Kid President

Ok. This is one cool kid.
 We can all learn a few lessons from him. I will definitely be sharing his wisdom with my kiddos!


Check him out:




Check out his web site here.

He's also on Twitter: @iamkidpresident 

It's not about the ducks...

Ok.  I have a confession.  I love Duck Dynasty.  Seriously.  I've seen every episode more times than I want to admit.  Oh yeah, I actually own the first two seasons on DVD.  (Thanks, Amazon!)  I love, love, love the Duck men.  I want the bobble heads, too.  True story.

Except for some occasional news, Big Bang Theory, and UK basketball, I rarely watch TV; however, I can't get enough of the Robinson family.  Uncle Si and Willie are my favorites; I think everyone should have an Uncle Si of some sort!  I also love the wisdom of Phil.  Okay... I just love all of them.  If you haven't watched it, give it a try.  You will laugh - guaranteed.

Here's the thing:  this amazing family started their business based on ducks.  The Robinson family members are now famous because of ducks.  Their company is called "Duck Commander."  The title of their program on A&E causes you to think you're going to watch a television show that has something to do with ducks... however - the show is not about ducks.  Gotta say it again - it's not about the ducks.

I've thought about my latest TV obsession as it relates to my classroom.  I have had some conversations recently with colleagues about flipping.  There's no question that "flipping a classroom" continues to gain popularity in education circles and think tanks around the globe.  Everyone wants to talk about the videos; I get that.  I'm even guilty sometimes of talking too much about the videos.  Here's the lesson: it's not about the videos.

Most of us who are "flipping" would agree, I think, that we never want to return to "the old ways" before we experienced the powerful learning that we see every day.  It's truly a beautiful thing to witness a classroom be transformed when the teacher stops standing in the front of the room all day!

So... if it's not about the videos, then what is it about?

Based on my experiences with my 4th graders this year, I think it's about a few of these things:

Relationships - they look out for each other and encourage each other.  We're all in this together.

Collaboration - students work together, reflect, process, question, research... because there's time for it!  I love to hear the questions they ask each other.  One day, a few of them debated whether a square could be a rectangle, and whether a rectangle could be a square.  There's more time now for phrases that begin, "I wonder..."

Acceptance - students work in different groups every day based on their levels of understanding and what they need to work on.  It's okay.  We don't make assumptions when peers are in the "advanced" group.  Wherever you are today, it's okay.

Student engagement - they are working.  Not playing in their desks, not daydreaming, not playing with their pencils, not drawing, not staring out the window...

Student ownership and reflection - the survey every night asks them to reflect on how well they "get it."  Now that we are in our routine, they no longer answer the survey questions in an attempt to please me.  They're honest.  When they don't "get it," they let me know.

Risk-taking - a few students who were former introverts have transformed into extroverts!  That has been so cool to see.  Students who have never raised a hand in class are now volunteering to "give it a try" when working with others on tough problems.

Communication - the blog has allowed students to ask questions when they get confused.  It has also allowed them to offer insights and opinions and communicate with each other outside the regular school day.  I love that.  The surveys also provide the opportunity for them to share their thoughts and reflections.



It's a process... every day.  We still have work to do.  It's not perfect, but it's pretty amazing.  For me, it's not about the videos.

I still don't think it's about the ducks, either.

Fun Stuff!

I've said it before and I must say it again: I'm so blessed to teach at Oak Hill.  Seriously.
My students' families just keep blowing my mind in the way that they support our efforts - all the time...

Last Wednesday, we had our "Fall Party," and our them was "Minute to Win It!"  I had actually never watched the TV show, but a few searches via Google painted a pretty clear picture for me. 

Needless to say, it was an ABSOLUTE BLAST!!!

Check out the rest of the pictures from our party by clicking here.

Rigor.  Relevance.  Relationships.  Reflection.
I stumbled onto the page with this video when I landed on TeacherTube tonight.  I was actually searching for some snake videos for my students.  This was a nice break from those creepy critters, I must admit, but it made me stop and reflect...

Powerful stuff.

Here's my plan: watch - reflect - repeat.  I recommend you do the same.

My Bucket is Overflowing...

My students are the best.  Seriously.  My amazing student teacher, Megan, told them about my participating in the #INeLearn Flipped Class Conference on Saturday in Indianapolis.  Well, somewhere along the way, they made me this beautiful card.  When I read it, I cried.  I had to reassure them that my tears were HAPPY tears!  I told them that my bucket was so full that it was overflowing.  It really was! 
There are moments when this job is so overwhelming that I wonder when I will ever complete all the items on the to-do list.  Will I ever catch up?  It's so tough.  But, those moments are small compared to the countless times when my fantabulous 4th graders fill my bucket throughout any given day.  Wow.  Just wow.
At the end of the day, as the students were leaving, one of my boys came up to me and said, "Good luck, Ms. Beard.  You'll do great!  We believe in you." 
Well, needless to say, the tears began to flow again...

My card traveled with me to Indianapolis, as a gentle reminder that those precious young people believe in me.  All I had to do was share what we do every day, and that's easy peasy!

My Favorite Tweet...

This is my favorite tweet of the day...

Are 4th graders awesome or what?!?!?!?!

This is what Lyon tweeted this morning!
9.19.12

We're Tweetin'!

One of our fun adventures this week included creating our Twitter account! 

Check us out:

Each of my fantastic 4th graders has his/her own Twitter space in our classroom:

At the end of each day, we take time to reflect on our learning and our day's events.  We think about our "aha" moments and we record our homework in our agenda books.  Using the document camera, I model this process in my own agenda book.

We then do a "think - pair - share" activity in which they share what their tweet will be before they write it down.  This helps the students who feel "stuck" and are unsure of what to tweet.
This daily reflection has been so powerful!  Knowing that their "tweets" must be brief reminds my students that they must get to the point.  No rambling aloud!  :-)
Those who tend to want to include lots of details when summarizing are forced to think about the most important information, and not all the "fluff!"  This has been an incredible summarizing exercise.

I didn't realize that our individual tweets would be such effective tools for absent students.  When students arrive to school after an absence, the first thing they do in the morning is check our tweet chart!  So cool!

Dr. James MacLeod, Professor of History at the University of Evansville, visited us and taught us about his journey to become a U.S. citizen.  We had fun sending him a note of thanks via Twitter! 

Follow us here.  See ya in the Twitterverse!