Author: Talitha Ormberg

This blog might be a change of pace from many things I do blog about. However, I have been listening to Brene Brown’s “Dare to Lead” audio book. I’m hooked. Man, I love her. So much of this has been resonating with me. Especially as I get prepared to leave my classroom in exchange for a more formal leadership role within education.

For the past 6 weeks, I have been processing my emotions around this change. I have been processing my emotions around this change in the midst of a freaking pandemic that has rocked everything I know about my job, my balance as a working mom, and my ability to work and connect with people. So much is changing and I miss the connections with people face to face. I miss smiling at people and picking up on the non-verbal cues…. However, I’m going on a tangent.

Today – I am officially starting my mental transition from classroom teacher to instructional coach. I’m preparing to wrap up my last few days of teaching and it’s bittersweet. I’m leaving my classroom but I’m also leaving a building and community that has been home for 10 years. I’m staying in district and will have many familiar faces. I’m excited about lays in front of me.

However, in light of vulnerability, I want to take a moment to share and document what working from home looks like for me. I take these photos and documentations as a way to record what this time was like. I also took these photos when things were slow.

Children During Office Hours & Meetings

Before you judge these photos during office hours, there are no students on. There’s too much to balance in the midst of those when I have students in order to take a photo.

However, I can’t guarantee my child was this silly or happy during said office hours.

Yesterday – I did have a student, fighting through her own tech issues and her own microphone was not working. While she was figuring out tech, I have a very upset and emotional four year old. Meanwhile, my husband is doing his best to hold down the fort with my oldest and getting them lunch while operating on 2-3 hours of sleep after working his graveyard job because he is “essential”.

So I’m talking, with an upset child in my lap, and the student is only allowed to hear me talking and then responds in the chat. Not easy folks. Luckily, my school kids are SO understanding of this. It’s real life.

This is a silly moment, documented after some rough moments. We have to celebrate the joy in these crazy moments. Find the way to be happy rather than stressed. (Even though it is super stressful.)

My older child provides a different challenge. She is actually thriving in this work from home environment with her school. However, that said, she is struggling with mama needing to balance everything. Mama is trying to teach her school kids and her own kid. Even then, this one thinks mama is not right when she helps her with her math. Which is both exasperating and makes me laugh. I don’t know anything about place value and regrouping into the thousands apparently.

Academically, she is doing just fine. However, there are a couple of days she is home with me alone. Those days, she is needy for attention. It often means interrupted meetings or goofy distracted behaviors at the most inopportune times.

We’re working on it. She’s found a way to include herself and will often play Kahoots when I have enough kids on to play Kahoot. My older is always home with me and is very much a staple of my office hours.

This is reality. It’s not easy but we’re making it work. We’ve found some element of routine. Here’s what I’ve learned….

1. Find some “me time” in all of this. I’m home all the time with little people who need me. I’m home all the time with the pull of work calling on my attention. It’s easy to get lost in the giving and forget about taking care of me. For me, this is a daily walk in the mornings. I take this time to do something for myself.
2. Take care of mental health. Not everyone was designed for isolation. Not all moms were meant to be stay at home moms or work from home moms. There’s a reason I chose to work outside the home. I need that time away to be a more intentional mom. To be a more intentional employee. I liked keeping things in their boxes. When those boxes were dumped into a single box, it totally sent my mental health into a sketchy place. It takes work, daily intentional work, to stay on top of my mental wellness. It’s worth it.
3. Find some boundaries. I needed to learn to take time to step away from the device, from the work, from the social media. I need to model this for my own benefit but also for the benefit of my girls. I needed to learn it was OK to turn off the computer and walk away. I don’t need to make myself available for meetings at all hours of the day. I needed to give myself permission to say no to certain times. This was hard for me.
4. Unplug yourself. This one is HUGE for me and my household. Wednesdays are killer computer days. We are a family that is not actually attached to our devices… especially with our children. Screen time has increased by hours a day. Take a break. Unplug…. play a game, do a puzzle, go outside.
5. Practice grace. This is hard. We will not have this perfect. We’re learning. I don’t need this to be perfect, I just need to try. Don’t be ashamed you don’t have this perfect. I had to give myself permission to not have it all figured out. Once I gave myself that permission, my stress levels went from 100 to about 25. Practice Grace.
6. Find the Joy. This whole thing is new and hard. We don’t like it. There are things we miss. However, after listening to Brene Brown… I’m going to look for the joy. The giggles when I have those moments with my girls after they disrupt my office hours. The memories of working from home. The ability to just play a game with my girls in the middle of the day because we all need a break and some connectedness.

Before I move on to the next reality – here’s a clip from office hours with my J…. who actually recorded this herself. (Smart little thing!)

Insert link here.

The Internet Battle

I live in a very rural spot. It’s absolutely gorgeous and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I don’t actually mind the lack of constant internet connection in my personal life. We don’t need to be connected to devices and information 24-7. It allows for us to connect with one another and not be consumed with “worldly” things.

I do love where I am and I do love the lack of connectivity… when home was sanctuary and not my work space. Now it is my workspace and the lack of connectivity is challenging. At the beginning of this we had to find a new “internet” which has proved to be better than out last. However, we have two options for internet…. Satellite, which has data caps and is super expensive, or cellular networks. We were able to find a cellular router, which has been a life saver, but that’s also got a data cap. My district also provided me with a MiFi device, which as been a life saver as well. Both are imperfect. Sometimes, if I have too much running on one internet device… it crashes.

We ultimately switched our cell phone carrier too because with my daughter doing school at home we were overloading our internet and data. Our cell phone hot spots couldn’t keep up. That said, I’m thankful for all we have. I’m thankful my district provided me something to work on for my school stuff without using all my data for my family. I am thankful we have the means to make the switches and sign up for what we could. At the same time, this has proven quite challenging.

One thing is for sure…. this pandemic is forcing lots of growth and problem solving. Technology is a great tool but it’s still got a long way to go for rural areas. Even in writing this blog, I have switched from three different internet sources and had to upload each photo a minimum of three attempts before they stuck for the sake of this blog. Patience. Patience. Patience.

That said – if this is my struggle… and my daughter’s struggle… How many students do we have that have similar struggles? How many of them have to try to upload their work several times before they can successfully submit? How many of them have to wait 15 minutes for a download? How many of them don’t have the luxury of switching between internet sources to get it done? Compassion. We need compassion with our students because I know I’m not alone.

Learning to Clock Out

Finally. The last challenge of “working from home” is the fact that work is always here. There is no physical act of walking away from the work to transition our day. I’ve learned to tell myself… I’m clocking out now. Work is done for the day or weekend… inevitably, I end up still checking an email. We still need to enjoy our families, our homes, and this gift of “extra” time we have with our loved ones that is not filled up with activities, running errands, or doing the evening “homework” after a day of school.

Walking away is hard to do but it’s necessary. Like, right now, as I type this paragraph, it’s time for our built in break. I have another meeting in 44 minutes but it’s time for lunch and some times with my oldest before I resume the grind of the day and battle her to accomplish her work as well.

Mathematics & Mindfulness Webinar (Part 2)

Last week I watched half of a webinar on mindfulness in a math classroom. Today, I finish watching that webinar.

The presenter, Christina Lincoln-Moore, brings up the idea of “Dynamic Mindfulness”. This is not just something that we need to teach kids but also something we need to teach ourselves. We cannot be there for others if our cups are not full.

Dynamic Mindfulness, she explains, is four key things. She also says that these are embedded into Math Practices 1 and 3. We can’t implement math practices unless this is in place.

1. Stress Resilience:
2. Self-Awareness
3. Emotional Regulation
4. Healthy Relationships.

Before COVID, the education system and people in it were already stressed and overwhelmed. COVID is only adding to these feelings.

She brings up the ABCs of Mindfulness: Action, Breathing, and Centering. There are a few strategies for this. In a classroom, these can be short 5 minute sessions. What I appreciated about some of these is that she connects the breathing to affirmations. How many of our students need positive affirmations? How many of them need positive affirmations in a math class? I like this idea. However, I am not sure how well I could add this into my own classroom? I think that it might be awkward at first…. However, I think I would need to make this a regular practice for myself.

She implemented a type of “Notice and Wonder”. What kind of real-world math can I find from my walks, life, etc that I can relate the math to? How can I use this to engage students in math in a different kind of unplugged type of way. 🙂 Then we can use this to share in office hours.

Four resources to look into:

1. A book…. “Teaching Transformative Life Skills to Students” —– Free webinar to look up: Mindful Family, Joyful Home
2. Second Step. This is free until June 30, 2020
3. Achieve the Core – Social, Emotional and Academic development.
4. Mindsetkit.org

She talks about being vulnerable, being warm, being loving in your classroom. Are these three simple things that are things we need to make sure we integrate into the classroom? How do we integrate these into our classroom?

Christina Lincoln-Moore has a Call to Action at the end of her presentation…. She says to: 1) Shift focus from control to connectedness. 2) Is your digital classroom emotionally safe? 3) How can I integrate mindfulness into mathematics? 4) What is my daily emotional temperature check-in routine? 5) What is my self-care regimen?

I want to look up something else she refers to: The Wholehearted Parenting Manifesto.

TN2Me Resources — Talk Number2 Me

Final Reflection

I absolutely loved this concept and this idea. A few things really stuck out to me.

1. Mindfulness in a math classroom is needed and often needed more so in other classrooms. Math tends to be a source of trauma for students for one reason or another. So not only do kids potentially have other sources of stress that they’re facing, the math classroom is also a place that lead many to have negative feelings about the subject and even themselves. Math classrooms are full of negative self-talk. Mindfulness can help us help them combat this lack of self-efficacy and even teach students to have their own positive self talk.
2. There are lots of resources out there for SEL supports. As a parent with a child who needs some serious SEL supports, this appeals to me. These things are not innate and need to be taught. Parents need to teach them. However, schools have these kids/students for 7 hours a day sometimes. Schools are where kids experience social dynamics. Schools are where students are faced with challenging tasks. Schools are where we ask students to constantly get out of their comfort zones but we don’t often give them the tools to cope with those emotions.
3. The brain is an amazing thing. It is a complex thing. It controls many parts of our bodies and stores so much information. At the same time, it isn’t innate in us to know how to control it or listen to it. We have to train it.

As an adult, I’m working on my own mindfulness and breathing. What will be my next actions to make these things a habit instead of something that sounds good but I forget to do? How can I implement breathing practices for me and my children?

Webinar Name: Talk Number 2 Me: Mathematics & Mindfulness

Presenter (Christina Lincoln-Moore) was a part of the team who developed Essential Action Series: Coaching in Mathematics, Instructional Leadership in Mathematics, Framework == Published through NCTM …. (I really want to look up this book series).

Notes/Thoughts As I listened….

In remote sessions, do a mental health check in. She shares an emoji chart that can be used to just do a check in with students and staff during remote sessions. It’s a good way to connect in.

We used to have control over students but now we don’t. We need to focus on systems of connectedness. We don’t have the control to make them — beyond the external controls – it’s the relationship.

The question is: How do we integrate social-emotional learning into our digital learning/class meetings/etc?

Question: Were all kids learning before we left? Students learn best from people who they know care about them and know they won’t give up on them.

We are doing an invisible work of social-emotional work. Maybe we need to shift our thinking and wording around why we don’t have students or do have students.

She showed a clip about “mental hygiene”. We practice other types of hygiene… but not mental hygiene. We need to treat mental health like something that needs to be treated. In this video the guy talks about how you can’t talk about mental health without talking about brain health. He also says that the three most powerful tools we have are smiling, breathing, and mindfulness. — I think this is important because I know I personally struggle with mental health and am working on being better about tending to mine. At the same time, this means that I need to do intentional work around connection. The work of relationships occurs in our classrooms. It occurs through proximity and a lot of non-verbal cues. Right now, we do not have non-verbal clues. We need to be intentional about providing connection. – He also says the more you practice these things, the more you do them without thinking. I think the same is true in our classrooms. The more we practice building social-emotional learning with our kids, the more we do this without thinking.

Everyone is under a tremendous amount of stress.

We are not going to reach students the way we did. Mindfulness can grow the brain matter and reduce the heightened state of “what am I going to do”. We are growing our brain with mindfulness strategies. — I think that this is something that we as adults need to hear. We need to provide connectedness over control amongst each other.

She uses a phrase “Maslow before Bloom” and then asked us to interpret what we think it means. This came out with care before content. It came out as person before books. Relationships before learning.

She refers to a Ted Talk by Rita Pierson on Every Child Needs a Champion. I really want to go and watch this now. Kids need to know that their emotional needs are going to be met. It provides a feeling of safety. We need to carry this into our remote learning session. Are we showing kids that we are still their support? Do they feel this support? What can we do to continue to integrate SEL supports?

To be continued….

My viewing of this was interrupted for a couple of reasons. I got about halfway through. 🙂 I can’t wait for the link to be emailed to finish this webinar. When I get that link and get to watching it, I’ll post my notes and thoughts there.

My initial thoughts & reflections

I have so much to learn about SEL learning and it’s something I want to do more of. As I type this, I’m listening to a first grade zoom meeting. This zoom meeting is an impeccable example of SEL. They are celebrating the successes of their students. Those students are being cheered on for the work they’re doing. Now they are announcing a fort themed meeting.

How do I get my high school kids engaged in this way? What can be done differently to engage our kids. Office hours seems so formal and collegiate. it’s awesome. How can we do something fun with these kids who engage too? How do we get more of them to engage?

I have much thought still to be done. This has implications bigger than I can muster right now and I think that I need more time to reflect, ponder, and revisit this…. Even outside the rest of the webinar.

Kahoot & Kahoot Challenges

Full disclosure – I stumbled on this randomly. I had heard of someone trying to run a Kahoot during office hours. I did this during advisory. THAT was a learning curve. There was a delay in the internet. When I logged on to Kahoot – Kahoot informed me that they’ve added a new style of doing Kahoot in more of an asynchronous fashion…. A kahoot challenge.

First Learning – Synchronous Kahoot using Google Meets

This was a challenge. My internet isn’t so great itself. So I had many technology issues. First issue I ran into – there is a lag in the screen display as compared to the real time run of Kahoot. This meant I needed to give time for the screen display to catch up as well as should probably adjust answer times for students to allow for the lag time because some questions ran out before students could see the screen.

The game pin is no longer active. 🙂 However, I learned some cool things that are new to Kahoot since I used it last. Like you can have a random name generator which prevents the need to moderate inappropriate nicknames which allows for a fun and random play experience. I also learned you can turn off the “lobby” music which actually is nice when you’re doing the kahoot online. It prevents you from really being able to talk as you go.

This was a fun thing to do during my advisory as a trial run. It allowed for structured interaction, like we have in the classroom, vs a strict Q&A format. I’ll definitely work on doing more with this during office hours.

Another thing to note, that I haven’t explored yet, is the Personalized Learning. Kahoot is awesome and is giving teachers FREE premium memberships during all of this too. This allowed me to better create the next type of Kahoot, which I’m going to reflect on next. It allowed me to create types of problems I wouldn’t have had access to otherwise that I think enhances learning via Kahoot vs the guessing game I felt it was originally. Super cool of Kahoot and super cool that they’ve expanded these features to better the learning interactions. Makes me excited to do more of this during office hours.

Second Learning: Asynchronous Learning Using Kahoot

Kahoot has implemented something called “challenges”. When I logged into Kahoot, they had a popup window that prompted me to “learn more”. That link led me to this information. I even stumbled on a link of how to play the a challenge so I could experience it from a student perspective. (REALLY BIG SHOUTOUT TO KAHOOT! – They have some people who know what’s going on! ) I think I came across that as I went to actually create one.

The purpose of this is that students can use the features of Kahoot and an element of gamification without needing to be on at one time. The game keeps a leaderboard of the players as people play rather than instantaneously. There could be incentives to this in the future if the model continues. For example – a homework pass or an extra credit point – or other things. If in a Hybrid model, those prizes could look different. [All that- we’ll have to detail in the future.]

With the FREE premium membership and the new Kahoot features, I decided to dive in and create one. It’s a short one because I wanted to add it to the slide deck for next week’s stuff and see how it worked out. In the future – it might also allow for an element of “choice” for students as we refine things. You can do the problem set via a google doc or matching via google drawings or you can play the Kahoot. [Thinking of my new role next year – there could be some implications around PD and engagement amongst teachers even.]

Features I like.

I want to go through a few of the things I have found that I like about Kahoot that are new from when I last gave it a chance. First – creating a kahoot -They now have different templates with different purposes. Some are more applicable to me than others.

Question types when you do go to create a question are nice. All but the quiz and true false are premium features. Full disclosure. However, when this is over, I might be sold. We’ll see. I appreciate that you can now add a slide for facts or information in the middle of your kahoot. I also like that there is an open ended option. My number one thing I disliked about Kahoot before was the strictly multiple choice element. I found it encouraged guessing more than learning. However, the new elements mix that up. (and the slide of learning helps me do what I was trying to do with Kahoot before! Use it as a teaching tool!)

Last thing I found that I loved and want to highlight – The QUESTION BANK. Seriously, you can type in a search bar and come up with a list of questions other people have written. When you add them to your kahoot, you can also edit some of the elements. LOVED it.

FINAL Thoughts

Kahoot has impressed me with their improvements from the first time it was introduced to me. I see potential for it with both synchronous and asynchronous learning with students who do have some technology access. I also see potential for it to be good with staff at either building culture or offering some element of PD that mixes things up.

I believe in technology. I believe in routine. I believe in simplicity. At the same time, i believe that we need a few tricks up our pockets to break up monotony and wake up our brains. This is one of those “tricks” that can be thrown into things we are already doing — like office hours and slide decks to enhance this experience a bit more and wake up the brain from it’s preformed pathways.

Google Drawings (with a touch of Bitmoji)

I am loving playing around with Google Drawings. This fun was definitely started randomly through a facebook educator’s group I was added to. Don’t regret that add.

The idea was posed as far as using Google Drawings to make drag and drop tasks for the kids. My mini Geo subgroup started with this idea and then integrated it into a slide deck and have actually created the drag and drop using slides. Because kids get their own slide deck, they complete the task right there. This one below is a fancy one that my colleague designed but it is so cool.

We then used our slide decks to link the students to drawings for other types of tasks. We now are using drawings for students to complete matching tasks. We even recorded tutorials for students on how to draw lines using drawings. Personally, I like this because we’ve created interactive tasks, not just do these tasks.

I’m not sold if these are much better than “replacement” tasks per se. However, it is more engaging than a digital worksheet. Students then are asked to explain their thinking via FlipGrid or by typing within the slide deck. We have also used this format to create tasks where students are analyzing the work of someone else and correcting their mistakes.

Where does Bitmoji come into play?

Right now, I am combining bitmoji and Google Drawings to make announcements in more fun ways by creating images. I want to blend this bitmoji within Classroom as well as within slide decks. However, one step at a time.

For example, I’ll be posting this one, with the new details, on Monday.

I also posted this one last week, when I was first introduced to the Bitmoji extension for Chrome as a reminder for my students that their work was due. I’ll likely create another one for this week as a reminder. I just think it’s a bit better than just posting in the stream.

Next Steps

Things I want to explore next:

1. How do I make banners etc for Google Classroom using Bitmoji?
2. Can I start including Bitmoji into assignments to add a little more flare? Maybe this is in slide deck or drawings?
3. Just curious – can i paste a bitmoji in as a comment through Google Classroom?

Google Forms as Quizzes

I chose Google Forms as my first task to officially tackle in my own PD for this virtual learning. I have used forms to collect information and had heard of it used as a quiz. However, when I was first introduced to Google Forms as a quiz, it did not have the quiz feature it does now. Therefore, I decided the first thing I wanted to learn was how to make a math quiz on Google Forms.

Step 1: Figure out how to make it a quiz. What’s beautiful about this, is that it is a simple little button in the settings. Normally, my forms are set up under general, but selecting quizzes allows me to make it a quiz that can be auto-graded.

Step 2: Learn how to add math type to questions. This first quiz I created was solely multiple choice. [Have to start somewhere, right?] I learned the best way to do this is by adding an image. I also learned you can add images to the answer choices too. Which is cool. [P.S. I learned this via tutorials on YouTube.] However, where you get your math font seems up to you. What you have to do is take a screenshot of it and then save as an image.

Pros: It allows pretty math font. Cons: It is a lot of steps and takes a lot of time.

Step 3: Learn how to add grading and answer keys. It took my brain a minute but then I found it. When you’re editing a question, at the bottom, there is a spot that says “answer key”.

The default is 0 points. But that’s easy to change by clicking on the blue font that reads Answer Key. In this screen you can select the correct answer and then change the points in the upper right hand corner. Easy peasy.

Then you repeat this for as many questions as you have. Pros – it’s easy. Cons – the math takes forever to type, save as images, and then insert.

Next steps

I created a multiple choice quiz with this. Now I need to explore the other question types that are feasible using Google Forms as a quiz and explore how those question types are graded.

My blog has been silent. However, my brain hasn’t been. About 6 weeks ago, the world of education, changed drastically. The hope is, that this change is only temporary. That said though, there are things that will never go back to normal.

This is forcing ALL teachers to utilize technology. At the very basic level, technology has forced us to replace pretty much all aspects of our face to face instruction.

At the same time, some people are descirbing this as “virtual” education or “distance learning”. What I’ve seen that seems the most accurate to me is that we are “crisis” teaching. This isn’t normal. we’re not following normal curriculum. This isn’t even normal home school for kids. It isn’t normal distance learning. It isn’t even true virtual education.

I’d be lying if I said I had this under control. I don’t.

• I am a pro at designing materials for my classroom. However, I’m finding that the materials I design for my classroom are intended for discussion and face to face interaction. Now I’m forced to rethink this interaction.
• I’m forced to balance motherhood with work. Even as I blog, I have an almost four year old mad at me because she can’t perfectly draw a square. Many of my videos for my students have little faces pop on the screen or possibly talking in the background.
• I’m being forced to let go of an idea of perfection and some balance of professionalism. [Don’t get me wrong. We can’t lose sight of professionalism….] Under any other circumstances, I would rerecord the videos I’m creating if a child popped their head in or a child was talking. I’ve found this to be true of meetings and office hours too. At the same time, this is my new life and my new work environment.
• Turning off the screen at night and finding the work-life balance during all of this is different. When do we say “that’s enough work for today” when the truth is, I know my to-do list is likely to grow tomorrow. There’s always more added on the next day…. more emails to respond to… more meeting invitations…. more materials to make.

All of those are just the start.

My district has given us three options of Professional Development. One I missed the sign up because frankly I was too overwhelmed to think about it. The second is being led by awesome people but right now in all of this, I need to find my own way. The third option is an independent study which fits where I am right now.

1. I’m learning how to teach in a world health crisis that has everyone adapting their ways of life.
2. This is my last year in the classroom. I’m needing to look at the work I’m doing and see how it applies now and how it will apply to my new role next year.
3. I need to be able to work on my own time. I have two needy children at home. In addition, I have a husband who is an “essential worker” and his schedule as not changed.

So – I have decided – I am going to use my blog to focus my own independent learning path during this. I’m hoping it will help me with a few things:

• I’m hoping to keep my thinking organized. What exactly will be the outcome of my path? I have so many ideas that I need to focus myself.
• I’m hoping to keep track of my reflections. How can I use this now? How can I use this next year?
• I’m hoping to keep record of my learning so I can look back next year and remember what I thought and what I did so I don’t lose it.

This whole pandemic isn’t easy. Not personally. Not professionally.

Here’s my takeaway. I’m not teaching right now. I’m not a teacher in the midst of this pandemic. I’m a learner. I’m a survivor. At the same time, this is exactly what educators are. We’re not always teachers. We are learners with a lot of grit.

So I’m not teaching in this pandemic. I’m learning. I hope that I’m learning enough that I can help my students and colleagues learn too.

Today my reflection is on this idea of a blended classroom. What does this mean? What does this look like? How does this work? How do I plan for it? I do I monitor it?

When technology was first introduced to me in regards to use in the classroom around student devices – it was a push to do “paperless”. Let’s quit doing paper. What I’ve always struggled with around this model is “Where do students do their math then?” Math is one of those things that is just gratifying to do with a writing utensil. I have yet to find a [Student] device that is conducive to students doing their work digitally. Besides pictures of work, it felt like only a replacement. Even then, a replacement I wasn’t sure of.

I’ve had many conversations with people who are respected as people who use “technology” in their classrooms. Yet, when I analyze this. It’s meerly a replacement for what we do. I love the app notability. However, notability is only a replacement for a document camera or a white board. [I’ll add again. I love this app and I actually love what this program does for management.] Are these tools really enhancing student learning though? Or just doing the same thing in different clothes? Same with videos. Is that just the same thing in a different package? Examples and lecture?

It wasn’t until recently that I have had a few “lightbulb” moments around technology in the classroom. The focus isn’t “paperless” or “replacement”. The focus is “blended”. Can we do an interactive task on the computer? Then have a classroom discussion on it? [Until recently, I had no idea this was possible until I sat in on a meeting with an amazing math coach.]

Blended. Doesn’t mean we don’t use paper. It doesn’t mean we don’t use technology. It means we use both differently. It means we use them in harmony. It means that one complements the other. They don’t have to clash. They do have to be intentionally paired. Like good food with good wine.

I don’t have answers. Only questions. How do I blend my classroom better? How do I find harmony between technology and good teaching strategies? What technology tools do I have access to in order to do this. I’m not content with just using technology to assign assignments. There has to be much more to this.

In both my teaching and my personal life, things seem to be focused on two words. Expectations. Habits.

Expectations are an interesting thing. We think those expectations are intuitive and often implied. When reality is, in both the classroom and parenting, they’re far from that. We very much need to define, teach, and reteach what our expectations are. Even with high schoolers, we assume they know what school expectations are. However, there are two realities I’m encountering. 1) My expectations vary from that of my colleagues and so assuming they know what I expect based on previous experiences is like assuming a new barista at my favorite coffee shop knows what I like. 2) High schoolers will push boundaries as they assert their independence. This means, if they don’t know where the lines are, they’re naturally going to search for them.

By the way – this is also true in parenting a child of any age frankly.

I have been revisiting expectations in my classroom. At first, it felt childish and like I was treating my freshman like children vs young adults. That’s also how they perceived it. After three weeks of focusing in, these expectations are becoming new habits. [More in a moment there.] I’m finding the level of respect towards me and my class to be increasing. I’m finding the level of engagement to be increasing. I’m finding the level of unproductive chaos to be decreasing. At the same time, it’s allowing for a more productive level of chaos. It’s amazing how simply realizing that a group of teenagers still needs to be taught classroom behaviors has positively impacted my instruction.

As we focus on expectations, the habits are coming into play. Today, I noticed that my students are starting to meet the expectation of “more than just a few people participating” willingly vs me forcing this to happen. More of them are raising their hands and volunteering. Perhaps this is because the unproductive chaos has ended and students know more of what is going on and are gaining more and more confidence by the day. It’s also becoming a habit for me of focusing on these positive behaviors in class and recognizing their efforts.

Because the unproductive chaos has cleared, I can find myself thinking clearly, students thinking more clearly, engaged more clearly, and that sensory overload that could easily be experienced is decreasing.

It’s a win. It takes dedication to make a new practice a habit. It doesn’t happen overnight. My administrator used the phrase in conversation with a colleague today “Go slow to go fast”. Sometimes we have to give ourselves permission, as educators, to make the decisions that are right for student learning – even if it means taking it slow for a bit. I’m confident these changes are going to impact the student learning in my classroom in positive ways.

I’ve been at this job for over a decade and I’m just now realizing how much room I still had to grow. It’s ok. I’m liking the direction I’m going. I think these will make me a better teacher and a better mentor.

Funny part of it all- it’s all started by a desire to become a better parent and seeking the resources to be a better mom.

Expectations and habits. Define expectations clearly. Enforce them to make them habits.