Change is Good Right?

So I am stepping out on a limb next year and changing subjects. That's right folks the math diva is now going to teach Language Arts. Change is good right! I get bored and I love a challenge. Bonus, I get to redo my very mathy classroom. After much thought (okay a little thought) I have decided to go with a coffee house theme. I operate under the belief that a comfortable classroom facilitates learning. Here is the link to my board so far. Does anyone have suggestions or ideas that I can add.

https://www.pinterest.com/kam73/ela-classroom-ideas-22-23/

Comments

But I Want It Now!!

I have been struggling with our upcoming knowledge sharing assignment. I think the problem is that I have too many big ideas. I want my students to all have access to the internet. I want my kids to all be fluent. I want them to know how to do all the things. In an ideal world, I would be able to go into my classroom on day one and incorporate every tool that we learned about in this class. I want all of these thing and I want them right now! Here's the problem. I have to do the work. If I want my big ideas to work, I have to start small. The problem is that small sometimes feels too small. I always want to put my spin on it, to try and make it my own. For me, curating and sharing the content of other people feels a little dishonest. Even when you give credit, someone is getting the idea from you and they might attribute it to you. I am much more comfortable sharing something verbally, than I am sharing something in a online space. I am starting to understand that sharing c...

Digital natives vs. digital fluency

I think digital natives are a real thing, but all digital natives are not fluent. The term native reminds me of the process that babies use to acquire language. A person is said to be a native speaker when they grow up surrounded by the language that is "native" to them. They grow up hearing their parents use the language and that's how they develop their proficiency. Some kids grow up with an amazing vocabulary and some students enter school at a deficit. Digital literacy is the same. Some students grow up in households where they are surrounded by laptops, phones, reliable internet and online tools that are being used consistently and effectively. But some kids grow up in a house where they don't have those things, or where they don't see these tools put to effective use. Those students are, by definition, digital natives. But are they digitally fluent? Nope. Just because you know how to scroll through TikTok or Instagram, doesn't mean you can navigate onli...

What the H*** is Happening

Please excuse my thinly veiled attempt to cover my cursing. I realize that I should use my words better, but to be honest in this case the word is the most appropriate one I could think of this morning. This morning I woke up to this article. https://bookriot.com/florida-teachers-remove-classroom-libraries/ The article discusses how teachers in Brevard Public Schools have been told that they cannot use their classroom libraries this year until they have been vetted by an expert. I thought teachers were the experts! I mean we did go to school for just such an occasion, but I digress. Let's get back to the real issue. I would be remiss if I just read one article, so I went a googling. Here are the other headlines that popped up. https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2022/05/12/florida-schools-stirred-up-over-library-books-textbooks/ https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/15/brevard-schools-discuss-district-wide-library-book-policy-prepare-for-review-pro...

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