Tweet.   E-mail.



Podcast Link:

The Flashlight Test...

In our classroom, it's not uncommon for someone to say, "Let's take a closer look."

Today, we were having a conversation about Christmas and snooping for Christmas presents.  The kids were laughing at me.   Oh who am I kidding... the kids were laughing WITH me.   I had told them that I had hid my husbands Christmas present in a "safe place" and now I can't find where that safe place is.   I've still got time, right?   Ha!

One of my boys says, "Mrs. Geib.   Just take a closer look!   Turn off the lights.   Have a flashlight.   Being in the dark will help you focus more and you will find it."

Well... holy stinking smokes!    I just got home from work and HE WAS RIGHT!!!   I FOUND IT!

I can't wait to tell him tomorrow.  

I feel like I'm taking a closer look at lots of things lately.   Where do you find yourself taking a closer look?  

Oh come on! We all have issues!

Today my students and I were "clearing our plates" and talking about some things that were bothering us.  "Things teachers do that bother me..." has been a topic every once in a while.   Well, today, my kids and I were talking about the dreaded red pen.   They pointed out that I never use a red pen to grade their work and they asked me why.

Why?   Where do I start?

• I told them that I hated getting school work returned to me (especially math) that looked like a murder scene with red ink.... everywhere.

• I told them for some weird reason it made me feel "less than" as a student.

• I told them how even though a teacher returned papers in class without being able to see the grade someone got, you always knew it wasn't good because "back in the day" when "I was a kid" any writing on the papers was not "feedback" like it is now.

Yes, I've been teaching for 13 years and I don't even own a red pen.  I don't think I'm "better" than teachers who do use the red pen.  I'm just saying that for some reason, I can't bring myself to do it.  I'll grade in any other color.  Pink is pushing it.    

This is just MY ISSUE/QUIRK... but apparently, it's been discussed before!

Come on, we all have them!   What's your teacher issue/quirk?

Excellent post by Pernille Ripp

Pernille Ripp nails it once again!

Points in the article that stood out to me (without saying 'EVERYTHING'):

• Where I thought deep engagement was almost always quiet.  Punctuated by brief answers facilitated by me to check for understanding.

• Where I thought that if only I could get them to listen, then they would learn.

• If only they would stop talking then they would really understand.

• if only one child answered then surely that was engagement.

And this, in particular, made me scream, "ME TOO!!!!"

While I see many teachers embrace the “turn and talk” I wonder how often that’s it for student talk.  I am guilty of this thinking;  as long as they turn and talk then surely there was student engagement and yet I have found that in my eagerness to get to the next thing, I have often cut off the kids from going deeper in their conversations.  I am working, therefore, on seeing where it goes and following along when we can.

Tired of it...

This is what happens when your students are tired of the layout of the room.   THEY change it.   I like it!  Once again, would have never ever thought of this particular layout.   Actually, I lied.   I don't like it.   I LOVE it!!!

Nature Walks for the Win!

Our school has started a new initiative called Prime Time.   Students are permitted to choose an activity that they would like to participate in or an activity they need to participate in.   In our department, we are rotating "duties."   Each of us takes turns running a Progress Monitoring Study Hall and then we also have activities for "off weeks."  My students were talking about how much they enjoy certain seasons and before I knew it I was hosting a fall foliage walk around campus.  I opened up the activity to anyone who wanted to join.    We had a blast!!!

Shifting to some "PBL"

After doing a unit on making predictions, identifying story elements, and making inferences - we decided that instead of doing a test - we would do a project!   Students had to make a movie poster identifying key elements of the story yet at the same time leaving suspense.  What a fun experience this was!   Students had a blast figuring out how they wanted to design their posters and enjoyed collaborating with one another for feedback, ideas, and even grades!   Being able to shift the control from me to them has once again proven to be a rewarding experience.  Why was I so scared of this before!?!?!